6. Fred VanVleet
2024 salary: $42.8 million
During his time in Toronto, I loved Fred VanVleet. His story from being an undrafted player to making an All-Star Game is one that epitomizes the beauty of the American Dream and NBA basketball. However, it's fair to say he's one of the most overpaid players in the league. VanVleet is a one-time All-Star who is being paid like a superstar. VanVleet is still a good player but he shouldn't be a top-20 highest-paid player in the league. A player who is paid that much should have a much greater impact than he's currently having on the Houston Rockets at the moment.
I don't even blame VanVleet. The Rockets had to overpay him to pry him away from Toronto and you can't even fault him for taking the generational money. To hammer home this point, VanVleet saw a pretty significant dip in his production this past season in Houston.
I don't think this is at the point where the Rockets regret signing VanVleet but I also don't believe they would push all that hard against the idea that VanVleet is one of the most overpaid star players in the league right now.