MOST LUCRATIVE CONTRACTS IN THE NBA

MOST LUCRATIVE CONTRACTS IN THE NBA

It’s not even anymore that basketball all over the world pays the high wages compared to all other sports but not all the players receive fat salary or high remuneration from their employer or from the endorsement teams.

More so, NBA all over the world have the highest popularity when the topic of basketball is on the table and so is their pay as the National Basketball Association of United States have the best players in the game. That could however be the reason the US is dominating the international basketball games with their star studded team from the NBA.

However, be it as it may, there are some players at the top of food chain bagging more money than other athletes can only dream of, but out the highest earner in the game, there are some who earns the most as the likes of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry who will be defying the odds in bid to catapult Golden State Warrior to their maiden NBA victory in three years at +10000 odds.

However, in a league full of superstars with nine-figure contracts, the superstars mentioned below are the players with the most lucrative contracts in the NBA currently.

Russel Westbroke ($207 million)

A deal that was believed to be promulgated from the essence of loyalty. After the departure of Kelvin Durant to Golden State Warrior in 2017, the Black-American versatile basketballer stays tuned to the only franchise he ever loved and known and, in the summer of 2017, he was rewarded with a five-year contract extension worth $207 million to stick around. Moreover, till his move to Houston Rocket, Westbroke remained the face of the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise.

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With his triple double season in the 16-17 season, Westbroke quickly became the best in the game just after he had signed the contract extension and he was however, breaking the rules with his defiant and endless prowess game play that made the Oklahoma City Thunder a force to reckon with in his days.

Although he had received enough criticism on his style of play over the years now, Westbroke has enjoyed success while setting different records. Although he may have been too cocky about it, he is the only NBA history player beside Oscar Robertson in 1970’s to average triple-double points for an entire season while winning the NBA’s most valuable player.

He further lay the claim to the throne of triple-double points in the following two seasons to ascertain his fans that the previous one wasn’t a joke or a mistake in achievement despite not playing with the versatile Kelvin Durant.

More also, he may have called his time at the Oklahoma City Thunder while he was exchanged with Chris Paul by his former employer, but Westbroke with James Harden was a phenomenon even at the peril of his triple-double game points.

However, while he received his fat and huge wages, the deal was more than enough to justify his talent and how he ushered-in a new era in Oklahoma City Thunder. Given his recent silence in game domination, his recent contract says otherwise as he will be earning nearly $42 million at Washington Wizard with almost $86 million guaranteed.

 

 

James Harden ($228 million)

Well deserved contracts to his name as he will be mostly remembered for the way he has been running the show in Houston for eight years and counting now alongside putting up some of the most insane stat lines. While he had been acknowledged for his quick feet and sharp turning with constant throws, Harden hardly received critics for his game throughout his stay at Houston Rockets.

Although he is crafty, deceptively quick and has the nimble and rhythmic footwork of a tap dancer. Moreover, the ability to stop and go and turn on a dime is his biggest strength in which he likes to call “slow down fast.” He however stated while he was interviewed that “Slow down fast doesn’t make sense, but my game doesn’t make sense”

He had become a superstar in Houston since being traded away from Oklahoma City in 2012 while he won an MVP award with the Rockets and finishing in second place another three times.

But in 2019-20, Harden leads the NBA with an average of 34.4 points per game and while he has yet to lead the Rockets to a Finals appearance, Harden had essentially drive his team so close to winning the NBA over the years, but they were routinely halted by Curry, Thompson and the Warriors teams that made five straight trips to the Finals between 2015 and 2019.

However, James Harden, became the NBA’s highest-paid player ever when he signed his six-year extension with the Rockets in 2017 with a deal worth $228 million.

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Damien Lillard ($257 million)

Damien Lillard has shown the world of his capability while he rocket-up his stance on the Portland Trail Blazer franchise all-time top scoring list as number-2 in their 50 years of existence in his current eight season with the franchise. A point guard who can easily manipulate and control the game to his own taste and standard, Damien has certainly left the mark in the Trail Blazer history.

However, he is widely not regarded as among the rest in the NBA but there’s no doubting the impact he’s capable of having on a game. While nothing can be taken away from the California born point guard in the game and despite endless rumors linking him to big-market teams, Lillard has remained loyal to the Trail Blazers franchise that drafted him back in 2012 in which was rewarded with his contract extension worth $257 million in 2019.

Lillard averaged better than 34 points per game in the month of January, including his remarkable six-game on the bounce during which he averaged an astounding 48.8 points per game, but his 2019/2020 season was his average career high with 28.9 points per game.

While Lillard had help the Trail Blazers to reach their first Western Conference Finals for the first time in 19years and he nearly did so the following year in 2019/2020 season, but the to the Finals has continued to elude the high-scoring point guard and maybe that is the reason he is yet to cement his playing status in NBA.

Ayhan Fletcher

"Subtly charming zombie nerd. Infuriatingly humble thinker. Twitter enthusiast. Hardcore web junkie."

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