The most exciting part of every NBA offseason is the beginning of free agency. The entire NBA community stops what they are doing as soon as the signing period begins to tune in and see what their team does or doesn’t do to improve their roster for the upcoming season. This is a time of joy and excitement for some as big names get shuffled to new teams in new cities. For others, this is a time of desperation and as we all know, desperation can eventually lead to despair and dark times in a franchise’s history if they end up being wrong about a player they extend an offer to.
Today, we are going to take a deeper look at some of the luckiest players and unluckiest franchises there have ever been. These teams took chances on an unproven player and paid him like a superstar. In some instances, teams paid a proven star who wound up being awful or injured after getting their big paydays. As I stated before, desperation will make some NBA personnel make bold leaps of faith that could set a franchise back for years, and in some cases, they have.
These are the 10 worst contracts in NBA history.
10. Gilbert Arenas – 6-Year/$111 Million Deal
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Back in the early and mid-2000s, Gilbert Arenas was one of the most exciting and electric players in the entire game with the Washington Wizards. After two seasons with the Warriors during the early 2000s, Arenas came over to the Wizards on a five-year $51 million deal. Over the next four seasons, Arenas would hit his peak as a player making three All-Star appearances and making three-All-NBA Teams as well. From 2005 thru 2007, Arenas averaged 27.7 PPG, 5.7 APG, and 1.9 SPG and was easily one of the game’s most clutch players on top of it.
This prompted the Wizards to give Arenas a sensational 6-year, $111 million deal that was supposed to last thru 2014. Arenas would play just 15 games over the next two seasons due to injury, and Washington was concerned about their investment. Then, in 2009, Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton were involved in an altercation involving firearms in the locker room, and all hell broke loose. Arenas was hit with one of the longest suspensions in NBA history. During the 2010-11 season, Arenas would be traded to the Magic, where they were set to cover four years and $80 million of the deal. Arenas would play 49 games for the Magic before being released and 17 games for the Grizzlies the following season. It wasn’t a bad deal to give out at first, but what transpired after makes it one of the worst deals in NBA history.
9. Luol Deng – 4-Year/$72 Million Deal
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In 2016, the Los Angeles Lakers were experiencing financial freedom they had not felt in quite some time. With Kobe Bryant’s salary coming off the books, the Lakers were ready to spend and spend big on free agents, ready to take them into the future. However, the deals they would make would be ill-advised and a setback for years to come. Looming in free agency was former All-Star and defensive savant Luol Deng who was expected to get a mid-level deal considering his game was on a bit of a decline.
Instead, the Lakers rewarded him with a 4-year, $72 million deal that would wind up costing the team for years. The relationship was sour from the beginning, with Deng quickly wanting out after being relegated to the bench for most of his time in Los Angeles. Deng would play a total of 57 games with the Lakers over the span of the 2017 and 2018 seasons before being shipped out of town. Through 2022, the Lakers were still paying $5 million per year to Deng as a part of the deal they reached in his buyout.
8. Bismack Biyombo – 3-Year/$64 Million Deal
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Back in 2011, Bismack Biyombo was a top 10 draft choice of the Sacramento Kings who was promptly sent to Charlotte on the same night. He would spend four seasons in Charlotte, averaging 4.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 1.6 BPG. When he was signed by the Raptors for two years and $6 million in 2015, nobody batted an eye as it was seen as a bargain contract for a bargain player. During the 2016 playoffs, everything changed. Biyombo helped the Raptors tremendously off the bench and played himself into big money come free agency time.
The Orlando Magic would be the ones to reward Biyombo with a massive 3-year, $64 million deal. Just two years after signing that deal, Biyombo was dealt back to Charlotte after averaging just 5.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in those two seasons. Since that deal went south, Biyombo has remained in a limited role off the bench for the Hornets and Suns, averaging around the same numbers he always has. Will Biyombo be able to play himself into another big-money contract this postseason? I highly doubt it.
7. Joakim Noah – 4-Year/$72 Million Deal
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For the most part, you will see deals on this list that were good at the time but ended up going terribly wrong rather quickly. In the case of the Knicks’ signing of Joakim Noah in 2016, it’s more of a case of what in the heck were they thinking?! In 2016, Joakim Noah was no longer the Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star he once was. In his 2015-16 contract season with the Bulls, he averaged just 4.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 1.0 BPG in 29 games played due to injury. Still, the Knicks saw him as a difference-maker, and they had to have him.
Over the next two seasons after signing the mega-deal, Noah rarely played for the Knicks. He played 46 games in 2017 as the Knicks struggled to even make the NBA playoffs. In 2018, Noah would be limited to seven games off the bench with 1.7 PPG and 2.0 RPG. From his physical setbacks to the desire to play all but faded from his body, Noah’s time with the Knicks was over after two seasons. He would go on to play two more years before retiring in 2020 at 34 years old.
6. Allan Houston – 6-Year/$100 Million Deal
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Allan Houston is a New York Knicks legend, no matter how sour things got toward the end of his tenure there. He hit one of the most iconic playoff buzzer-beaters in franchise history and helped the 1999 team make an improbable run all the way to the NBA Finals. He earned back-to-back All-Star appearances in 2000 and 2001 for his ability to score at all three levels and was armed with one of the smoothest jumpers I have ever seen. At the end of the 2001 season, Houston was rewarded with a $100 million contract from New York to stay around until the end of his career. Houston would stay around but much to the chagrin of Knicks fans and front-office members.
