Predicting the NBA's 10 Highest-Paid Players In 2030
NBA salaries have reached unprecedented levels, with the maximum for veterans with over 10 years of service hitting $54.1 million for the 2025-26 season.
The salary cap projects to climb from $154.6 million to $165 million next year; assuming seven percent growth each season, NBA contracts will reach staggering levels by the 2029-30 season.
Three players are already under contract for staggering amounts. That list will grow as superstars reach extension-eligibility or free agency.
The following is a list of the top 10 projected NBA players in 2029-30.
Nos. 9-10 (tie): Victor Wembanyama ($61.4 million)
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Team: San Antonio Spurs
2025-26 salary: $13.4 million
Final year: 2026-27 at $16.9 million
Wembanyama is extension eligible next July. Assuming he’s fully recovered from his season-ending deep vein thrombosis, returning to elite form, Wembanyama will presumably extend to the max for players with 7-9 years of experience. To do so, he’ll need to earn All-NBA honors, Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year. While he probably won’t get all three, two are certainly within reach.
That would start his second contract at almost $53 million, climbing to $61.4 million for the 2029-30 season on a deal that would total roughly $307.2 million. The final figure would depend on the rise of the salary cap over the next two years, and Wembanyama reaching the criteria to earn 30 percent of the cap. If not, he’d sign for about $256 million, with $51.2 million due for 2029-30.
Nos. 9-10 (tie): De'Aaron Fox ($61.4 million)
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Team: San Antonio Spurs
2025-26 salary: $37.1 million
Final year: 2029-30 at $63.3 million
Skeptical teams will go this high to pay players? Fox just recently extended with the Spurs and is set to earn over $61 million for the 2029-30 campaign. The Sacramento Kings traded the talented scoring point guard to San Antonio, possibly reluctant to meet his salary demands.
Through eight seasons, Fox is a one-time All-Star, earning All-NBA third-team honors in 2022-23. If that can be used as a measure of the top-15 players in the league, he has been on the outside of that throughout most of his still-young career. That's not to denigrate the 27-year-old guard, but to emphasize the type of contracts teams are already issuing to very, very good players who aren't even considered the absolute best of the best.
No. 8: Devin Booker ($68.8 million)
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Team: Phoenix Suns
2025-26 salary: $53.1 million
Final year: 2029-30 at $68.8 million (player option)
The Suns have struggled in recent years, and while Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are no longer on the roster, Devin Booker was rewarded with a hefty long-term extension.
As a four-time All-Star who reached All-NBA first-team status in 2021-22, Booker is paid like he's one of the best players in the league.
Whether or not that's the case, Phoenix must believe it. The 28-year-old can opt out early from his deal, potentially re-signing for up to about $70.7 million for 2029-30. For now, pencil him in just below that mark with one of the richest individual seasons on any team's books.
No. 7: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($70.3 million)
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Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
2025-26 salary: $38.3 million
Final year: 2030-31 at $75.2 million (player option)
Considering "the best of the best," Gilgeous-Alexander is the current NBA and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player on the champion Thunder. While he only has seven years of experience, he was able to extend to a supermax deal due to his MVP honor.
The 27-year-old should be among the highest-paid players in the league, if not the highest. It's the rest of the list that should be measured against him as the barometer of peak basketball production.
No. 6: Jaylen Brown ($70.7 million)
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Team: Boston Celtics
2025-26 salary: $53.1 million
Final year: 2028-29 at $65.0 million
Brown has never won league MVP, but he was NBA Finals MVP winner in 2023-24 for the Celtics' title run. Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he earned the supermax criteria (by virtue of All-NBA honors in 2022-23).
Brown is a regular All-Star, but was only named to the top 15 in the league that one season. If his salary was debatable, his performance to help Boston win its 18th championship should have quelled skeptics. Still, the larger question will be his next deal. Is he a lock to get maxed out as his current deal nears an end?
File Brown in the TBD (to be determined) pile…
No. 5: Luka Dončić ($71.4 million)
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Team: Los Angeles Lakers
2025-26 salary: $46.0 million
Final year: 2028-29 at $59.2 million (player option)
Dončić extended with the Lakers in early August, signing for three additional seasons with the final one his option. The goal would be for the All-Star to extend before the 2028-29 season, right when he reaches 10 years of service and the highest-tier max.
