Giving an NBA star a max contract used to be common practice: if a player made All-Star teams, put up 20-plus points, and was still in his prime, teams usually paid him. That isn’t really how the league works anymore; the second apron makes expensive rosters much harder to build, and teams are starting to value the financial flexibility much more than before.
Jalen Duren is probably the best example right now. He made his first All-Star team, reached the All-NBA Third Team, and put up 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds at only 22 years old, yet the Pistons still haven’t wanted to go anywhere close to the five-year, $287.1 million max he became eligible for.
Anthony Davis is another one; the Wizards can give him four years and $275.0 million, but their main extension talks have been pushed back even though Davis is still one of the pieces the Wizards want to build on for their new contending plan.
The NBA has changed; being a star doesn’t instantly mean getting every dollar possible anymore, so these 10 players could be finding out that their current max, or in Duren’s case the one he wants now, might be the last time max money is actually available.
10. Jalen Duren
Jalen Duren picked a pretty good year to break out. He became an All-Star for the first time, made the All-NBA Third Team and helped the Pistons finish first in the East, all before turning 23. Normally, that sounds like the easiest max contract conversation possible. But in his case, it hasn’t been.
All-NBA made Duren eligible for as much as five years and $287.1 million from the Pistons, but The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported that the two sides were far apart, while Duren started looking at sign-and-trade possibilities. Later reports signaled that his camp was looking for around $40.0 million per year, already far below that $287.1 million maximum, but still an amount the Pistons are clearly not willing to pay him.
The playoffs explain some of the hesitation. Duren dropped from 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the regular season to 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in 14 playoff games, and teams could make life difficult by packing the paint around a center who doesn’t shoot.
He is still only 22, so saying he will never get a max is obviously a big call, but this summer already showed something important: even All-NBA isn’t enough anymore if teams have questions about how a player’s game works in the playoffs.
9. Brandon Ingram
We have basically already seen Brandon Ingram’s market in his never-ending trade saga with the Pelicans. Ingram entered his prime after playing on a max contract with New Orleans, then instead of getting another one, he signed a three-year, $120.0 million extension with the Raptors. That is still a lot of money, of course, but $40.0 million per year is very different from the true max numbers stars can reach now.
The weird part is that Ingram then had a really good season. He played 77 games, scored 21.5 points per night, shot 38.2% from three, and made his second All-Star team. This wasn’t a guy falling apart right after signing; he actually gave the Raptors pretty much what they wanted.
Still, I don’t see the next contract jumping back to max level. Ingram can become a free agent again around age 30 if he uses his option, and by then teams will probably see him as a very good second or third scorer instead of someone they need to pay like a franchise player.
The last deal already told us where his value sits, and unless Ingram suddenly becomes an All-NBA-level player, I think that $40 million range is much closer to his future than another max.
8. Michael Porter Jr.
Michael Porter Jr. finally got the chance to show what he could do with a huge offensive role, and honestly, he was pretty good at it. Porter reached career highs with 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists for the Nets, although injuries limited him to 52 games.
He looked much more like a real first option than I expected, especially after spending years playing behind Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. And still, the Nets don’t seem ready to pay the max price to retain him.
Porter became eligible for a four-year, $234.0 million extension this summer, but general manager Sean Marks said there was no rush to get anything done. The New York Post also reported that the Nets clearly aren’t expected to give him the full $234.0 million, prompting rumors about a potential trade before the deadline.
That makes sense to me. Porter can score, shoot over almost anybody, and just proved he can handle more touches, but there are still questions about his defense, passing, and long injury history. If he puts up another 24 points and plays 70 games for a Play-In pretender Nets team, maybe the conversation changes. Right now, though, I think his next deal looks more like another juicy contract than a true max.
7. LaMelo Ball
The Hornets trading LaMelo Ball this summer should probably tell us something. Ball is only 24, already made an All-Star team, and finally stayed healthy for most of a season, playing 72 games while putting up 20.1 points and 7.1 assists. The Hornets even went 44-38 and made the Play-In, so this wasn’t Charlotte dumping him at his lowest point.
They still decided to move on, as the Wolves gave up Naz Reid, one first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps, and three second-round picks, taking on the final three seasons of Ball’s five-year, $203.9 million max deal.
Now Ball gets a great chance next to Anthony Edwards, and maybe this ends the whole argument. If he stays healthy, wins, and becomes an All-Star again, the Timberwolves could absolutely max him out when he reaches free agency at 28.
But that “if” is doing a lot of work. Ball has already had various ankle and foot problems, he shot only 40.7% from the field last season, and the franchise that drafted him just decided it didn’t want to build around him anymore. His Wolves years could decide everything.
6. Zion Williamson
At some point, Zion Williamson has to make teams trust him for more than one season at a time. Last year was actually encouraging: Zion played 62 games, the second-highest total of his career, and still scored 21.0 points per game on 60.0% from the field. He remains almost impossible to stop around the rim when he is healthy.
The issue is that one 62-game season can’t erase the concerns, playoff liability, and everything that came before it. Zion is still playing on the five-year max extension he signed with the Pelicans back in 2022, and he is extension-eligible again, but reportedly a new extension is highly unlikely right now.
That feels pretty logical. The talent is clearly worth another big contract, but the availability hasn’t been. Zion has only cleared 65 games once in his entire career, and his body has been a question basically from the moment he entered the NBA.
