Highest Paid Raptors Ever

[Skip2MyLou]

The Raptors traded away Rudy Gay this season (obviously) who was making ~17M /year
It got me thinking, who are some of the highest paid Raptors ever?

Jermaine O'Neal made 21.3M in 2008-2009, what are some of the other top salaries?

[92TillInfinity]

The Raptors traded away Rudy Gay this season (obviously) who was making ~17M /year
It got me thinking, who are some of the highest paid Raptors ever?

Jermaine O'Neal made 21.3M in 2008-2009, what are some of the other top salaries?

I think I'm gunna be sick...

[enlightenment]

I think I'm gunna be sick...

But... but... think of the TWIN TOWER ALLSTARS?!

[gametime]

But... but... think of the TWIN TOWER ALLSTARS?!

The Jermaine one makes me cringe... just terrible... We also paid Alonzo $10million to walk away... The Turkoglu contract was terrible, too

[ezz_bee]

Jesus, I was a raps fan then, but didn't pay attention to salary cap stuff, and I'm glad I didn't!

[Nilanka]

O'Neal was a legit max player when he inked the deal. And with just 2 years left on it when he came to Toronto, wasn't that risky.

The bad part was trading O'Neal for Shawn Marion, instead of having boatloads of cap space.

[BobLoblaw]

Interesting question, I haven't always paid much attention to the cap side either, so some of the early 2000s numbers surprised me. Especially when taken within context of other salaries at the time. Like, Jalen Rose was up there with Allen Iverson in salary, Antonio Davis was paid almost exactly as much as Tim Duncan (2x MVP at the time) and Kobe, more than Paul Pierce and Dirk.

Anyway, I picked these out from the Patricia Bender's blog / salary lists (http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/). It's pretty likely that the list isn't full because many of the players who were traded during the season got attributed to the other teams. I added the ones I remembered but some could still be missing.

1. Jermaine O'Neal '09...... $21,372,000
Rudy Gay '14 ................... $17,888,931
Shawn Marion '09............. $17,810,000
Rudy Gay '13 ................... $16,460,538
Chris Bosh '10 ................. $15,779,912
6. Jalen Rose '06............. $15,694,250
Peja Stojakovic '11........... $14,896,000
Jalen Rose '05 ................. $14,487,000
Chris Bosh '09.................. $14,410,581
Antonio Davis '06............. $13,925,000
11. Jalen Rose '04 ........... $13,279,750
Chris Bosh '08.................. $12,455,000
Antonio Davis '03.............. $12,000,000
Vince Carter '04 ............... $11,326,219
Jose Calderon '13 ............ $11,046,591
16. Antonio Davis '02........ $11,000,000
Vince Carter '03 ............... $10,067,750
Andrea Bargnani '13......... $10,000,000
Jose Calderon '12............ $9,780,992
DeMar DeRozan '14...........$9,500,000
21. Andrea Bargnani '12... $9,250,000
Hedo Turkoglu '10............ $9,000,000
Jose Calderon '11............ $9,000,000
Andrea Bargnani '11......... $8,500,000
Jose Calderon '10............ $8,219,009
26. T.J. Ford '08 ............... $8,000,000
Rasho Nesterovic '08........ $7,840,000
Leandro Barbosa '12........ $7,600,000
John Salmons '14............... $7,583,000
Jose Calderon '09............. $7,438,018
31. Rasho Nesterovic '07.. $7,280,000
Leandro Barbosa '11........ $7,100,000

1 entry per player:

1. Jermaine O'Neal '09...... $21,372,000
Rudy Gay '14 ................... $17,888,931
Shawn Marion '09............. $17,810,000
Chris Bosh '10 ................. $15,779,912
Jalen Rose '06.................. $15,694,250
6. Peja Stojakovic '11....... $14,896,000
Antonio Davis '06............. $13,925,000
Vince Carter '04 ............... $11,326,219
Jose Calderon '13............ $11,046,591
Andrea Bargnani '13......... $10,000,000
11. DeMar DeRozan '14.....$9,500,000
Hedo Turkoglu '10............ $9,000,000
T.J. Ford '08 ...................... $8,000,000
Rasho Nesterovic '08........ $7,840,000
Leandro Barbosa '12........ $7,600,000
John Salmons '14.............. $7,583,000

[Skip2MyLou]

J.O. was good in his prime.... we were just 2-3 years too late

Thanks for the List!!

[golden]

O'Neal was a legit max player when he inked the deal. And with just 2 years left on it when he came to Toronto, wasn't that risky.

The bad part was trading O'Neal for Shawn Marion, instead of having boatloads of cap space.

Sorry Niles, I gotta disagree with you there. JO was a great defensive player in his prime, true, but he was massively overrated on the offensive side. He was a full-on inefficient chucker. Basically, Rudy Gay of the front court, just before the advanced stats revolution had an opportunity to out him. He was really, really lucky to get that max contract.

[white men can't jump]

O'Neal was a legit max player when he inked the deal. And with just 2 years left on it when he came to Toronto, wasn't that risky.

The bad part was trading O'Neal for Shawn Marion, instead of having boatloads of cap space.

Sort of agree with @golden. JO was not quite a max level player, but given how good he was, it's the common situation of slightly overpaying. He was very overrated on O. He only once shot over 50% from the field, and that in Miami the season after we traded him away, so not even in his prime. (Heck, it was the only season he shot over 49%. He had horrible FG% for a big who played in the low post a lot)

And the boatloads of cap space issue is classic BC. Rather than wait an extra year for a huge amount of capspace, he was desperate to make a move sooner, which Marion's contract let him do, and partly because he was trying desperately to find something that worked beside Bosh to keep him happy. Just reacting instead of really planning with a strategy with a long-term view.

[Nilanka]

Sorry Niles, I gotta disagree with you there. JO was a great defensive player in his prime, true, but he was massively overrated on the offensive side. He was a full-on inefficient chucker. Basically, Rudy Gay of the front court, just before the advanced stats revolution had an opportunity to out him. He was really, really lucky to get that max contract.

Agree he wasn't the most efficient player with the ball in his hands, but like you mentioned, he was a definite defensive presence, rebounded, blocked shots, and hit free throws at a good clip for a team that won 61 games and advanced to the EC Finals. I would say that's more significant than anything Rudy Gay

JO may not have been LeBron-worthy of a max contract, but definitely more so than Rudy or Joe Johnson.

[Jack_Bauer]

O'Neal was a legit max player when he inked the deal. And with just 2 years left on it when he came to Toronto, wasn't that risky.

The bad part was trading O'Neal for Shawn Marion, instead of having boatloads of cap space.

Actually, Marion was an expiring while JO still had one year left on his deal. So the trade ended up opened up cap space in 2009, which BC used it to sign Hedo. Win!