NBA: Players in a Contract Year Who Will Strike It Rich in the Postseason

One of the background stories to watch during this year's postseason will be which players in contract years can help make themselves a few extra million dollars with stellar showings.

Now, for the most part no one is going to get a huge pay bump based solely on the postseason. But there are players who can cement that they are worth a major hike with their postseason performances. Not all of these players have made their tens of millions of dollars already. 

Here are are five players who made less than $3 million last year but stand to get at least a $5 million boost in income. The players are listed in order of how big their projected pay hikes are going to be. 

Jeremy Lin, $5.0 Million

2012: $0.7 Million

2013 Projected: $5.0 Million

Projected Raise: $4.3 Million

Jeremy Lin was actually "poor," or at least not disgustingly wealthy, even by normal person standards, for a while this year as his brothers' most famous couch in the world can attest to. 

Lin has not yet played in the postseason and is hoping to be back for Game 4.

Now imagine if he comes back and makes a difference. With his going down due to injury, there are some who might have thought of him as a "flash-in-the-pan" so to speak. They might be ready write off his remarkable come from nowhere.

If Lin were to come back for Game 4 and lead New York to their first playoff win since Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell were Knickerbockers, that would certainly excite the masses and ensure his $5 million contract, which is the most he can make.

George Hill, $5.4 Million

2012: $2.1 Million

2013 Projected: $7.5 Million

Projected Raise: $5.9 Million

George Hill has taken over as the staring point guard for the Indiana Pacers. A run to the second round and a surprise win or two over Miami sure wouldn't hurt his free agency options. Right now I expect he'll be making somewhere between seven and eight million, but he could do even better than that. 

It would certainly help if he plays well in the postseason. While he struggled in Game 1 against Orlando, in Game 2 he performed much better, scoring 18 points on 10 shots and was a +23 for the game. 

A few more games like that and Hill should be able to get a bidding war going. 

Omer Asik $5.6 Million

2012: $1.9 Million

2013 Projected: $7.5 Million

Projected Raise: $5.6 Million

Omer Asik is a defensive specialist and rebounder for the Chicago Bulls. The No. 1 defense in the NBA gave up 11.2 fewer points per 100 possession while he was on the court. 

It's for that reason that a number of teams are interested in him in spite of the fact that he finishes at the rim like Sarah Palin finishes a term in the Governor's mansion. That is to say, he doesn't. 

Still, in a league where truly accomplished defensive big men are hard to come by, Asik is going to be in demand, and if he has a stellar showing in the postseason, $7.5 million might be too conservative a projection. 

Ryan Anderson, $5.8 Million

2012: $2.2 Million 

2013 Projected: $8.0 Million

Projected Raise: $5.8 Million

Ryan Anderson was fourth in offensive rating, sixth in offensive rebounds, 10th in effective field goal percentage, ninth in win shares and first in three-point field goals made this year. Not too shabby right?

Yet teams are still reluctant to buy into him. There's the perception that he is just a system success; that he can't reproduce those number elsewhere. 

Well one way to offset those suspicions would be to have a monumental series without Howard. So far in the first two games, he hasn't done so. But in his second game he did score 11 points with eight boards. 

If he steps up his numbers and has a couple of big games to keep the series competitive, it could go a long way towards securing that $8 million contract. 

Roy Hibbert, $8.4 Million

2012: $2.6 Million

2013 Projected: $11 Million

Projected Raise, $8.4 Million 

Hibbert was in the All-Star Game, so you'd think he'd made it already right?  He's probably going to make at least $10 million next year—it's hard to imagine how he wouldn't. Can he push that number up to a max contract where he'd be getting closer to $13 million though?

He could be in an ideal situation to do just that. First, he doesn't have to worry about going against Dwight Howard, so he has a chance to have a big series against the Orlando Magic. Then, the Heat's biggest weakness is noted as having a lack of a big inside presence. 

He's actually been below his season averages against the Heat in the regular season, averaging just 10.5 points and 8.2 boards per game. 

However, the potential is there for him to have a big series. If he does, he could be looking at a max contract. GMs love big men who step up big in the postseason.