Barring serious changes of direction, expect Los Angeles to offer a new max starting at $66.1 million (depending on the exact salary cap figures the next few years), with Dončić's second season in the new deal reaching $71.4 million and a total deal worth almost $300 million over four seasons.
No. 4: Jayson Tatum ($71.4 million)
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Team: Boston Celtics
2025-26 salary: $54.1 million
Final year: 2029-30 at $71.4 million (player option)
Tatum will miss the upcoming season after a devastating Achilles injury. The Celtics gave him a supermax extension after several years on the All-NBA first team.
Teammate Jaylen Brown may have won NBA Finals MVP in 2024, but Tatum has generally been viewed as Boston's best player (at least by All-NBA voters).
Ideally, Tatum returns to form once he recovers. At worst, he has a player option for $71.4 million in 2029-30. At best, he opts out to extend on a longer-term deal—though that initially projects to be a slight pay cut in the first year at $70.7 million.
No. 2-3 (tie): Donovan Mitchell ($71.7 million)
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Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
2025-26 salary: $46.4 million
Final year: 2027-28 at $53.8 million (player option)
Mitchell was the top scorer (24 points per game) on the best regular-season team in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers won 64 games, second to the Oklahoma City Thunder's 68, but the team fell short in the second round to the Indiana Pacers. Mitchell is nearing the end of his current deal and may extend again as early as next July.
If he intends to stay with the Cavaliers, the team will presumably need to max him out, starting at $61.8 million for the 2027-28 season, climbing to $71.7 million for the 2029-30 season. Will a four-year extension in the $277 million range be too rich for the franchise? While the answer is "probably not," that hefty price may lead to pivoting with other players on the team (perhaps Darius Garland).
No. 2-3 (tie): Giannis Antetokounmpo ($71.7 million)
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Team: Milwaukee Bucks
2025-26 salary: $54.1 million
Final year: 2027-28 at $62.8 million (player option)
While many around the league had hoped the former NBA MVP would demand a trade this offseason, the fact that Antetokounmpo is with a franchise that may be willing to max him out into his 40s may play a part in why he's (to date) staying.
If he stays with Milwaukee (or even if he's traded), his next contract will likely come in the form of an extension next summer, starting in 2027-28 at $61.8 million for a total of four years, approximately $277 million. His $71.7 million for 2029-30 would place him among the highest-paid players in the league.
No. 1: Nikola Jokić ($71.9 million)
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Team: Denver Nuggets
2025-26 salary: $55.2 million
Final year: 2027-28 at $62.8 million (player option)
After winning three NBA MVP awards, Jokić's 2024-25 season may have been the best individual performance of his career. The Nuggets didn't have as strong a roster as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. While Gilgeous-Alexander was a worthy MVP, Jokić could justifiably earn it every season.
Though Jokić can extend now, he appears to be waiting until next year to add the maximum four years to his deal. Since his expiring salary is slightly higher than Giannis Antetokounmpo's for 2026-27 (assuming both void their options before 2027-28 to extend, Jokić's personal max of 105 percent is just above the projected league max at $62 million. He'd earn about $278 million, with $71.9 million on the books for 2029-30.
Honorable Mention
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The New York Knicks could max out Karl-Anthony Towns on a deal similar to what Giannis Antetokounmpo and Donovan Mitchell are eligible for in the $71.7 million range for 2029-30. Jalen Brunson may receive an offer comparable to Victor Wembanyama's potential $61.4 million.
Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Cleveland Cavaliers forward/center Evan Mobley are both already under contract for 2029-30 at $61.2 million apiece. Ja Morant, of the Memphis Grizzlies, could extend at similar numbers. Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers) and Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves) could reach almost the same amount for 2029-30 in the $60.6 million range.
How long will LeBron James and Steph Curry play? They'll both retire by 2029-30, right? How about Jimmy Butler or Kevin Durant?
Finally, if the league's income climbs higher than expected to the maximum of 10 percent a year, nearly every player on this list could earn even more.
Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on X @EricPincus and Bluesky.
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