Why Warriors' $37.5M Sharpshooter Has NBA's Best Contract Among Role Players

The Golden State Warriors made a shrewd decision when they extended Moses Moody right before the 2024-25 season.

At the time, Moody was entering his fourth season. He was in the rotation, but he had yet to truly blossom. So he and his agent Rich Paul negotiated a three-year, $37.5 million extension worth up to $39 million with incentives.

He's in the first year of that contract extension now, and it suddenly looks like one of the best value contracts in the NBA.

Moody's Breakout

It's easy to see that Moody is having a breakout season. Just look at the progression of his numbers below:

	PTS	3PT	3PT%
2021-22	4.4	0.8	36.4
2022-23	4.8	0.8	36.3
2023-24	8.1	1.1	36.0
2024-25	9.8	1.7	37.4
2025-26	13.2	3.0	45.3

And after Sunday's performance, you can expect his points and threes per game to rise from here.

Moody had a career-high 32 points and a career-high eight three-pointers against the Pelicans. He made seven of those threes in the first quarter, joining Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson as the only Warriors to make seven shots from downtown in one quarter.

But it's not just the counting stats that show Moody's growth.

Moody has been an advanced stats darling to start the season. Per Cleaning the Glass, he's second on the team in Efficiency Differential at plus-14.5. The Warriors' defensive net rating is 14.3 points per 100 possessions better with Moody on the court than when he's off, showing his defensive impact. And he's in the 91st percentile in the points per shot attempt metric, just ahead of Curry.

Defining a Role Player

Moody does not have the best contract in the NBA because there are a handful of players on rookie contracts and cheap second contracts who have become stars. Victor Wembanyama ($13.8M AAV), Austin Reaves ($13.5M AAV) and Deni Avdija ($13.8M AAV) come to mind.

So we had to come up with some parameters of a role player.

First, we're eliminating anyone who is averaging over 20 points per game or has been an All-Star, as they don't fit the definition of a role player well.

We also took out all players on rookie contracts. This decision wasn't made lightly, but the purpose of this article was to explore how well the Warriors did with Moody's second contract and not get into the contract structure that makes rookies like Will Richard vastly unpaid. Plus, rookies have played under 20 games in the NBA. Let's wait before we compare them to more established players.

Comparing Moody's Contract to Those of Other Role Players

Here's a list of role players that are up for consideration in this debate:

	PPG	AAV
Aaron Gordon	19.8	31.8
Derrick White	16.0	29.5
Jaden McDaniels	17.7	26.2
Ivica Zubac	16.2	19.6
Nickeil Alexander-Walker	17.8	15.1
Moses Moody	13.2	12.5
Deandre Ayton	16.2	8.1
Payton Pritchard	16.4	7.5

The first three are known for being three of the best role players in the NBA. All are better than Moody right now, but they all make more than twice as much per year, which is why Moody's contract gets the edge. Trey Murphy III ($28M AAV) also fits into this category.

Ayton makes this list with averages of 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds, but the length of his contract makes him less of a value than Moody is to the Warriors. Ayton will almost assuredly decline his player option for next season, so he's basically on a one-year deal, making Moody's contract more appealing.

Payton Pritchard represents the scoring point guards. He gets a lot of more touches on offense, so it's not shocking he has more points (16.4) and assists (5.0) than Moody. But like many other guards around his size (6'1"), he gets picked on at times on defense. This is why three-and-D wings like Moody (6'5") are valued more than smaller guards who can score.

Next is Nickeil-Alexander Walker, who the Hawks wisely nabbed in free agency with a four-year, $60.6 million contract. He's a more impactful defender than Moody, but his shot is less reliable. The shooting difference and the fact Moody is a bit cheaper gives Moody the edge.

So it really comes down to the contracts of Ivica Zubac and Moody for best role-player contract. Zubac is a far better player right now—you could call the 28-year-old center a star and get away with it—so it's fair that he's making $7 million more per season.

But the one thing Moody has in his favor is he's just 23 years old and clearly still getting better. He could easily make another leap next season and change this discussion entirely.

What Moody Is Actually Worth

When accounting for his age, three-point shooting and defense, Moody is worth at least double what he's making.

The Warriors gambled that he'd break out, and they are being rewarded for it with a cheap three-and-D weapon.

Now, they simply have to play him more.

In the three games this season that Moody has played at least 30 minutes, he's averaging 28.0 points, 6.3 three-pointers, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks and he's shooting 61.9 percent from the field.

If his current minutes average of 24.2 doesn't rise substantially over the rest of the year, Steve Kerr will have some explaining to do.