Fun fact: the 2025-26 season is the last season, probably ever, where no basketball player will make $60 million in a season. Next year, three players are already set to make $60+ million, and nine players in 2027-28. That’s without extensions for Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, and Victor Wembenyama still to be signed.
That’s not the only interesting fact about this season. As we sit here in the middle of July, there are 174 players who are going to make a minimum of $10 million this season, according to Hoops Hype. Ninety-one players are making at least $20 million next season. When LeBron James, who is currently the 11th-highest-paid player in the league, signed to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 for $20 million. That was just a little over a decade ago.
It’s no secret that NBA salaries have exploded. Even Cooper Flagg, the number one overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks, is going to make more than $11 million (although he was making much more under NIL deals in college).
Who are the highest-paid players in the NBA? There are a few surprising names on this list.
10 (tie). Devin Booker
Phoenix Suns
Karl-Anthony Towns
New York Knicks
Jaylen Brown
Boston Celtics
2025-26 Salary: $53,142,264
There's a tie in the 10th spot, so we'll quickly talk about all three high earners. They come from very different situations. Let's start with Devin Booker, who is scheduled to become the NBA's highest earner in 2028-29. He just signed two-year extension that will pay him a total of more than $300 million over the next five season when considering his current contract. That's more than the GDP of the Marshall Islands.
Karl-Anthony Towns is looking to prove himself a little more than Booker. While the Suns will throw whatever money it takes to keep their star, the New York Knicks are going about this a different way. Towns isn't even the Knicks top player. Jalen Brunson took a sweetheart deal that only pays him around $35 million this season and $41 million in two years. Meanwhile, Towns is going to make more and more bloated salaries.
Then, there's Jaylen Brown. When he first signed this massive deal, which at the time was the richest in basketball, fans were up in arms. Like Towns, Brown is not the best player on the Celtics. He is very much Robin to Jayson Tatum's Batman. With Tatum missing the entire 2025-26 season with an Achilles injury, Brown can earn this top-10 salary.
7 (tie). Jayson Tatum
Boston Celtics
2025-26 Salary: $54,126,450
Transparently, Bradley Beal was supposed to be the next player on this list, but he was bought out in the middle of July and now makes a pretty reasonable salary with the Los Angeles Clippers. So, we’ll skip ahead to Jayson Tatum. The Boston Celtics superstar is getting a whole lotta money for doing a whole lotta sitting.
Kidding of course, the Celtics are paying Tatum for his future impact, but the fact of the matter is he’s getting $54 million to add nothing to the Celtics on-court play. What’s crazy is Tatum’s Achilles injury he suffered in the playoffs against the New York Knicks caused the Celtics to completely change their attitude towards the season.
They desperately tried to avoid the second apron, selling off assets like it was a garage sale. Kristaps Porzingis was shipped to Atlanta. Jrue Holiday went from contender to role model in Portland. The Celtics made as many cost-cutting moves, short of trading away Jaylen Brown, as they could.
When Tatum returns from injury, most expect him to get back to being one of the biggest stars in the league. He’s a top player playing on a premier franchise. Those players get big bucks, and Tatum deserves the bag he received.
7 (tie). Jimmy Butler
Golden State Warriors
2025-26 Salary: $54,126,450
The Golden State Warriors have made moves to keep their playoff hopes alive while Steph Curry is still one of the best players in the league. They are holding onto this version of themselves for dear life, and the move for Jimmy Butler shows the dedication they have to keeping Steph relevant deep into his career.
Butler forced his way out of Miami then signed a massive extension when he got to California. Butler signed a two-year, $121 million contract extension after declining his player option. That’s not bad for a player who averaged 17 points per game, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Butler is making the most of the end of his career.
He did average 19 points in the playoffs, which is a little better and part of his reputation. He’s paid the way he is because of his clutch performances. Instead of being a very good player who didn’t hit his ceiling, his ability to carry teams on his back to the NBA Finals has him considered more in the upper echelon, and it’s why he’s on this list.
The Warriors are hoping he has one more carrying job left in him. They’ll pay him all of the money if he helps get Curry to the Finals one more time. It’s a tall task, but it would be well worth the money.
6. Kevin Durant
Houston Rockets
2025-26 Salary: $54,708,608
Kevin Durant ended up being the prize of the summer, getting his desired trade away from the Phoenix Suns. He now plays ball for the Houston Rockets, the sixth city of the future Hall of Famer’s career. Durant is one of the best players ever. This is why he got the contract he did.
Durant is going to make a little more than $54 million this season. Most thought he would have already been signed to a max extension, which would have paid him $122 million for two years after the next one. However, despite all the talk around the extension, Durant still hasn’t signed one.
Is he going to spend one season in Houston to see how it goes and hit free agency next season? Unlike other stars, Durant has familiarity with free agency. He left Golden State after a torn Achilles and signed a massive deal with Brooklyn in 2021.
Durant’s career has not gone the way he probably hoped after leaving the Warriors. He hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since then, with disappointing ends in both Brooklyn and Phoenix before eventually getting traded from those super teams. Now, he’s hoping to pair with a young Houston team to grow them into a contender. We’ll see how his season goes, as he turns 37 before the season starts.
4 (tie). Joel Embiid
Philadelphia 76ers
2025-26 Salary: $55,224,526
There are players who have dealt with injuries like Kevin Durant, but there are few players whose injury history is holding a team hostage like Joel Embiid’s. The former NBA MVP missed a large portion of last season with face, foot, and ultimately a knee injury that ended his season. Embiid has had injuries his entire career, missing his entire first season after foot surgery and recording at least a dozen injuries in his career, most to his lower body.
