The NBA draft in 2009 was considered by many fans as the "draft year", but among them, there were 2 MVPs, 6 All Stars, and many high-quality championship puzzle players. As many as 9 players helped their teams win the championship and stand at the top of the NBA, and many of them won big contracts. It can be seen that the quality of the 2009 draft is not low, not losing the draft year. So, Who are the top five players in the 2009 draft? Let's have a look!
Fifth: Zhu Huoledi
Total career salary: $254 million
Holliday is one of the top defenders in the backcourt among the players in active service. He can rotate to defend multiple positions. Holliday has made indelible contributions to the Bucks' defense like a wall of iron and won the championship in 2021.
After entering the league, Huo Ledi showed great fighting power and was placed as the main point guard by the 76 people. In the 2012 playoffs, Huo Ledi helped the 76 people perform the "Black Eight Miracles". He defeated the Bulls in the first round with a total score of 4-2. Huo Ledi's series of games can get the highest 18.2 points of the team, and 4.7 assists per game also lead the team. In the fourth quarter of his career, Holliday, 22, has unlocked the achievements of being selected as an All Star.
During his time with Pelican, Holliday was one of the most reliable helpers around Shumei. In the 2017-18 season, Holliday was selected as the best defender for a while, and entered the ranks of the top defenders in the league. He is not a "biased" player. He has a variety of ending means on the offensive end. As a heavy guard, Holliday can get a bargain in the face of most opponents, Both attack and defense can affect the game.
Since the 2017-18 season, Holliday has been earning more than $25 million annually. In 2020, the Bucks received Holliday and Merrill from the Pelican trade, paid Bradso and up to four first round contracts, and later renewed Holliday's contract. The Bucks offered a four-year top salary contract of $160 million. The Bucks successfully retained the team's master, Holliday also escorted the Bucks to win the championship in 2021.
You should know that in the playoffs of that year, the four opponents of the Bucks had strong players in the backcourt. The Heat's Dragic, the Nets' Owen and Harden, the Hawks' Trey Young, the Suns' Paul and Booker, and Holliday were all crucial to the Bucks' promotion and championship. In the playoffs, the Bucks' attack efficiency when he was present was 11 times higher than when he was not present.
After leaving the Bucks in 2023, Holliday joined the Celtics. With him to assist Tatum and Jay Brown, the Celtics have more confidence in winning the championship. The Celtics and Holliday also have the best recognition of his strength by signing a contract worth 135 million dollars for four years in advance. According to the remaining contracts, Holliday will earn 37.2 million dollars per year until he is 37 years old, When he retires, his total career salary is expected to exceed 400 million dollars.
Fourth: DeMar DeRozan
Total career salary: $257 million
Drozan has rich offensive means. From 2013-14 to 2023-24, his average score in regular games has reached 20+for 11 consecutive years, making him a top scorer in the league. De Rozan has helped Raptors maintain the status of a playoff team for many years, and is also a strong contender for the Eastern championship. The four-year contract of 38 million dollars signed with him in 2013 is worth more from the current perspective.
Of course, after the expiration of the contract in 2016, the Raptors also respected Drozan and offered him a fat contract of $139 million for five years, which made the annual salary of Drozan achieve a sharp increase of more than $17 million from 2015-16 to 2016-17. After 2015-16, the annual salary of Drozan has stabilized at more than $25 million, both in the Spurs and the Bulls.
According to the report of salary expert Bobby Marks, according to the labor agreement, Drazen, who became a free player during the off-season in 2024, is eligible to renew a three-year contract of $130 million with the Bulls, which means that his average salary in the future will probably exceed $43 million, which is a significant increase compared with the previous one.
After gradually developing more mature organizational skills, compared with entering the free player market in the past, Drozan has more attractions for teams to sign contracts with. As for whether to choose a big contract or cut salary to go to a team with better prospects for championship competition, it is only up to Drozan to make a choice.
Third: Blake Griffin
Total career salary: $258 million
Among the top five players of the 2009 rookie income, only the No. 1 player Griffin has retired. In fact, he will not play in the NBA after the 2022-23 season, and the previous season was only 2.9 million dollars. Even so, Griffin's total career salary still reached 258 million dollars, which shows how highly his strength was recognized at his peak.
Once Griffin was called "White Warcraft", and many commentators used the word "Flying to Dundi" when watching his games. In addition to his excellent physical talent, Griffin has also developed exquisite techniques after years of experience in the league, and can skillfully apply a variety of techniques, including back and face frames.
The longer Griffin stayed in the league, the more he was no longer limited to simply dunking fans to applaud and scream, but had more reading of the game, and even became the team's organizer and initiator of tactics at some moments.
In the 2013-14 season, Griffin averaged 24.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and ranked third in the MVP final voting list. In the first round of the 2015 playoffs against Duncan, Griffin averaged 24.1 points, 13.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks in a series of games. He scored three double doubles twice, and achieved seven steals, Gerry helped the Clippers beat Duncan's Silver and Black Spurs to advance.
