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NBA Salary Numbers
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The NBA has released its salary figures for the upcoming season, providing a great deal of fodder for critics and sports writers alike. Some of the data is downright mind blowing.
First of all, with the recent release for NBA players and each team, it became very obvious what a complete failure the Knicks are as a basketball franchise. It is one thing to miss the playoffs in the NBA, but it is another level entirely when you miss the postseason despite having the league's highest payroll.
Consider the following, the boys from New York have a salary commitment in 2006-07 of approximately 141 million dollars. That number is staggering, an incredible 47 million more than the number two franchise, the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers. The number is more than twice that of 22 NBA teams and more than three times that of at least three teams, including a popular playoff contender, the Toronto Raptors.
Then when it comes to failures, the 76ers also have to be right there, given that they are the number two spenders and they too seem to have real difficulty even making the playoffs. Of course, the 76ers numbers are so high because the team happens to employ two of the highest paid players in the game. Chris Webber hauls in $20.7 million for a season's work while Allen Iverson takes home $18.2 million. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, Iverson is the only one of the two to be worth even close to those figures.
But when it comes to being overpaid, think of the numbers of Brian Grant and Stephon Marbury at $17.3 and $17.2 million respectively, and Jalen Rose at $16.9. Any paring of these folks creates a salary total great than that of the Charlotte Bobcats who come in as an entire team at $33.4 million. And those three folks together represent more dollars than the entire salary totals of the Atlanta Hawks, the up and coming Toronto Raptors, the slip-sliding Seattle Supersonics and the very competitive New Orleans Hornets.
For pay, Kevin Garnett tops the list, earning $21 million per season. Amazingly, Shaquille O'Neal is only fourth on the list, his $20 million salary trailing both Webber and Michael Finley, an overpaid sub for the San Antonio Spurs.
For the 2006-07 season, the NBA team median number of $61 million is certainly the best descriptor for the league. Take that number plus or minus ten percent and you have 19 of the thirty NBA teams, five teams (New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles and Portland) spending more than ten percent higher, and six teams Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Toronto, Atlanta and Charlotte) spending up to ten percent lower.
When it comes to bargains, consider two teams that many feel will be very competitive in the East. The 24th and 25th spenders on the list are Detroit, a powerhouse the last few years, and Chicago, a team many think will hit the Eastern Conference elite in 2006-07. Ironically, Detroit did not match the contract offer that Ben Wallace received form the Bulls, moving the Pistons down the list substantially when it comes to salaries - but not so substantially when it comes to being competitive. Likewise, it easy to see why the Bulls could make such a strong offer to Wallace since they still stand 25th in the league in spending even with his added dollars.
But when it comes to winning, spending does matter. Other than Detroit and Chicago, the other key teams for the coming year are all above the league median. Dallas comes in third, and San Antonio, Phoenix and Miami all are in the league's top ten of spenders.
So one might say you get what you pay for, for the most part, even if the numbers are staggering.
4:13 PM
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