Ranking: The highest

Mar 30, 2024

July 28, 2023- by Yossi Gozlan Follow @YossiGozlan

By Yossi Gozlan | July 28, 2023 Follow @YossiGozlan

The Miami Heat have only been around for 35 years but they’ve already experienced a lot more success than franchises that have been around longer. After 24 playoff appearances, 10 trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, and three titles in seven trips to the Finals, they’re on track to being a legacy franchise in the near future.

They also have a strong collection of all-time great players that are in the Hall of Fame or are projected to enter it. Here is a list of the 12 highest-paid Heat players in franchise history.

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Chris Bosh ranking this high is shocking for several reasons. For starters, most people probably assume Dwyane Wade is the highest-earning Heat player. But the other reason is that Bosh didn’t play that long in Miami. His career got cut short during the 2015-16 season to due complications from a blood clot. He still got paid the entirety of his remaining salary with the Heat even though they got the amount excluded from their cap.

Money per game: $483,959Highest Heat salary: $26,837,720 in 2018-19 (No. 16 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 18 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.8 apg, 49.6 FG% in 6 seasons

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(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Dwyane Wade would probably be No. 1 on this list right now had he played his entire career with the Miami Heat. He left a little bit of money on the table to help the Heat form the Big 3 in 2010 while also making room to sign Mike Miller, but that amount is minuscule now relative to how much the salary cap has increased. When Wade decided to maximize his earnings, he got the highest annual salary in his career with the Chicago Bulls. Wade earned just under $200 million in his 17-year career.

Money per game: $169,567Highest Heat salary: $20,000,000 in 2015-16 (No. 10 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 22.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 5.6 apg, 48.3 FG% in 15 seasons

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Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler is on track to be the Heat’s highest earner as soon as this season. This means that he will have eclipsed Dwyane Wade’s career earnings with the Heat in a third of the time. Butler will likely hold the belt of highest-earning Heat player for a while assuming he gets another deal with them and retires in Miami.

Money per game: $609,483Highest Heat salary: $37,653,300 in 2022-23 (No. 16 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 21.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.9 apg, 49.5 FG% in 4 seasons

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Alonzo Mourning is high in these rankings thanks to the seven-year, $105 million deal the Heat signed him to. That seventh year came in clutch for him since it allowed him to collect $20.6 million while he was dealing with his kidney issues.

Money per game: $195,607Highest Heat salary: $20,629,800 in 2002-03 (No. 3 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 16 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.1 apg, 53.7 FG% in 11 seasons

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Goran Dragic received just under 75 percent of his career earnings from the Miami Heat. He earned just $30 million in his first seven seasons before the Heat signed him to a five-year $85 million deal. He made $113.2 million with the Heat, which is prorated for his partial 2014-15 season with them, but in a way, he actually earned $133 million with them. That’s because they re-signed him to a two-year, $37 million that was only guaranteed for the first season, but they picked it up so they could trade him for Kyle Lowry.

Money per game: $289,632Highest Heat salary: $19,217,900 in 2019-20 (No. 57 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 16.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.2 apg, 45.7 FG% in 7 seasons

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The Miami Heat acquired Shaquille O’Neal when he was the highest-paid player in the NBA. That’s the primary reason he’s so high on this list despite playing only three and a half seasons with them. His $76 million in earnings in Miami includes a prorated amount for his half 2007-08 season with them before getting traded to Phoenix. He declined after his second season with the team, but his expensive contract was worth it after he helped the franchise win its first championship.

Money per game: $370,679Highest Heat salary: $27,696,430 in 2004-05 (No. 1 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 19.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.1 apg, 59.6 FG% in 4 seasons

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Bam Adebayo is seventh on this ranking despite earning just $14 million on his rookie scale contract. The salary cap has risen so much that he’s already outearned many Heat greats despite only earning a maximum salary in two years so far. If he’s a Heat lifer, there’s a strong chance that he surpasses Jimmy Butler as their highest earner in franchise history by the time he retires.

Money per game: $173,376Highest Heat salary: $30,351,780 in 2022-23 (No. 42 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 14.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.4 apg, 55.4 FG% in 6 seasons

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(Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

Hassan Whiteside is already Miami’s eighth-highest earner in franchise history while earning most of his earnings with them in just three seasons. He played five with the Heat, but he spent the first two making the veteran minimum. He benefitted from becoming a free agent during the 2016 salary cap spike where he was rewarded with a four-year, $98 million deal.

Money per game: $222,446Highest Heat salary: $19,217,900 in 2018-19 (No. 26 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 14.1 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 0.6 apg, 57.5 FG% in 5 seasons

More on Hassan Whiteside’s earnings

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Udonis Haslem earned roughly $31 million by the time he made his $7.1 million peak salary in 2009-10. He left a lot of money on the table when he re-signed with the Heat in 2010 on a four-year, $20 million deal to give their new Big 3 more depth. Since that contract ended, he accrued $25 million from the Heat through below-market and minimum salaries to make up for the money he gave up in 2010.

Money per game: $81,801Highest Heat salary: $7,100,000 in 2019-20 (No. 99 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 7.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 48.9 FG% in 20 seasons

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LeBron James being just the 10th highest earner in Heat history seems too low considering his contributions to the organization. He took slightly less than the maximum salary to join the team, but the difference isn’t significant enough to move him up much higher. Of his $435 million in career earnings, just 15 percent came from his time in Miami.

Money per game: $228,350Highest Heat salary: $19,067,500 in 2013-14 (No. 9 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 26.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 7.6 apg, 54.3 FG% in 4 seasons

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Eddie Jones was the second-highest-earning Heat player under Alonzo Mourning for a while. He made $86 million of his $101 million in career earnings from a seven-year deal Miami signed him to, though they only paid him $56 million of it prior to trading him to Memphis.

Money per game: $146,212Highest Heat salary: $13,455,000 in 2004-05 (No. 23 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 16 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3 apg, 42.8 FG% in 6 seasons

More on Eddie Jones’ earnings

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Lowry has already earned as much money in two years in Miami as Eddie Jones did in five seasons with them. It’s possible that this is the end of the road for Lowry in these rankings since he would likely be traded in a potential deal for Damian Lillard.

Money per game: $468,792Highest Heat salary: $28,333,334 in 2022-23 (No. 49 in the NBA that season)Heat stats: 12.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.4 apg, 42.4 FG% in 2 seasons

More on Kyle Lowry’s earnings

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