Minimum GOATs: The best players ever on the NBA's base salary

At any given time, roughly a third of the league is on veteran or rookie minimum contracts. By and large, these are young and unproven or older and nearly washed players, balancing on a knife’s edge for their NBA careers. Most second-round picks, for example, end up signing minimum deals, and few stick in the league for too long. But every once in a while, a minimum player makes you sit up and take notice of their play.

Here are the Top 20 players to play on minimum deals. (For this exercise, we're focusing on players on minimum contracts for full seasons).

1. Michael Jordan

Full minimum seasons: 2001-02 and 2002-03

Stats: 21.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.4 apg, 43.0 FG%

Although he likely could have commanded a big-money contract from many teams looking to boost their bottom line, if nothing else, Jordan chose to give up his ownership stake in the Wizards and make his debut in Washington for a two-year veteran minimum contract (donating his first year’s salary to 9/11 victims).

While he wasn’t prime Jordan, MJ still averaged more than 20 points per game in his first Washington year, even receiving some down-ballot MVP votes, and became one of few vet-minimum players ever to make the All-Star team. The Wizards were in the playoff race before Jordan tore cartilage in his knee and had to have his first career surgery (the fact that Jordan was 39 before ever undergoing the knife is an underrated Jordan tidbit).

While Jordan’s time with the Wizards has a mixed legacy, it’s worth highlighting that he still dropped 50 in a game. How many other recent minimum players can say that?

2. Monta Ellis

Full minimum seasons: 2006-07 and 2007-08

Stats: 18.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 50.3 FG%

Ellis was a huge success story for the Warriors. Given a rookie minimum deal after being selected in the second round of the 2005 draft, Ellis won Most Improved Player in his second year before exploding in his third for more than 20 points per game on excellent 53 percent shooting.

A human highlight, Ellis was known for his blink-and-you-miss-him drives into the paint and English-laden layup package. The Warriors eventually paid him his value with a $66 million deal in 2008-09, but then a funny thing happened: they drafted Stephen Curry.

It’s hard to remember now, but there was legitimate debate about whether the Warriors should feature Curry or Ellis. Curry hadn’t become the Chef yet and battled ankle injury after ankle injury. Ellis was a fan favorite, a key part of the We Believe Warriors that upset the one-seeded Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs. Eventually, though, Warriors leadership traded Ellis for Andrew Bogut (and suffered  tremendous booing for their trouble), opening the door for Curry to break through and become the player we know today.

3. Isaiah Thomas

Full minimum seasons: 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2018-19

Stats: 15.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.6 apg, 42.1 FG%

The little engine that could, Thomas captured hearts and minds all around the country as a star on the Boston Celtics. Before that, however, Thomas was putting up numbers for a bad Sacramento Kings team on a rookie-scale minimum after being the last pick of the 2011 NBA draft.

The 5-foot-9 Thomas had an illustrious run with the Kings, including making the All-Rookie 2nd Team and becoming the shortest player ever to record a triple-double. Thomas endeared himself to fans by advocating at City Council meetings for the Kings to stay in Sacramento, and he outshone his far more hyped draftmate Jimmer Fredette with his performance on the court. There was nothing quite like him in the NBA, a little man who threw himself headfirst at the rim and climbed seven-footers like so many trees.

The Kings ultimately chose to move Thomas to Phoenix, signing and trading him on a four-year, $27 million contract to the Suns. Thomas, of course, went from Phoenix to Boston in short order, where he became the “King of the Fourth.” Unfortunately, after warning the Celtics that they’d “better bring out the Brinks truck” for his next contract, Thomas suffered a hip injury that derailed his career, and despite bouncing around several teams, he’s never been able to find a landing spot.

For all his production, Thomas landed a spot on HoopsHype’s most underpaid players of all time.

4. Nikola Jokic

Full minimum seasons: 2017-18

Stats: 18.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 6.1 apg, 49.9 FG%

NBA champion and three-time MVP Jokic was famously drafted during a Taco Bell commercial, symbolizing his humble beginnings.

Analytics folks were universally high on Jokic’s potential, and he made them look smart quickly. His 2017-18 season, in which he made just $1.47 million, saw him average nearly 19/11/6 while shooting a still-career-best 40 percent from downtown.

