The Top 10 WORST Current NBA Contracts
Piece by: Brandon Warner
Sometimes I think we overlook the fact that contracts are what can make these great super teams to get you a championship, or in LeBron’s case 2 championships. Contracts can also be the anchor that holds your team back from success because the money tied up in these players take up too much of the cap room and you’re just not getting what you paid for. If I were an NBA player reading this list, I wouldn’t pay as much attention who the players are on the list, I would be more focused on trying to figure out who the agents are for these players because they have to be some of the greatest negotiators on this planet. Anyways, here are the 10 worst contracts in the NBA.
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Wiggins($29M), Bismack Biyombo($18M), Ian Mahinmi($16M), Paul Millsap ($30M)
10. Terry Rozier($19M avg.)
Contract: 3 Years/ $56,700,000
Free Agent: 2022
“Scary Terry” has shown that the only thing that’s scary about him aside from his shooting percentage, is his contract. Terry Rozier has always been a solid role player of the bench and eventually became the 6th man in 2017. Where he really gained attention was in 2017–2018 post season. With Kyrie and Gordon Hayward being out for the rest of the season, Rozier fell into a huge role playing 36.6 minutes per game and actually played well putting up 16.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 5.3 APG. His play in the 2017–2018 postseason was the only thing I can see that warranted that 3 year 56 million dollar contract. Aside from that post season play, Rozier was actually one of the most inefficient shooters on the team. It’s bad when your 3-point percentage and your FG percentage are almost the same percentage. There wasn’t a single season he shot above 39% which made me scratch my head on why the Hornets wanted to sign him to that much money. He cleaned up a little bit of that sloppy play he had on the Celtics and has been taking smarter shots which has led to a 42% FG percentage which is still slightly below average but better than how he was playing on the Celtics. Essentially Terry Rozier’s contract isn’t good because the Hornets are giving 19 Million a year to a guy who’s inconsistent and inefficient shooting the ball.
9. Harrison Barnes($21M avg.)
Contract: 4 Years/ $85,000,000
Free Agent: 2023
When you think of Harrison Barnes, neither the term elite nor scrub really come to mind. He’s more of a like an average player. He started 543 out of 604 career games, and through those games he has averages of 13.7 PPG, 4.9RPG, 1.6 AST, and less than 1 BLK and STL. Harrison had the best years of his career in Dallas, but was abruptly ended when he was traded mid-game to the Kings. His numbers took a slight hit playing in Sacramento since he didn’t have the same green light that Rick Carlisle gave him in Dallas. Don’t get me wrong, Harrison Barnes is a solid role player, but shouldn’t be the highest average paid player on a team that also has Marvin Bagley, De’aron Fox, and Buddy Hield.
8. Gorgui Dieng($17M avg.)
Contract: 4 Years, 62,800,000
Free Agent: 2021
Gorgui Dieng is a name that not too many people are familiar with. The 6’10 Senegal big man spent 7 seasons with the Timberwolves after being traded this season in a 3-way deal for James Johnson. His best season was in 2016–2017 when he started all 82 games and only averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game. Dieng has been a solid backup center throughout his entire career, but not well enough to fathom a 17 million dollar a year contract. Even through his play this year you can see his inconsistencies. His starts this year have been on both sides of the spectrum where you can see a monster game where he finishes 22–13–6, then you’ll see games where he shoots 25% or 28%. In the end he’s not worth being the highest average paid player on the Grizzlies for a guy who only plays 19 minutes a game.
7. Al Horford($27M avg.)
Contract: 4 Years/ $109,000,000
Free Agent: 2023
I love Al Horford as a player, but the Sixers need to keep in mind that he’s not the same player he used to be on the Hawks or even the Celtics. Let’s keep in mind that Horford is already 33 and they offered him a 4 year deal of about 27M per year. Not only is that too much money but its on a team that he does not fit on. The whole Sixers team is a mess right now and when they signed Horford, they moved him to power forward to play the stretch 4 position which made things worse. At 33 years old, he can’t run the floor like he used to. Most of his success has also came from him playing center. This first season playing for the Sixers he has hit career lows in points(12PPG) and field goal percentage (44.2%). This seems like the wrong recipe to be the 31st highest average paid player in the league
6. Kevin Love($30M avg.)
Contract: 4 Years/ $120,402,172
Free Agent: 2023
Remember that game in 2010 where Kevin Love carried the Wolves to beat the Knicks while finishing with 31 points and a record 31 rebounds? I think the Cavs were watching that game or some old Kevin Love highlights when they decided to come up with this contract.Throughout Kevin Loves 12 year career there is still yet to be a single season where he has played every single game. Within the last 4 seasons alone he has missed 131 games due to injury or rest. He’s only played 40% of the games in the last 4 seasons. FORTY PERCENT. Yet the Cavs give him a brand new 4 year contract for 120 mil. That’s not to mention that he’s already 31 with a huge injury history. Even I like to gamble but gambling 120 mil on 4 more years of Kevin Love when the last 4 years he missed 60% of the season is a suicide bet.
