In the NBA in 2023, we have seen free agents and players being extended with some of the most lucrative deals ever signed in NBA history. Compared to even 20 years ago, role players are being paid like superstars, and the game’s best players are signing deals that basketball players of old could only ever dream about. This is the progression of the business end of things, with television deals, merchandise, and many other things being at an all-time high.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the players signing these deals absolutely deserve the money they are getting. This rings especially true for the superstars that bring in ticket holders and make the NBA the lucrative business it is.
Today, we are going to take a look at the 10 biggest contracts ever signed in the NBA in terms of total value. While looking at these contracts, we will break down the average annual value of the deals as well as the players’ ages by the time those contracts are up. We will weigh in on these contracts as it pertains to both current and future situations for each player and their respective teams as well.
These are the 10 largest signed contracts in the history of the NBA.
T10. Trae Young – $215,159,700
Credit: Jason Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Trae Young has been one of the most valuable players on offense over the last three seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. Young has shown the ability to not only create and score himself but also for his teammates, as he has led the NBA in both total points and total assists. As he is still just entering his prime, the Hawks were pretty much forced to reward him with a massive extension of his rookie deal, which they did beginning in 2022-23.
Young’s $215 million extension will keep him in Atlanta through the 2027 season at which time he can seek a supermax deal. In 2022, Young’s extension was increased due to his All-NBA Third Team selection by 30% of the salary cap. Young is undoubtedly a valuable asset for the Hawks moving forward and the player they would like to build around as they seek their first NBA title since 1958. They made sure Young would be a Hawk for at least the next five years. Now let’s see what they can accomplish during that time.
T10. Luka Doncic – $215,159,700
Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Much like the player he was traded for on draft night back in 2018, Luka Doncic received the same 30% of the salary cap extension of his rookie deal as well. Doncic has been not only one of the best players from his draft class so far in his career but has quickly become one of the best players in the entire NBA.
Doncic, who turns 24 next season, is already a three-time All-NBA Team selection and three-time All-Star, so to say he earned the full extension is an understatement. This deal, like Young, will keep Luka under contract with the Dallas Mavericks through 2026-27. Annually, Doncic’s deal kicked in with a salary of $37,096,500. That annual value will increase to $48,967,380 for the 2026-27 season. Considering the quality of player he has already become before even turning 25, chances are this will not be the last major contract he signs with Dallas or any other team who will want to hand him a supermax deal.
T10. Zach LaVine – $215,159,700
Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
In July 2022, the Chicago Bulls decided to recommit to their star shooting guard Zach Lavine with a five-year, $215,200,000 deal. LaVine originally arrived in Chicago in a 2017 trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves that landed them Jimmy Butler. He was previously on a four-year $78 million deal and became an unrestricted free agent before it took him all of 18 hours to re-sign with the Bulls in 2022.
Leading up to his 2022 extension, LaVine averaged 24.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 4.4 APG in five seasons with the Bulls, with two All-Star selections in 2021 and 2022. In the first year of his new deal, the 2022-23 season, LaVine made $37,096,500 but played 77 games for Chicago and averaged 24.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 4.2 APG. There are rumors of a trade rumbling around the league this summer as Chicago could be headed for another rebuild by the 2023-24 trade deadline starting with the departure of LaVine and his massive contract.
7. Stephen Curry – $215,353,664
Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Curry is more deserving than just about everybody on this list, given his body of work over the last decade. Over the last nine seasons, Curry has been the focal point of a dynasty that has won four NBA championships while individually, he has won a Finals MVP and two MVP awards while becoming the greatest shooter in NBA history.
Curry’s $215,353,664 extension in 2022 was not only warranted but historic in more than one way. With the drying of the ink on this deal, Curry became the first player in NBA history to sign two contracts worth $200 million or more. This 2022 extension is for four years, with the first year of his deal just being completed in 2022-23. Curry battled injuries this past season and watched the Warriors rebuild a bit around him with the addition of Chris Paul this offseason. By the final season of his deal in 2025-26, Stephen Curry will be earning $59,606,817 annually.
6. Domantas Sabonis – $217,000,000
Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Domantas Sabonis is coming off a 2022-23 season in which he led the NBA in rebounding and helped lead the Sacramento Kings to their first playoff berth in 17 years. Sabonis has been one of the more underrated big men in the NBA over the last five seasons but he certainly isn’t being paid that way.
Sabonis’ deal is interesting in the fact that it was a renegotiation and extension that kicks in from 2023 through 2028. The extension gave four new years on his previous deal and $195 million in new money. Previously, his deal was worth just four years and $$74.9 million. The Kings have invested in their future for the long term, with both Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox leading the way. Can the Kings build upon their 2022-23 success and go even deeper into the NBA playoffs?