In a league prioritizing small-ball, Jokic’s ground-bound game, based on strength and unbelievable skill, cut against the grain. He quickly turned heads for his soft touch and impossible passing ability, and despite his non-traditional defensive profile, the Nuggets began building around him as their tentpole star.

Jokic wasn’t underpaid for long; he became a max player the very next season.

5. Carlos Boozer

Full minimum seasons: 2002-03 and 2003-04

Stats: 12.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 52.9 FG%

Boozer, a second-round pick out of Duke, performed fantastically in his first two seasons with the Cavs. He made the All-Rookie 2nd Team and followed that up with a second-place finish for Most Improved Player. He notched 15.5 points and nearly a dozen rebounds in his second year, and the Cavs looked to have their 1-2 punch for the future after drafting LeBron James before Boozer’s sophomore campaign.

Certainly, Cleveland thought so, and they made one of the most infamous mistakes in NBA contract management history. The club claimed to have reached a verbal agreement to renounce their restricted free agency rights to Boozer to sign him to a mid-level exception deal (roughly six years and $39 million). But they dramatically underestimated both Boozer’s word and the market’s interest in the rising star, as the Utah Jazz (jostling with several other squads) swooped in and offered Boozer a six-year, $68 million contract, which he quickly accepted.

It’s hard to overstate the ripple effects. Boozer eventually became an All-NBA player for Utah, an excellent mid-range jump-shooter and rebounder who would have been an ideal pairing for a young James. If Boozer stays in Cleveland, perhaps James and Cleveland are able to win a championship? We’ll never know, thanks to uncharacteristic naivety from the Cavs’ front office.

6. Gilbert Arenas

Full minimum seasons: 2001-02 and 2002-03

Stats: 15.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.3 apg, 44.2 FG%

Before his All-NBA breakout in Washington, before the infamous gun incident, Arenas was simply a bucket-getting star on the rise for the Golden State Warriors. The first pick in the second round, Arenas had a reasonable rookie year before busting out in his sophomore effort, winning Most Improved Player. The famously confident Arenas memorably stated that he didn’t think he “got a whole lot better” that year but simply received a greater opportunity to play.

Arenas entered restricted free agency after that year, and the Warriors, despite wanting to bring him back, could not. At the time, teams over the salary cap could only re-sign first-round picks. This eventually led to the creation of the Gilbert Arenas rule in the 2005 CBA, allowing teams to use exceptions on non-first-round picks, but it was too late for Golden State, who watched Arenas become a three-time All-Star in Washington before injuries sapped him of his prime.

7. Hassan Whiteside

Full minimum seasons: 2011-12, 2015-16, 2020-21 and 2021-22

Stats: 9.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.3 bpg, 56.6 FG%

Hassan Whiteside has one of the NBA’s stranger stories. He’s actually been on minimum contracts for three separate stints. First, he was with the Sacramento Kings from 2010-2012 as an early second-round pick. He disappointed with the Kings and had to resort to playing in Lebanon and other leagues for two years. After seeing a car bomb explode, Whiteside got his act together and returned to the NBA with the Miami Heat, where he had his best years. His 2015-16 campaign, his last on a minimum with Miami, earned him an All-Defensive 2nd Team nomination and a third-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting as he led the league in blocks with 3.7 per game.

The infamous summer of 2016 saw the salary cap spike thanks to a new TV deal, resulting in several monstrous contracts that teams would come to regret (and the Kevin Durant deal with the Warriors, which 29 teams would come to regret). Whiteside was one of the big winners going from a minimum contract to a maximum deal.

Although Whiteside initially shined, posting four triple-doubles with blocks, immaturity concerns (which had haunted Whiteside throughout his career) quickly rose again. Heat GM Pat Riley eventually lost faith in Whiteside. He was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers before the 2019-20 season, and spent the last two years of his career on minimum contracts with Utah and Sacramento.

8. Jalen Brunson

Full minimum seasons: 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22

Stats: 16.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.8 apg, 50.2 FG%

Brunson, the third pick of the second round in the 2018 draft, spent four years on a second-round rookie-scale contract with the Dallas Mavericks, steadily improving next to Luka Doncic. The 2021-22 season saw him become a full-time starter while putting up a well-rounded statline.

