Jalen Duren has broken into the NBA’s highest-paid center club. The Detroit Pistons have agreed to a five-year, $200 million fully guaranteed contract with the All-Star big man. This adds another massive deal to an increasingly expensive market for centers. The new contract puts the 22-year-old fifth on the current Spotrac list by total value, ahead of several established stars.

Nikola Jokic—Contract value: $276.1 million

The Joker sits comfortably at the top of the list. His five-year deal with Denver was worth about $276.1 million, a supermax, which was signed in 2022. Nikola Jokic is entering the fourth season of his current five-year contract. He has a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28, according to Spotrac. But the Serbian has indicated that he intends to wait until next summer rather than exercise it.

Doing so would make him eligible for a new five-year supermax extension projected to be worth around $360 million.

Victor Wembanyama—Contract value: $255.2 million

Victor Wembanyama’s current rookie-scale deal is not what lands him here. His five-year extension with San Antonio, which begins in 2027, is valued at $255 million. This marks the third-largest rookie extension in NBA history. That figure puts the 22-year-old among the league’s most highly compensated players after just three seasons in the league.

Chet Holmgren—Contract value: $239.2 million

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a significant investment in their young center as he moves beyond his rookie-scale contract. OKC locked up Chet Holmgren with a five-year, $239,193,450 maximum rookie extension. The deal officially begins with the 2026–27 season, when the Thunder star will earn a base salary of $41,240,250. That figure represents exactly 25% of the NBA’s salary cap.

Like Wembanyama, Holmgren is part of a wave of young big men receiving enormous extensions early in their careers.

Karl-Anthony Towns—Contract value: $220.4 million

Karl-Anthony Towns signed his four-year, $220,441,984 designated veteran extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves in July 2022. The deal began in 2024-25 and carried a 2027-28 player option worth $61.02 million. Towns was later traded to the New York Knicks, and he is now entering the third season of the deal, with $57,078,728 guaranteed for 2026-27.

KAT is eligible for another four-year extension worth up to an estimated $276 million. With the 2026-27 season approaching, however, negotiations with the Knicks have stalled. Recent reports indicate that the two sides remain far apart on the financial terms of a potential extension.

Jalen Duren—Contract value: $200 million

Jalen Duren entered the NBA on a rookie-scale contract after Detroit acquired him on draft night in 2022. That deal was modest compared with what came next. After his breakout 2025-26 season, he earned his first All-Star selection and averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.

After months of negotiations, Duren finally reached an agreement with the Pistons just hours before his qualifying offer was about to expire. The new contract is a five-year, $200 million, fully guaranteed extension that begins in 2026-27. And it keeps Jalen Duren in Detroit through the 2030-31 season. His first-year salary is $34,482,759, with the annual figure rising to $45.52 million in the final season.

Joel Embiid—Contract value: $187.9 million

Embiid’s current contract grew out of the four-year, $213,280,928 extension he originally signed with Philadelphia in 2021, which began with the 2023-24 season. Philadelphia added another major commitment in September 2024. The Sixers tied down Embiid on a three-year, $192.9 million maximum extension that includes a player option for 2028-29. Spotrac’s current contract figures list the active portion at $187,873,836.

Alperen Sengun—Contract value: $185 million

Alperen Sengun is close behind Embiid at $185 million. Sengun’s first NBA contract was a four-year rookie-scale deal worth $15,550,974, signed after Houston selected him 16th overall in the 2021 draft. That number changed dramatically once he established himself as a cornerstone in Houston.

The Rockets signed him to a five-year, $185 million rookie extension in October 2024. The contract carries a $37 million average annual value and includes a player option for the final season.

Anthony Davis—Contract value: $175.4 million

Davis was already playing under a lucrative four-year, $189.9 million Lakers contract when he signed his next extension in August 2023. That veteran extension is worth $175,369,698 over three seasons and begins with the 2025-26 campaign.

The contract includes a player option for 2027-28 worth $62,786,682. Davis was subsequently traded from the Lakers to Dallas and then to Washington, but the contract remained in place. For 2026-27, his base salary is $58,456,566.

Interestingly, his average annual value exceeds $58 million, meaning his yearly compensation is considerably higher than some players above him when contracts are ranked strictly by total value.

Bam Adebayo—Contract value: $163 million

Bam Adebayo’s first major payday came in November 2020, when Miami gave him a five-year, $163,000,300 designated rookie extension. That contract covered the 2021-22 through 2025-26 seasons.

With that deal completed, Adebayo agreed to another significant extension with Miami in July 2024. His current contract is worth $160,342,092 over three years, fully guaranteed, with a player option for 2028-29.

Adebayo has been a central piece of Miami’s roster for years, combining interior defense with the ability to handle and pass the ball in ways that have become increasingly valuable for modern centers.

Walker Kessler—Contract value: $129.5 million

Kessler entered the league on a four-year rookie contract worth $13,372,418 after Utah selected him in the 2022 draft. The financial jump from that contract to his next one is substantial. Kessler agreed to a four-year, $129,467,930 deal in July 2026, with the contract ultimately taking him to the Los Angeles Lakers through a sign-and-trade. The final season, worth $34,625,144, is a player option.

His new deal puts him firmly into the upper tier of NBA center contracts. He enters the 2026-27 season with a $30,108,821 salary, beginning the biggest contract of his career.