So current median team salary is just under 70 M.
I have a valuation system that tracks back to the '81 season (minimum 500 minutes). I'm not saying this system is perfect by any means, but it does track pretty well against MVP voting and All-NBA teams.
The median team cumulative valuation is ~55 M in that system. Pro-rating the values, here is the valuation for Joe Johnson in his Atlanta years:
'06: 12.3 M
'07: 10.7 M
'08: 13 M
'09: 13.3 M
'10: 12.9 M
So was he overpaid during his Atlanta tenure according to this system? Yes...but not by much; his valuation would be close to fair market value.
Lewis (Orlando):
'08: 11.2 M
'09: 11.4 M
'10: 8.5 M
Over-paid.
Gasol (LA):
'08 pro-rated: 14.2 M
'09: 13 M
'10: 12.7 M
Based on this system, within the past 3 years, here is the list of players who had a single season valuation at the $15 M mark:
'08:
Lebron
Iverson
Baron Davis
Kobe
Paul
'09:
Lebron
Kobe
Wade
Paul
Howard
'10:
Lebron
Wade
Durant
Kobe
On a different end of the spectrum, here is an Erik Dampier for career:
1997 $3,686,010.26
1998 $7,628,557.08
1999 $5,834,795.04
2001 $3,258,069.72
2002 $5,025,340.94
2003 $5,669,744.36
2004 $9,631,999.15
2005 $5,363,439.91
2006 $5,125,221.56
2007 $5,372,061.43
2008 $5,674,715.38
2009 $5,524,812.60
2010 $4,181,145.92
And Lebron:
2004 $13,543,006.22
2005 $19,029,994.36
2006 $19,643,866.30
2007 $17,570,714.38
2008 $20,278,098.46
2009 $20,907,206.30
2010 $21,958,375.77
So essentially, it's saying that a Lebron is worth over 5 X that of a Dampier.
And Wade (in comparison to Lebron):
2004 $8,786,486.43
2005 $14,850,611.93
2006 $16,805,819.04
2007 $12,943,149.00
2008 $10,577,568.11
2009 $19,806,633.43
2010 $17,530,433.71
This gave me some interesting things to think about; hopefully it will to other viewers of this.