Top 5 NBA Playoff Studs Making a Case for Bigger Contracts
The NBA postseason is the last great negotiating tool for upcoming free agents.
There is no better stage to showcase one's ability. For as much as fans and analysts focus on the legacy implications of this time of year, there's also a boatload of cash to be won or lost.
The audience is bigger. The stakes are higher. The performances are fresher in the minds of the executives who will soon make multiyear, multimillion-dollar commitments to these players.
In other words, the timing of the guys on this list is impeccable. Thanks in no small part to their playoff efforts, their bank accounts are set to explode in a matter of months.
For some, this is their first chance to cash in on something far greater than their rookie-scale deals. For others, their next venture into free agency promises to be more lucrative than their last.
The top five playoff wage-earners have been compiled here and then ranked on two key components: the quality of their postseason work and the size of their impending raises.
Honorable Mention
1 of 6
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF, Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs made a sneaky-good investment last summer by landing the former lottery pick on a two-year deal for the veteran's minimum. But Aminu's strong playoff showing (11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks) leaked the secret value of that deal.
Now, the 24-year-old is ready to turn that production into profit. He has a $1.1 million player option for next season, but he said declining it "makes the most sense to me," via Michael Florek of the Dallas Morning News. His length and athleticism have always helped him on the boards and the defensive end, but he boosted his economic value most on offense during the postseason (54.8 field-goal percentage, 7-of-11 shooting from three).
Jae Crowder, SF, Boston Celtics
The jack-of-all-trades label doesn't fit Crowder, because it undersells his masterful defensive talents. But versatility is a huge part of his game, and he's capable of making an impact in almost every facet.
He's a blue-collar worker and a tenacious defender. During the postseason, he made solid contributions all around, averaging 10.8 points on 51.7 percent shooting, five boards, two assists and one steal in only 25 minutes per game. He also emerged as Boston's best defensive option on four-time MVP LeBron James.
Crowder should shatter the $915,000 he collected this season. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge plans on making a qualifying offer to Crowder, via CSN New England's A. Sherrod Blakely, and the Mavericks (Crowder's former team) are also said to be interested in a reunion, according to Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler.
Brook Lopez, C, Brooklyn Nets
Lopez hasn't exactly been scraping by on meager earnings. He made $15.7 million this season and could earn another $16.7 million by exercising his player option for 2015-16.
But he could easily score a longer, richer deal after following up his explosive second half with an impressive showing in Brooklyn's six playoff games. During the postseason, he put up 19.8 points on 49.4 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
He's had issues with injuries (surgeries on his right foot and left ankle) before, and he hasn't been the most consistent presence on the glass. But if execs are convinced those problems are behind him—he didn't miss a game after Dec. 21 and ranks 17th among playoff rebounders—they won't hesitate to throw even more money his way.
5. Paul Millsap, PF, Atlanta Hawks
2 of 6
2014-15 Salary: $9.5 million
Notable Playoff Numbers: 15.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.2 steals
The two-year, $19 million pact Paul Millsap signed with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013 always seemed a little light. During his previous three seasons with the Utah Jazz, he'd averaged 16.1 points on 50.7 percent shooting, 7.8 boards, 2.5 dimes and 1.5 thefts. Given the tendency for free agents to score inflated deals, his seemed short (in money and length) of where it should have been.
Apparently, there was a reason for that. The Hawks had put a longer offer on the table, but Millsap saw the contract as his chance to land one more massive contract after this one's expiration, sources told USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt.
Millsap's gamble on himself looks better by the day.
Since signing in Atlanta, he's made the first two All-Star appearances of his career, added a high-volume three-point attack to his arsenal and increased his impact as a playmaking forward. He's matched or set career marks in almost every statistical category over the past two years, including points (17.9 last season), assists (3.1 both years) and three-point makes (77 this year).
In February, ESPN Insider Amin Elhassan predicted Millsap would net an annual salary of $17 million. If that number has changed since, it's only increased.
With the league's salary cap set to explode over the next few years, teams should have no hesitations about committing major coin to this versatile, two-way forward.
4. DeMarre Carroll, SF, Atlanta Hawks
3 of 6
2014-15 Salary: $2.4 million
Notable Playoff Numbers: 18.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 45.5 three-point percentage
This could be an expensive summer in Atlanta.
It's one thing to watch Millsap strengthen what was already a solid foundation. It's quite another to witness DeMarre Carroll transforming from a part-time energy guy into a valuable—and soon-to-be costly—starter.
