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The news that DeMarcus Cousins is signing with the Warriors made me shout out loud next to an open window. If anyone down on the street under my apartment heard me, then I apologize.
But what truly made my eyes almost pop out of my skull was the number he signed for.
Cousins will sign a one-year, $5.3M deal with Warriors, league source tells ESPN. https://t.co/LaTLH3oOTB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2018
Plenty of players take hometown discounts — and players who sign with the Warriors basically have to take a pay-cut of some sort to make it all work — but a player of Boogie’s caliber signing for the mid-level exception (basically a league-average salary) is unheard of.
Just how much of a bargain is Cousins’ deal for the Warriors? Take a look at the players who made more money last season than Cousins’ $5.3 million out of a database of 582 contracts.
The 192 players who made more last season than Boogie will this season
| Player | Team | 2017-18 salary |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | 2017-18 salary |
| Stephen Curry | GSW | $34,682,550 |
| LeBron James | CLE | $33,285,709 |
| Paul Millsap | DEN | $31,269,231 |
| Gordon Hayward | BOS | $29,727,900 |
| Blake Griffin | DET | $29,512,900 |
| Kyle Lowry | TOR | $28,703,704 |
| Russell Westbrook | OKC | $28,530,608 |
| Mike Conley | MEM | $28,530,608 |
| James Harden | HOU | $28,299,399 |
| DeMar DeRozan | TOR | $27,739,975 |
| Al Horford | BOS | $27,734,405 |
| Carmelo Anthony | OKC | $26,243,760 |
| Damian Lillard | POR | $26,153,057 |
| Jrue Holiday | NOP | $25,686,667 |
| Chris Bosh | MIA | $25,289,390 |
| Kevin Durant | GSW | $25,000,000 |
| Otto Porter | WAS | $24,773,250 |
| Chris Paul | HOU | $24,599,495 |
| CJ McCollum | POR | $23,962,573 |
| Bradley Beal | WAS | $23,775,506 |
| Anthony Davis | NOP | $23,775,506 |
| Andre Drummond | DET | $23,775,506 |
| Hassan Whiteside | MIA | $23,775,506 |
| Dwight Howard | CHO | $23,500,000 |
| Chandler Parsons | MEM | $23,112,004 |
| Harrison Barnes | DAL | $23,112,004 |
| J.J. Redick | PHI | $23,000,000 |
| Marc Gasol | MEM | $22,642,350 |
| Kevin Love | CLE | $22,642,350 |
| Brook Lopez | LAL | $22,642,350 |
| DeAndre Jordan | LAC | $22,642,350 |
| Steven Adams | OKC | $22,471,910 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | $22,471,910 |
| Nicolas Batum | CHO | $22,434,783 |
| Rudy Gobert | UTA | $21,974,719 |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | SAS | $21,461,010 |
| Victor Oladipo | IND | $21,000,000 |
| Enes Kanter | NYK | $20,566,802 |
| Danilo Gallinari | LAC | $20,559,599 |
| Serge Ibaka | TOR | $20,061,729 |
| George Hill | CLE | $20,000,000 |
| Ryan Anderson | HOU | $19,578,455 |
| Paul George | OKC | $19,508,958 |
| Allen Crabbe | BRK | $19,332,500 |
| Jimmy Butler | MIN | $19,301,070 |
| Jeff Teague | MIN | $19,000,000 |
| Kawhi Leonard | SAS | $18,868,625 |
| Kyrie Irving | BOS | $18,868,625 |
| John Wall | WAS | $18,063,850 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | NOP | $18,063,850 |
| Wesley Matthews | DAL | $17,884,176 |
| Greg Monroe | PHO | $17,884,176 |
| Klay Thompson | GSW | $17,826,150 |
