Davis is highest paid ex-Cat in NBA, but next one on list might surprise you
The $15,000 fine that the NBA levied on Tyler Ulis for his part in an on-court scuffle between the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies this past week raised the question of how much of a hit to the wallet that would be for one of Kentucky’s former 24 players in the league.
Ulis, whose $918,369 salary for 2016-17 ranks 428th out of 587 players contracts listed on BasketballReference.com, should be just fine, of course. Almost $2 million of his overall contract is guaranteed.
A chart compiling all of the salaries to be earned by former UK players is coming up, but a couple of notes on that first:
▪ The New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis is the highest-paid ex-Cat this season, but that could change in the offseason. DeMarcus Cousins is expected to sign an extension with the Sacramento Kings for five years at an estimated $207 million.
▪ It might be a surprise that the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes Kanter is second on this list — ahead of Cousins and the Washington Wizards’ John Wall. That will certainly change when those two All-Stars sign their next deals.
▪ Three former Cats on this list — Archie Goodwin, Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress — are free agents playing in the NBA D-League full-time. They’re getting paid by their former NBA teams because parts of their deals were guaranteed.
Ex-Cats’ NBA salaries
Notes: Salary information from BasketballReference.com.
x-player option; y-team option
Player | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | Guaranteed |
Anthony Davis | $22,116,750 | $23,775,506 | $25,434,263 | $27,093,019 | $28,751,775 | $127,171,313 |
Enes Kanter | $17,145,838 | $17,884,176 | $18,622,514-x | — | — | $35,030,014 |
John Wall | $16,957,900 | $18,063,850 | $19,169,800 | — | — | $54,191,550 |
DeMarcus Cousins | $16,957,900 | $18,063,850 | — | — | — | $35,021,750 |
Eric Bledsoe | $14,000,000 | $14,500,000 | $15,000,000 | — | — | $43,500,000 |
Rajon Rondo | $14,000,000 | $13,397,000 | — | — | — | $17,000,000 |
Michael-Kidd Gilchrist | $13,000,000 | $13,000,000 | $13,000,000 | $13,000,000-x | — | $39,000,000 |
Brandon Knight | $12,606,250 | $13,618,750 | $14,631,250 | $15,643,750 | — | $56,500,000 |
Jodie Meeks | $6,540,000 | — | — | — | — | $6,540,000 |
Patrick Patterson | $6,050,000 | — | — | — | — | $6,050,000 |
Karl-Anthony Towns | $5,960,160 | $6,216,840 | $7,839,435-y | $10,191,265-z | — | $12,177,000 |
Nerlens Noel | $4,384,490 | $5,848,909-z | — | — | — | $4,384,490 |
Willie Cauley-Stein | $3,551,160 | $3,704,160 | $4,696,874-y | — | — | $7,255,320 |
Julius Randle | $3,267,120 | $4,149,242 | — | — | — | $7,416,36 |
Jamal Murray | $3,210,840 | $3,355,320 | $3,499,800-y | $4,444,746-y | — | $6,566,160 |
Trey Lyles | $2,340,600 | $2,441,400 | $3,364,249-y | — | — | $4,782,000 |
Devin Booker | $2,223,600 | $2,319,360 | $3,314,365-y | — | — | $4,542,960 |
Archie Goodwin | $2,094,089 | — | — | — | — | $2,094,089 |
James Young | $1,825,200 | — | — | — | — | $1,825,200 |
Skal Labissiere | $1,188,840 | $1,242,240 | $1,295,760-y | $2,338,846-y | — | $2,431,080 |
Terrence Jones | $1,050,961 | — | — | — | — | $1,050,961 |
DeAndre Liggins | $1,015,696 | $1,087,745-y | — | — | — | $1,015,696 |
Andrew Harrison | $945,000 | $987,500 | $1,050,262-y | — | — | $1,045,000 |
Tyler Ulis | $918,369 | $905,249 | $1,050,262 | $1,126,120 | — | $1,823,618 |
Kyle Wiltjer | $543,471 | $905,249 | — | — | — | $543,471 |
Aaron Harrison | $375,579 | — | — | — | — | $375,579 |
Alex Poythress | $35,381 | — | — | — | — | $35,381 |
Suns & Grizzlies scrap during garbage time. Tyler Ulis wasn't backing down... pic.twitter.com/8t0wnQbHyw
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 9, 2017
ICYMI: More links from the past week
▪ Towns and Davis say ‘brotherhood’ is unique part of UK experience
▪ DeMarcus Cousins ‘dealing with my own demons’ while trying to avoid techs
▪ Davis and Towns combine for 78 points in head-to-head matchup
▪ Julius Randle reflects on 2013-14 Wildcats: ‘We had to take our lumps’
▪ Former Kentucky player Devin Booker subject of new Nike film
▪ Ex-Cat Noel not paying attention to trade chatter
▪ DeMarcus Cousins suspended for 16th tech, fined for obscene gesture
▪ Ex-Cats Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson named D-League All-Stars
▪ Dakari Johnson named NBA D-League’s player of the week
NBA rankings
1. Russell Westbrook, 31.2 points per game
4. Anthony Davis, 28.0
6. DeMarcus Cousins, 27.8
14. Karl-Anthony Towns, 23.7
18. John Wall, 23.0
26. Eric Bledsoe, 21.2
27. Devin Booker, 21.1
1. Hassan Whiteside, 14.0 per game
6. Anthony Davis, 12.1
7. Karl-Anthony Towns, 11.8
11. DeMarcus Cousins, 10.7
24. Julius Randle, 8.0
33. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, 7.4
1. James Harden, 11.3 per game
2. John Wall, 10.5
11. Rajon Rondo, 6.5
17. Eric Bledsoe, 6.1
31. DeMarcus Cousins, 4.8
1. John Wall, 2.16 per game
