Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the salaries, separated by conference, for each NBA player by position. The first spot on the hardwood that I’ll be looking at is the Western Conference’s point guards, which is one of the most vital positions on the hardwood.
All told, the teams out west have committed a total of $314,940,435 in cap hits this season to the men who facilitate their offenses. The average conference salary for the one spot this season is a respectable $5,525,271, with Mike Conley and Russell Westbrook topping the list with a whopping $26,540,100 to account for on their year-end W-2 forms.
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 won’t make it out of the preseason, while others will be sweating it out until January 10th, 2017. 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.
I should also add that not every player listed below will play at the one spot this season, as some are combo guards, while others may be used exclusively at shooting guard. To maintain uniformity, I used their positions listed on the teams’ official rosters to determine which positional list to include them on. So if you see a player who isn’t necessarily expected to play point guard for his team this season listed below, that’s why.
The Western Conference’s point guards are listed below, in descending order of salary:
- Mike Conley [Grizzlies] — $26,540,100
- Russell Westbrook [Thunder] —$26,540,100
- Damian Lillard [Blazers] —$24,328,425
- Chris Paul [Clippers] —$22,868,827
- Tony Parker [Spurs] —$14,445,313
- Eric Bledsoe [Suns] —$14,000,000
- Ricky Rubio [Wolves] —$13,550,000
- Brandon Knight [Suns] —$12,606,250
- Jordan Clarkson [Lakers] —$12,500,000
- Stephen Curry [Warriors] — $12,112,359
- Jrue Holiday [Pelicans] —$11,286,518
- Austin Rivers [Clippers] —$11,000,000
- Deron Williams [Mavs] — $9,000,000
- George Hill [Jazz] —$8,000,000
- Jose Calderon [Lakers] —$7,708,427
- Patrick Beverley [Rockets] —$6,000,000
- Shaun Livingston [Warriors] — $5,782,450
- D’Angelo Russell [Lakers] —$5,332,800
- Darren Collison [Kings] —$5,229,454
- Jameer Nelson [Nuggets] — $4,540,525
- Devin Harris [Mavs] — $4,227,996
- J.J. Barea [Mavs] — $4,096,950
- Dante Exum [Jazz] —$3,940,320
- Kris Dunn [Wolves] —$3,872,520
- Patty Mills [Spurs] —$3,578,948
- Emmanuel Mudiay [Nuggets] — $3,241,800
- Ronnie Price [Thunder] —$2,557,545
- Shelvin Mack [Jazz] —$2,433,334
- Zach LaVine [Wolves] —$2,240,880
- Cameron Payne [Thunder] —$2,112,480
- Tim Frazier [Pelicans] —$2,090,000
- Jordan Farmar [Kings] — $1,921,519 *See note below
- Wade Baldwin [Grizzlies] — $1,793,760
- Tyler Ennis [Rockets] —$1,733,880
- Raymond Felton [Clippers] — $1,551,659
- Marcelo Huertas [Lakers] —$1,500,000
- John Lucas III [Wolves] — $1,403,611
- Shabazz Napier [Blazers] —$1,350,120
- Tyus Jones [Wolves] —$1,339,680
- Ty Lawson [Kings] — $1,315,448
- Dejounte Murray [Spurs] —$1,180,080
- Pablo Prigioni [Rockets] — $1,050,961
- Tony Wroten [Grizzlies] — $1,050,961
- Bobby Brown [Rockets] —$980,431
- Nate Wolters [Nuggets] — $980,431
- Andrew Harrison [Grizzlies] — $945,000
- Raul Neto [Jazz] —$937,800
- Tyler Ulis [Suns] —$918,369
- Xavier Munford [Clippers] — $874,636
- Ryan Arcidiacono [Spurs] —$543,471
- Semaj Christon [Thunder] —$543,471
- Isaiah Cousins [Kings] —$543,471
- Jonathan Gibson [Mavs] — $543,471
- Patrick McCaw [Warriors] — $543,471
- Marcus Paige [Jazz]—$543,471
- Gary Payton II [Rockets] —$543,471
- Isaiah Taylor [Rockets] — $543,471
*Note: Farmar’s salary total includes the $1,410,598 he is being paid by Memphis, plus the $510,921 he is collecting from Clippers, who waived him via stretch provision.