NBA Teams That Spent the Most Money Only to Miss the Playoffs
When an NBA front office is piecing together a roster, there is a fine financial needle to thread.
Cost efficiency is valuable, but refusing to break out the checkbook is often a great recipe for minimal success. Spending lots of money is generally important, but that doesn't guarantee a playoff trip either.
It's a delicate balance to embrace as an executive, for sure.
The order is a direct reflection of total cap numbers (on Spotrac) for non-postseason teams in all of NBA history. Salary figures are not adjusted for inflation and do not include luxury-tax bills.
While the 2022-23 campaign isn't included since the season is not over, a couple of franchises may join the list.
7. 2020-21 Toronto Raptors
1 of 7
Payroll: $143.7 million
One year earlier, the Toronto Raptors withstood Kawhi Leonard's departure exceedingly well. They ripped off a 53-19 record and swept the Brooklyn Nets before losing a seven-game series to the Boston Celtics.
But the 2020-21 season wasn't so kind.
While it would be easy to point out injuries, the Raptors even struggled at full strength. The quartet of OG Anunoby, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam only started 25 games together—a problem, for sure!—yet Toronto still finished a dismal 8-17 in those contests.
Toronto hung around the fringe of the playoff race until the beginning of March. After a 17-17 start, the Raptors lost 13 of their next 14 games and tumbled to a final 27-45 record.
6. 2020-21 San Antonio Spurs
2 of 7
Payroll: $150.2 million
Once the 2020-21 season ended, the San Antonio Spurs began to embrace a teardown. The campaign made it clear the Spurs were no longer among the championship contenders.
San Antonio took its first step in March 2021, waiving once-prized addition LaMarcus Aldridge. Now, that wasn't a white flag. DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray and Derrick White still helped the Spurs to a 33-39 record, which was enough to earn the Western Conference's final spot in the play-in tournament.
However, the Memphis Grizzlies edged San Antonio 100-96 and effectively sparked the rebuild. The ensuing offseason sent DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls, and the Spurs soon dealt both White and Murray.
San Antonio also chose not to re-sign Rudy Gay or Patty Mills, who each received at least $13.5 million in 2020-21.
5. 2021-22 Washington Wizards
3 of 7
Payroll: $155.6 million
The Washington Wizards of the past half-decade are the perfect example of "money doesn't guarantee wins."
Heading into the 2022-23 season, Washington's 2020-21 squad had the eighth-largest single-year payroll in NBA history. That team's only redeeming quality was that it managed to win a play-in game, ensuring the franchise avoids a second section on this inglorious list.
The next year, though, the Wiz suffered that playoff-less fate.
Washington held a 23-26 record when a wrist injury sidelined Bradley Beal for the rest of the season. Despite a trade for Kristaps Porzingis about 10 days later, the Wizards went 12-21 down the stretch.
They finished 12th in the Eastern Conference at 35-47 and with a losing record for the fourth consecutive season.
4. 2020-21 Minnesota Timberwolves
4 of 7
Payroll: $159.2 million
The good news is the Minnesota Timberwolves opened the season with two straight wins.
The bad news is, well, mostly everything else.
Minnesota plummeted to 7-24, which resulted in the firing of head coach Ryan Saunders. The optics of the situation looked awful, considering the Wolves dismissed him and immediately hired Chris Finch who, at that moment, was serving as an assistant in Toronto.
Yes, the switch to Finch has since paid dividends. But the Wolves meandered to a 16-25 record after he took over, and Minnesota's bottom-three defense played a big part in the team's 23-49 final record.
Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards keyed a postseason run in the following season, at least.
3. 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers
5 of 7
Payroll: $160.9 million
When a franchises uses 25 different players in a season, the easiest takeaways are a string of injuries, lots of transactions or just plain mediocre roster management.
And for the 2021-22 Lakers, the answer is all three.
Los Angeles committed to the star-focused approach, adding Russell Westbrook from the Wizards in exchange for three key role players. The decision, quite simply, failed miserably.
Anthony Davis sat 42 games, and LeBron James—despite playing at an extremely high level—missed 26. Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, then the third-lowest mark of his career. An ineffective, veteran-heavy bench unsuccessfully searched for answers all season.
The Lakers wound up just 33-49, missed the play-in tournament by a game and fired head coach Frank Vogel.
2. 2021-22 Los Angeles Clippers
6 of 7
Payroll: $166.2 million
It's fair to suggest the 2021-22 season was not exactly a banner year for NBA teams in the iconic California city.
Granted, the Los Angeles Clippers deserve an asterisk. In the previous system, the 42-40 Clippers would've landed the eighth seed in the Western Conference and headed to the postseason. They missed the playoffs because of two close losses in play-in games.
Alas. The criteria is the criteria.
Los Angeles truly had a respectable year, leaning on a feisty defense to atone for a pair of enormous absences. Kawhi Leonard didn't play all season while recovering from an ACL injury, and Paul George only mustered 31 appearances because of his own health setbacks.
It's tough to win when two players who account for nearly $79 million of payroll combine for 1,077 of 19,780 possible minutes.
1. 2020-21 Golden State Warriors
7 of 7
Payroll: $175.8 million
In a comparable story one year earlier, the Golden State Warriors had a Clippers-like mix of key absences and an unfortunate end.
Golden State registered a 39-33 record—good enough for eighth in the West—even without star shooter Klay Thompson, who missed the season while recovering from an Achilles injury. Stephen Curry averaged 32.0 points and carried a new-look roster with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins.
However, the Dubs couldn't scratch out a dub in the play-in round, losing twice to fall devastatingly short of the playoffs.
You may have little sympathy for Golden State's setback, and that's understandable. After all, the full-strength Warriors put up 53 wins and rolled to an NBA championship one year later.
