2025-26 NBA PAL Rating and Value Rating: performance and contract value

Two scores from 0 to 100. PAL Rating measures the season's performance against regulars in the same group (guards, forwards, centers): 50 is the median regular. Salary never enters it. Value Rating answers a different question: for what the player costs, does the return come in more or less than expected?

WAR, in wins →Payrolls →

Top guard

100PAL100ValueShai Gilgeous-AlexanderOKC · Elite Top forward

100PAL100ValueGiannis AntetokounmpoMIL · Elite Top center

99PAL100ValueVictor WembanyamaSAS · Elite

Best contracts

Highest Value Rating among players rated 70 or more.

100Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderOKC · 40.81 M$ · PAL 100 (expected 81)
100Giannis AntetokounmpoMIL · 58.46 M$ · PAL 100 (expected 79)
100Luka DončićLAL · 49.80 M$ · PAL 99 (expected 84)
100Kawhi LeonardLAC · 50.30 M$ · PAL 99 (expected 77)
100Victor WembanyamaSAS · 16.87 M$ · PAL 99 (expected 57)

Heaviest contracts

Lowest Value Rating among salaries of $20M or more.

2De'Andre HunterSAC · 24.91 M$ · PAL 5 (expected 65)
4Zach LaVineSAC · 48.97 M$ · PAL 36 (expected 84)
9Kyle KuzmaMIL · 20.35 M$ · PAL 16 (expected 61)
11Myles TurnerMIL · 26.58 M$ · PAL 19 (expected 64)
11Christian BraunDEN · 21.55 M$ · PAL 32 (expected 69)

The scale — PAL Rating

90–100 Elite
80–89 Excellent
70–79 Very good
60–69 Above average
40–59 Around average
20–39 Below average
0–19 Very poor

The scale — Value Rating

90–100 Exceptional value
75–89 Very good contract
55–74 Good value
45–54 Fair value
25–44 Poor return
0–24 Very poor return

