Ranking the Best Bang for Your Buck Players in the NBA for the 2017–18 Season
A not-so-surprising name is at the top of this list
Another NBA regular season is nearing its end, and with numerous box scores tallied and statistics recorded, now is a great time to take stock of which players provided the best returns on their current contracts.
For this season, some familiar names have again outplayed their contracts, although there are also some surprises who have provided terrific returns on what teams invested in them.
Salary numbers and statistics referenced below come courtesy of Basketball Reference, including VORP, which stands for value over replacement player.
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VORP provides an estimate of the number of points a player contributed to a team over 100 team possessions in relation to a replacement-level player's production. The number is normalized for a team and prorated for the full season.
The 2017-18 season's best bang for your buck players are listed below (in descending order).
12. Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons – $23.7 million, 5.0 VORP
At the end of the 2016–17 season, Andre Drummond was starting to look like one of the many centers being phased out of the league. Even though he was a great rebounder and solid finisher at the rim, those two things were not enough to make up for his other shortcomings, such as a stagnating offensive game and a disastrous free throw shooting percentage.
Now, Drummond has shown that he can adapt and even thrive in the modern NBA.
Drummond is on pace to post the best rebounding season of his career, and on offense, he's paired a developing passing game with his ability to finish at the rim.
After previously looking like a player who may have his minutes reduced, Drummond is now starting to show that he's a legitimate star.
11. Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers – $21 million, 4.3 VORP
NBA fans likely still remember the first time they heard that Paul George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo. At the time, the trade was widely panned for the Indiana Pacers, as it did not seem as though they received enough return for a proven All-Star.
No one's saying the Pacers got the worse end of that deal now.
All that Oladipo has done this season is make it to his first All-Star team and lead the Pacers to the postseason after many fans and analysts had them pegged to finish near the bottom of the standings at the start of the year.
Oladipo's still got three more seasons remaining on his contract after this season, so he will be providing great value to the Pacers for years to come.
10. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers – $26.1 million, 5.7 VORP
It seemed like the Portland Trail Blazers were starting to stagnate. Competing in a conference that had just welcomed a few additional All-Stars, it wasn't crazy to think that the Trail Blazers would soon be surpassed by younger and arguably more exciting squads.
Damian Lillard made sure that the Trail Blazers would not be overlooked.
Lillard is as deadly as he's ever been with the ball in his hands or when he's fighting through screens on offense. Defensively, he's also improved to the point that he can at least bother the other elite guys at his position. It would hardly be surprising to see Lillard receive some down-ballot MVP support for his stellar campaign.
9. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers – $6.1 million, 4.4 VORP
To put into perspective just how valuable and cost-efficient Ben Simmons has been to the Philadelphia 76ers this season, consider that because he's on his rookie deal, he's making less this year than rotation wing and fellow Simmons, Jonathon, of the Orlando Magic.
Rookies aren't supposed to be as good and polished as Simmons already is, and he's starting to make those comparisons to LeBron James somewhat accurate.
The sky's the limit for the young 76er, and if he ever develops an outside shot, the rest of the league should watch out.
8. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves – $6.2 million, 5.3 VORP
Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns was the no-brainer number one pick in the NBA draft three years ago, and all he's done since then is prove worthy of that distinction.
Towns carried the Timberwolves on his back when Jimmy Butler went down for a significant chunk of this season, and his improvements on defense, in particular, bode well for his future.
There were some concerns starting to pop up about Towns' true ceiling prior to his midseason surge. It seems safe to say that he's put those concerns to bed now, and sometime soon, he may be challenging for the title of the NBA's best player.
7. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets – $1.4 million, 5.3 VORP
It's doubtful that any NBA executive would choose Jokic over Towns as the player to build around, but due in part to his low salary, the Denver Nuggets center can stake a claim to being the more cost-effective player for this season.
Many analysts and fans would probably still prefer if Jokic was a little more aggressive on offense, but even if he just stays as he is, he will be immensely valuable to any team.
Getting better defensively has to be the next goal for Jokic, and if he can make strides on that end of the floor, he could elevate his status from likely All-Star to potential franchise player.
6. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors – $25 million, 4.5 VORP
Kevin Durant's scoring and rebounding numbers may be down this season, but if any player on this list can challenge LeBron James for the status of best basketball player alive today, the Golden State Warriors' number 35 is the guy.
Though Durant's scoring has fallen off just a bit with the Warriors this season, he's more than made up for that with his contributions on defense. He has a real shot to win the Defensive Player of the Year award for this season, and it's scary to think that he may now be as dominant on defense as he is impossible to stop on offense.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks – $22.4 million, 5.5 VORP
The 2017–18 season will be remembered in part as being the season during which Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo showed that there is no feat of athleticism that is out of his insanely long reach.
On a near nightly basis, Antetokounmpo dazzled fans as only he can and while the Bucks have been somewhat disappointing, they would be among the NBA's worst teams were it not for the man known as the "Greek Freak."
Antetokounmpo hasn't tapped into his full potential yet, and there's a real chance that he will be borderline unstoppable as early as next year.
4. Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans – $23.7 million, 4.9 VORP
When teammate DeMarcus Cousins went down with an injury at the midpoint of the season, it seemed like the New Orleans Pelicans departure from the Western Conference playoff picture was certain, but Anthony Davis wasn't going down with a fight.
Davis went on an absolute tear after Cousins was sidelined and his name is going to be thrown around in MVP conversations.
Had the Pelicans won more games, Davis could have made a real case to be the league MVP, but even without that award, he's shown this year that he is among the absolute best that the NBA can offer.
3. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder – $28.5 million, 7.3 VORP
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook took the league by storm en route to winning the MVP award last year, and while his numbers have fallen off a bit this season, he still remains as one of the most dynamic players in the NBA.
Nothing quite compares to the spectacle of Westbrook storming down the court on a one-man fastbreak, and he seems like the only player who can shatter the backboard by sheer force of a slam.
The Thunder failing to establish itself as an elite team this season has caused some fans and analysts to really wonder if Westbrook is as good as his numbers say he is. That blame seems to be misplaced as Westbrook has been the same unrelenting this year as he has been in seasons past.
2. James Harden, Houston Rockets – $28.2 million, 8.1 VORP
Barring one of the biggest upsets in NBA awards history, Houston Rockets guard James Harden is going to take home a well-deserved MVP award for what he's accomplished this season.
Harden has been key to the Rockets' near-unstoppable offensive attack. Few players can make the kind of reads on the court that Harden can, and his step-back jumper cannot be defended.
The Houston Rockets are going to enter the NBA playoffs as the top team, and that's due in large part to the season-long brilliance of Harden.
1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers – $33.2 million, 8.8 VORP
The King stays the King.
Arguably the most impressive thing LeBron James has done this season is to make people legitimately wonder if this is his best regular season campaign yet, even though this is also his 15th year in the league.
Father Time may be undefeated, but James sure is giving him a run for his money. In a season in which so many new stars have emerged and up-and-comers have become members of the league's elite, there is still no question that James is the best player alive today, and even though he's getting paid $33.2 million this year, he remains vastly underpaid.
