According to the USA Today, Paul was paid $4.6 million in 2008-09. For this money, the New Orleans Hornets received 28.2 wins. At $1.7 million per win, the Hornets should have paid $49.5 million to Paul; so Paul was underpaid by nearly $45 million (at least, that’s the answer if we accept this particular methodology). HoopsHype says that Paul is scheduled to make $13.5 million in 2009-10. If this was Paul’s salary in 2008-09 he would have only been underpaid by about $36 million. Such a mark would still lead the list of underpaid players, but the gap between Paul and LeBron James — the number two player on the list — would be much smaller. When we look over the list of underpaid we see the work of two institutions in the NBA; the rookie salary scale and the limit on how much can be paid to any individual player. The limit on rookie pay allows teams to dramatically underpay players like Paul, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Roy, David Lee, Kevin Durant, and Al Horford. LeBron, Dwight Howard, and Dwyane Wade are each paid quite a bit, but nowhere near what these players would command if each win cost their employer $1.7 million.