28. DeMarcus Cousins, 1.38
31. Eric Bledsoe, 1.33
31. Rajon Rondo, 1.33
34. Anthony Davis, 1.31
1. Rudy Gobert, 2.51 per game
2. Anthony Davis, 2.45
15. Karl-Anthony Towns, 1.47
18. DeMarcus Cousins, 1.34
35. Terrence Jones, 1.04
37. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, 1.00
NBA statistics
Statistics (through Feb. 12) for the 24 former Cats playing in the NBA:
Player | Team | G | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | PER |
Suns | 54 | 33.1 | 21.2 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 21.02 | |
Suns | 54 | 34.6 | 21.1 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 14.22 | |
Kings | 48 | 12.7 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 16.35 | |
Kings | 53 | 34.6 | 27.8 | 10.7 | 4.8 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 26.63 | |
Pelicans | 51 | 36.2 | 28.0 | 12.1 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 27.82 | |
Grizzlies | 53 | 21.9 | 6.2 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 8.60 | |
Pelicans | 51 | 24.8 | 11.5 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 16.32 | |
Thunder | 47 | 21.6 | 14.4 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 24.45 | |
Hornets | 53 | 29.5 | 9.2 | 7.4 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 13.29 | |
Suns | 52 | 21.2 | 11.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 12.48 | |
Kings | 7 | 6.1 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 22.15 | |
Cavaliers | 44 | 14.6 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7.95 | |
Jazz | 55 | 18.7 | 7.5 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 11.55 | |
Magic | 24 | 21.7 | 8.9 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 13.48 | |
Nuggets | 54 | 19.8 | 8.7 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 11.23 | |
76ers | 27 | 18.7 | 8.5 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 20.65 | |
Raptors | 40 | 27.3 | 7.2 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 10.51 | |
Lakers | 48 | 28.4 | 13.0 | 8.0 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 15.45 | |
Bulls | 45 | 26.5 | 6.4 | 5.3 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 11.48 | |
Timberwolves | 55 | 36.4 | 23.7 | 11.8 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 24.51 | |
Suns | 35 | 9.1 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 9.35 | |
Wizards | 51 | 36.7 | 23.0 | 4.4 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 23.16 | |
Rockets | 9 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 4.48 | |
Celtics | 17 | 6.5 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 10.02 |
D-League statistics
Statistics (through Feb. 12) for the six former Cats playing full-time in the NBA D-League:
Player | Team | G | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk |
Greensboro Swarm | 27 | 33.1 | 17.0 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | |
Grand Rapids Drive | 35 | 22.0 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | |
Delaware 87ers | 23 | 32.8 | 17.3 | 4.6 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.3 | |
Oklahoma City Blue | 36 | 29.8 | 18.6 | 8.0 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 1.4 | |
Westchester Knicks | 27 | 28.4 | 11.9 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | |
Fort Wayne Mad Ants | 31 | 30.6 | 18.9 | 7.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
Dennis Varney: 859-231-3514, @ExCats
Bonus tweets
Relive @THEwillieCS15's monster jam last night from every ... possible ... angle#SacramentoProud pic.twitter.com/vmK0sp3Mhp
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) February 9, 2017
.@TheWillieCS15 talks about his big game, big dunk and the team's win with @AnnouncerScott pic.twitter.com/GkzwS2nwLC
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) February 9, 2017
Davis: “Cal preaches family, so you just stick with that for the rest of your career no matter where you are." #BBN https://t.co/KXeQAfSI0k
— ExCats (@ExCats) February 13, 2017
Devin Booker on Troy Daniels (the two had some trash talking going) "He been on 5 teams in 3 years..he has the nerves to talk trash to me" pic.twitter.com/TkDxJUemoF
— FOX Sports Radio1340 (@1340AMFOXSports) February 9, 2017
AD block x2! #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/xpcak7APL6
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2017
AD: "Not in my house."
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 7, 2017
#Pelicans pic.twitter.com/1x1y7lBAvE
Boogie staying late after the win to hang with kids from Del Paso Heights #DoGood pic.twitter.com/trm8tZbYCt
— Kings Community (@Kings_Community) February 13, 2017
Um, Buddy? pic.twitter.com/zU2s6pnUVO
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 13, 2017
DeAndre Liggins with the handles and then LeBron (via @HoHighlights ) pic.twitter.com/NLnk8uzpwZ
— NBA RETWEET (@RTNBA) February 12, 2017
This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Davis is highest paid ex-Cat in NBA, but next one on list might surprise you."