The best part about advanced statistics and the ability to break down numbers compared to salaries is that we now have an absolutely exact measure to determine the most overpaid players in the NBA.
It’s no surprise that LeBron James is once again among the most underpaid players based on what he brings to the table along with Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook.
As for the most overpaid players, Gerald Wallace, Kendrick Perkins, and Eric Gordon all rank in the top 10. But when it comes to the cream of the crop, they didn’t make the cut. Here is a quick look at the five most overpaid players in the NBA right now.
5. Rudy Gay – Sacramento Kings
$19.3 million in 2014
The Kings might have mistaken a strong start in the Western Conference for having the right players to make a return to the postseason and the result was a contract extension for one of the league’s most overpaid players in Gay. Once upon a time the Toronto Raptors fan base thought their team was tanking when they traded Gay to Sacramento and less than a year later they are competing, for top spot in the Eastern Conference.
That is much more than a coincidence for a team that had plenty more money to spend and has built one of the best young cores in the East. Meanwhile, the Kings are paying Gay about $10.65 million more than they should this season and they are once again on the outside looking in to the Western Conference playoff picture.
4. Deron Williams – Brooklyn Nets
$19.75 million in 2014
The fact that the Nets have two players on this list is testament to the terrible contracts they have handed out over the years. While the fans might have gotten behind the acquisition of a couple of superstars two years ago when they felt a championship window existed, that is certainly not the case anymore. Brooklyn is holding down the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, but nobody is convinced they have the potential to shake things up in the postseason and that is why Williams is among those Nets players being shopped around for a potential trade at this point.
3. Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers
$23.5 million in 2014
Kobe has been loyal to the Lakers since he came in the NBA and the team has rewarded that loyalty and the championships he has helped bring to Los Angeles by making him one of the most overpaid players in the NBA. This season, Kobe has averaged a team-high 23.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game for the 11-25 Lakers. Considering his age and tenure, those are pretty impressive numbers.
But according to the numbers, his $23.5 million salary is almost $14 million more than he should make for the 2014 season and it certainly hasn’t helped the turnaround in Los Angeles that he is eating up so much salary while also reportedly scaring away other stars from potentially signing deals to join the Lakers.
2. Joe Johnson – Brooklyn Nets
$23.1 million in 2014
Brooklyn has been trying desperately to package their big three of Johnson, Williams, and Brook Lopez in a bid to shed salary and get below the luxury tax, but they haven’t been able to find any takers. Johnson has averaged a team-high 16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game for a team holding down the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and yet somehow there isn’t a single NBA team willing to pay to acquire his services. That is testament to his $23.1 million salary that is about $15 million more than he should make in 2014, according to his production.
1. Amar’e Stoudemire –New York Knicks
$23.4 million in 2014
The Knicks own the worst record in the NBA at 5-34 and finally something gave when Phil Jackson made the decision to complete a three-team, six-player trade that moved Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith. Misspent money has been the key to New York’s demise, and while Carmelo Anthony gets a ton of flack, nobody has been worse when it comes to the disparity between pay and production than the league’s most overpaid player in Stoudemire. Stoudemire has started just 13 games and averaged 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game so far this season. Those numbers are more in line with a player that makes $3 million rather than the $23.4 million that Stoudemire will take home from arguably the worst team in the NBA.
