Who has the single Best Value Contract in the NBA right now?
Exclude guys on their rookie deals, veteran contracts that are true steals / absolute head scratches.
I mean, Deni Avdija is making \(14.4MM, and if you check in in a couple years that’s going down to \)11.9MM
Why did the Wiz drop him again?
Genuine question, trade talks and the whole salary side of the game are something I don’t usually pay much attention to (unless…)
The trade was Deni for Malcom Brogdon, Bub Carrington and 2029 1st (second best of blazers, celtics, bucks) iirc. I think the thought was he didn’t fit the wizards timeline, but I think wizards fans would tell you they didn’t think he’d pan out quite like this.
The guy is a star. No one, including the Blazers, thought he was going to be this good. Sometimes you just get lucky.
Of course luck almost always has some part to do with it if the prospect wasn’t viewed as a legit superstar prospect. But Mike Schmitz did put out there that one of his 6 hot takes during that draft was that Deni would be the best international player in that draft class, then doubled down and traded for him four years later when the asking price was 2 1sts and 2 2nds. That’s not necessarily a small asking price, so it does take some level of conviction.
I disagree, the wizards just weren’t willing to commit. He had star written all over him, I even made a whole video a few months before he got traded saying he’d be the next breakout star.
Idk I feel like a lot of people knew he was going to be really good. I didn’t start watching him until early 23-24 but he had a lot of flashes of brilliance, for the most part he was just stuck behind some black holes (Poole, Kuzma) on a tanking team
I’m not sold on him as a star. He’s being asked to do a lot with all of Portland’s backcourt injuries, but his turnovers, late game decision making, and overall regression during clutch minutes and late game scenarios is not something you really see from star NBA players.
He went 1-6 at the FT line late in a must win game last night and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a ‘star’ take as bad of a shot to try to win a game as he did a few weeks ago.
lol what timeline?
The timeline of not being good now but maybe being good in the future.
a galaxy far far away timeline
We knew there was a good chance he would get better (I believe he dropped 43 points shortly before the deadline against the Hawks I think?) - and the trade was a surprise at the time. I’ve also mentioned in past comments he’s exactly our FO’s kind of player with his skillset and size. But we wouldn’t be able to tank with someone like him + Sarr and keeping him would’ve risked getting stuck in mediocrity again. We’re pretty happy he’s shining in Portland but who knows how much of being in Portland has been the exact reason he keeps reaching higher levels.
He was traded at that exact moment where it was unclear if he was going to take a step forward into minor stardom or just regress back to the mean. I feel like he only had about 2/3rds of a season of (what in hindsight) was rapid development on a star like progression.
Entirely reasonable to believe that was more of a hot streak for him. He’d been a so-so player for most of his time in the league.
Because they’re the wizards
I think there was worry that Deni might have got good enough to help the Wizards finish 10-11th in the east.
They didn’t so much, it was more that they wanted a complete teardown. We got 2 frps and 2 srps for him (one became Bub Carington, think one’s still outstanding). Both sides won tbh, Blazers were just ahead of the Wiz bc of Shaedon Sharpe so I think it just made sense for them.
Reaves
His ppg is double his salary.
Reaves has genuinely been insane, can’t wait for his eventual all star appearance
Deni Avdija is almost doing that as well but while functioning as a first option and great defense.
Reaves doing it as not the first option makes it even more impressive.
How? Luka is a top 3 playmaker in the league and teams are spending about 80% of the defensive gameplan on stopping him.
It’s definitely more impressive to be the guy defenses are keyed in on and still getting yours.
Exactly why every game where he goes off without Luka and Bron gets highlighted. People are more impressed that he was able to do that AS A FIRST OPTION.
I mean he was cooking when Luka and James were injured as well.
Yea Reaves has been amazing every chance he gets. I’m just saying it’s easier to be that guy when you have Luka Doncic on your team.
Yeah and they’re saying he was still being that guy when Luka wasn’t on the team.
And when Luka wasn’t on the team LeBron and Anthony Davis were.
No shade on AR, it’s just more impressive to do it when you don’t have those kind of guys on your side. Like what would be more impressive, JDub putting up these numbers on the current Thunder or going to the Nets and still putting up these numbers?
Have you seen his stats in history 1st option games?
Yea he’s great, what does that have to do with what I said?