| Joakim Noah | NYK | $17,765,000 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | LAL | $17,745,894 |
| Luol Deng | LAL | $17,190,000 |
| Evan Turner | POR | $17,131,148 |
| Goran Dragic | MIA | $17,000,450 |
| Evan Fournier | ORL | $17,000,000 |
| Bismack Biyombo | ORL | $17,000,000 |
| Kent Bazemore | ATL | $16,910,113 |
| Robert Covington | PHI | $16,698,103 |
| Ian Mahinmi | WAS | $16,661,641 |
| Tim Hardaway | NYK | $16,500,000 |
| Draymond Green | GSW | $16,400,000 |
| Tristan Thompson | CLE | $16,400,000 |
| Reggie Jackson | DET | $16,000,000 |
| Pau Gasol | SAS | $16,000,000 |
| Tobias Harris | LAC | $16,000,000 |
| Dwyane Wade | CHI | $15,550,000 |
| Dennis Schroder | ATL | $15,500,000 |
| Jonas Valanciunas | TOR | $15,460,675 |
| Tony Parker | SAS | $15,453,126 |
| Timofey Mozgov | BRK | $15,280,000 |
| Andre Iguodala | GSW | $14,814,815 |
| DeMarre Carroll | BRK | $14,800,000 |
| Thaddeus Young | IND | $14,796,348 |
| Eric Bledsoe | MIL | $14,500,000 |
| Ricky Rubio | UTA | $14,275,000 |
| Joe Ingles | UTA | $14,136,364 |
| Gorgui Dieng | MIN | $14,112,360 |
| Khris Middleton | MIL | $14,100,000 |
| Mason Plumlee | DEN | $14,041,096 |
| Taj Gibson | MIN | $14,000,000 |
| James Johnson | MIA | $13,954,000 |
| Robin Lopez | CHI | $13,788,500 |
| J.R. Smith | CLE | $13,760,000 |
| Brandon Knight | PHO | $13,618,750 |
| Marvin Williams | CHO | $13,168,750 |
| Tyson Chandler | PHO | $13,000,000 |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | CHO | $13,000,000 |
| Eric Gordon | HOU | $12,943,020 |
| Kenneth Faried | DEN | $12,921,348 |
| Marcin Gortat | LAC | $12,782,609 |
| Cody Zeller | CHO | $12,584,270 |
| Miles Plumlee | ATL | $12,500,000 |
| Nikola Mirotic | NOP | $12,500,000 |
| Zach Randolph | SAC | $12,307,692 |
| Nikola Vucevic | ORL | $12,250,000 |
| Solomon Hill | NOP | $12,236,535 |
| Wilson Chandler | DEN | $12,016,854 |
| Jeremy Lin | BRK | $12,000,000 |
| Kemba Walker | CHO | $12,000,000 |
| Derrick Favors | UTA | $12,000,000 |
| Austin Rivers | WAS | $11,825,000 |
| Courtney Lee | NYK | $11,747,890 |
| Nikola Pekovic | MIN | $11,600,000 |
| Jordan Clarkson | CLE | $11,562,500 |
| John Henson | MIL | $11,422,536 |
| Dion Waiters | MIA | $11,000,000 |
| Amir Johnson | PHI | $11,000,000 |
| Jamal Crawford | ATL | $10,942,762 |
| Alec Burks | UTA | $10,845,506 |
| Patty Mills | SAS | $10,714,286 |
| Kelly Olynyk | MIA | $10,607,169 |
| Omer Asik | CHI | $10,595,505 |
| Terrence Ross | ORL | $10,500,000 |
| Mirza Teletovic | MIL | $10,500,000 |
| Bojan Bogdanovic | IND | $10,500,000 |
| Jon Leuer | DET | $10,497,319 |
| Iman Shumpert | SAC | $10,337,079 |
| Maurice Harkless | POR | $10,162,922 |
| Danny Green | SAS | $10,000,000 |
| Darren Collison | IND | $10,000,000 |
| Jared Dudley | PHO | $10,000,000 |
| Meyers Leonard | POR | $9,904,495 |
| Tony Snell | MIL | $9,821,429 |
| Al Jefferson | IND | $9,769,821 |
| Matthew Dellavedova | MIL | $9,607,500 |
| Joe Johnson | SAC | $9,505,000 |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | SAC | $9,470,614 |
| Andre Roberson | OKC | $9,259,259 |
| Trevor Booker | PHI | $9,125,000 |
| Dwight Powell | DAL | $9,003,125 |
