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Yesterday I took a look at the point guard position and how the New Orleans Pelicans expenditures measure up to other teams around the league. Jrue Holiday, while considered an expensive player, is actually paid like an average point guard in the league. Shocking, I know.
We move on to shooting guard this morning where Eric Gordon's max contract can be put into some revealing light. The very term max contract is a bit of a misnomer as what a player can earn is determined by when he signed that contract, how many years he has played in the NBA, and what the salary cap was that season among other variables. In Gordon's case despite being on a max contract he is just the 7th highest paid shooting guard in the league while coming in at 32nd overall. None of this is to say that Gordon's $15.5 million is a pittance. A max contract where 31 other players make more, sometimes a lot more, really calls into question what that term actually means to the average fan.
| Position | 2015-2016 | |
|---|---|---|
| Kobe Bryant | SG | $25,000,000 |
| Joe Johnson | SG | $24,894,863 |
| Dwyane Wade | SG | $20,000,000 |
| Jimmy Butler | SG | $16,407,500 |
| Wesley Matthews | SG | $16,407,500 |
| James Harden | SG | $15,756,438 |
| Eric Gordon | SG | $15,514,031 |
| Klay Thompson | SG | $15,501,000 |
| Khris Middleton | SG | $14,700,000 |
| Brandon Knight | SG | $13,500,000 |
| Tyreke Evans | SG | $10,734,586 |
| Monta Ellis | SG | $10,300,000 |
| DeMar Derozan | SG | $10,050,000 |
| Danny Green | SG | $10,000,000 |
| Alec Burks | SG | $9,463,484 |
| Lance Stephenson | SG | $9,000,000 |
All from Basketball Insiders. Note that ESPN's salaries list has a number of omissions.
On the other side of the ledger we find Tyreke Evans. Once it was said that Evans received a monster offer and that the Pelicans committed a serious overpay when giving Evans almost $44 million over four seasons. Of course the very next summer that contract started to look like a bargain and it continues to look more cost effective as time passes. Tyreke Evans will not be among the 70 highest paid players in the NBA this year; not bad for a guy ranked 58th according to Sports Illustrated.
Gordon's contract expires this season. At no point has he produced at a level commiserate with his salary allocation. Evans should continue to be a steal. Next summer the Pelicans should look to move a great deal of salary from shooting guard to small forward to create a more balanced roster. For now, let's hope that Evans and Gordon can build off a solid second half of the year and put all that additional conditioning work to good use under Alvin Gentry.