How Much Money Will NBA Players Miss Out On If The Season Gets Canceled?

ByJoey Heldon April 9, 2020inArticles›Sports News

The COVID-19 pandemic has, for the most part, put sports on indefinite hold. The NCAA Tournament was canceled entirely, the MLB season was pushed back, and the NHL and NBA seasons are on hiatus. If this were a normal year, the playoffs for both leagues would be right around the corner. Instead, the leagues are in a wait and see mode as more information becomes available.

The NBA hasn’t yet canceled its season, and there’s really no reason to do so immediately. There are various options to provide some kind of conclusion to the 2019-20 campaign, whether it’s skipping the remaining regular-season games, holding a shortened playoffs, or both.

However, if things get to a certain point and play hasn’t resumed, the NBA may still have to cancel the rest of the season. What would that mean for the players?

Per Marc Stein, fewer than 20 players across the league have negotiated “all-you-can-get” deals. That means they’ll receive at least 90 percent of their season salaries by April 1. For this small subset of players, they receive the maximum allowable salary advance and are paid over six months – an accelerated schedule compared to the rest of the league.

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Klutch Sports represents nine of these players. The Klutch Sports list includes LeBron James , John Wall , Dejounte Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Miles Bridges, Darius Garland, Trey Lyles, Terrance Ferguson, and Darius Bazley. Next year, Draymond Green will also join that group, after his contract extension begins.

Other notable names with “all-you-can-get” deals: Kevin Durant , Kyrie Irving , Blake Griffin , and Otto Porter.

Everyone else – about 90 percent of the NBA – is on a 12-month payment plan. They received a check on April 1, but the NBA hasn’t guaranteed any additional payments. Since this is an emergency situation, the league could invoke a “force majeure” clause.

If that clause does kick in due to a canceled season, most of the league will have only received 10 of their 24 paychecks for the year.

That’s a sizable chunk of change for anyone, but it’s especially impactful for some of the league’s fringe roster players. If they planned to use their salary to help support their family or get settled in a new house, that money will have to stretch a lot further.

Then you look at someone like Wall, who was slated to make just about $38.2 million this year. He’s one of the “all-you-can-get” players, so he’ll earn nearly all of that – at worst, he’ll make about $34.5 million.

Wall ruptured his Achilles while rehabbing a heel injury and last played on December 26, 2018. It could be more than two years before he sees the court. But thanks to a shrewd contract negotiation, he’ll still get most of his money.

The majority of the league can’t say the same. So, just like the rest of us, they’ll wait and see what happens.

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Anthony Davis Just Signed The Largest NBA Extension Ever, Next Season He’ll Make 70% Of Michael Jordan’s NBA Career Earnings

ByJoey Heldon August 4, 2023inArticles›Sports News

• Anthony Davis
• LeBron James
• Michael Jordan
• Rich Paul
• Taylor Swift

Anthony Davis joined the Los Angeles Lakers before the start of the 2019-20 NBA season, the result of a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. That season was suspended for more than four months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. When play finally resumed, Davis, LeBron James , and the rest of the Lakers ultimately won the championship.

The Lakers haven’t been back to the NBA Finals since, but after a strong end to this past season, they’re feeling good about their chances. That means signing one of their stars to a massive contract extension.

Davis and the Lakers agreed to a three-year, $186 million deal to keep Davis in L.A. through the 2027-28 season. The team will now pay Davis $270 million over the next five years. Davis will average $62 million per season in the new deal, which is the largest annual contract extension the league has ever seen.

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Davis became eligible to sign his extension on Friday and didn’t wait long to make it happen. He opted for financial security over the potential to make even more money by taking shorter deals — something his teammate has done with great success .

Despite the franchise’s championship in 2020, things weren’t nearly as rosy the next two years. The Lakers barely made the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the 2020-21 season, losing in six games in the first round to the Phoenix Suns. The following year was even worse, as the Lakers missed the postseason entirely. Davis sat out more than half of his team’s games due to various injuries, appearing in just 76 of a possible 154 contests.

The deal is also big news for Rich Paul . He represents both Davis and James (who’s signed through next year and then has a player option in 2024-25) and has secured close to $370 million for the two L.A. stars. The NBA has a rule that caps agent fees at 4% for veteran players, so Paul will make about $14.8 million simply from these two contracts alone. His overall client roster is extensive — his players will earn a collective $500 million this upcoming season.

The Lakers are investing in Davis for the long term. Now, his goal is to help the franchise add another championship banner (or several) to its rafters.

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After Playing Zero Games This Season, John Wall Could Make $47+ Million Next Year

ByJoey Heldon May 16, 2022inArticles›Sports News

John Wall has had a tumultuous NBA career. The No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Wall quickly became a key part of the Washington Wizards backcourt alongside Bradley Beal . Wall posted several strong seasons — winning All-Rookie First Team honors in 2011 and making the All-NBA Third Team in 2017 — and made five straight All-Star appearances from 2014 to 2018.

The Wizards thought they might have something special with their backcourt duo, and in July 2017, signed Wall to a four-year, $170 million contract extension. But shortly after that, an injury bug hit — and it hit hard.

Wall missed half of the 2017-18 season dealing with a knee injury, appearing in 41 regular-season games but managing to recover in time for the playoffs. That was five seasons ago; since then, Wall has not played more than 41 games in any given year.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

During the 2018-19 season, he played 32 games before a heel injury prematurely ended his season. He had surgery on the heel, it got infected, and to make matters worse, Wall slipped in his home and ruptured his Achilles. He missed the entire 2019-20 season — which included a four-month delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic — as he recovered from both injuries.

Before the next season started, the Wizards traded Wall to the Houston Rockets for Russell Westbrook , one of the few players with a contract as massive as the one Wall signed. Wall appeared in 40 games with the Rockets that year and showed flashes of his old self. However, he again missed time due to injury, in this case, a hamstring strain.

That brings us to this season. Wall was healthy enough to play…only the Rockets didn’t send him onto the court for even a single minute of action. Houston was among the worst teams in the league and wanted to see how their young core, led by Christian Wood, Kevin Porter, Jr., and Jalen Green, would gel together on the court. Adding Wall into the mix would only delay their team’s development.

Wall has earned about $123 million from this contract already. Now, he has a player option for $47.4 million that he’s planning to accept. Why wouldn’t he? There’s zero chance a team would offer him close to that amount in free agency based on his injury history, so he may as well lock it in.

The problem is that the Rockets likely won’t pay Wall $47.4 million to once again sit on the bench. So, we may see a buyout occur. The Rockets will pay Wall a portion of his contract and send him off into free agency. In return, he’ll offer to give back some of that $47.4 million so he can join another team, perhaps a contender that could use some quality minutes with their second unit. Wall showed glimpses of promise in the 2020-21 season, and he’s now had an entire offseason to rest and focus on his next move. He could be a key piece for another team that’s closer to a championship.

We’ll see what Wall ultimately ends up earning with his next deal. It probably won’t be $47.4 million. But the idea that it could happen for a guy who has played just 72 games over the past four seasons — including ZERO last year — is absolutely wild.

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