Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

NBA Dead Money Rankings: Who Is Making Millions Without Even Playing For The Team?

Last year, the Detroit Pistons were finally able to write Josh Smith’s salary off the books. Smith, who had not played in the league since the 2017-2018 season (it was only for three games that year), was still getting some fat cheddar from the Pistons.

In 2018-19 alone, the franchise was due to pay him $5.3 million, followed by another $5.3 million in the 2019-20 season.

Who else is some dead-weight on NBA teams’ paylists? Last season, the dead money list was led by Dion Waiters, who earned $12,650,000 from the Memphis Grizzlies. But who is topping the list season?

On top of this year’s list surprisingly are two players who still are active – only for different teams:

1: Blake Griffin, who makes $29,764,126 from Detroit this season.

2: Kemba Walker, who makes $26,238,422 from Oklahoma City this season.

3: Al-Farouq Aminu, who will earn $10,183,800 from San Antonio this season.

4: Nicolas Batum, who will earn $8,856,969 from Charlotte this season.

5: DeAndre Jordan, who’ll receive $7,875,533 from Detroit this season. 

6: Joakim Noah is making $6,431,667 from New York this season.

7: Ryan Anderson is in the Heat’s books with $5,214,583.

8: Kris Dunn will earn $5,005,350 from Memphis this season.

9: Luol Deng still gets paid $5,000,000 from the Lakers this season.

10. Rajon Rondo, who makes $4,858,309 from Memphis this season.