5. Otto Porter($26M avg.)
Contract: 4 Years/ $106,524,975; Player Option (2020): $28,489,238
Free Agent: 2021
Even though Kevin Love has an injury bug he still produces at an all-star level when he does play. Otto Porter has a worse injury bug and plays half as good as Kevin Love. Let’s look at his games played in the last 3 seasons: 14(2019), 15 (2018),41(2017). Ever since the Bulls got him, he has played 29 games in 2 seasons. Looking at Otto Porter’s injury history is like taking an anatomy class because it covers the whole body. Back in 2017 when the Nets offered him that contract, the Wizards should’ve never matched their offer sheet. Otto was solid in Washington but 13.4 PPG and 6.4 RPG at the time does not warrant 26 million a year.
4. Blake Griffin ($34M avg.)
Contract: 5 Years/ $171,174,820; Player Option (2021): $38,957,028
Free Agent: 2022
When he is healthy, Blake Griffin is one of the best post players in the league if not thee best. The expectations were sky high for the young star after being the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft. There was so much buzz about this explosive kid out of Oklahoma. Then unexpectedly, during his final preseason game he broke his kneecap after a dunk and then began his nagging knee injury he’s had through his career. Back in 2015 he missed half the season having a broken hand because he punched an equipment manager. In 2016 he missed a month undergoing a knee surgery. In 2017, he suffered an injury to his big toe that caused him to miss the rest of the post season. Then in the 2018–2019 season he had arguably his best season posting career numbers and showing that he even improved his passing game. This season he missed the first 10 games from lingering knee and hamstring injuries. Then when he did return it was probably some of the worst Blake Griffin basketball you ever saw. He couldn’t hit shots and looked a step slower. Finally, back in January this year he decided to have surgery on his left knee. The future doesn’t look too bright for Blake as he has suffered severe injuries and had surgeries on both knees. Not to mention he is also 31 already his contract looks to be on the bad side of being risky. 34 million this year, 36 million next year, with a 38 million player option the year after makes this one of the worst contracts in the league.
3. Mike Conley ($30M avg.)
Contract: 5 Years/ $152,605,576; Player Option (2020): $34,502,130
Free Agent: 2021
I remember the day Mike Conley signed this contract vividly back in 2016. I was sitting at a bar with some friends and I received a notification on my phone saying “Mike Conley signs 5 year $153 million dollar deal making it the richest contract in NBA history.” Me and my friends were absolutely baffled. My phone was lighting up with texts asking if I saw his contract and a lot of jokes about how his agent is the greatest agent in the world for pulling that off. I’ve always liked Mike Conley as a player and at the time I thought he was a top 15 point guard in the league, but the richest contract in history at the time was actually mind blowing. Before he signed that deal he was averaging about 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists per game which aren’t all-star caliber but they are solid. After he signed that contract he had 2 of the best seasons of his career but also one where he missed basically the entire season due to heel surgery. This year was his first season with the Jazz and let’s just say it’s not the same Mike Conley he used to be. A big part of that is a lingering hamstring injury that he actually reaggravated this year. To sum it up, what makes his contract bad? :(1) At the time nobody thought Mike Conley should’ve been paid that much except the Grizzlies (2) Even to this day nobody thinks he should be paid that much (3) He has been in the top 10 highest paid player every single season for the last 4 seasons but has not been a top 10 player any of those seasons (4) This is his highest paid season and was arguably the worst Mike Conley play we’ve seen in his career (5) He has a $34 million player option next year that there is no way he declines it
2. Nic Batum($24M avg.)
Contract: 5 Years/ $120,000,000; Player Option (2020): $27,130,435
Free Agent: 2021
There was a time before Draymond Green was getting all the praise of being the swiss-army knife of players, that Nic Batum was the guy that could do it all. He was able to run the offense, rebound, shoot, and play d. Man those were good times. Then he was traded for Noah Vonleh who at the time the Blazers thought was going to be a huge star(they were wrong about that). Batum had a great first two seasons with the Hornets averaging 15 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds game. But after that second season when he signed that deal, he has been on a steady decline since. You want to know how bad this contract is? Nic Batum issued a formal apology this year to the entire organization saying he knows how much faith they put into him and how he let everybody down. He then asks “what do I have to do? Because I’m still here”. I’m not sure about you, but if the guy I invested 5 years and 120 million is asking me what he has to do, then I know I f***ed up.
1. John Wall($43M avg.)
Contract: 4 Years/ $171,131,520; Player Option (2022): $47,366,760
Free Agent: 2023
Yes John Wall is a superstar and has made the All-NBA team and All-defensive team. He signed a max contract this year making him the highest average paid player in the league(tied with James Harden). In December he underwent season-ending knee surgery. After he underwent knee surgery he developed an infection where his incision was. When the doctors when to clean out the infection, they noticed that he had actually ruptured his achilles tendon from a fall he took in the stairs of his own home. This has prolonged his recovery and considering the fact achilles injuries are the hardest injuries for athletes to come back from, it doesn’t look good. I hope John Wall comes back full health and it doesn’t affect his game. The latter of it is the fact his contract is a freshly signed max contract for 4 years that increases every single year and has a 47 million dollar player option in the final year. Achilles injuries are so hard to fully recover because the tendon becomes thinner making it more susceptible to re-injury, and if it doesn’t recover properly then it can cause a wider tear gap. Also the NBA has lowered teams’ salary caps to 109 million. So combining the contract, the injury, and the fact the contract would take up about half of the new salary cap means that John Wall arguably has the most untouchable contract in all of sports right now.
