<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Nenad Krstic - $1 million The 25-year old Yugoslavian has finally come out of his shell during this years? playoffs. Krstic, who averaged 18 points and 7.2 rebounds in the Nets? first round series victory over Indiana, caused huge problems for the Pacer?s interior players. Jeff Foster was quoted in ESPN The Magazine as saying, ?He got me with this spin move, up-fake and turnaround shot that reminded me of one of Dream?s moves.? Not too bad for a guy who was paid less than eleven of his New Jersey teammates, including Scott Padgett, Ron Mercer, and Bostjan Nachbar. Alonzo Mourning - $1.1 million While it?s obvious ?Zo? agreed to sign with Pat Riley for a small chunk of change in order to contend for a title, he?s still a bargain. Mourning averaged 2.66 blocks per game this season, while playing just twenty minutes a night. His influence on the defensive end was so significant that Alonzo was just a handful of votes shy of making the NBA?s All-Defensive Second Team. If he decides to lace up his work boots again next season, it?ll likely cost someone more than $1.1 million for him to go to battle for them. Boris Diaw - $1.1 million Why would a team with Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, and two-time reigning MVP Steve Nash need a bargain? Just in case one goes down for a season as Stoudemire has. The French native has played nearly every position for Phoenix this season, and is listed on their playoff depth chart as their center. Did I mention he?s 6?8? and all of 215 pounds? He also overshadowed his regular season numbers, which won him the league?s Most Improved Player award, averaging 18.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. Diaw?s story of arriving in Phoenix should make Toronto fans optimistic about their future with Colangelo as their leader. Tayshaun Prince - $1.8 million The Pistons were smart enough to spot talent in Chauncey Billups when no one else did. They were also savvy enough to trade for both Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace, when things weren?t going well for them in Washington and Orlando. They were even lucky enough to be a fitting trading partner for the Atlanta Hawks , who had to unload an unhappy new-acquired Rasheed Wallace quickly in the spring of 2004. So did they really need to stumble upon Prince with the 23rd pick in the 2002 draft? The surprising answer is yes. Without Tayshaun Detroit may not have even made it to the 2004 NBA Finals, let alone won a championship. It was Tayshaun?s hustling block of Reggie Miller?s potential game-changing lay-up that kept Indiana from taking a 2-0 series lead, and allowing Detroit to eliminate the Pacers and advance to the Finals. I?m sure most NBA GM?s would pay $1.8 million for a block of that magnitude. Fortunately for Prince, his salary will go up to $7.8 million next season. Anthony Johnson - $2.4 million Johnson, with his sixth NBA team, has even spent time in the NBDL during his career as a journeyman. However, his play over the past two seasons, and especially the 2006 postseason, may have earned him a stable future in Indiana. A cheap contract through the 2008 season, and trade winds involving Jamaal Tinsley, could mean that Johnson will enter the 2007 season as a starting point guard. The fact that his 20 point, 5 rebound, and 5 assist averages from the first round bettered those of Jason Kidd doesn?t hurt either. </div> Source
Isn't Josh Howard very underpaid too? I thought he was making somewhere along the lines of $1 million this season which is below average for a shut down defender with a polished offensive game.
Boris Diaw - $1.1 million ????????? Tayshaun Prince - $1.8 million ???????????? Wow that's a bargain of the year!
Smush Parker makes less than 1 million second lowest on the team next to sasha vujacic... smush parker? hey but he was the starting point guard for the lakers throughout the season and if it wasnt for him the lakers wouldnt even have played a game 7 against the suns.... pay the man.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting WadeDynasty:</div><div class="quote_post">Boris Diaw - $1.1 million ????????? Tayshaun Prince - $1.8 million ???????????? Wow that's a bargain of the year!</div> there still on there rookie contracts and they were in the 20's as picks thats why there only getting that much, lebron and wade only made around 3-5 milll this season (from playing not endorsements)
That list shouldn't include rookie contracts, because then you could just point out Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Dwight Howard, etc. Therefore, Tayshaun, Diaw, and Kristic's salaries don't mean that much.
