The 2011 NBA Draft Class is About to Get Paid

By Andrew Brand on Saturday, September 6th 2014
The 2011 NBA Draft Class is About to Get Paid

Every NBA season brings about a new class if potential restricted free-agents as players are finishing out their rookie contracts. The 2014-15 NBA season will be set to deal with the rookie class of 2011 and in particular the many productive fourth year players who are looking for substantial pay raises.

Now as we have seen, just because one is eligible for restricted free agency this doesn't guarantee anything in terms of interest, offers or big dollars. In fact a couple highly productive restricted free agents went this past offseason with little interest. Both Eric Bledsoe and Greg Monroe had no takers, no offers and are likely to return to their teams on the extended qualifying offers.

With this class of potential restricted there will be interest throughout the Association and given that some teams holding the qualifying offers are up against the cap, this might all precipitate some significant player movement.

Some members of this draft class have already cashed in by signing new deals. Chandler Parsons and Kyrie Irving did very well for themselves while Isaiah Thomas managed to parlay his status as the last pick in the draft into a nice payday in Phoenix.

With every young player looking to maximize earnings, you can bet that this crop of players will be looking long and hard at each new deal that gets inked in the coming months and using them as benchmarks for their own negotiations. Here's a look at who's in line for a nice pay raise in the coming year.

We start with the highest draft pick of the bunch in Jonas Valanciunas of the Toronto Raptors. Valanciunas is playing out his deal this season at $3.67 million and given the improvement over his rookie season to where he is now averaging 11.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg; Jonas will be looking to double his annual salary and the Raptors will be incline to keep him so long as the $8-$10 million annually will suffice.

Checkin in with the Milwaukee Bucks we see that Brandon Knight is currently making $3.55 million. Knight is going to be moved by the Bucks as they don't need a $10 million a year point guard on their roster to still not make the playoffs. Knight will be a trade target and if nothing is worked out look for the Bucks to decline their option to match should he receive an offer.

Paying close attention to the Knight contract talks will be Charlotte's Kemba Walker who is in line for a substantial increase off his $3.42 million this season. Hard to imagine a situation where the Hornets don't do everything they can to lock him up long term but if a team comes in and offers the max it will give them some pause for consideration.

Yet another backcourt player looking to cash in is Golden State's Klay Thompson. His salary of $3.07 million this year will be a third of what he will rake via restricted free agency. The Warriors won't exceed the salary numbers of Stephen Curryto keep Thompson so at least potential suitors will have an idea of what it would take to actually get him.

Over in Utah Alec Burks and his $3.2 million salary could find himself on the move. He had a breakout year last season but even that wasn't enough of a sign for the Jazz as they drafted Dante Exum as tier point guard of the future. No matter for Burks as he will find a home elsewhere probably for around $20 million over 4 years.

Perhaps the most intriguing player on the draft class in the San Antonio Spurs Kawhi Leonard who enters the final year of his deal at $3.05 million. It's extremely likely that Leonard never gets to restricted free agent status as the Spurs will handle this matter before November 1st. It would be interesting to see what kind of money Leonard could get on the open market as a max-deal wouldn't be out if the realm of possibilities for the reigning NBA Finals MVP.

The Orlando Magic have a decision to make on Nikola Vucevic and his current $2.9 million salary situation. Vucevic is coming off two back-to-back double-double season and his versatility would be highly sought after. Expect the Magic to keep Vucevic around as he still represents the return on the departed Dwight Howard. I can't see Vucevic getting anything less that $10 million per year moving forward.

Orlando has yet another contract concern on the horizon as Tobias Harris is finishing out his deal at $2.5 million this season. Granted he did regress a bit from his stellar 2012-13 stint with Orlando, but he is nonetheless an integral part of Orlando's future. Harris will get a very solid pay raise here as he should be looking for a deal that will pay him between $6 and $8 million a season at minimum.

The Denver Nuggets have a huge decision to make on their 'Manimal' Kenneth Faried who is playing out his rookie deal at the bargain rate of $2.37 million this season. Faried's play with USA Basketball is only serving to pimp his value and the Nuggets will need to commit serious dollars if they want to keep him around. No question that Faried will get huge interest from around the league and I'd expect a large offer to be made or ing Denver's hand.

Aside from Faried in Denver, the other player seeking a monster pay raise is none other that Oklahoma's Reggie Jackson who is also finishing his deal out at $2.32 million this year. Jackson certainly proves his worth in the Memphis Grizzlies playoff series last year and he should see some starter-like minutes as the year progresses. Oklahoma May not be able to afford Jackson moving forward but they will undoubtedly try to get his signature on a contract before the rest of the league can take a shot.

These are just a handful of guys from the 2011 draft class who are in line for solid paydays. Of course many more will see an increase in salary once their rookie deals have finished but the above mentioned will be cashing their set-for-life cheques on their next deals.

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