Keep stats the same and put AR on the Blazers and Deni on the Lakers and I’d say the same thing.
Can you tell me if it’s easier or harder to put up good stats when Luka is on your team?
Brother c’mon you know exactly how it’s relevant, if you don’t then I’m not trying to be rude but respectfully you might be a tad illiterate. (The real definition of illiterate not “can’t read anything at all ” illiteracy.
My statement was in direct response to your argument, the one regarding it being more impressive if he is the number one option, and I pointed out he is insane in his first option stints as well.
“I think it’s more impressive to do it as a 2nd/3rd option” “I thinks it’s more impressive to do it when you always have the best defender on you” “Yea but have you seen AR when he doesn’t have Luka?”
“I think it’s more impressive to do it as a 2nd/3rd option”
“I thinks it’s more impressive to do it when you always have the best defender on you”
“Yea but have you seen AR when he doesn’t have Luka?”
But I’m the one who is illiterate? What do AR’s handful of non-Luka games have to do with my opinion on 1st vs 2nd/3rd option stars?
Do you really not get it or being intentionally stupid?
Please explain to me why 4 or 5 good games as a 1st option should influence me on why being good as a 2nd option is more impressive than being good as a 1st option? Then try to tell me it’s harder to be good with Luka Doncic on your team.
Well when Luka and Lebron are out guess which defender is on him is what we re trying to say. Even when the best defender was on him, when he had to be the first option he stepped up and was putting 40⁄50 almost every night.
Yea he’s been great as a first option but that has nothing to do with my statement. It’s easier to be good with Luka Doncic on your team.
Wow okay illiteracy it is.
You say it’s when a player always has the best defender on him that would be impressive, I’m saying he has plenty of games where that’s the case.
You want to claim it’s easier with Luka on your team ..okay fair enough. But then you proceed to disregard evidence that he is able to ball out with the best defender on him and no Luka.
And those games were way more impressive than most of what he’s done as a 2nd option. You’re almost keeping track man.
Damn bro I didn’t know Deni stans was a thing already
You can call me a Zionist, that ain’t gonna make me think it’s harder to put up all star stats without Luka Doncic on your team.
No it’s more impressive to do it when you dont handle the ball as much cuz you’re not the first option. When Reaves was the primary guy while luka was out we watched him score 37 ppg over 3 games.
Is it harder or easier to put up stats with Luka Doncic on your team?
Also it’s hilarious how everybody is citing his numbers as a first option to discredit my option. You’re bringing up those numbers as a first option because it’s more impressive that he did that as a first option lmfao
Ajay Mitchell is averaging 5.3 his salary. Lol.
Hes on his rookie deal though. Another one that OKC has to keep its eye on for extension time
No, he’s not? Didn’t they decline the first year Team option and extend him for 9⁄3?
Yeah, i was corrected. Sorry for the mistake
No he was a second round pick so they don’t really even have rookie deals. He was on a two way contract last year and his option was declined and signed his current deal over the summer
Thanks for the correction
If Avdija is playing defense then he wins this battle for better contract.
Avdija is ranked in the 7th percentile in dEPM and Reaves has improved to 70th.
Reaves is so far ahead of Ardija overall, it’s not even close.
always love when some redditors pull out some weird ass metrics
One of the most reliable metric as cited by nba front offices are considered weird ass metrics. Okay dude.
metrics without contexts are just a bunch of numbers
Dismissing metrics without understanding them is even worse.
i dismissed them before you just put a number out there and pretend it says something. nice try though, keep reading bballref you might end up as a GM one day attaboy.
EPM is debatably the best measurement for basketball players, and it’s not even listed on BBR 😂 can’t say I’m surprised a Lakers fan doesn’t actually know much about basketball
This is the last guaranteed year on his contract though. Next year is a player option.
people love regular season reeves then will absolute shit on him come playoff time
Plenty of minimum guys whos ppg is quadruple their salary.
Rollins ppg is 4.5x his salary
Ryan Rollins on the Bucks 3yrs 12m. This should be year one of 2nd contract after getting dropped by two teams previously.
Ajay mitchell 3 years 9M xD both are absolute steals
Thank you Target for catching this man stealing so he fell to us for this bargain.
It’s mathematically SGA
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/best-value/_/year/2025
People think about this the wrong way, Cheaper doesn’t always mean best value. This is why people are bad at investing.
I forget Shai is only making 35….
