Derrick Rose is the MVP

Derrick Rose is a 22 year-old point guard who was named the MVP of the NBA for 2010/11.  Many people would automatically assume that since Derrick Rose is good, and good NBA players get paid a lot, that Derrick Rose would be one of the highest paid NBA players.

The NBA salary cap for 2010/11 was set at $58 Million per team.  Each team is allowed to have 15 people on their roster and if you were to split the $58 Million evenly, each player would have a salary of  $3.867 Million. 

Here is a list of players who are making more money than Derrick Rose this year.  I have limited it to the remaining 8 playoff teams because I believe that these teams represent most of the best teams in the league and the best teams are generally run by the smartest people and you'll see LESS bad contracts. 

Chicago:
Carlos Boozer - $14,400,000
Luol Deng - $11,345,000
Derrick Rose - $5,546,160

Atlanta:
Joe Johnson - $16,324,500
Josh Smith - $11,700,000
Jamal Crawford - $10,800,000
Kirk Hinrich - $9,000,000
Marvin Williams - $7,262,500
Al Horford - $5,444,857

Boston:
Kevin Garnett - $18,832,044
Paul Pierce - $13,876,321
Ray Allen - $10,000,000
Rajon Rondo - $9,090,911
Jermaine O'Neal - $5,765,000
Nenad Krstic - $5,543,116

Miami:
Chris Bosh - $14,500,000
LeBron James - $14,500,000
Dwyane Wade - $14,200,000

Memphis:
Zach Randolph - $17,666,666
Rudy Gay - $13,603,750
Shane Battier - $7,354,500

Oklahoma City:
Nick Collison - $13,270,000
Nazr Mohammed - $6,883,800
Kendrick Perkins - $6,696,720
Kevin Durant - $6,053,663

Dallas:
Dirk Nowitzki - $17,278,618
Tyson Chandler - $12,600,000
Caron Butler - $10,561,960
Jason Terry - $9,873,000
Jason Kidd - $8,610,500
Shawn Marion - $7,055,500
Brendon Haywood - $6,900,000

Los Angeles:
Kobe Bryant - $24,806,250
Pau Gasol - $17,823,000
Andrew Bynum - $13,700,000
Lamar Odom - $8,200,000
Ron Artest - $6,322,320
Luke Walton - $5,260,000

*All salaries taken from ESPN.com*

So that is a total of 34 players - on only 8 other teams - that are getting paid more than the league MVP.  I also threw in a couple of other guys that are making close to what Derrick is getting paid. 

So why is Derrick Rose so underpaid? The main reason is the NBA Rookie Wage scale.  Unlike the NFL or the MLB (which is complicated), the NBA has a set of guidelines that pretty much state what each team is to pay each rookie depending on when he is drafted.  Since Derrick is still performing on his rookie contract, he is getting paid less than 34 players that are still in the playoffs.  The NBA doesn't limit what players can make in endorsements and Derrick has taken advantage by doing multiple local ads as well as being one of the faces of Adidas. 

By understanding the rules that the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc, impose on their teams and players we fans can make more educated decisions regarding some of the recent hot sports topics over the last year.  For example, the NFL is currently in a lock-out and one of the sticking points is the owners would like to institute a rookie wage scale similar to the NBA.

It takes a lot of luck in the draft and a smart GM to create a title contending NBA team, usually the best choice is to go against the popular opinion and not sign a guy for more than he is worth.  I'm sure that if Derrick Rose chooses to re-sign with Chicago when his contract expires for $20,000,000 (completely made up number) per year in 2013, the Bulls fans will forget that he was ever at one time underpaid, even though many of those same fans will then complain about how he is ruining the Bulls' chances at potentially creating a title contending team.