Post by 2 years left on Jun 27, 2020 12:52:27 GMT -8
Last free agency was crazy! A lot of teams had cap space to spend and not a lot of big names actually switched teams. This usually leads to some nasty overpays! With possibly the best free agent class so far coming up this off-season, let us take a look at the contracts teams regret signing or trading for the most. Keep in mind this is my OPINION. Also remember a bad contract does not mean they are a bad player!
20. P.J. Brown PF 34 6'11'' 240 C+ C C A- B D
4 Years / $50,048,080
We start off with a solid starter on the current best team in the East. Weird! The Heat knew when they offered the contract that it was an overpay for an aging big man who is pretty average all-around. Just tough for a lot of teams to pay a role player $12.5 million a year as he starts to decline. The good thing is he does not really have any flaws, he just does not have any real strengths either so he should produce similar numbers until he does retire.
19. Ron Artest SF 23 6'8'' 262 C A- C A- C+ A
5 Years / $59,402,228
Don't let his current numbers fool you! The Pistons are a very bad team. He did not magically fix his volume issues. How many teams can start a wing who will rarely score double digits for you if you are actually trying to win? There are some positives to be found here such as his solid defense and decent rebounding for a wing. Would I ever start him? No. But he is still young so I can see why a tanking team did take a chance on him.
18. Eddie Jones SG 32 6'6'' 200 B- A- C B+ D+ C
5 Years / $54,945,900
Ah, my old friend Eddie. Spent a whole season trying to trade for him. He is a solid backup wing who can even block a shot every other game. Should 32 year old backup wings be making over $10 million a year until they are 36? Uh no. As a former dunk contest winner it is clear his inside scoring is pretty low and that B- inside is a lie. With his rebounding continuing to decline it will be harder to find the minutes he needs to play to make this contract worth it. You can find similar production from players making a lot less than this.
17. Bruce Bowen SF 32 6'7'' 200 C B C- A+ C- B
3 Years / $30,300,000
Bowen averages 3.5 ppg and 2.6 rpg for his career in about 20 mpg. He shoots 43% from the field and 65% on free throws. The A+ defense is rare tho and makes him an attractive asset to some GMs around the league. Do I think these GMs are crazy? Yes. You can do worse though for $10 million a year as you will see very soon.
16. Michael Olowokandi C 28 7'0'' 282 B D F+ A- B- D
6 Years / $46,933,201
I don't understand why the Clippers gave the Kandi man six years. These average big men types can die in any TC and then you are just stuck with a third or fourth big eating away at potential cap space. There is no reason to lock these types of players up long-term through their early 30s. He can block almost two shots a game but he also turns it over almost two times a game. Rebounding is average. Shoots too much for a guy who is not very efficient. If this was a two or three year deal I'd be fine with it but as is I would not touch him.
15. Antonio McDyess PF 29 6'9'' 237 A- C- C B+ B C
2 Years / $30,240,000
You have to be pretty bad to end up on this list with only one more year left on your contract. McDyess is that bad. He has been tried as a big SF and it has not gone well. He is not good as an actual big man either. He is a solid scorer depending on the offense but he wipes that out by turning it over too much if you try to make him an option. Nothing special as a rebounder and his shot blocking is average as well. He is the type of player that you can find some value in as a backup if he makes around the MLE or maybe a little more. On his current contract he is just a negative asset for now and a trade filler next season.
14. Joe Smith SF 28 6'10'' 244 A- C C- C+ C+ C
3 Years / $32,210,938
What happened to Joe? He was a solid 20/10 big man a few seasons ago. Now he is just a mediocre wing who is better off as a bench player. I am just not a fan of wings who do not shoot threes that don't make up for it somewhere else. His rebounding is decent and his stats defense is decent but why would any team trying to win want to start him? Either commit to a player who can score more or a player who can provide more as a role player. Like McDyess, if he made around the MLE he would provide some value off the bench but on a contract like this I don't think he has any market at all.
13. Eddie House PG 25 6'1'' 180 C+ A- C+ C+ C C
4 Years / $29,900,000
Eddie is a leftover FA caliber player on a long-term deal making well over the MLE. He is a decent shooter and is actually a decent rebounder for a PG but you can find a player like him for the minimum in the off-season pretty easily. Why give him a long-term deal? I'd expect a first having to be added to him to dump him if his team were under the salary cap.
12. William Avery PG 24 6'2'' 180 C+ A- C+ B+ D+ A
2 Years / $22,226,639
I will admit that before Avery signed this contract he was one of my favorite targets for the MLE to extend and hopefully camp up. Bullet dodged there for sure! There are no positives to be found here if you are trying to win. He is a great tanking player though! Luckily the Bulls can finally move on next season and either use him as a tank commander one more time or as a trade filler.
11. Cuttino Mobley SG 29 6'4'' 196 C+ A- C+ B- C- B
5 Years / $40,230,600
Portland is where bad contracts go to die it seems. Mobley is another backup wing who is on a long-term deal into his 30s. Is he a solid backup guard? Yeah. Why pay a solid backup guard $8 million a year long-term? This is the type of player you give 1 year deals to so you can use him as trade filler if possible while still having a useful player off the bench if no deals are out there. He is not good enough to start as an option scorer in an outside offense and he doesn't really give you anything as a defender or rebounder. Giving him a six year deal at the time was just crazy.