And that’s why most people considered his contract extension insane. Embiid signed a three-year extension worth $193 million prior to last season. It has him signed for crazy money in Philadelphia through 2029.
The 76ers were disastrous last season, becoming one of the five worst teams in the league. One would hope that Embiid can earn his $55 million salary and return to the court in great shape, but history tells us it’s more likely he misses more time. He’s ceiling is as high as any player’s in the league, but it’s hard to hit that ceiling when you’re not available.
Embiid should be able to earn this contract, but he just can’t stay healthy. It’s put the 76ers in a very bad spot. They might be looking to offload this salary and rebuild again. Hopefully, nobody talks about “The Process” this time, because it was ultimately a failure.
4 (tie). Nikola Jokic
Denver Nuggets
2025-26 Salary: $55,224,526
Often Embiid’s counterpart in MVP conversations, Nikola Jokic might be the best player in basketball. It’s been that way for half a decade now. He’s in the MVP conversation every single year, coming in second place again to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this past season. He has the Denver Nuggets in contention despite the mistakes his front office makes along the way. Jokic is the superstar running this league.
The fact that he makes the same exact salary as Embiid is almost laughable. Jokic is everything the 76ers wished Embiid would be. He plays as many games as physically possible. He steps up his game in big moments. He’s tough as nails and doesn’t say much to rock the boat. The Nuggets wish they could pay five Nikola Jokices.
Jokic is signed for two more seasons in Denver and could sign another extension there. However, some are curious if he’ll let this play out. The Nuggets have made some interesting moves in 2025, including firing head coach Mike Malone and trading for Jonas Valanciunas and Cam Johnson for Dario Sarcic and Michael Porter Jr.
The Nuggets are working to build another contender around Jokic, but he might want to see what version of Jamal Murray returns next season before he signs on the dotted line. Either way, it will be one of the richest contracts in all of sports.
2 (tie). Anthony Davis
Dallas Mavericks
2025-26 Salary: $57,604,894
What a strange year for Anthony Davis. In the shock trade of the century, the Dallas Mavericks sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis and his massive deal. As you can see (and spoiler alert), Doncic is not on this list. However, Davis is coming into Dallas with the second-highest salary in the entire NBA.
This wasn’t exactly trading crumbs for a cookie. Davis is a really good player, and he’s compensated for that performance. The Lakers probably aren’t happy with leaving the Davis-LeBron era with just one championship, but it is what it is at this point. The Mavericks are moving forward with Davis, and the Lakers are preparing for life after LeBron with their Slovenian superstar.
Davis signed a three-year, $186 million max extension prior to the 2023-24 season. He is eligible for another extension this season, and based on all of the facts, we would assume the Mavericks will give it to him. They did trade their superstar for him. They lose season ticket holders, tanked their season, became the laughing stock of the league, and put all their ships on the table to get Davis in return for Doncic.
On top of that, they just got a chance to draft Cooper Flagg out of Duke. He is the future of the franchise, and Davis can do his best David Robertson impression to lead the way while he’s there.
2 (tie). Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks
2025-26 Salary: $57,604,894
The talk all offseason was what is going to happen with Giannis Antetokounmpo. One of the league’s top players has been doing his best to carry the Milwaukee Bucks to contention each year, winning the NBA Championship in 2021. The Wisconsin franchise is considered one of the small-market cities in the NBA, so people have been mocking him to New York, LA, and Miami for years, but there was a realness to the conversation this offseason.
Then, the Bucks did something insane. They stretched and bought out Damian Lillard. He had two years left on his deal paying him $113 million total. He probably would have ended up on this list without being waived, but the Bucks needed to get something from that salary space. Lillard is out for the season with an Achilles tear, and the Bucks can’t waste another year of Giannis’s prime.
So, while they are paying Lillard $22 million to go away, they are paying Giannis $57.6 million to win championships. Is Myles Turner enough to make the Bucks contenders?
This is a really weak Eastern Conference. It’s basically Cleveland, New York, and then a crap shoot. The Bucks can build around Giannis and make this worthwhile for everyone. If the Bucks can make the NBA Finals again, would that quiet those who have been calling for him to play elsewhere?
1. Steph Curry
Golden State Warriors
2025-26 Salary: $59,606,817
Steph Curry is the NBA’s top-earning superstar, making just under $60 million this season. Curry has not only been one of the best players in the league, but he has universally been the most popular. Curry was the second-highest selling jersey last season. While other superstars move teams (like the top seller Luka Doncic), driving new jersey sales, Curry keeps making that money in the Bay Area.
Curry’s numbers have dipped with age. He’s no longer an MVP candidate carrying his team to the NBA Finals, but he’s still really good. His 24.5 points per game is the worst he’s had since the 2014-15 season (ignore the five games he played in 2019), but he was still 11th in the league. Everyone in the top 10 plays more minutes than Curry, so Steph might be one of the most efficient scorers in the league.
His salary is definitely payback, as Curry took a sweetheart deal early in his career. He signed a four-year, $44 million deal in 2012. That turned out to be possibly the best contract of all time. Now, Curry is getting his money back.
Some estimates say Curry makes around $100 million per season between salary and endorsements, and he could be passing $1 billion in career earnings before he retires.