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

Highest-paid player on the Atlanta Hawks in 2023: Trae Young

Trae Young was acquired by the Atlanta Hawks via a draft night trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft. He is set to make $40,064,220 next season via a Designated Rookie Extension that began this season.

Given Young’s immediate impact in the league, an All-Star appearance his sophomore year, an Eastern Conference Finals run in his third year, and an All-NBA selection in his fourth year, Young has drawn the ire of some due to the lack of team success over the past two season’s.

Young will undoubtedly be the Hawks’ best player next season and unless they can swing a trade for a player like Pascal Siakam, it’s hard to see them advancing past the first round of the playoffs. If so, Young’s future with Atlanta could be uncertain.

Highest-paid player on the Boston Celtics in 2023: Kristaps Porzingis

Unlike Young, Kristaps Porzingis is a new arrival for the Boston Celtics acquired via trade earlier this summer in a deal that saw Celtics’ beloved former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart go to Memphis.

Porzingis is set to make $36,016,200 next season (Jaylen Brown’s supermax extension will not begin until next season) and is coming off career highs in points per game (23.15) and true shooting percentage (.63).

His talent has rarely been questioned, but his relative health has always been in doubt. He appeared in 65 games for the Wizards next season, his highest total since 2017.

Can Porzingis stay healthy for Boston? Can he be as impactful as he was for the Wizards?

If so, is he the piece they’ve been missing? Al Horford is clearly not getting any younger, and his pick-and-roll drop defense fell off a cliff last season and so did his shooting in the playoffs.

Porzingis thrived in both those areas for the Wizards and the Celtics will be hoping for the same production.