After spending nine years with the Clippers, Griffin has made this team get a lot of attention. During the same period, he had a better record than the city's leading Lakers, and also entered the ranks of championship teams. But he did not end up with the Clippers. After signing a five-year contract of $1.71 in 2017, Griffin suffered from injuries, which is not the first time. It has happened repeatedly before that, After all, the Clippers chose to abandon him and trade him to Pistons, where Griffin did not regain his glory.
The contract of 171 million dollars in five years in 2017 was the last big contract signed by Griffin in his career. Later, he went to the Nets and the Celtics team and offered him an annual contract salary of less than 3 million dollars, which was different from the level of the top ten or even the top five in the league. Griffin could still get a relatively stable debut time in the Nets in the 2020-21 season, In the following two seasons, his rotation order became more and more marginal, followed by fading out of the league, and finally announced his retirement.
Second: James Harden
Total career salary: $338 million
Although Harden entered the league as a talent scout, he played the role of the sixth person in Thunder at the beginning of his career. With such a career starting point, he was able to become one of the second MVPs of the same generation of rookies, and also earned $338 million. With the total salary of the league's top 10 career, Harden's NBA career is not unsuccessful.
In 2012, Harden joined hands with Durant, Weishao and Ibaka to help Thunder reach the finals. They are still young and the team seems to have a promising future. However, according to ESPN, during the off-season, Harden and Thunder broke down on the renewal of the contract. Harden wanted to increase the salary, but the contract size given by Thunder after two price increases was still different from Harden's expectations, and the two sides eventually split up, It was also after this that Harden gradually stepped into the ranks of the league's top players.
When he went to the Rockets, Harden gained great tactical freedom. In the Rockets, he was the number one star of the team. He didn't have to play with the second team most of the time as before, but Harden also proved that he could become the core of a team and a top star with practical actions. In the Rockets, Harden became the scoring king for three times, winning the assist king and MVP for one time. He was selected into the best team for four consecutive years from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
Harden can perform well for a long time. Of course, the Rockets won't hesitate too much when renewing their contracts. In 2016, they renewed a four-year contract with Harden worth $117 million in advance. In 2019, they gave him a fat contract worth $171 million for four years. Harden's annual salary remained in the top 10 of the league from 2016-17 to 2021-22, and ranked second in the league from 2021-22, with an annual salary of more than $40 million.
However, with the increase of age and the trouble of injury, Harden's competitive state can no longer be restored to that of "Rockets", and his goal is more firmly focused on chasing the championship. Later, when he renewed his contract with the 76 people, he also reduced his salary. However, Harden has still not won the championship today, even though there were Durant, Enbid, Leonard, Paul George and other stars around him, I didn't win the championship.
During the off-season in 2024, Harden will become a free player. His total career salary has reached 338 million dollars, which is a level that many players can not expect.
In the 2023-24 regular season, Harden's 8.5 assists per game can rank fourth in the league, and his offensive efficiency of 120.9 ranks 12th in the league. He is still an excellent guard, and still has the opportunity to pursue a big contract. His total career salary is expected to exceed 500 million dollars. However, if he chooses to join a competitive team, he may face a salary cut, which depends on Harden's choice.
First: Stephen Curry
Total career salary: $354 million
In the 2009 draft, where many high-quality players emerged, it can also be regarded as a counter attack that Curry, as the No. 7 draft, was in the leading position in terms of his career salary. Especially in combination with the fact that he had experienced repeated injuries at the beginning of his career, and even the Warriors were repeatedly exposed to be interested in trading him, Curry's career achievements now are more shining.
After the twists and turns in his early career, Curry's injury history became a factor of concern when the Warriors considered renewing their contracts with him. In 2012, they finally signed a 4-year contract of $44 million. At that time, Griffin, the champion of the same session, had received a 5-year contract of $95 million. Tai Lawson, who ranked 18 in the first round of the same session, also received a contract with a higher total value than Curry, reaching $48 million for 4 years.
Later, with the development of the league, the salaries of the players increased, and the salary cap also experienced an increase. The four-year contract of $44 million signed by Curry in 2012 gave the Warriors more room to operate in the formation of the lineup. Curry also played an excellent performance. All kinds of factors combined, the Warriors entered the championship window and successfully won the championship in 2014-15. Curry harvested MVP in that season, The 2015-16 season won the award again, and became the first MVP in the NBA to be elected by all votes.
Opening the annual salary list of players in 2015-16 season, we can find that the annual salary in the MVP pool of the current season is more than 50.
There is no doubt that Curry played his part by virtue of his outstanding performance, and then renewed his contract with the Warriors. The contract is no smaller than that, so that his annual salary from 2017-18 to 2023-24 is the existence of the leading league. In 2019-20 and 2023-24 seasons, Curry became the "first player with an annual salary of 40 million dollars" in NBA history with an annual salary of 40.23 million dollars and 51.91 million dollars And "the first player with an annual salary of 50 million".
Curry's contract is still two years away. If it goes well, his total career salary will have the chance to exceed 400 million dollars. Of course, with his ability to attract money, his income will not be low in the future even if he wants to renew his contract for salary reduction. According to Forbes, Curry's income in 2024 will be among the top 10 athletes, reaching 102 million dollars, Among the NBA players on the list, they are only behind James and Brother Alphabet.