Regulars only

#	Player
1	Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderOKC · PG · 27	100	100	40.8	21.1	100	100	97	63	48	96
2	Giannis AntetokounmpoMIL · PF · 31	100	100	58.5	8.1	99	100	98	4	100	85
3	Luka DončićLAL · PG · 26	99	100	49.8	17.8	99	99	98	70	95	83
4	Kawhi LeonardLAC · SF · 34	99	100	50.3	14.3	100	99	89	98	71	86
5	Victor WembanyamaSAS · C · 22	99	100	16.9	16.2	97	97	87	89	89	99
6	Cade CunninghamDET · PG · 24	98	94	50.1	12.4	98	87	100	33	86	90
7	Chet HolmgrenOKC · PF · 23	98	98	41.5	8.4	97	91	25	45	99	97
8	Donovan MitchellCLE · SG · 29	97	88	50.1	11.3	97	97	83	84	62	52
9	Scottie BarnesTOR · PF · 24	97	94	41.8	11.3	95	64	95	19	86	99
10	Nikola JokićDEN · C · 30	97	100	59.0	24.8	99	99	99	99	81	97
11	LaMelo BallCHA · PG · 24	96	91	40.8	9.2	95	86	99	99	89	55
12	Jimmy ButlerGSW · SF · 36	96	90	56.8	6.2	98	92	93	57	57	64
13	Tyrese MaxeyPHI · PG · 25	95	90	40.8	13.2	96	92	90	85	23	81
14	Stephen CurryGSW · PG · 37	95	82	62.6	6.8	94	98	76	100	43	38
15	Jalen JohnsonATL · SF · 24	95	94	30.0	10.8	93	81	100	43	97	77
16	Robert WilliamsPOR · C · 28	95	91	14.0	4.6	87	64	19	42	91	95
17	Jamal MurrayDEN · PG · 28	94	78	50.1	11.1	95	95	94	96	44	12
18	Kevin DurantHOU · SF · 37	94	84	43.9	12.7	96	97	84	93	16	45
19	Anthony EdwardsMIN · SG · 24	93	73	48.9	9.5	91	96	50	74	65	72
20	Ausar ThompsonDET · SF · 23	93	96	11.1	6.5	94	13	63	1	82	100
21	Jalen DurenDET · C · 22	93	—	—	9.5	95	93	56	40	83	36
22	James HardenCLE · PG · 36	92	78	30.6	9.7	87	91	92	90	67	31
23	Deni AvdijaPOR · SF · 25	92	94	13.1	9.5	92	93	96	42	70	51
24	Austin ReavesLAL · SG · 27	91	62	41.2	5.7	90	94	68	65	68	38
25	Evan MobleyCLE · PF · 24	91	75	50.1	7.0	91	73	74	2	96	92
26	Isaiah HartensteinOKC · C · 27	91	83	23.1	4.9	91	30	75	15	79	93
27	Derrick WhiteBOS · SG · 31	90	67	30.3	9.5	93	36	77	75	55	90
28	Devin BookerPHX · SG · 29	90	50	57.1	6.2	89	95	85	53	40	18
29	Jaylin WilliamsOKC · PF · 23	90	94	7.8	4.1	80	32	61	75	92	95
30	Jalen SuggsORL · PG · 24	89	63	32.4	4.9	81	54	75	58	70	95
31	Jaylen BrownBOS · SF · 29	89	66	57.1	8.9	76	98	94	55	62	40
32	Mitchell RobinsonNYK · C · 27	89	85	15.0	4.3	85	19	11	1	99	91
33	Jalen BrunsonNYK · PG · 29	88	57	37.7	8.9	83	93	95	67	9	10
34	LeBron JamesLAL · SF · 41	88	97	3.9	7.6	86	88	99	17	52	57
35	Kevin Porter Jr.MIL · PG · 25	87	93	5.4	3.5	67	61	84	39	82	87
36	Josh HartNYK · SF · 30	87	80	20.9	6.8	78	48	83	54	89	88
37	Karl-Anthony TownsNYK · C · 30	87	62	57.1	8.4	77	91	66	95	93	28
38	Reed SheppardHOU · SG · 21	86	80	11.1	6.8	64	57	58	86	27	93
39	Cam SpencerMEM · SG · 25	86	98	2.4	4.9	84	75	93	97	24	23
40	OG AnunobyNYK · PF · 28	86	67	42.5	6.2	85	72	17	83	33	89
41	Michael Porter Jr.BKN · SF · 27	86	67	40.8	5.7	84	95	76	95	85	16
42	Ajay MitchellOKC · SG · 23	85	96	2.9	3.8	88	64	65	46	51	84
43	Brandon MillerCHA · SF · 23	85	84	15.1	4.9	81	87	72	99	36	53
44	Neemias QuetaBOS · C · 26	85	94	2.7	6.5	93	58	34	28	68	89
45	Josh GiddeyCHI · PG · 23	84	58	25.0	5.4	65	56	95	26	100	64
46	Kon KnueppelCHA · SF · 20	84	85	10.5	8.4	88	90	68	100	43	17
47	Isaiah JoeOKC · SG · 26	83	78	11.3	4.6	81	83	27	98	36	57
48	Zion WilliamsonNOP · PF · 25	83	59	42.2	6.2	90	96	75	5	58	38
49	Day'Ron SharpeBKN · C · 24	83	80	10.0	2.7	66	66	70	19	77	87
50	Nickeil Alexander-WalkerATL · SG · 27	82	72	14.4	5.7	74	86	44	95	16	58

How it's calculated

Like the NHL: within each group, the line linking latent PAL (the standard score, before the percentile) to the log of salary gives the level expected for that salary; the gap to the expected level becomes the Value Rating, 0 to 100. Our salaries start with the market season (2026-27): in the offseason, Value Rating compares the last season played with today's contract.

Data: Basketball-Reference and ESPN; salaries updated daily.