NBA Salaries 2017: Top Highest Paid Players in the NBA Named
A new NBA superstar had been hailed as the highest-paid professional basketball player in the league.
After signing up for a five-year extension with the Golden State Warriors this summer, Stephen Curry reportedly took over the top spot of the list of highest-paid players in the NBA for the 2017-2018 season.
Curry's new contract is reportedly worth more than $201 million, including the $34,682,550 that he will earn in the upcoming season alone. This did not come as a surprise, since he is one of the key factors for the Warriors' championship wins during the 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Meanwhile, last season's highest paid NBA star LeBron James was down to second place as he fulfills his final two-year contract with the Cavs. He is expected to earn $33,285,709 for the upcoming season, then it will increase up to $35,607,968 for the 2018-2019 season. However, James is expected to opt out of his final year with the Cavs to enter the free agency market and sign up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Claiming the third spot in the list of high-paying NBA stars is Paul Millsap, who opted to leave the Atlanta Hawks to ink a deal three-year deal with the Denver Nuggets worth $90 million. For the next season, Millsap will earn as much as $31,269,231. This means that he will be the highly-paid player who changed teams this year.
Also, Utah Jazz's former small forward Gordon Hayward went on to sign a four-year deal with the Boston Celtics worth $128 million. This will make him earn $29,727,900 in the first year of his contract alone.
The fifth highly-paid NBA star in the next NBA season will be Blake Griffin, who surprised his fans by staying with the Clippers for another five years. The deal is reportedly worth $173 million, and he will get $29,512,900 in the first year of his contract.
Other members of the top 10 highly paid professional basketball players reportedly include Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry, whose three-year contract is reportedly worth $100 million, Mike Conley who inked a three-year $153 million deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, Russell Westbrook who signed another five-year extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder worth $205 million, Houston Rockets' James Harden whose contract extension is reportedly worth $228 million, as well as Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan who is still serving his five-year deal with the team since 2016.
