With the NBA preseason approaching, a new salary analysis has identified which players provided the strongest and weakest returns relative to their contracts last season. Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam claimed the study’s most unforgiving distinction.
Casino Guru USA ranked him as the NBA’s most overpaid player after comparing 2026-27 cap charges with production from the 2025-26 campaign.
Siakam received an overpaid score of 77 out of 100, the highest mark among every qualifying player. His $48.9 million cap hit also topped everyone included in the study’s 10 highest scores.
Pascal Siakam’s salary and production created a costly combination
Siakam generated 2.6 Win Shares during the 2025-26 season. When researchers divided his cap figure by that total, they calculated a cost of approximately $18.8 million for each Win Share.
The study also highlighted Siakam’s performance at the free-throw line. He converted 69.3% of his attempts, finishing 6.1 percentage points beneath his career mark of 76.4%. His percentage also trailed the average power forward by 5.8 points.
Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams finished directly behind Siakam with a score of 74. Williams carried an $18 million cap charge while recording minus-0.1 Win Shares, the lowest total among the five players at the top of the ranking.
Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green placed third at 73. Green produced 1.7 Win Shares against a $27.7 million cap figure, resulting in a cost of roughly $16.3 million per Win Share. His 41.8% shooting also fell 6.3 percentage points short of the average among power forwards.
Myles Turner and Malik Monk tied for fourth with scores of 70. Turner registered three Win Shares with a $26.6 million cap hit, while Monk produced one Win Share against a $20.2 million charge. Monk’s calculation made him the study’s most expensive player per Win Share.
How the study calculated its NBA rankings
Casino Guru USA examined every NBA player with a 2026-27 cap hit of at least $8 million. Researchers paired salary information from Spotrac with Win Shares from Basketball-Reference.
Win Shares estimate how much a player contributes to his team’s victories while providing one measurement that applies across positions. The study also calculated the salary cost attached to each Win Share and compared players within their respective positional groups.
To avoid judging players through extremely limited samples, researchers required at least 49 appearances and 500 minutes during the 2025-26 season. They removed season-long injury cases and players entering the NBA for 2026-27 because neither group had eligible statistics from the previous campaign.
At the other end of the rankings, Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel earned the study’s best-value designation. He scored just 11 on the overpaid scale after producing eight Win Shares with a $10.5 million cap hit.
Knueppel averaged 18.5 points while shooting 42.5% from behind the arc. His contract cost Charlotte approximately $1.3 million for each Win Share.
Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson followed with a score of 14. Thompson posted 10.3 Win Shares, the highest figure among the five leading values, while carrying a $12.3 million cap charge.
The study measures financial efficiency rather than every element of a player’s impact. Still, its formula placed Pacers’ Pascal Siakam at the wrong end of the NBA’s salary spectrum entering the new season.
Pacers’ Pascal Siakam Receives Harsh Label in New NBA Study