The NBA's Worst Contract at Every Position
It's hard to pinpoint bad NBA contracts these days, and it's only going to get harder.
The last collective bargaining agreement effectively killed long-term deals, limiting commitments to a maximum of five seasons. The imposition of a more restrictive luxury tax meant teams with huge revenue streams couldn't lock themselves into massive overpays without facing additional penalties that, when taken to the extreme, result in paying upwards of five dollars for every dollar over the tax.
Basically, the last lockout made it tougher for owners to hurt their teams with bad deals.
Not only that, but the rising salary cap—which is projected to jump in each of the next three summers, topping out at $108 million in 2017, per Draft Express' Jonathan Givony—also means today's ugliest contracts soon won't look nearly so bad.
Throwing away $15 million on an unproductive player is a disaster when that amount represents nearly a quarter of a team's total payroll. When it's around 14 percent of the cap (which is how that math would work out with a $108 million salary ceiling), it's just an annoyance.
Enough qualifiers, though. There are still some raw deals out there, and there are a handful of ways to define them.
If a player is collecting big bucks to ride the pine because of injury, or worse, ineffectiveness, that's a bad contract.
If a team can't sign other players because a huge deal is clogging up its cap space, that's a bad contract.
If an agreement runs well past the player's prime, that's a bad contract.
You get the idea; a contract can be bad for any or all of the above reasons.
Here, we'll limit the discussion to pacts that pay at least $10 million per year—partly for simplicity's sake, but mostly because a contract can't be that much of a team-crippler if it's under the eight-figure threshold.
Behold: the worst of the worst!
Point Guard: Deron Williams, Brooklyn Nets
1 of 5
Age: 31
2014-15 Stats: 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 15.7 PER
Remaining Years and Salary: Two years, $43.4 million
Over a year ago, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale tabbed Deron Wiliams' contract with the Brooklyn Nets as the worst in the league: "Tougher to swallow is the truth—the cold, hard, callous truth. There's a new 'worst contract' in the NBA. It belongs to the fallen star that is Deron Williams."
Know what's changed since then?
Williams has aged a year, seen his production dip another notch or two and, most importantly, the New York Knicks bought out Amar'e Stoudemire. STAT was one of the only players whose contract was ugly enough to compete with Williams', and now that Stoudemire is no longer in contention for the throne, Williams is even more firmly ensconced as king.
The good news is that as the end of Williams' deal approaches, the odds of the Nets finding a way to move him increase.
That's a small consolation, of course, because Williams' game is likely to continue its decline. Trading him seems almost impossible.
Brooklyn swung big a few years ago in its efforts to build an instant winner, heaving heaps of cash at big names and trading away its future in the form of draft picks.
The wins never came, and Williams remains a reminder that contender construction isn't always about who has the most money. It's about who's spending it most carefully.
Honorable Mention
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls: two years, $41.4 million
Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2 of 5
Age: 36
2014-15 Stats: 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 17.6 PER, 35 games played
Remaining Years and Salary: one year, $25 million
This really could have been Joe Johnson. It really, really could have.
Both Johnson and Kobe Bryant have one year left on their deals, and both contracts have prevented their respective teams from making meaningful additions in recent seasons. The Lakers have been in a two-year holding pattern since signing Bryant to an extension.
Johnson will make $24.9 million next season at age 34, negligibly lower than Bryant's round figure of $25 million—which, by the way, will make him the league's highest-paid player in 2015-16.
Both were volume shooters last season and will likely continue to be in the future. Neither defended, and neither figures to start any time soon.
The difference, and the factor that makes Bryant's contract worst among shooting guards, is that we simply can't expect his health to hold up. And the worst kind of contract is the one that pays a player who isn't playing at all.
Johnson logged 80 games last season. Bryant played just 35 in 2014-15 after suiting up for six in 2013-14.
Bryant may be the more productive player (his PER was 17.6 last season, while Johnson's was 14.1), but his body has broken down in three consecutive seasons.
So while both Bryant and Johnson will be wildly overpaid for their production next year, Johnson is more likely to collect his money while actually staying on the floor.
Honorable Mention
Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets: one year, $24.9 million
Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
3 of 5
Age: 31
2014-15 Stats: 24.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 21.5 PER
Remaining Years and Salary: four years, $101.6 million (final year is an early termination option)
We harped on the health issue in discussing Bryant, and Carmelo Anthony's partially torn patellar tendon, which required season-ending surgery in February, puts his future physical integrity on similarly shaky ground.