Yep he’s the best contract lol
this was true last year as well
Just like curry getting underpaid before he became a mvp level player and becoming the best contract in the league
You know what people mean with these
But you have a max in the NBA so this logic doesn’t work
If there was no max then yeah
The logic is fine, he outplays his salary so his contract has absurd value to the team.
Yes and many rookies have also outplayed their salary but the limitations on how much you can pay players it’s very obvious what people mean when they ask this
Yes in reality the best “steal contract” in situations like this is the best player in the world but it’s not what OP is asking it’s just that simple
^this is why people bad at investing. You can’t comprehend that it’s truly outperforming even compared to historical peaks such as the current max salary.
No i can clearly comprehend that, the true best contracts are always the best players especially in a stupid system like the NBA with a cap and maxes etc
It’s just never what people are asking in these threads but someone like you always wants to do this
Can you give me some financial advice and investing bro, please you seem so smart
but it is what he was asking so don’t try to move the goal posts after being proven wrong
if you want some financial advice i would tell anyone to go try and marry into a rich family because you aren’t going to stop working otherwise.
Jokic still being 3rd on 55 million is hilarious
It’s hilarious that I watch every single Thunder game and my first thought was Ajay Mitchell. Yet a Lakers fan brings the receipts and makes me realize the answer is still SGA.
there are underlying reasons why this is the case, the thunder front office are a big reason for SGA’s success. the players around him and the schemes they run fits perfectly.
if you optimized every team like this you would see more parity within value over production.
This is technically the correct answer.
Jokic max contract still right at the top. As soon as SGA giga-max kicks in, and if Deni were to cool off at all, its realistic Jokic is the biggest steal of a contract while getting the absolute superstar max.
Literally anyone on the thunder😭
mamuuuuu
Probably not the best in the whole league but Payton Pritchard’s 4yr/30m is pretty crazy
Ajay Mitchell is on a 3yr / \(8,700,000 descending value contract. This guy is making \)3M a year
It’s basically his rookie deal, those shouldn’t count
They declined his team option to sign this deal so I’d say it stands as a different contract
It’s not technically a rookie contract, but Ajay still hits FA the same year as most of the other 2024 2nd rounders who have made it so I guess in spirit it doesn’t really feel much different.
It is absolutely not his rookie deal. This is a custom deal.
Deuce McBride is currently in year 2 of a 3 year 13 million dollar contract. 4.33 million a year for an important piece on a contending team is a steal
MAMU
Most of the obvious answers have been said, but I wanna shoutout what Julian Champagnie has been bringing us this season while only making $3m a year. Still a bit streaky here and there and prone to mistakes but he was undrafted and only 24 yrs old. He’s had a great success story finding a role for us so far.
That dunk against the Hawks was nasty
Plus 5 rebounds and a steal. Keldon Johnson more valuable right now, but that is comparing 17.5m to 3m. Champ a major bargain.
Ryan Rollins is doing his best to lead the Bucks at 4m/yr
Man people here Cant read exclude rookie deals. Its avdija or Austin reaves. The best value is jokic honestly but he’s a max so
jokic at 55mil is amazing value but SGA at 35M is even better. Even if you think jokic is better, its still 20mil
Ya I just hate using people who are making the most they legally can I this discussion lol I’d label them equal
I wouldnt use either of them really guys like advija, reaves, Rollins, Mitchell are the type of dudes I would think of. But we all know that the MVP level players are worth much more than the max
I don’t even like using Mitchell personally. I classify all first contracts of players still as rookie deals even tho it’s not a set scale
It’s his second contract. OKC declined his 2nd year option and signed him to a new 9M 3 year deal
He was a two way lol basically a g league deal ok let me say for the first three years of a players career I call them ineligible
He wasn’t a two way anymore, he signed a contract in the beginning of the 24⁄25 season 1+1 Team option. Option was declined, signed the 3 year.
But it’s your choice and criteria, no wrong one really it’s just hoops talk
Jamal Shead
sga at 35 m by lightyears of distance people dropping literal just a guys missing something
Jokic and SGA are both worth 100m the same as lebron was.
Instant contenders with them on your squad.
Neemias Quenta is making 2.3 million, with another year at roughly the same, to start for the Celtics and is 13th in win share per 48 among all players.
If you want more of a veteran, Steven Adams is making 14 million a year and is 24th in win shares per 48.