| Jerryd Bayless | PHI | $9,000,000 |
| Avery Bradley | LAC | $8,808,989 |
| JaMychal Green | MEM | $8,533,333 |
| E'Twaun Moore | NOP | $8,445,024 |
| Rudy Gay | SAS | $8,406,000 |
| Kosta Koufos | SAC | $8,393,000 |
| Markieff Morris | WAS | $8,000,000 |
| Garrett Temple | SAC | $8,000,000 |
| Vince Carter | SAC | $8,000,000 |
| C.J. Miles | TOR | $7,936,509 |
| Cristiano Felicio | CHI | $7,843,500 |
| Shaun Livingston | GSW | $7,692,308 |
| Cory Joseph | IND | $7,630,000 |
| P.J. Tucker | HOU | $7,590,035 |
| Corey Brewer | LAL | $7,579,366 |
| Andrew Wiggins | MIN | $7,574,322 |
| Darrell Arthur | DEN | $7,464,912 |
| Channing Frye | LAL | $7,420,912 |
| Trevor Ariza | HOU | $7,420,912 |
| Al-Farouq Aminu | POR | $7,319,035 |
| Cole Aldrich | MIN | $7,300,000 |
| D.J. Augustin | ORL | $7,250,000 |
| Markelle Fultz | PHI | $7,026,240 |
| Lou Williams | LAC | $7,000,000 |
| Kyle Korver | CLE | $7,000,000 |
| Jeremy Lamb | CHO | $7,000,000 |
| Boban Marjanovic | LAC | $7,000,000 |
| Jae Crowder | UTA | $6,796,117 |
| Jabari Parker | MIL | $6,782,392 |
| Langston Galloway | DET | $6,666,667 |
| Lance Thomas | NYK | $6,655,325 |
| Ed Davis | POR | $6,352,531 |
| Marco Belinelli | ATL | $6,306,060 |
| Jonathon Simmons | ORL | $6,300,000 |
| Lonzo Ball | LAL | $6,286,560 |
| Wayne Ellington | MIA | $6,270,000 |
| Isaiah Thomas | LAL | $6,261,395 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | MIN | $6,216,840 |
| Ben Simmons | PHI | $6,168,840 |
| Joel Embiid | PHI | $6,100,266 |
| Spencer Hawes | MIL | $6,021,175 |
| Josh McRoberts | DAL | $6,021,175 |
| Dewayne Dedmon | ATL | $6,000,000 |
| Ish Smith | DET | $6,000,000 |
| Milos Teodosic | LAC | $6,000,000 |
| Alan Williams | PHO | $6,000,000 |
| Shelvin Mack | ORL | $6,000,000 |
| Ersan Ilyasova | ATL | $6,000,000 |
| Tyler Johnson | MIA | $5,881,260 |
| Wesley Johnson | LAC | $5,881,260 |
| Alex Abrines | OKC | $5,725,000 |
| Jayson Tatum | BOS | $5,645,400 |
| D'Angelo Russell | BRK | $5,562,360 |
| Brandon Ingram | LAL | $5,519,400 |
| Patrick Beverley | LAC | $5,513,514 |
| Aaron Gordon | ORL | $5,504,420 |
| Deron Williams | BRK | $5,500,000 |
The salary number has heads turned within the NBA.
NBA owners might lock us out now!
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) July 3, 2018
Well well the NBA is NUTS and also the best league lmao pic.twitter.com/zwtcgq9oZP
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 3, 2018
Hell, it even caught the eye of the Players Association (they initially tweeted “wow,” then deleted it.)
Welp. This season will be interesting.
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) July 3, 2018
Cousins certainly isn’t getting swindled here. He’s making more money than you and I will probably ever see, and he agreed to this contract likely because he’s already made more than $62 million as a professional and just wants to win a championship now:
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Cousins is coming off of an Achilles injury, so we’re not really sure what type of player he’ll be when he returns around Demember. But if he’s even 25 percent of his potential, the Warriors’ salary cap gymnastics here will be wholly rewarded.