Anthony's deal, signed last summer, is for $5 million less than the max for a player of his experience. In theory, that kind of money should go to someone you could reliably build a contender around.
Unfortunately, nothing in Anthony's history with the New York Knicks suggests he's capable of being the best player on a team with realistic championship hopes. The knocks haven't changed: He doesn't make teammates better, he's a sporadically interested defender and he's a ball-movement killer.
We've heard all that for years, and until Anthony leads a team to glory, we'll keep hearing it.
Plus, he's 31 years old, which means we can safely assume his prime is at or near its end. Toss in a significant injury and you have the recipe for a decline.
Anthony is different than Williams and Bryant in that he may be a deserving All-Star next year. If healthy, he's likely to score 20-25 reasonably efficient points per game. And it's only fair to note that his big salary won't be quite as cumbersome when the cap rises. In fact, the Knicks have space to sign players this summer.
They'll have more going forward.
Ultimately, this is just a massive amount of money to give a player who can't be a top-flight No. 1 option and has never been willing to accept a secondary role.
Honorable Mention
Gordon Hayward: three years, $48.2 million
Power Forward: David Lee, Golden State Warriors
4 of 5
Age: 32
2014-15 Stats: 7.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 17.8 PER
Remaining Years and Salary: one year, $15.5 million
There was a time not long ago when expiring contracts were like gold. Teams around the league tried to acquire them so they could enjoy the cap room that resulted once the deal came off the books. Now, the Golden State Warriors are actively looking for ways to get rid of David Lee's contract, but they haven't found any takers yet.
Lee lost his starting job to Draymond Green this past season, and his inability to defend resulted in him slipping out of the rotation entirely. If you want 19 points and nine rebounds, Lee can certainly still give that to you if he gets the minutes.
It's just that he'll give back all of his offensive gains with shoddy D on the other end.
Put it this way: The Warriors would give Lee away and take nothing in return if they could. His salary puts them into the luxury tax, which is something the team has always avoided.
"He's making a lot of money, and we want a player that's making a lot of money to be able to play a lot of minutes," Warriors general manager Bob Myers told Diamond Leung of the San Jose Mercury News. "And Draymond was so good at filling that spot that, sure, we'll have to look around and see what makes sense."
No deals have emerged, which means the Dubs will either have to keep Lee around or surrender other assets just to get rid of him.
Lee has been a productive player in the past, and he handled the loss of his role like an absolute professional.
But his contract is terrible.
Honorable Mention
Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets: four years, $50 million
Center: Nikola Pekovic, Minnesota Timberwolves
5 of 5
Age: 29
2014-15 Stats: 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 16.6 PER
Remaining Years and Salary: three years, $35.8 million
With just 85 games played over the past two seasons, Nikola Pekovic hasn't given the Minnesota Timberwolves much bang for their buck. And with No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns in the fold (not to mention younger and cheaper alternative Gorgui Dieng), it's hard to see Pekovic maintaining a spot in the rotation.
When his body's right, Pekovic is a physical beast, capable of working his way deep underneath the basket. He's not a strong defender, though, and he's never been particularly mobile. After undergoing debridement on his Achilles tendon this past April, we shouldn't expect an increase in foot speed.
As B/R's Dave Leonardis wrote, Minnesota has major incentive to move on from the Pekovic era:
"Minnesota had enough incentive to move on from Pekovic even before it won the draft lottery. The big man's durability concerns make him unreliable in the starting rotation. In his five years in the NBA, Pekovic has never played more than 65 games in a single season.
Even if he makes a full recovery from Achilles surgery and is ready to go by the season opener, how certain can the team be he'll hold up all year, given his history?
"
Pekovic is a throwback big man: solid down low on offense but incapable of stretching the floor or protecting the rim. The Wolves, looking toward the future, don't need him.
Unfortunately, the hefty extension he signed will keep him on Minnesota's books for the next three years at a starter's salary.
That's not ideal.
Honorable Mention
Enes Kanter*, Oklahoma City Thunder
*Kanter is a restricted free agent this summer, and there's a good chance he'll command an offer sheet of at least $10 million per season on a multiyear deal. He hasn't signed anywhere yet, but consider this a bet that whoever gives him that kind of cash will be sorry.
All salary information from Basketball Insiders. Stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
