- Damon Jones’ grateful response to LeBron James naming him one of the best shooters he’s ever played with
- Report: Rajon Rondo allegedly threatened to kill his former partner and pulled a gun on her
- Report: J.B. Bickerstaff and Koby Altman have discussed a potential change to the Cavs coaching staff
- Cavs insider indicates Rich Paul is expected to pursue extension in $180M range for Darius Garland
- Dan Gilbert’s confident statement regarding Koby Altman after he misses out on Executive of the Year
- Report: Kyrie Irving wanted LeBron James-like control with Brooklyn Nets
- Here’s how close Cavs exec Koby Altman came to winning Executive of the Year honors
- Darius Garland explains why it hurt so much that the Cavs didn’t make the playoffs this season
- Video: Kyrie Irving lashes out during GTA Twitch stream, calls other players ‘cockroaches’
- Report: 2 former Cavs big men open to returning to franchise
Cavs Starting Five Set to Make More Money Than Entire Roster of 18 Different Teams
- Updated: October 16, 2016

The price to win a championship can be high for some teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose starting five will be making more during the 2016-17 season than the entire roster of 18 different teams, including their main rival Golden State Warriors.
That unique statistic comes courtesy of John Buccigross of ESPN, with the numbers updated to include the Cavaliers’ Friday-night signing of J.R. Smith to a $57 million, four-year contract.
Cavs' starting lineup (Irving-Smith-LeBron-Love-Thompson) will make about $100M..more than 18 teams' entire rosters, including Warriors
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) October 15, 2016
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has been willing to pay the price in the past, having paid out a $54 million luxury tax penalty last season. Despite the hit to his estimated $4.5 billion net worth, the investment proved to be a success when the Cavaliers won the franchise’s first ever championship.
That starting five is, not surprisingly, topped by forward LeBron James, who will be making $30.96 million this upcoming season as part of a three-year, $100 million deal. Below him is fellow forward Kevin Love, who will be getting a raise of approximately $1.5 million this season, with a yearly salary of $21.17 million. That’s the second year of a five-year deal.
Kyrie Irving will also see his paycheck increase, though only by $1.2 million, with his salary set at just under $17.64 million. Irving has three more years on his contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 campaign.
Smith will actually see his salary drop with each succeeding year of his deal, yet he should be able to get by on the $15.69 million he’s set to make this season. In the final year, he’s scheduled to make $12.8 million.
Like Smith, center Tristan Thompson also held out during his contract negotiations and ended up getting most of the money he had asked for over the course of four years. This season, Thompson will make $15.33 million as he reaches the halfway point of his contract.
The numbers above are courtesy of the Spotrac.com and total right around $101 million. The Warriors are currently scheduled to pay their players $99.3 million in the upcoming season, a number that will jump significantly next year when starting point guard Stephen Curry negotiates a new deal.
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