Brunson turned heads by dominating the 2022 playoffs, boosting his scoring to 21.6 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field as the Mavericks made the Western Conference Finals. The Knicks, intrigued by the playoff success of the undersized guard, offered a substantial offer sheet that the Mavs famously refused to match. He became an All-NBA player in New York.

9. Khris Middleton

Full minimum seasons: 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15

Stats: 11.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 44.9 FG%

Midleton was drafted 39th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2012 NBA draft, accepting a second-round minimum contract offer. Middleton didn’t make much of a rookie impact, and he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Brandon Jennings deal. Middleton quickly became a starter and began his reputation as a crunch-time closer with a buzzer-beater against Phoenix in his third year.

Middleton’s ability to score from all three levels and hit big shots made him the perfect pairing with the rising Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the two became the foundation for the last near-decade of excellent Milwaukee basketball.

10. Draymond Green

Full minimum seasons: 2014-15

Stats: 11.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.7 apg 44.3 FG%

Green has had an incredible career, but it all started with another man’s misfortune. A second-round pick out of Michigan State, Green struggled to earn consistent minutes until an injury to frontcourt scorer David Lee caused coach Steve Kerr to insert Green into the starting lineup. The unique big man’s unconventional blend of playmaking (although he really leaned into his point-forward role in his fourth year), screening, and versatile defense became the skeleton key unlocking the Warriors’ ultimate form, and they won their first title in 2014-15, Green’s third and final year on a minimum contract. Green earned second-place finishes in both Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year voting and went home with an All-Defensive 1st Team selection.

Green’s impact on the NBA is overshadowed by Steph Curry’s but is still significant. He found ways to succeed as a poor-shooting stretch four on offense and an undersized center at defense, turning the “tweener” label from derogative to desirable. Green’s ability to guard everyone helped popularize the spread of switching defenses, and he’s one of the greatest transition defenders ever.

11. Malcolm Brogdon

Full minimum seasons: 2017-18 and 2018-19

Stats: 14.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 49.5 FG%

Brogdon is one of just two second-round picks to ever win Rookie of the Year (Willis Reed was the other, all the way back in 1965), beating out an injury-hampered Joel Embiid despite scoring the fewest points per game of any winner in the award’s history.

Brogdon kept improving, and his third and final minimum-contract year saw him become the eighth player in NBA history to achieve a 50/40/90 season.

Brogdon became a starter on the Middleton/Antetokounmpo playoff teams of the late 2010s, including the 2019 run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately, injuries often hampered him, including limiting his playoff impact in that season.

Brogdon has struggled with injuries ever since, although he did win Sixth Man of the Year with Boston in the 2022-23 season.

12. Naz Reid

Full minimum seasons: 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23

Stats: 10.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 49.0 FG%

Reid came into the league with a salary befitting his initial status as a pudgy tweener with questions about his defensive viability, but he earned himself a larger payday with his play in 2022-23, when his ability to space the floor around new acquisition Rudy Gobert and ascending superstar Anthony Edwards became more valuable.

Minnesota valued Reid’s burgeoning skills more than most because it allowed them to seamlessly run the same offense when star power forward Karl-Anthony Towns was on the bench, but it was a bit of a gamble — he’d never shot better than 35 percent from deep at the time.

That bet paid off immediately in 2023-24 when Reid became one of the league’s best long-range marksmen en route to earning Sixth Man of the Year honors.

13. Paul Millsap

Full minimum seasons: 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2021-22

Stats: 9.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.3 apg, 46.1 FG%

Another second-round minimum signing, Millsap exploded in his third year, garnering votes for both Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player as he replaced an injured Carlos Boozer. He started roughly half the season, compiling 16 points and 10 rebounds per game in that time and turning heads around the league with his strong two-way play.

The Trail Blazers tried to sign him to an offer sheet in restricted free agency for $32 million over four years, including a poison-pill provision that would have given him a $10 million payout in the first seven days from the contract’s signing. It was a good effort, but Utah eventually matched the offer sheet.

14. Spencer Dinwiddie

Full minimum seasons: 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19

Stats: 13.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.4 apg, 39.3% FG%

The crypto king bounced around the league on minimums and partially-guaranteed deals for a while before landing in Brooklyn, where he wildly outperformed his contract in 2018-19 as part of the feel-good Kenny Atkinson-led Brooklyn Nets (right before Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant came into town).