If he plays this serviceable all year then he’s up there
Reaves and Avdija are making low teens while playing like All-Stars. Ryan Rollins and Deuce McBride are starting-caliber PGs making single digits. Scottie Pippen Jr is making the minimum, but he got forced into that contract by the two-way rules.
austin reaves. 13.9M this year
Russ
Shai/Jokic
Sengun
Russ is a negative on any true competitive team. So no.
Delete
Russell Westbrook is a steal on a minimum tbh. Norman Powell, PP, Rui, Josh Hart, Ingram (higher salary but theyre 2nd in the mf east)
Westbrook outplaying Dennis Schröder and took the starting PG while on that vet min.
Probably Jokic or SGA, unironically.
Collin Gillespie for the Suns.
Reaves and not even close. 13 Mil player playing like 50+ Mil and turning Lebron James into a third option. On top of that absurd availability, he plays pretty much the whole season and is very rarely injured, like a evil AD.
The answers probably Jokic.. but more so in the vein of the question Reaves and Avdija are fantastic value
Gotta be Ajay Mitchell
Payton Prichard has a case here, making like 7 mil a year for the next 4 years
Ayton should be mentioned
Ajay Mitchell.
16 points a game off the bench on a 3 year $8.7m contract signed this offseason.
Daniss Jenkins is on a 2 way contact right now.
I’d say Reaves. Could be my boy Deni too. If we wanna go like lowkey high value deals, I’d say guys like Marcus Smart, Ajay Mitchell, Russ could be there (Ajay Mitchell is basically still on a rookie contract tho even if it’s technically not)
SGA /thread
Ajay Mitchell, Aaron Wiggins, Deni Avdija
Wemby is still on his rookie deal so probably him. Austin Reaves tho if not Wemby.
Peyton Pritchard is on a good deal for the celtics
Peyton Pritchard is making 7.5 mil a year and he is the reigning 6th man….
Peyton Pritchard makes less than 10m for the next three years.
Austin Reaves. 4 years 48 million is bar none one of the best contracts in the nba right now. For a guy who’s averaging 28/6/7 in decent efficiency. Since signing this extension, he’s been a legitimate 20-5-5 player and has legitimately taken over LeBron’s spot as the clear 2nd option on this team. In Luka’s absence he’s the clear number 1 offensive option.
He will make a run at all star selection this year and he will also probably be in one of the all nba teams if the lakers are still good. Having an all nba, all star caliber player for under $15 million/year is RARE in the 2020’s nba.
I think it’s him and Deni Avdija. Deni is one year into a 4 yr/$55m contract averaging 26/6/6, and his salary declines each year.
Stew is imo the best backup big in the league (and one of the best defending bigs in the league) and on $16M/year over 4 years with a team option at the end. Probably not the best best contract because some guys like Rollins get paid peanuts but this is sneakily amazing value.
I was hoping I’d eventually see this!
Not a superstar but Deuce McBride is in year 2 of a 3 year, $13m contract and plays 27 mins/game for NYK
Ajay mitchell is providing 16/4/4 on 27 mins for the OKC. 3 years, 9mil. Rollins is the other obvious one, if we are talking less known guards
Players from real/relevant teams only.
Are you implying that the Knicks are more relevant than OKC atm? Cuz that’s hilarious
First nba champion to be bottom 25% in attendance in 50 years. No one cares about OKC.
Literally fake news, numbers are public. And even if it was true, OKC is current champs and title favorites. Knicks are nobodies when compared. and mcbride is not close to mitchell and rollins btw
jokic
Ajay Mitchell
My biased answer would be Naji Marshall but in reality it’d probably be Reaves.
Westbrook
Austin reaves
Jalen Johnson
Onyeka okongwu is making 15 mil and averaging 16.4⁄7.1reb on 52.2%/41% 3 point
Daniss Jenkins. Bro is literally playing for free 😭
Jokic or sga
Austin Reaves !
It’s going to be one of the top 5 guys cause max money is a bargain for one of them.
Keon Ellis
Russell Westbrook
THJ ❤️
Ryan Rollins…
Aaron Wiggins
Ajay Mitchell. End of conversation
Brunson
Nae’qwon Tomlin on the Cavs
Gotta be Austin Reaves, right??
