2015/16 Salary Rankings: Centers

Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the cap hit for each NBA player by position. The first spot on the hardwood that we’ll be looking at is the center position, a spot on the floor that has lessened in importance over the years, but one that still remains integral to a team’s success. All told, NBA teams have committed a total of $494,425,900 in cap hits this season to the men who patrol the paint around the league. The average salary for the five spot this season is a respectable $5,886,023, with Dwight Howard topping the list with a whopping $22,359,364 to account for on his year-end W-2 form.

It should be noted that teams won’t necessarily pay out every dollar listed here. There are quite a few players who have non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. Some of those players will be sweating it out until January 7th. That’s when teams must waive players with no specific guarantee date written into their contracts to avoid having to guarantee their salaries for the rest of the season. In addition, incentive clauses that a player either triggers or fails to meet can leave a player with more or less money than his cap hit reflects. Still, the purpose of this list is to show the relative pay scale by position, which is why all contracts are included in this post.

The league’s centers are listed below, in descending order of salary:

1. Dwight Howard (Rockets) — $22,359,364
2. Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) — $19,689,000
3. DeAndre Jordan (Clippers) — $19,689,000
4. Brook Lopez (Nets) — $19,689,000
5. Enes Kanter (Thunder) — $16,407,500
6. Greg Monroe (Bucks) — $16,407,500
7. DeMarcus Cousins (Kings) — $15,851,950
8. Roy Hibbert (Lakers) — $15,592,216
9. Tristan Thompson (Cavaliers) — $14,260,870
10. Andrew Bogut (Warriors) — $13,800,000
11. Al Jefferson (Hornets) — $13,500,000
12. Joakim Noah (Bulls) — $13,400,000
13. JaVale McGee (Mavericks) — $13,270,964 (Includes the $12MM owed from the Sixers, who waived him)
14. Tyson Chandler (Suns) — $13,000,000
15. Nene (Wizards) — $13,000,000
16. Robin Lopez (Knicks) — $12,650,000
17. Nikola Pekovic (Timberwolves) — $12,100,000
18. Al Horford (Hawks) — $12,000,000
19. Nikola Vucevic (Magic) — $11,250,000
20. Marcin Gortat (Wizards) — $11,217,391
21. Anderson Varejao (Cavaliers) — $9,638,554
22. Omer Asik (Pelicans) — $9,213,483
23. Tiago Splitter (Hawks) — $8,800,000
24. Kosta Koufos (Kings) — $7,700,000
25. Boris Diaw (Spurs) — $7,500,000
26. Ed Davis (Trail Blazers) — $6,980,802
27. Aron Baynes (Pistons) — $6,500,000
28. Spencer Hawes (Hornets) — $6,110,034
29. Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves) — $5,703,600
30. J.J. Hickson (Nuggets) — $5,613,500
31. Brandan Wright (Grizzlies) — $5,464,000
32. Tim Duncan (Spurs) — $5,250,000
33. Zaza Pachulia (Mavericks) — $5,200,000
34. Chris Kaman (Trail Blazers) — $5,016,000
35. Chris Andersen (Heat) — $5,000,000
36. Timofey Mozgov (Cavaliers) — $4,950,000
37. Jonas Valanciunas (Raptors) — $4,660,482
38. Joel Embiid (Sixers) — $4,626,960
39. Jahlil Okafor (Sixers) — $4,582,680
40. Alexis Ajinca (Pelicans) — $4,389,607
41. Cody Zeller (Hornets) — $4,204,200
42. Ian Mahinmi (Pacers) — $4,000,000
43. Alex Len (Suns) — $3,807,120
44. Willie Cauley-Stein (Kings) — $3,398,280
45. Drew Gooden (Wizards) — $3,300,000
46. Andre Drummond (Pistons) — $3,272,091
47. John Henson (Bucks) — $2,943,221
48. Tibor Pleiss (Jazz) — $2,900,000
49. Bismack Biyombo (Raptors) — $2,814,000
50. Kevin Seraphin (Knicks) — $2,814,000
51. Tyler Zeller (Celtics) — $2,616,975
52. Joel Anthony (Pistons) — $2,500,000
53. Steven Adams (Thunder) — $2,279,040
54. Kelly Olynyk (Celtics) — $2,165,160
55. Miles Plumlee (Bucks) — $2,109,294
56. Festus Ezeli (Warriors) — $2,008,748
57. Larry Sanders (Waived by Bucks via stretch provision) — $1,865,547
58. Lucas Nogueira (Raptors) — $1,842,000
59. Jusuf Nurkic (Nuggets) — $1,842,000
60. Joffrey Lauvergne (Nuggets) — $1,709,719
61. Kendrick Perkins (Pelicans) — $1,499,187
62. Gorgui Dieng (Timberwolves) — $1,474,440
63. Mason Plumlee (Trail Blazers) — $1,415,520
64. Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) — $1,300,000
65. Sasha Kaun (Cavaliers) — $1,276,000
66. Boban Marjanovic (Spurs) — $1,200,000
67. Rudy Gobert (Jazz) — $1,175,880
68. Cole Aldrich (Clippers) — $1,100,602
69. Edy Tavares (Hawks) — $1,000,000
70. Robert Sacre (Lakers) — $981,348
71. Hassan Whiteside (Heat) — $981,348
72. Samuel Dalembert (Waived by Mavericks) — $947,276
73. Dewayne Dedmon (Magic) — $947,276
74. Mike Muscala (Hawks) — $947,276
75. Jeff Withey (Jazz) — $947,276
76. Tarik Black (Lakers) — $845,059
77. Shayne Whittington (Pacers) — $845,059
78. Salah Mejri (Mavericks) — $525,093
79. Aaron Gray (Waived by Pistons via stretch provision) — $452,049
80. Fab Melo (Waived by Grizzlies via stretch provision) — $437,080
81. Miroslav Raduljica (Waived by the Clippers via stretch provision) — $252,042
82. Robert Upshaw (Waived by Lakers) — $35,000
83. Ryan Hollins (Waived by Grizzlies) — $16,034
84. Jaleel Roberts (Waived by Wizards) — $10,000
85. Jordan Railey (Waived by Sixers) — $6,178

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.