He is only 26, which gives him plenty of time to change this, but I don’t think another max happens just because he stays healthy for one year. He probably needs two or three straight seasons of being available, All-Star material, and helping the Pelicans win before a team can risk that much guaranteed money again.
5. De’Aaron Fox
After a disaster in the NBA Finals, it’s good news for De’Aaron Fox that he already has his max secured, so he doesn’t have to worry about money for a long time. The Spurs gave him a four-year max extension last season that now sits at roughly $221.7 million, locking him up through his early 30s.
The question is what happens after that. Fox’s first full season with the Spurs was solid, but 18.6 points and 6.2 assists aren’t really max-player numbers, especially on a roster where Victor Wembanyama is clearly No. 1, and Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are still growing. Fox shot 48.6% from the field, but only 33.2% from three, and his role shrunk more than it was during his best Kings seasons.
That isn’t necessarily bad for the Spurs, who reached the Finals with this setup, and Fox doesn’t need to score 27 every night anymore. Financially, though, it changes the future. If Fox is closer to an 18-and-6 veteran guard when this contract ends at $63.3 million, while Castle and Harper become bigger parts of the offense, giving him another max deal at age 32 would be very hard to defend.
4. Ja Morant
A few years ago, imagining Ja Morant not getting another max would’ve sounded crazy. Now? I think it is a serious possibility given the drama, injuries, and overall lack of punch as the expected “next big thing” he was back in 2021.
Morant played only 20 games last season, scoring 19.5 points on 41.0% from the field and a brutal 23.5% from three. Injuries have limited him to only 79 total games across the last three seasons, and the Grizzlies finally moved him to the Blazers this summer.
The trade return was maybe the biggest sign of where his value has gone. Portland got a former All-NBA guard who is still only 27 without giving up a single first-round pick, sending Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to Memphis.
Morant still has two years left on his max extension, worth about $42.2 million this season and $44.9 million in 2027-28, then he hits free agency. Those next two years are massive. If Ja gets healthy and looks like the old 27-point scorer again, somebody will pay. If he keeps missing games, struggling to shoot, and producing closer to last year’s level, I can’t see another team putting a full max on the table.
3. Jaylen Brown
This is probably the strangest name on the entire list because Jaylen Brown just had the best regular season of his career. Brown scored 28.7 points, grabbed 6.9 rebounds, handed out 5.1 assists, made his fifth All-Star team, and finished sixth in MVP voting.
He is also a former Finals MVP, and at only 29, the Celtics traded him to the 76ers for a pretty underwhelming return. Why move a player like that? Money was a huge part of it.
Brown has three years remaining on his supermax and will make around $57 million, $61 million, and $64.9 million over those seasons. Celtics president Brad Stevens said the trade was tied to salary-cap concerns and future flexibility, because carrying Brown’s deal next to Jayson Tatum’s massive contract made building the rest of the team much harder.
That doesn’t mean Brown suddenly isn’t elite, which he obviously is. But it does show how teams look at these giant contracts now. Brown will be 32 when this deal ends, and if a 28-point scorer and Finals MVP can already become too expensive during his prime, I don’t think Philadelphia will automatically hand him another max just because they can.
2. Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns did almost everything possible to earn another huge contract. He made his sixth All-Star team, gave the Knicks 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, then helped them win their first championship in 53 years, and the Knicks still might not give him the max.
Towns makes $57.1 million in 2026-27 and has a player option worth roughly $61.0 million for the following season. He is also eligible for a new four-year extension worth as much as $272.0 million, but reporting around the Knicks has made it pretty clear that paying that amount is a major question because of the second apron and all the other salaries already on the roster.
This is basically the new NBA in one player. Towns isn’t failing to be productive, the Knicks aren’t unhappy with him, and they literally just won the title together. But the Knicks might decide that paying a 31-year-old second option close to $70 million per season later in the deal makes the roster worse.
I think Towns stays with the Knicks, but a Brunson-style discount feels much more realistic than another full max after they already lost a huge piece like Mitchell Robinson in this year’s free agency.
1. Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis can sign a four-year, $275.0 million extension right now, but the Wizards haven’t offered it because he’s not even played a single game for them since arriving back in February.
That is basically the whole reason he is No. 1. Davis is a 10-time All-Star, NBA champion, and still one of the best defensive big men in basketball, but Shams Charania reported that meaningful extension talks aren’t expected until the 2026-27 season kicks off, while the Wizards aren’t rushing into anything. And honestly, I get it.
Davis still produced 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks last season, but he played only 20 games because of injuries. He has now played more than 56 games only once in the last six seasons, which is terrifying when the possible contract is worth $275.0 million and would pay him deep into his 30s.
The Wizards clearly want him, since general manager Will Dawkins has said exactly that, and Davis has a $62 million-plus player option for 2027-28, so neither side needs to force anything today. But this season feels like a test. If Davis stays healthy and helps Trae Young, AJ Dybantsa, and Alex Sarr turn the Wizards into a playoff team, maybe Washington changes its mind.
If another injury takes away 30 or 40 games, I think the max conversation is basically finished, in a Wizards jersey and for whatever team comes calling next if he picks up that option. At 33, there probably isn’t another chance after this one.