Following the signing in 2001, Houston would have two of the best seasons of his career. He averaged over 20.0 PPG in 2002, playing 77 games. He would play all 82 games in 2003 and average over 23.0 PPG as well, but the team was not winning enough. Then, the injuries began to pile up. Over the next two seasons, Houston would play just 70 games total, with his knees beginning to fail him. After the 2005 season, Houston walked away from the game and would still cost the Knicks over $19 million in 2006 despite no longer being on the team. The Jalen Brunson signing made people forget about this, right?
5. Eddy Curry – 6-Year/$60 Million Deal
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Eddy Curry was an 11-year NBA veteran that could easily be described as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history. Curry made the jump to the NBA straight out of high school in 2001, going fourth overall to his hometown Chicago Bulls. Over his first four seasons with the Bulls, Curry was great. He averaged 11.8 PPG and 4.9 RPG while having a decent run at staying healthy. In 2005, the Knicks, once again, decided to pay Curry $60 million based on what they had hoped he would become. He would not become that.
Over his first two seasons with the Knicks, it looked like the deal would be worth it, as Curry played over 72 games each season and averaged 16.7 PPG and 6.6 RPG. However, injuries and health began to decline rapidly for Curry. He came into camp clearly overweight and out of shape while his play on the court deteriorated. Curry would play 10 total games in 2009 and 2010 until his contract was bought out in February 2011. Curry played 16 games in 2012 and 2013 before retiring at 30 years old.
4. Chandler Parsons – 4-Year/$94 Million Deal
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Chandler Parsons was never a superstar per se, but he certainly got paid like one. Over his first five seasons in the NBA, Parsons carved out a nice role for himself with the Rockets and Mavericks as a legitimate scoring option. In those five seasons, he averaged 14.3 PPG on 47.4% shooting overall and 38.0% from three. Apparently, this was enough to convince those in the Memphis Grizzlies front office that Parsons was a budding superstar as they gave him a 4-year, $94 million deal in 2016 free agency, a price that no other team was willing to match.
Injuries began to coincidentally pile up once Parsons got to Memphis, as he would never even average over 10.0 PPG ever again. As a matter of fact, Parsons would only play over 35 games in a season one more time before being dealt from Memphis to Atlanta in 2019. Unfortunately for Parsons, his career and life nearly came to an end in a car accident that same season in 2019, and Parsons would never play the game again.
3. Jim McIlvaine – 7-Year/$33.6 Million
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When big man Jim McIlvaine hit the free agency market in 1996, he was not a highly sought-after commodity for NBA teams. McIlvaine had played two seasons with the Bullets and averaged a whopping 2.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 135 games played. Clearly, something caught the attention of the Seattle SuperSonics as they brought him in on a massive deal, especially for a backup in a big man’s league.
This deal all but sealed the fate of the SuperSonics as their successful years came to a close. Shawn Kemp was disgruntled, and rightfully so, as he was now the sixth-highest-paid player on his team getting paid less than a guy who never averaged 4.0 PPG. McIlvaine would play just two seasons with Seattle and averaged 3.5 PPG and 3.7 RPG before being shipped to New Jersey. McIlvaine would play three seasons with the Nets before retiring two seasons before his deal with Seattle was set to expire. Sheesh, talk about a franchise-crippling move, eh?
2. Joe Smith – 7-Year/$86 Million
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Joe Smith and the Minnesota Timberwolves were involved in one of the greatest salary cap scandals in NBA history. This scandal would ultimately contribute to Glen Taylor being considered one of the worst owners in the NBA and Smith being vilified for the rest of his career. Smith was the first overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft and played extremely well for Golden State over the course of his rookie deal. After turning down $80 million to stay, Smith decided to test the open market.
The Timberwolves would sign Smith to a measly one-year deal in 1999, then another, and another. It was later revealed that Smith accepted these one-year deals in order to help keep Minnesota under the cap until his bird rights were acquired by the team and they could pay him big. The only problem is that it was highly illegal under the league’s CBA. Smith would have a 16-year NBA career with an All-Rookie selection in 1996 as the only individual accolade to his name.
1. Bryant Reeves – 6-Year/$61.8 Million Deal
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It took just two seasons for the Vancouver Grizzlies to hand out one of the worst contracts in NBA history. Reeves was a solid 7’0’’ big man who the Grizzlies selected sixth overall in the 1995 NBA Draft. Heck, even Shaq has said multiple times how much trouble he had with Big Country. Reeves would average 16.2 PPG and 8.1 RPG in his second season, prompting a massive 6-year deal extended to him from Vancouver, which he quickly signed.
He played great in the first season of the deal, going for 16.3 PPG and 7.9 RPG over the course of 74 games in 1998. Back issues began to take center stage for Reeves as he struggled to get on the court and produce anything substantial when he was healthy enough to play. After the 2001 season, Reeves would walk away from the game just four years into his big-money contract, and the team got ready to move to Memphis. Reeves would still be paid over $23 million in 2002 and 2003 despite being back on his farm in Oklahoma and far away from any NBA basketball court.
