Chris Paul’s contract with the San Antonio Spurs is not as simple as it seems

At 39, Chris Paul is entering his 20th season in the NBA. CP3 was Rookie of the Year in 2005-06, appeared in 12 NBA All-Star games and was selected to All-Defense nine times, but does not have an NBA Finals ring. Most players of Paul’s caliber would gladly join a superteam at the end of their careers to check off that distinction.

Interestingly, Paul signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs on June 30. After the Spurs finished 22-60 for the second straight season, it’s easy to wonder why Paul agreed to join San Antonio. Sure, Greg Popovich’s leadership and Victor Wembanyama’s talent are two good reasons, but it was likely due to the incentives in Paul’s contract.

Not only is it interesting that Chris Paul agreed to join the Spurs, but frankly, less than $11 million is relatively cheap for one of the best point guards the league has seen in a long time. On the surface, most would assume it would cost a ridiculous amount of money to move Paul to a non-contender.

Since the deal was finalized, more details about Paul’s contract have been released. According to ESPN, CP3 has the opportunity to earn much more than his base salary through bonuses. There are eight different incentives in the superstar’s contract that can lead to a big payday. One of them is simple: winning.

If Chris Paul can help the Spurs improve their win-loss record by 10 games next season, he can earn a $262,000 bonus. To illustrate how big this incentive is, the Spurs only have to win 39 percent of their games for Paul to get his bonus.

The other seven incentives have yet to be revealed, but based on the one we know, San Antonio doesn’t seem to have high expectations and there’s a good chance Paul can meet them all, which is why he signed a contract with the second-worst team in the Western Conference last season.