The 28-year-old still plays like a junkyard dog whose impact is solely determined by effort. But glue guys don't rattle off six consecutive games of 20-plus points, as Carroll already has this postseason. They don't shoot 63.2 percent from deep like he did during Atlanta's final four games of the first round. And they certainly don't steal the spotlight with regularity in a starting lineup that features four All-Stars around him.
But that's what Carroll is doing.
"If you had started watching the past six weeks, you would think DeMarre Carroll was the Hawks' only All-Star," Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick tweeted late last month.
Nets coach Lionel Hollins called Carroll the "MVP" of that first-round series, via Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He looked like the best player on the floor during Atlanta's Game 2 win over the Washington Wizards, tallying 22 points, six boards and four assists in 38 minutes. And he's been the Hawks' top perimeter defender since first joining the team.
He's about to get paid this summer, either by the Hawks or any other team that is looking for an upgrade on the wing.
3. Kawhi Leonard, SF, San Antonio Spurs
4 of 6
2014-15 Salary: $2.8 million
Notable Playoff Numbers: 20.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals
Kawhi Leonard's playoff objective to secure a max contract was nonexistent. That rate was set in stone a while ago.
He hasn't even celebrated his 24th birthday yet, and he has already joined Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to ever win both the NBA Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year award. If you're keeping Hall of Fame company, you're cashing the highest checks available to you.
But Leonard somehow managed to raise his profile. Through four playoff games, he was averaging 24.8 points on—get this—60 percent shooting from the field and 56.3 percent from downtown. All of that offensive production came from a player selected as this season's top defender.
He has a skyscraper's ceiling, and his basement has probably already cleared All-Star level (even though he hasn't been picked for the actual event yet).
As such, his restricted-free-agent route seems predetermined. There is "no scenario" where he'll even seek out offers from other teams, sources told Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The San Antonio Spurs should have his max contract complete, sans the signature from him that can't come until July.
So, why didn't he rank even higher on this list? Because his playoff run was more of a mixed bag than the numbers would indicate. He averaged just 14.3 points on 29.5 percent shooting (20 percent from deep) over the last three games of San Antonio's opening-round loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
2. Draymond Green, PF, Golden State Warriors
5 of 6
2014-15 Salary: $915,000
Notable Playoff Numbers: 13.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.4 steals
Armored truck drivers in the Bay Area should already be familiar with Draymond Green's address. That's where they'll drop a max-contract worth of cash when the do-everything forward officially hits restricted free agency this summer.
Green's regular season was good enough to make him the runner-up in both Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player award voting. His first season as a full-time starter saw him post personal bests across the board, as his versatility on both ends powered the Golden State Warriors to their most successful campaign in franchise history.
The Dubs won't forget what he's done when the two sides share the negotiating table this offseason.
"Memo to Detroit Pistons fans who were holding out hope that Green may be coming home this summer: Golden State isn't letting him get away," wrote Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today. "That's the latest word from the Warriors, where their third-year forward has become such an integral part of their high-end operation."
And Green has been even better during the second season. He has held his own in battles with behemoths like Anthony Davis, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Green's ability as a distributor and floor-spacer has kept Golden State's offense running. The Dubs have dominated when he plays (plus-17.3 points per 100 possessions) and completely collapsed when he hasn't (minus-46.7 points per 100 possessions).
It's hard to imagine that any impending free agent has been more effective, but one has managed to provide a tad more two-way impact.
1. Jimmy Butler, SG, Chicago Bulls
6 of 6
2014-15 Salary: $2.0 million
Notable Playoff Numbers: 23.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.8 steals
Green second, Jimmy Butler first. That's how the Most Improved Player voting broke down, and this ranking is no different.
Butler hasn't missed a beat since wrapping his award-winning regular season.
On offense, he knows when to attack and when to defer to players like Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol. On defense, Butler has accepted the Chicago Bulls' toughest assignment and has typically passed it with flying colors.
It's hard to understate the importance of that second part, especially during Chicago's second-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That's where Butler has encountered the freight train known as LeBron James—and frustrated the two-time champion to the tune of 39.5 percent shooting (8.3 percent from three) and five turnovers per game.
"It's admirable the way he's battling the guy," Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy said, via ESPN.com's Nick Friedell. "...Jimmy's put him out on an island a lot of times, and he's just battling the guy. My hat goes off to him. It's incredible to watch, and he just sticks with it."
It's also the latest evidence that a max contract is waiting for Butler at season's end.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current as of games played on May 9 and used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com. Salary information obtained via Basketball Insiders.
