New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis missed out on a huge payday on Thursday when he wasn’t named to any of the three All-NBA teams.
Davis, who signed a five-year, $145 million extension with the team last July, had incentives embedded into his contract that would have paid him a higher percentage of the team’s cap should he hit some thresholds.
According to the current collective bargaining agreement, the percentage that Davis counted against New Orleans cap would have increased from 25 to 30 if he had earned first, second or third-team All NBA honors twice under his rookie deal (via SI.com).
ESPN’s Darren Rovell did the math here.
Anthony Davis not on any of the All-NBA teams, will cost him $24 million.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 26, 2016
Davis, who was injured throughout the 2015-16 season (missing 21 games) also didn’t earn starter status in the All-Star game. That disabled another route for him to earn this bonus.
The $24 million that Davis will miss out on represents the entirety of the extension he signed last July. This is to say he simply didn’t lose out on that cold hard cash for the 2016-17 season. Instead, it’s going to impact his earning potential a ton moving forward.
Now that Davis has played out his rookie deal, there is no other avenue to pursue here. He’s simply out nearly a quarter of $100 million over the next five years, representing about $5 million per season.
Some may question the logic behind the incentives that were included in the most-recent collective bargaining agreement, but the players’ association agreed to the parameters. All players who sign long-term contracts while under their rookie deals are impacted by this.
Davis isn’t alone. It just so happens he was a victim of circumstance, costing him a cool $24 million.
As it relates to the All-NBA team announcements, Draymond Green (second team) and LaMarcus Aldridge (third team) were the two power forwards selected over Davis.
The first-team did not include a traditional power forward, instead opting to go with LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard at the forward positions. They were joined by Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and DeAndre Jordan on the first team.
Here’s the full list of the 2015-16 All-NBA teams.