Dinwiddie struck a balance between scoring and playmaking as he ran with All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell to help lead the oddball Nets to a surprising playoff berth.

15. DeShawn Stevenson

Full minimum seasons: 2006-07 and 2007-08

Stats: 11.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 42.3% FG%

Stevenson had a solid career as a 3-and-D role player, but putting his basketball life in a box like that doesn’t come close to conveying the Stevenson experience. He was a trash-talking, snarling, physical defender who relished one-on-one battles with the Kobe Bryants and Carmelo Anthonys of the world.

He peaked as a player on a $1.0 million deal in 2007-08, when he shot 38 percent from deep on high volume while playing lockdown defense against the league’s apex wings. That year’s playoffs memorably featured a battle between Stevenson’s Wizards (led by Gilbert Arenas, in fact) and LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, in which Stevenson invited Soulja Boy courtside to represent the DC underdogs after LeBron compared himself to Jay-Z and Stevenson to, well, you know (it’s a pretty fun story that goes surprisingly deep!).

Stevenson won a championship as part of the 2011 Mavericks squad that beat LeBron’s Heat in the Finals, but things haven’t turned out too badly for James.

16. Jordan Clarkson

Full minimum seasons: 2014-15 and 2015-16

Stats: 14.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.9 apg, 44.0 FG%

The smooth scorer made waves in just his second year with the Lakers, putting up big numbers for the worst team in the Western Conference in Kobe Bryant’s final season. Before all his tattoos, Clarkson was a baby-faced combo guard with a lightning-quick first step and a gunner’s mentality. He and Jeremy Lin combined to become the league’s first-ever all-Asian-American starting backcourt in 2015.

17. Dwyane Wade

Full minimum seasons: 2017-18 and 2018-19

Stats: 13.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.8 apg, 43.2 FG%

Wade’s last two years were spent on minimum deals, but we’re mostly concerned with his 2018-19 season, in which he was politely named an All-Star along with Dirk Nowitzki for their retirement victory lap.

Wade wasn’t washed up, though. He earned votes for Sixth Man of the Year, hit some clutch shots for the Heat, and notched a 25-point triple-double in the final game of his career while becoming the third player to record 20K points, 5K assists, 4K rebounds, 1.5K steals, 800 blocks, and 500 three-pointers over a lifetime (how’s that for a stat?).

18. Dillon Brooks

Full minimum seasons: 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20

Stats: 12.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 41.6 FG%

A mid-second-rounder traded on draft night, Brooks wasn't expected to make much impact, but the feisty wing made an impact from the jump, starting 74 games in his rookie season. After an injury-shortened second year, Brooks exploded in his third and final rookie-contract season, helping a rookie Ja Morant surprisingly lead Memphis to the COVID bubble’s play-in game.

Brooks’ shot selection has come into question, but nobody doubts his defense. He’s an agitator extraordinaire, using physicality and the occasional headbutt to get under opponents’ skin.

19. Josh Richardson

Full minimum seasons: 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2023-24

Stats: 10.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 43.5 FG%

A product of the Miami Heat player development machine, Josh Richardson was a Swiss Army Knife who steadily grew during his first four years in South Beach.

Richardson’s best minimum season was his third, 2017-2018, when his stats climbed enough to garner some Most Improved Player votes. Richardson did a little bit of everything in starting 81 games for Miami that year, guarding the opponent’s best perimeter scorer while spacing the floor from deep and even initiating the offense at times.

Richardson came full circle in his career after signing another minimum deal with Miami before the 2023-24 season.

20. Duncan Robinson

Full minimum seasons: 2019-20 and 2020-21

Stats: 13.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 45.4 FG%

Robinson was also a beneficiary of the Heat’s development program. He went from an undrafted free agent to one of the best shooters in the world in a matter of years before the Heat rewarded him with a big payday in 2021.

Robinson’s best minimum year was the 2019-2020 season, his second, in which he shot an outrageous 44.6% from deep on 8.3 three-point attempts per game, which totaled 88.2% of his total field goal attempts.

Robinson simply couldn’t miss, and he was the fastest player in NBA history to 300, 400, and 500 made three-pointers. He was a huge part of the Heat’s Finals run during the bubble, including making seven triples in Game 5 as the undermanned Heat brought the fight to LeBron’s Lakers.

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Minimum GOATs: The best players ever on the NBA's base salary