82games.com has recently introduced a new stat called "Fair Salary". Details in following link: http://www.82games.com/0506/fairsalary0506.htm I took all the regular season data for every player. They didn't adjust "actual salary" for players that were traded (just listed what all they earned for the season). I made those adjustments to get total fair salary and total actual salary for every player. For the "fair", "actual", and "NET' columns in the below tables, it's of course in units of $1 million dollars. Here are the top ten underpaid players this season: <div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy"">teamplayerfairactualNET</font><br/>CLEJames$27.39$4.6$22.79<br/>MIAWade$23.64$3.0$20.64<br/>DETPrince$15.92$1.8$14.12<br/>DETBillups$19.85$5.9$13.95<br/>TORBosh$14.46$3.3$11.16<br/>PHODiaw$11.78$1.1$10.68<br/>LALBryant$26.09$15.9$10.19<br/>DENAnthony$13.04$3.7$9.34<br/>PHIIguodala$10.83$2.1$8.73<br/>NJNKrstic$9.53$1.0$8.53<br/></div> Now, which players provided the most value, per dollar earned? <div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy"">teamplayerfair actual per dollar</font><br/>HOUHayes$2.46$0.2$12.30<br/>PHODiaw$11.78$1.1$10.71<br/>DALHoward$8.61$0.9$9.57<br/>NJNKrstic$9.53$1.0$9.53<br/>DETPrince$15.92$1.8$8.84<br/>LALParker$5.66$0.7$8.09<br/>MIAWade$23.64$3.0$7.88<br/>BOSWest$7.73$1.0$7.73<br/>BOSGomes$2.85$0.4$7.13<br/>MIAMourning$7.44$1.1$6.76<br/></div> And, for fun, here are the most overpaid players this past season (5 of the top 10 played for the Knicks ): <div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy"">teamplayerfair actual NET</font><br/>NYKHardaway$0.18$15.8-$15.62<br/>DALVanHorn$0.73$15.7-$14.97<br/>CHI/PHOT.Thomas$0.34$14.5-$14.16<br/>ORLHill$1.71$15.7-$13.99<br/>TOR/NYKJ.Rose$2.45$15.7-$13.25<br/>PHIWebber$5.91$19.1-$13.19<br/>TOR/NYKDavis$0.78$13.9-$13.12<br/>NYKMarbury$5.67$16.5-$10.83<br/>ORL/NYKFrancis$4.26$13.7-$9.44<br/>UTABoozer$2.31$11.6-$9.29<br/></div> Finally, here are the players who provided the least value, per dollar earned. To narrow it down to the real offenders, I'll just look at guys who earned at least $5 million this season: <div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy"">teamplayerfairactualper dollar</font><br/>TORAl.Williams$0.00$6.3$0.00<br/>INDBender$0.01$7.1$0.00<br/>NYKHardaway$0.18$15.8$0.01<br/>ORL/DETCato$0.12$8.6$0.01<br/>PHO/CHIT.Thomas$0.34$14.5$0.02<br/>NYKJames$0.13$5.0$0.03<br/>SAC/PORSkinner$0.15$5.0$0.03<br/>DALVanHorn$0.73$15.7$0.05<br/>TOR/NYKDavis$0.78$13.9$0.06<br/>NYKM.Rose$0.37$6.0$0.06<br/></div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Chutney:</div><div class="quote_post">That list shouldn't include rookie contracts, because then you could just point out Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Dwight Howard, etc. Therefore, Tayshaun, Diaw, and Kristic's salaries don't mean that much.</div> Agreed, its pointless to have guys on their rookie contract on this list since their contracts were pre-determined. Underpaid players who aren't on their rookie deals are Artest, Ben Wallace, Brendan Haywood, Diop, SAR, Shane Battier, Ricky Davis. I think Jason Richardson and Rip Hamilton have good deals too considering guys like Michael Redd and Ray Allen have contracts much larger for similar production.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Agreed, its pointless to have guys on their rookie contract on this list since their contracts were pre-determined.</div> It depends how you define underpaid. If you mean "most bang for the buck" or "team getting most value for money spent", then it makes sense to include rookies despite the limits put on their contract. Does anyone know what's the limit on contracts for undrafted rookies? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Underpaid players who aren't on their rookie deals are Artest, Ben Wallace, Brendan Haywood, Diop, SAR, Shane Battier, Ricky Davis. I think Jason Richardson and Rip Hamilton have good deals too considering guys like Michael Redd and Ray Allen have contracts much larger for similar production.</div> For another perspective, here's how the players you mention stack up in terms of value per dollar earned (based on 82games.com's "fair salary" metric): <div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy"">teamplayerfairactualNETper dollar</font><br/>MEMBattier$10.54$4.9$5.64$2.15<br/>DETB.Wallace$14.26$7.5$6.76$1.90<br/>MILRedd$19.31$12.0$7.31$1.61<br/>GSWRichardson$13.90$8.9$5.00$1.56<br/>DETHamilton$11.72$8.6$3.12$1.36<br/>DALDiop$2.54$1.9$0.64$1.34<br/>SEAAllen$17.61$13.2$4.41$1.33<br/>SACAbdur-Rahim$6.59$5.0$1.59$1.32<br/>BOS/MINDavis$7.70$5.9$1.80$1.31<br/>IND/SACArtest$8.48$6.8$1.68$1.25<br/>WASHaywood$4.10$4.0$0.10$1.03<br/></div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">It depends how you define underpaid. If you mean "most bang for the buck" or "team getting most value for money spent", then it makes sense to include rookies despite the limits put on their contract. </div> There's no arguing that they're underpaid. But, the whole point of the term seems to be to rate how well a GM manages his money. In that sense, including rookie contracts really doesn't show anything, aside from the fact that the GM drafts well. I'd be more interested to see how those lists look without rookie contracts. They would show which GM's were able to get the most bang for their buck.
