According to Sportingintelligence.com, the NBA is the best-paid league by average yearly salary. It is followed by the IPL, MLB, EPL, NHL and Bundesliga. In the current free agency trading period of NBA, the total amounts of contract handed out to free agents till date has reportedly touched over US$3.3 BN. Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State Warriors from Oklahoma City Thunder has been the most reported movement leading to the 2016-17 season. It has reportedly cost the Dub Nation a cool US$ 27mn a year.
Top free agent movements of this season*
Name | Type | OT | NT | Contract Terms | Per year(US$) |
Kevin Durant | UFA | OKC | GSW | Signed 2-yr/$54M deal with Warriors | 27 MN |
Hassan Whiteside | UFA | MIA | MIA | Reportedly agreed to 4-yr/$98M deal with Heat | 24.5 MN |
DeMar DeRozan | UFA | TOR | TOR | Reportedly agreed to 5-yr/$139M deal with Raptors | 27.8 MN |
Al Horford | UFA | ATL | BOS | Reportedly agreed to 4-yr/$113M deal with Celtics | 28.25 MN |
A Drummond | RFA | DET | DET | Reportedly agreed to 5-yr/$130M deal with Pistons | 26 MN |
Dirk Nowitzki | UFA | DAL | DAL | Reportedly agreed to 2-yr/$40M deal with Mavericks | 20 MN |
Dwight Howard | UFA | HOU | ATL | Reportedly agreed to 3-yr/$70.5M deal with Hawks | 23.5 MN |
Mike Conley | UFA | MEM | MEM | Reportedly agreed to 5-yr/$153M deal with Grizzlies | 30.6 MN |
Nicolas Batum | UFA | CHA | CHA | Signed 5-yr/$120M deal with Hornets | 24 MN |
Harrison Barnes | UFA | GSW | DAL | Reportedly agreed to 4-yr/$94M deal with Mavericks | 23.5 MN |
Dwyane Wade | UFA | MIA | CHI | Reportedly agreed to 2-yr/$47M deal with Bulls | 23.5 MN |
Chandler Parsons | UFA | DAL | MEM | Reportedly agreed to 4-yr/$94M deal with Grizzlies | 23.5 MN |
Ryan Anderson | UFA | NOP | HOU | Reportedly agreed to 4-yr/$80M deal with Rockets | 20 MN |
Bradley Beal | RFA | WAS | WAS | Reportedly agreed to 5-yr/$128M deal with Wizards | 25.6 MN |
* The trade deadline ends February 2017
*Salary figures sourced from http://www.basketball-reference.com/
* All salary figures are in US$ millions
Player | Annual Salary (US$) | |
NBA | Kevin Durant | 27 MN |
La Liga | Cristiano Ronaldo | 19.4 MN |
EPL | Wayne Rooney | 16.8 MN |
Bundesliga | Franck Ribery | 12.15 MN |
IPL | Virat Kohli* | 2.26 MN |
*Virat Kohli’s IPL salary is for a season that lasts only 50 days
A quick guide on free agency/ agent in the NBA:
UFA: Unrestricted free agent An unrestricted free agent (UFA) is free to sign with any team, though some unrestricted free agents have options on their existing contracts that, if exercised, may impact their choices.
E.g.: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade
RFA: Restricted free agent A restricted free agent can sign an offer sheet with any team, but the player's original team can retain him by matching the terms of that offer. The original team is said to have the "right of first refusal.”
E.g.: Andre Drummond, Matthew Dellavedova
Player Option A player option grants the player the power to decide whether to stay for another year or become a completely unrestricted free agent.
(In either case, if the option is refused, the player is completely unrestricted, free to sign with any team.)
Team Option A team option grants the original team the right to keep a player for another year.
Early Termination Option An early termination option gives the player the right to end a signed contract. The option cannot be exercised before the end of the fourth year of an existing contract. If the player declines to exercise the option, he remains with the original team. If the option is exercised, he is free to sign with any team.
