NBA’s biggest bargains: Austin Reaves, Jalen Johnson and more players out-performing their salaries
Everyone loves a good deal. The entire Black Friday concept operates on the idea that it’s easier to separate holiday shoppers from their money if they’re getting a little bit more bang for their buck. What follows here is a list of NBA players, in no particular order, who are outperforming contracts that are reasonable or, in some cases, downright cheap. (We’ve excluded rookies from the exercise.) Some are locked up for longer than others, but all of them represent great values.
1. Austin Reaves (2025-26 salary: $13.9 million)This is the last season Reaves will appear on a list of this sort. He has a player option for next season at $14.8 million that he will decline the very instant his agent can do so. The Lakers offered him an extension last summer that would have paid him $89.2 million over four years. He declined. Reaves rightly bet on setting himself up for a much larger payday by putting up big numbers this season in Los Angeles. As gambles go, it was the smart play and without much risk.
Reaves is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and usage rate and has a 65.2 TS percentage. He’s hit game-winners and filled in admirably at various points this season without Luka Dončić and LeBron James in the lineup. The Lakers obviously want to retain him, but there will be a long line of suitors queuing for his services this summer. The man is going to get paid for his talent; the quotes are a bonus.
2. Jalen Johnson (2025-26 salary: $30 million)Some of us have been calling him the Hawks best player since last season, but it took another Trae Young injury this year for Johnson to remind everyone how good he is and who really leads the way in Atlanta. Johnson was having a breakout campaign last season before a left shoulder injury shut him down after just 36 games. This season the 24-year-old leads the Hawks in points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage.At 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, he’s a nightmare matchup for any opposing defender, capable of pulling up from beyond the arc, finding a teammate for an easy bucket or getting to the rack. He’s also excellent on the defensive end, a pest in the passing lanes who loves to pick pockets and turn it into instant offense.In a recent win over the Hornets, Johnson had 28 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds and no turnovers — making him the first player in franchise history to put up that kind of line since turnovers were first tracked back in 1977-78. There are three players in the NBA averaging at least 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists per game — Nikola Jokić, Alperen Sengun and Johnson. That is some quality company.
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Best of all, Johnson is in the first year of a new five-year $150 million contract that pays him $30 million each season. At 19.4% of the league cap this season, the deal is already a bargain for Atlanta. But because his salary remains flat and the cap rises, in that final season his $30 mil projects to be around 15.6% of the league cap, giving the Hawks front office extra wiggle room to build around the guy who’s actually their franchise player.
3. Jalen Duren (2025-26 salary: $4.1 million)Things are going exceedingly well in Detroit, but the Eastern Conference leaders have to be kicking themselves for not getting an extension done with Duren before the Oct. 20 deadline. The two sides were reportedly pretty far apart in their negotiations, which means Duren will be a restricted free agent in July. That’s going to cost the Pistons some extra money.The 22-year-old is averaging 19.8 points and 11.8 rebounds, both of which are career highs. He’s posted double doubles in 12 of the 16 games he’s played, and he’s fourth in the league in rebounding. He’s also improved defensively. Opponents are shooting 63.2% against him in the restricted area, down from 67.2% last year.
The Most Improved Player award is usually an eye of the beholder thing that can be divisive, but Duren is making his case to be on most voters’ short list.
4. Josh Giddey (2025-26 salary: $25 million)Negotiations between Giddey and the Bulls dragged on for a while this summer before they finally landed on a four-year, $100 million deal. That was the middle-ground compromise, with Giddey reportedly seeking $30 mil per year and Chicago initially offering $20. After a hot start, the Bulls have cooled off lately (including an embarrassing loss to the Pelicans this week), but Giddey keeps putting up numbers. The 23-year-old is averaging 20.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 9.5 assists, all career highs. He’s 11th in the league in rebounds per game and second in assists. He’s shooting a career-best 38.8 from deep. And he’s second in the NBA behind Jokić with four triple doubles, which is twice as many as anyone else has.