10. Rashard Lewis SF 24 6'10'' 226 B A- C- C+ C C
6 Years / $94,500,000
Oh boy. We are starting to get into the real ugly deals now. Rashard got paid by the Magic just like in real life and seems to have just entered chill mode. Not great when your max wing is scoring 16 ppg as an option. He does provide a bit of stats defense but with his rebounding he is better off as a SG. Even there I have doubts he would provide anything near max contract production. There are a lot of decent wings in this league so I think the price it would take to dump him will be too much for the next Magic GM to want to pay. They have Kobe Bryant at SG so yeah, good luck with shining this turd.
9. Jerry Stackhouse SF 28 6'6'' 233 B+ B+ C+ C+ C- C
3 Years / $28,050,000
Stackhouse has turned into a team cancer. Every team he goes to regrets it and deals him as soon as possible. He is not very efficient as a scorer, he is below average as a defender, he is a poor rebounder, he turns the ball over a lot as an option. Is there any positive to be found outside of his contract only being three years long? He is just bad and should only play minutes on a tanking team.
8. Andre Miller PG 24 6'2'' 202 B C+ A- B C B
7 Years / $115,500,000
I want to start off by saying I do think Andre Miller is an above average PG. He plays solid defense, his handling is fine, he shoots a solid percentage from the free throw line. What's the problem? Well, he is a PG who has under 30 3pt who will eventually make over $20 million a season. Yikes. Is it possible that I end up looking silly for putting him this high if he has a random good TC? Sure. I just do not see it happening. A player like this should not be making over $10 million a season. It just limits you too much and as we all know FBB loves PGs in TC and over time there will only be more options at the position. I can only see this contract aging very poorly and I would not touch it without a crazy asset attached to it.
7. Nick Van Exel PG 31 6'1'' 190 B- A- B- C+ C C
5 Years / $48,789,000
Is Nick Van Exel good? He has shot a solid percentage for his career from everywhere. He is above average as a rebounder for the position. He does double up his steals with his turnovers but they have always stayed at three or less so it is not that bad. But is he good and worthy of a long-term deal? I don't see it. I see him as an average PG who can only decline going forward. Even if you are desperate for a PG, there are plenty of options out there on one year deals. I found a similar player in Damon Stoudamire who was only trade filler in my Grant Hill trade. If you give an average player in his 30s with no upside a long-term deal it is usually not going to work out for you.
6. Richard Hamilton SG 25 6'6'' 202 B- C+ C+ A- D+ B
5 Years / $43,758,000
What happened to you, Richard? It is clear now that he will be a career backup who provides some value as a backup guard who can score a bit and limit his turnovers. I am just not a fan of that type of player with C+ outside scoring. He is shooting better from beyond the arc this season but he is still only at 32% for his career there. I know he received some hype at one point for being capped somewhere but it is clear he does not play like he is. Why he received a long-term deal after this was already made clear we will never know.
5. Gary Payton PG 35 6'4'' 186 B B A- A- C C
4 Years / $41,900,250
The only contract I gave out on this list belongs to the fraud Gary Payton. He provided solid value the last two years and even helped me win 65 games last season. Sadly, he improved in TC when it comes to letter grades but now plays very poorly. A point guard that shoots under 40% and averages 3 topg is just not worthy of any minutes. I feel a bit bad as I do think I may have helped CY the Sonics by 'gifting' him Payton. How was I supposed to know he would shoot even worse after his horrible start to the season? The only hope here is that he retires sooner than later.
4. Khalid El-Amin PG 24 5'10'' 200 C+ A- B B- C- B
6 Years / $76,145,003
A bet gone wrong. The Bucks rolled the dice on Khalid and took on his long-term deal hoping he would show improvement in TC. His letter grades went up but his production has not. The Bucks are currently failing to reset their CY and he is a big reason why. He is only at 27 mpg for the season now but he makes the worst of his time on the floor with high turnovers, no defense and below average volume scoring. He also doesn't rebound but when you're so bad at everything else that isn't even really worth discussing. This contract is very bad now and will only get worse as more PGs pop up in future drafts. Credit to the Bucks for taking a risk but this went about as poorly as possible.
3. DerMarr Johnson SF 23 6'9'' 216 C+ A- C C+ C+ B
6 Years / $54,415,303
I still don't understand what the Pacers saw in him. He is playing close to his career numbers this season and those numbers are very bad. No stats defense, average handling and he only shoots 45% so it is not like he is efficient with his low volume. I am not sure I would even bother offering him the LLE if he was a free agent. He really just looks like a waste of a roster spot if you are trying to win.
2. Rasheed Wallace PF 29 6'11'' 241 B+ C+ C+ A B- B
7 Years / $138,600,000
A potentially controversial name but I just really hate this contract. Rasheed has pretty ratings but he sims very poorly. 20 ppg is fine but he is under 45% from the field for his career and 70% from the free throw line. You look at that A defense and think wow but he has never averaged over 1.5 bpg. For his career his stocks are actually barely above his turnovers. He is going to make over $20 million a year until he is 35 pretty soon and that is just upsetting to the stomach. He actually broke his skull this season and the Celtics have not looked much worse without him. Not a good sign.
1. Raef LaFrentz PF 27 6'11'' 245 B B- C- B B D
6 Years / $89,762,498
I do not expect much argument when it comes to the worst contract in the league. This is just awful. Raef was hyped up a bit after his all-star appearance a few seasons ago and has only disappointed since. 14 ppg, 10 rpg and 1.5 bpg out of a max big is not good. His ratings are not too pretty either with nothing above a B. If his potential truly has dropped to D or less this deal could get even uglier soon if that is even possible. He is a MLE player that some poor team is going to be paying like he is a star for the next six years. Time may be running out to even try to dump him.