T5. Karl-Anthony Towns – $224,000,000
Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Another name on this list who has been at the center of trade rumors is Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Whether those rumors have any life to them remains to be seen, but one truth is that it will cost one team a lot of money to have his services over the next four years.
Towns’ supermax deal was agreed upon with Minnesota after the 2022 run that saw them go to the playoffs and take the Memphis Grizzlies to six games. Minnesota tacked onto Towns’ rookie extension with this deal which means that Towns sits in a highly elite group of players that have signed three maxed-out contracts. The supermax deal will not kick in until the 2024-25 season and begin at $50.05 million annually. By the end of the deal in 2027-28, Towns will be set to make just over $62 million per season.
The only thing that remains to be seen is if it will be Minnesota paying that money or another team willing to take it on in a trade.
T5. Devin Booker – $224,000,000
Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Over the last few seasons, Devin Booker has proved to be one of, if not the best, player at his position in the NBA. Booker was able to land this massive contract extension thanks to his help in leading the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021 and the NBA’s best record in 2022. The Suns have a ton of money on their books with the additions of both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal as well, but Booker was the first order of business.
After an All-NBA Team selection in 2022 and three straight All-Star selections, Booker became eligible for this supermax deal before Durant or Beal were in their plans. In the 2023 playoffs, after battling injuries for most of the season, Booker showed why Phoenix invested in him for the long term. Booker led all scorers with 33.7 PPG on 58.5% shooting, although the Suns fell to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the second round.
Booker’s deal is set to kick in 2024-25 at an annual salary worth %50 million. The deal will end in 2027-28, and Booker will earn just over $62 million. This will put Booker in line, as long as he stays healthy and keeps producing at an All-NBA level, he will be eligible for another supermax extension at just 31 years of age.
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo – $228,200,420
Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s deal is the oldest of any deal on this list, with his five-year, $228 million extension that he inked with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020. Giannis was coming off back-to-back MVP awards at the time of the extension, a deal that has paid him over $60 million since 2021. In the first year of his deal, the Bucks cashed in big time as he led them to their first NBA championship since 1971 with an all-time great performance.
In 2022 and 2023, Milwaukee’s chances were dashed early on in the playoffs, but Giannis performed at MVP-caliber levels. As one of the best players in the world, Giannis continues to earn the entirety of his $228 million supermax extension with the Bucks. With the deal expiring in 2026, Giannis is set to make over $45 million in 2023-24 and 2024-25, as well as just over $51 million in 2025-26. There is no doubt he will be worth the money and, perhaps by the looks of this list, a little underpaid.
2. Bradley Beal – $251,000,000
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Bradley Beal and his agent belong in the Hall of Fame for negotiating contracts. Signing three contracts before thirty years old is considered a milestone that very few players reach in their careers. Well, in the summer of 2022, Beal opted out of his third contract in order to sign a massive $251 million extension with the Wizards, making it his fourth contract before he was 30 years old.
The best part of Beal’s contract is the money, of course, but it was also the inclusion of a no-trade clause, one of the very few ever given out in NBA history. Beal would waive that clause this offseason to allow a trade to the Phoenix Suns in order to form a Big 3 of himself, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant.
Beal’s deal began in 2022-23 with the Wizards as he earned $43.28 million and averaged 23.2 PPG and 5.4 APG over the course of just 50 games played. Now with the Suns, Beal will earn $46.75 million in 2023-24 and over $50 million for each season from 2025 through 2027. The 2026-27 season is another favorable one for Beal as it is a player option season worth just over $57 million.
1. Nikola Jokic – $270,000,000
Credit: Isaiah J.Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Nikola Jokic stands alone as the signer of the largest contract in NBA history by total value. Jokic is already a two-time MVP, NBA champion, and Finals MVP in his career, seeking to do much more as his career carries on. Jokic has taken the NBA by storm, especially with his performance throughout the 2023 playoffs, to deliver the Denver Nuggets their first NBA championship.
The 2022-23 season was the last season of Jokic’s previous deal in which he earned just under $32.5 million. His supermax extension will kick in with an annual salary of $46.9 million in 2023-24 on the heels of a championship run that makes Denver feel particularly good about their investment. For a player to receive this kind of deal after being a second-round pick but no second-round pick has ever been able to do the things Jokic has on the court.
Denver has to feel good that their star big man is locked up through the 2027-28 season. Of course, that is if Jokic will opt into his $61.9 million player option but let’s be real, who wouldn’t? Jokic doesn’t really seem to be into basketball for the money or fame. I don’t truly know why he plays basketball as it seems like just another day to him, whether it’s the offseason or accepting his Finals MVP trophy. What I do know is that he’s the best at it in the world and is paid exactly what he deserves.
