Highest-paid NBA player on each team in 2023: Which teams are spending max contracts wisely?

Highest-paid player on the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2023: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Acquired via the Paul George trade four summers ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is entering the second year of his rookie extension where he’ll make $33,386,850.

He is a certified star, making All-NBA First Team last season while averaging a career-high 31.4 points per game. Gilgeous-Alexander has been the heart of the Thunder’s rebuild, and with Chet Holmgren and Vasilije Micic joining a young and talented roster next season he will undoubtedly be looking to build on last season’s play-in berth by qualifying for the playoffs.

Heck, Gilgeous-Alexander could be a shock MVP contender next season.

Highest-paid player on the Orlando Magic in 2023: Jonathan Isaac

Jonathan Isaac was drafted sixth overall by the Orlando Magic in 2017, and he’s entering year three of his current contract. He’ll make $17,400,00 this season.

Isaac has had flashes of elite three-and-D potential with the Magic. At 6-10, with solid lateral speed and a decent three-point shot, it’s easy to see why the Magic have stuck with Isaac through one of the worst injury records in the league.

Except for his second season where he played in 75 games, Isaac has failed to appear in more than 34 games in any other season. His fit with Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr, Jett Howard, and the rest of Orlando’s young core looks like it could be the perfect set-up for the modern NBA. All of them are 6-foot-7 or taller, have a wide range of skills, and are capable of defending multiple positions.

If the on-court product is anywhere near as good as the on-paper potential, the Magic could be back in the playoffs in 2024.