5 highest-paid coaches in NBA history

4. Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat — $8 million per year

The second-longest-tenured coach in the league, Spoelstra has led the Heat since the 2008 season and signed his current contract in 2019, which was a four-year deal. That means he's in the final season of that agreement and is due for a new one.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Spoelstra could be in line to receive upwards of $20 million per year on his next contract, which would (spoiler alert) vault him up to first place on this list. He has won 704 regular season games, two NBA titles, and six Eastern Conference championships. Spoelstra has nine Coach of the Month awards to his name but has never won Coach of the Year. He did, however, make the NBA 75's 15 Greatest Head Coaches of All Time list compiled last year, which is a remarkable achievement.

The future Hall of Famer is only 52 years old and still has plenty of quality years left, so Miami would do well to lock him up long-term before the coaching contract bubble explodes even further. Each new deal for a top coach will continually reset the market, and there's no doubt that Spoelstra is an excellent coach who should remain with the Heat for a long time, so Pat Riley and co. need to get ahead of the next coach on this list in order to save some serious cash