The NBA’s salary cap hit a record $70MM this season, and with it, 28 players are making eight-figure salaries this season after pulling in less than $10MM in 2014/15, including 26 who’ve never eclipsed the $10MM mark before. Two-thirds of the teams in the league have at least one player who’s new to the $10MM club.
Only six of those 28 changed teams in the offseason. Some of that is because a few of the players simply crossed the $10MM mark because of raises built into their existing contracts, but it nonetheless illustrates the advantages that teams have to retain their own players with new deals. Bird rights, extensions, and even a renegotiation, for Wilson Chandler, came into play.
The volume of players crossing the $10MM threshold only stands to increase next season, when the salary cap is projected to shoot up to $89MM. In the meantime, here’s a list of each player making an eight figure salary this season who didn’t last year, categorized by team with the salaries rounded to the nearest $1K:
Bucks
- Greg Monroe — $16.408MM (last season $5.48MM on Pistons)
- Khris Middleton — $14.7MM (last season $915K)
Bulls
- Jimmy Butler — $16.408MM (last season $2.009MM)
Cavaliers
- Kyrie Irving — $16.408MM (last season $7.071MM)
- Tristan Thompson — $14.261MM (last season $5.138MM)
Celtics
- Amir Johnson — $12MM (last season $7MM on Raptors)
Clippers
- None
Grizzlies
- None
Hawks
- Paul Millsap — $18.672MM (last season $9.5MM)
Heat
- Goran Dragic — $14.783MM (last season $7.5MM)
- *Luol Deng — $10.152MM (last season $9.714MM)
Hornets
- Kemba Walker — $12MM (last season $3.272MM)
Jazz
- None
Kings
- None
Knicks
- Robin Lopez — $12.65MM (last season $6.125MM on Trail Blazers)
Lakers
- None
Magic
- Tobias Harris — $16MM (last season $2.381MM)
- Nikola Vucevic — $11.25MM (last season $2.751MM)
Mavericks
- Wesley Matthews — $16.408MM (last season $7.246MM on Trail Blazers)
Nets
- Thaddeus Young — $11.236MM (last season $9.661MM)
Nuggets
- Kenneth Faried — $11.236MM (last season $2.25MM)
- Wilson Chandler — $10.449MM (last season $6.758MM)
Pacers
- *Monta Ellis — $10.3MM (last season $8.36MM on Mavericks)
Pelicans
- Jrue Holiday — $10.596MM (last season $9.904MM)
Pistons
- Reggie Jackson — $13.913MM (last season $2.204MM)
Raptors
- DeMarre Carroll — $13.6MM (last season $2.442MM on Hawks)
Rockets
- None
Sixers
- None
Spurs
- Kawhi Leonard — $16.408MM (last season $2.894MM)
- Danny Green — $10MM (last season $4.025MM)
Suns
- Brandon Knight — $13.5MM (last season $3.554MM)
Thunder
- Enes Kanter — $16.408MM (last season $5.695MM)
Timberwolves
- Ricky Rubio — $12.7MM (last season $4.66MM)
Trail Blazers
- None
Warriors
- Klay Thompson — $15.501MM (last season $3.076MM)
- Draymond Green — $14.261MM (last season $915K)
Wizards
- None
— Players marked with an asterisk made less than $10MM last season, but have cleared $10MM in previous seasons.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Jrue Holiday- $9.904MM (last season $10.596MM)???