The "Dollars per Point" Metric
Looking at the salaries of players and their total points scored in the 2024-2025 regular season, we can calculate the cost of each point for each player (salary / total points). From this, after eliminating players that didn’t score any points (which mostly included injured players), we can find the 10 best-value and 10 worst-value players.
Top 10 Best Value Players (Overall)
| Player | Salary | Games | Total Points | Dollars per Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Timme | $113,055.00 | 9 | 109 | $1,037.20 |
| Tosan Evbuomwan | $331,365.00 | 28 | 267 | $1,241.07 |
| Jaylen Wells | $1,157,153.00 | 79 | 823 | $1,406.02 |
| Jaylen Sims | $73,153.00 | 6 | 42 | $1,741.74 |
| Tristan Vukcevic | $578,577.00 | 35 | 330 | $1,753.26 |
| Justin Edwards | $782,721.00 | 44 | 445 | $1,758.92 |
| Damion Baugh | $196,245.00 | 15 | 109 | $1,800.41 |
| Tyrese Martin | $959,732.00 | 60 | 523 | $1,835.05 |
| Marcus Bagley | $126,356.00 | 10 | 67 | $1,885.91 |
| Jeff Dowtin Jr. | $578,577.00 | 41 | 285 | $2,030.09 |
Best Value Players (Overall)
Top 10 Worst Value Players (Overall)
| Player | Salary | Games | Total Points | Dollars per Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P.J. Tucker | $12,165,577.00 | 3 | 9 | $1,351,730.78 |
| Taylor Hendricks | $5,848,366.00 | 3 | 14 | $417,740.43 |
| James Johnson | $3,303,771.00 | 12 | 8 | $412,971.38 |
| James Wiseman | $2,237,691.00 | 1 | 6 | $372,948.50 |
| Daishen Nix | $362,356.00 | 3 | 1 | $362,356.00 |
| Joe Ingles | $3,303,771.00 | 19 | 15 | $220,251.40 |
| De'Anthony Melton | $12,822,000.00 | 6 | 62 | $206,806.45 |
| Tristen Newton | $578,577.00 | 8 | 3 | $192,859.00 |
| Quincy Olivari | $578,577.00 | 2 | 3 | $192,859.00 |
| Mitchell Robinson | $14,318,182.00 | 17 | 87 | $164,576.80 |
Worst Value Players (Overall)
Factoring in Playing Time
However, this initial analysis is clearly influenced by small sample sizes. Many of the "worst value" players are those who were injured early in the season, while many "best value" players had very low salaries and played limited minutes. To get a clearer picture of value among regular rotation players, we can filter the pool to only include those who played in at least 50 games.
Top 10 Best Value (min. 50 Games)
| Player | Salary | Games | Total Points | Dollars per Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaylen Wells | $1,157,153.00 | 79 | 823 | $1,406.02 |
| Tyrese Martin | $959,732.00 | 60 | 523 | $1,835.05 |
| Jared Butler | $1,115,697.00 | 60 | 541 | $2,062.29 |
| Toumani Camara | $1,891,857.00 | 78 | 882 | $2,144.96 |
| Jalen Wilson | $1,891,857.00 | 79 | 749 | $2,525.84 |
| Christian Braun | $3,089,640.00 | 79 | 1218 | $2,536.65 |
| Keon Johnson | $2,162,606.00 | 79 | 839 | $2,577.60 |
| Scotty Pippen Jr. | $2,087,519.00 | 79 | 779 | $2,679.74 |
| Guerschon Yabusele | $2,087,519.00 | 70 | 768 | $2,718.12 |
| Ty Jerome | $2,560,975.00 | 70 | 878 | $2,916.83 |
Best Value Players (min. 50 Games)
Top 10 Worst Value (min. 50 Games)
| Player | Salary | Games | Total Points | Dollars per Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Simmons | $40,338,144.00 | 51 | 256 | $157,570.88 |
| Jonathan Isaac | $27,600,000.00 | 71 | 380 | $72,631.58 |
| Steven Adams | $12,600,000.00 | 57 | 225 | $56,000.00 |
| Bradley Beal | $50,203,930.00 | 53 | 902 | $55,658.46 |
| Fred VanVleet | $42,846,615.00 | 60 | 844 | $50,766.13 |
| Jimmy Butler | $48,798,677.00 | 55 | 964 | $50,621.03 |
| Rudy Gobert | $43,827,586.00 | 72 | 866 | $50,609.22 |
| Zeke Nnaji | $8,888,889.00 | 57 | 184 | $48,309.18 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein | $30,000,000.00 | 57 | 637 | $47,095.76 |
| Clint Capela | $22,265,280.00 | 55 | 488 | $45,625.57 |
Worst Value Players (min. 50 Games)
How do the Best Players Compare?
Finally, here are some of the most prominent players in the NBA. This serves to show that salary inflates faster than points meaning these are not the best value players by this metric.
Star Player Value Comparison
| Player | Salary | Games | Total Points | Dollars per Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | $35,859,950.00 | 76 | 2484 | $14,436.37 |
| Jalen Brunson | $24,960,001.00 | 65 | 1690 | $14,769.23 |
| Jayson Tatum | $34,848,340.00 | 72 | 1932 | $18,037.44 |
| Anthony Edwards | $42,176,400.00 | 79 | 2177 | $19,373.63 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | $48,787,676.00 | 67 | 2036 | $23,962.51 |
| Nikola Jokic | $51,415,938.00 | 70 | 2071 | $24,826.62 |
| LeBron James | $48,728,845.00 | 70 | 1710 | $28,496.40 |
| Luka Doncic | $43,031,940.00 | 50 | 1408 | $30,562.46 |
| Kevin Durant | $51,179,020.00 | 62 | 1647 | $31,074.09 |
| Stephen Curry | $55,761,217.00 | 70 | 1718 | $32,457.05 |