We’ll see if the Bulls can regain their early season form and whether Giddey’s gaudy counting stats translate to wins. But the production relative to the cost is hard to ignore. Like Jalen Johnson’s deal, Giddey’s contract doesn’t escalate and pays him $25 mil flat in each season.
5. Keyonte George (2025-26 salary: $4.3 million)His sophomore season was a bit of a mixed bag, with George starting 35 of 67 games and jockeying for backcourt usage with Colin Sexton and Isaiah Collier. George has leveled up in his third season, averaging 23.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.1 steals, all of which are career highs. (He’s 22nd in the NBA in points per game and ninth in assists.) He’s also getting to the line a career-high seven times per game while shooting a robust 90.8, sixth-best in the league. George is a high-volume shooter who still needs to improve his efficiency from deep (he’s shooting 31.9% on 6.8 attempts per game), but the confidence he has in his offensive repertoire has to be encouraging for the Jazz.
Along with Lauri Markkanen, George has been one of the two best players in Utah and has helped the Jazz get off to a surprising (or at least not utterly dreadful given their expectations) 5-12 start. That might not seem like much, but the Jazz are 3-4 in Clutch games and have made the opposition work for it on most nights. The 22-year-old is in the third year of his rookie contract that will pay him $4.3 million this season. For a lead guard who’s still figuring out what he can do, that’s a fantastic price point.
6. Ajay Mitchell (2025-26 salary: $3 million)Despite not having Jalen Williams (wrist) to start the season, the defending champs are off to a torrid start. They’ve lost just one game and have won 10 in a row. Their depth is a huge component in their success. With Williams out, the Thunder have thrown more minutes at Mitchell, who has made the most of them.
Mitchell appeared in just 36 games as a rookie. As a sophomore, he’s played in all 19, oscillating between the starting lineup and the bench as needed and averaging 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 in a little over 27 minutes per game. He’s scored in double figures in all but one game. It’s finds like Mitchell — who was drafted 38th overall out of UC Santa Barbara in 2024 and makes just $3 million this season — that make it possible for OKC to max out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Williams and still put a quality team around them. Isaiah Hartenstein has a team option for $28.5 million next season. Lu Dort has a team option for $18.2 million. Both are potential cap casualties who might not be around next season. And despite their talent, the Thunder probably won’t miss them because they have more cost-effective young players like Mitchell and Cason Wallace who have already stepped forward, not to mention the unending haul of draft picks that they’ve stockpiled. Sam Presti should win Executive of the Year every year, or at least some sort of lifetime achievement award.
7. Ryan Rollins (2025-26 salary: $4 million)The Bucks went into the season with precious little playmaking and shot creation, a problem that was exacerbated when Kevin Porter Jr. — who was thrust into the role of lead guard more out of necessity than accomplishment — hurt his knee nine minutes into the season and hasn’t played since. But that unfortunate turn of events for Porter has worked out nicely for Rollins.
Rollins has started 18 of 19 games for the Bucks, averaging 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 steals. Those are all obviously career highs. He’s also shooting 48.9% from the floor and 40.4% from deep (on six attempts per game). As breakout seasons go, this is a big one for Rollins. The 23-year-old averaged 15 minutes in 56 games for the Bucks last season. Before that, he was an afterthought. Rollins was drafted 44th overall in 2022. He played a grand total of 12 games with the Warriors as a rookie. He played a total of 13 games with the Wizards and Bucks in his second season. Rollins will make $4 million this year and next. For a team that was desperate for guard play and limited in team building options after waiving and stretching Damian Lillard, Rollins’ emergence as a legitimate starting guard who’s cost controlled is a huge gift for the Bucks.
Honorable mentionThe 2024 draft was much maligned, but there are a whole host of players from that class who have stepped up their games this season. Stephon Castle, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Kel’El Ware, and Reed Sheppard (who just posted a career-high 31 points in a win at Golden State), among others, have all popped at various points and project to have bright futures. Not bad for a group that was overlooked and underhyped.
已发布: 2025-11-28 16:25:00