Russel WB
Whatever Jokic is getting paid is great value. I know its a max contract. But he, like prime LeBron and a few others, will always be underpaid with cap limits on contracts.
Drummond is getting 5 million to grab almost 11 boards a game
Norman Powell at 19 million is a steal. He plays like a 45 million dollar player, and has for years. He is one of the best two guards in the league.
Dillon Brooks if you look at his locker room impact and current production. His contract also lowers to $18 million next year which is his final year.
Zach Lavine. It’s helping 29 other teams right now. If that’s not efficient idk what is
Ryan Rollins has a good case. Payton Pritchard is also a bargain.
AUSTIN REAVES. Josh Giddey. Toumani Camara. Aaron Nesmith. Onyeka Okongwu. Naji Marshall. All those guys are providing good value for the money. Reaves has the most team friendly contract considering his stats s9 far this year.
Jaden McDaniels likely isn’t the answer to this, but imo should be in the conversation. 24 million for incredible defense, and he’s been a solid scorer when he’s needed to be one this season
He isn’t in the conversation when there is someone like advija who is better and makes less 10m and someone who is miles better and only makes more 10M in SGA. But it’s a good contract for sure
Jalen Brunson
Jalen Johnson’s contract is about to start looking really insane
One of the least obvious answers is Luka. He was robbed of his deserved Supermax and Lakers are getting off comparably easy atm.
Joe Ingles.
$2 mil to provide the vibes and the best inbound passer of his generation.
Bargain.
I honestly think he should be out of the nba
How dare you.
Wemby is the best value contract, I’m not sure why you’d exclude rookie deals.
But using your criteria, the answer is clearly Austin Reaves on \(13.5m because he’ll get and is absolutely worth \)40m next year.
Pretty obvious why…you don’t get to choose what you pay people in rookie deals (mostly)
If Wemby’s salary wasn’t capped by being a rookie, he’d be a max player.
That’s very flawed logic then, because all salaries are subject to caps under the CBA. The reason AR is paid only $13.5m is because he was a restricted FA and the max the Lakers could offer him was this much.
Similarly, superstars like Luka, Jokic, Giannis are all underpaid precisely because the CBA limit how much they can make.
To try draw a difference between the limits placed on rookie deals and other limits doesn’t make much sense.
It’s not flawed logic. It’s a simple question, who’s on a bargain contract…
You could argue someone is so good that a guy on a max is a bargain, someone literally commented Jokic.
But the essence of the question is seeing who is outperforming the contract they are on, as in has increased their value immensely from when they signed their deal. No need to be a smartass.
Your own definition of “who’s outperforming the contract they are on” applies to rookie deal contracts like Wemby’s.
The question literally says no rookie deals
Whats up with you?
I know what the op asked, I’m saying his distinction to exclude rookie deals doesn’t make any sense.
What’s wrong with you?
Think it’s pretty clear that you’re the only one confused by that one buddy. May want to look in the mirror.
Bro, you’re really out here acting like ignoring the premise of the OP is going to make you look smarter than everyone else, and it’s dumb as hell, lmao.
I’m not ignoring the premise or don’t know the premise, Im saying the premise is flawed. So far all the attempts at defending the premise have been lacking.
Cause many rookies out perform their contracts…because they are standardly lower than any other salary.
It’s not interesting to ask who has the best value contract, when every single time it’s the best player still on their rookie deal.
Get a life brother. You’re a moron.
No it’s not because rookie deals aren’t always as good as someone like Wemby is this early on.
Try to use logic rather than calling names.
No one said they aren’t always as good as Wemby. I said rookies often out perform their contracts, you know why, cause they are structured to be small. There’s a reason why the question said no rookies, cause there’s no discussion to be had.
Like I said, the answer to this question the way you want it answered, is always the same. It’s the best player on a rookie deal. Not as quite as interesting of a conversation is it?
If we wanted to talk about the best young player in the league, we would, and we often do. Keep stroking your logic and learn how to shut it.
Rookies do not often outperform their deals at all. Rookies way more often than not are negative players.
I can tell you have no idea what you’re talking about but you do like to call names, so there’s that going for you.
We were talking about people on rookie deals, not just rookies. It’s pretty for a 3rd year player to outperform their 5m salary. But yep, I’m definitely the one with no idea what they’re talking about when you’re so ignorant you can’t even understand discussion.
Well the epitome of Reddit, so congrats, moron.