Choice to Hand out Max Contracts in the NBA Is About More Than the Numbers

It's a barbershop question sure to spark heated debate as neck hairs are shorn and shaving cream is slathered: Is Player X a "max" player? As in, is he worthy of being signed to the maximum salary allowed by the NBA's collective bargaining agreement?

For those sitting in a hydraulic-elevated leather recliner and not an NBA GM's chair, the heart of the argument rests on the player's statistics and his team's accomplishments in light of his contributions. To some, for example, the San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard is an automatic maximum-salary player because he not only has a championship ring, but he earned Finals' MVP honors while matched up at times against the league's most dominant player, LeBron James.

Yet Leonard did not receive a maximum-salary extension while Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, to name two, did, despite having marginally better statistics on less successful teams. If you were picking a least-deserving simply based on those standards, Hayward would be the clear choice. The Jazz finished last in the Western Conference, and he scored less (16.2 to 18.4) and shot worse (41 to 44 percent) than Thompson, whose Warriors finished as the West's No. 6 seed and took the Clippers to a full seven-game series in the playoffs.

So who is the idiot mismanaging his team's pocketbook—Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey or Warriors GM Bob Myers—or some combination of the three?    

A handful of other GMs, former and present, discussed all the elements that go into a team deciding whether to give a player the max. Consensus? What someone has done on the court to date is a part of the equation, but only a part and not necessarily the biggest part. What a player is capable of doing in the future is far more important, which is where the decision becomes tricky because the success of that max-contract player, no matter how talented, will rest on the pieces placed around him.

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"I don't think anyone has really defined what the requirements to be a max player are," one former Eastern Conference GM said. "From my point of view, you're trying to get that trifecta. Teams that have won championships have all had a core of three great players who are separated no less than two or three years in age. That's your goal: Can you get your Big Three? If you think a player is one of those, you have to give him the max if that's what it takes to keep him."

That alone is different from public consensus, which equates a max contract with a team's best player or, at worst, second-best player.

A current Eastern Conference GM, though, concurs. A player's value to his particular team may warrant a max, or near-max deal, especially if there isn't a similar player available on the market—or if a team already has invested in other pieces of that trifecta, and thereby the clock is ticking on its title hopes.

"Is he replaceable?" the current GM said. "How would losing him affect wins and losses? It's never an easy question."

There are additional factors. The amount of revenue a player generates, by dint of play or personality, also has to be considered, and gaudy statistics don't always translate to must-see entertainment. Filling a box score is all well and good, but if a player doesn't fill seats or is not willing or able to sell the team to sponsors, the return on the investment won't be there. Joe Johnson, now with the Brooklyn Nets, signed a max deal with the Hawks. He had (and maybe still has) the talent to be part of a Big Three. He's a seven-time All-Star and helped his team make the playoffs in nine of his 14 seasons. Yet he's largely viewed as having fallen short of max-contract worthiness.

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"That's one I think Atlanta could've rolled the dice" and not maxed-out Johnson, one Atlantic Division GM said. "It's not as if they were drawing a lot of fans and were going to lose them if Joe wasn't there."

Orlando's signing of Rashard Lewis to a max deal in 2007 because they were moving into a new arena and needed to sell luxury seats fit into the same category. Eric Bledsoe, signed to a near-max deal by the Suns this offseason, is potentially another example of a team retaining a player and an asset who ultimately looks like an overpriced investment.

"When you're going through the process of deciding if a player is worthy of a max contract, a good organization has everybody weigh in," says a former Eastern Conference team president. "Is the player considered marketable? Is he well-liked in the community? Does he pass the character test? You have to have a presence in your community and some players resist that."

Ignore the character issue, and you run the risk of loading up on a Gilbert Arenas, as the Washington Wizards did. Arenas checked off every other box. He proved he could be a top-five scorer (twice), an All-Star (three times) and lead a team to the playoffs (three times). Yet his decision to bring firearms into the Wizards' locker room and subsequent mockery of criticism for doing so did inestimable damage to the Wizards' reputation, particularly in light of the ongoing violence in some of the area's neighborhoods that prompted the change of the team name from the Bullets. That his accomplishments all came on his first major contract and everything went awry after the Wizards gave him a second one suggests they made the mistake of paying him for what he'd already done rather than what he could do for them in the future.

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Placing too much value or importance on a player's intangible qualities also can backfire on a team. The Golden State Warriors rewarded Antawn Jamison with a mega-sized, $80 million contract in part because they were trying to live down the stigma of their preceding headliner, Latrell Sprewell, whose last act with the team consisted of choking coach P.J. Carlesimo. That said, nobody pays NBA-level ticket prices to watch an upstanding citizen if he can't take down an opponent. One GM cited Minnesota's Kevin Martin as another example of a quality person who can fill a stat sheet yet isn't max or near-max worthy.

"Some guys have great stats, but that doesn't mean they're great players," the GM said.

There's one other reason to sign a player to a max contract, even if a team isn't convinced he's good enough to be part of a championship core: knowing that someone else does. For one Atlantic Division GM, that's the first criteria.

"Can you trade that contract once you do it? That, for me, is the No. 1 consideration," he said. "No. 2 is what he means to you and your team."

With all that in mind, how do the decisions on Leonard, Hayward and Thompson meet the criteria for character, potential to be part of a championship core and marketability?

The handful of executives polled for this piece were unanimous about Thompson. The combination of his age (24), talent (team's stopper and one of its top scorers), character (no issues since being popped for marijuana in college), marketability (combining with Steph Curry to form the "Splash Brothers") and value around the league (Minnesota and Sacramento already made attempts to lure him away) makes him the "biggest no brainer," the Atlantic Division GM said.

"If Klay had hit the market, he could've made more."

The feelings about Leonard were more mixed. Several GMs question if he can carry a team or have anywhere close to the same success without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. He also may have a quieter personality than Thompson, which doesn't bode well for marketability. And while there have been no citizenship issues, he hasn't had the chance to prove he can be a leader. If San Antonio ultimately gives him a max contract next summer, who they put around him could be big in determining whether he lives up to it.

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Making Hayward a max-salary player, though, is by far the diciest move. While Charlotte forced Utah's hand by presenting Hayward with a max offer sheet the Jazz matched, it doesn't necessarily mean there was a robust market for Hayward, at least not as a max player.

"Sometimes teams put the offer sheet out there just to mess up your books and prevent you from doing something else," one current GM said.

The Jazz retained an asset, and let's face it, a wholesome talent in Salt Lake City has its added advantages on the marketing front. But as of right now it remains to be seen if Hayward can evolve into a player who can lead a team to the playoffs, much less be part of the core of a title contender.

"You had to match because you can't lose that asset, but I would've done it only to trade him to Charlotte and get a first-round pick or something else back," one GM said. "With the other young players they have that need to be signed, it puts them in a tough spot."

Then again, if Hayward's presence keeps the seats filled and the corporate partners happy, he could indeed prove to be worthy of that max deal—no matter what the standings or the guy in the hydraulic-power leather recliner say.  

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.