The 25 Most Overpaid Players of the 2013-14 NBA Season

In any professional sport, players are going to be overpaid. It’s just a reality of having free agency where numerous teams (and their competitive GMs) are vying for the services of one player. For any team, the goal is to limit the damage that these contracts do and to creatively find ways to correct the mistakes while remaining competitive. Of course, for some NBA teams, this is easier said than done.

For some reason, NBA players more than any other sport tend to see their production fall off a cliff after they land a big payday. Some guys like Gilbert Arenas get into trouble with the law, others like Amar'e Stoudemire fall prey to injuries, and some like Andris Biedrins show that they just aren’t good players. Whatever the reason, a huge portion of the players in the NBA make vastly more than they are really worth. While the choices of egregiously bad contracts are plentiful, these are the 25 Most Overpaid Players of the 2013-14 NBA Season.

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25. Kobe Bryant

Team: Los Angeles Lakers
2012-13 stats: 78 G, 27.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.3 BPG
2013-14 salary: $30,453,805

It may seem blasphemous, and we certainly mean no disrespect to the legacy of Mr. Kobe Bean Bryant, however...he is paid way too much money. It's not his fault he signed his deal two CBAs ago and is thus able to pull in over 50 percent of the 2013-14 salary cap (currently set at $58.679 million), but his contract cripples any flexibility that the Lakers might have this year to rebuild their roster. It also doesn't help that whenever he does return Kobe will be playing on a repaired Achilles' tendon, an injury that has historically robbed even the most athletic players of their burst. While Kobe has been all about proving doubters wrong his entire career, it's going to take an absolutely historic season for him to justify making significantly more than every other NBA player.

24. Danny Granger

Team: Indiana Pacers
2012-13 stats: 5 G, 5.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG
2013-14 salary: $14,021,788

After their tremendous postseason run and the emergence of Paul George as a bona fide star, the Indiana Pacers have a problem on their hands: what to do with Danny Granger. The small forward was the lone bright spot on a rebuilding team, and with such a similar player in George it now seems like he may be the odd man out now that the team has become a contender. Last season, he came off the bench for five games in the regular season after recovering from patellar tendinitis, but sat out the team's run to the Eastern Conference Finals and looked entirely replaceable. Now in the final year of his five-year, $60 million deal, he could be an enticing trade chip if the Pacers are looking to fill out their bench a bit more at the deadline.

23. Rudy Gay

Team: Toronto Raptors
2012-13 stats: 75 G, 18.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.7 BPG
2013-14 salary: $17,888,932

One of the more divisive players among NBA fans, Rudy Gay can score in bunches but is also one of the most inefficient players in the league. He has turned into a particularly poor shooter, converting at a rate of just .416 last season and sporting an absolutely horrific midrange game (a .270 shooting percentage from 16-23 feet last year while with Toronto, per HoopData.com). It just doesn't make much sense in today's NBA to have a swingman who can't shoot the ball, and if you do happen to get stuck with one, you probably shouldn't be paying him like he's a franchise player.

Gay is still relatively young (he just turned 27), but the decline in his overall numbers in each of the last three seasons is not a good sign for a guy making max money.

22. Eric Gordon

Team: New Orleans Pelicans
2012-13 stats: 42 G, 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG
2013-14 salary: $14,283,844.00

There are few who doubt Eric Gordon's talent. When healthy, he is one of the most dynamic young guards in the league, and after a breakout performance at the 2010 FIBA World Championships he appeared poised to become a star with the Clippers. After missing time during the 2010-11 season with a wrist injury, though, he was sent to New Orleans as the centerpiece of the Clippers' Chris Paul trade. While a knee injury limited him to nine games with the Hornets, Gordon nevertheless received a four-year, $58 million offer sheet from the Suns that New Orlenas elected to match.

Last season, the knee problems persisted and the whispers of microfracture surgery began to dog Gordon as he played in just 42 games and did little to allay concerns that he will always be an injury-prone player.

21. Tayshaun Prince

Team: Memphis Grizzlies
2012-13 stats: 82 G, 10.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG
2013-14 salary: $7,235,955.00

The once-essential component of the Pistons' dominant run of the 2000s has reached the final stage of his NBA career, but looking at Tayshaun Prince's salary you would think he's still a legitimate All-Star caliber NBA player. Memphis was exposed in the series with San Antonio last year because Prince's once-reliable outside game failed him; he shot just 36 percent for the series, with the Spurs often just leaving him wide open and daring him to shoot. In the regular season, he averaged just 10.4 points per game, his lowest total since his second year in the league (2003-04).

20. JaVale McGee

Team: Denver Nuggets
2012-13 stats: 79 G, 9.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.3 APG, 0.4 SPG, 2.0 BPG
2013-14 salary: $10,750,000.00

If you love people who make incredibly dumb plays but are also freak athletes, then chances are your favorite player is JaVale McGee. George Karl found the perfect role for the mercurial center, bringing him into games just long enough to see if he was going to be "Good JaVale" or "Bad JaVale" and weighing his playing time appropriately. McGee was instrumental in the Nuggets' wide open attack, and it will be very interesting to see how he fares under first year coach Brian Shaw. However, it's safe to assume that no matter what happens he'll remain a backup, and if you want to win a title it's pretty hard to do that if you're paying a backup over $10 million a year.

19. Charlie Villanueva

Team: Detroit Pistons
2012-13 stats: 69 G, 6.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.6 BPG
2013-14 salary: $8,580,000.00

The other half (along with Ben Gordon) of Joe Dumars' summer of 2009 horrible contract duo, Charlie Villanueva enters the final season of his five-year, $37.7 million deal as a very expensive backup. Since arriving in Detroit, he hasn't even approached the career-best 16.2 points per game he put up his last season in Milwaukee; indeed, he's basically been a part time player, scoring an average of 9.9 points in 20.3 minutes per game as a Piston. He hasn't started a game since February 25, 2011, and last season he played just under 16 minutes a night. With Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond in the frontcourt, there is very little for Villanueva to do except stand on the perimeter and throw up threes, which he also isn't particularly good at (.346 career percentage).

18. Carlos Boozer

Team: Chicago Bulls
2012-13 stats: 79 G, 16.2 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.4 BPG
2013-14 salary: $15,300,000.00

2012-13 was a nice bounce back year for Carlos Boozer, who before the season had been dogged by criticism for both his play and his ridiculous hair choices. With Derrick Rose out for the season as he recovered from a torn ACL, Boozer took nearly two more shots, played about three more minutes, and saw a 1.2 uptick in his points per game averages. With Rose now back, Joakim Noah turning into a legitimate No. 2 option, and Jimmy Butler looking primed to play a bigger role, Boozer will likely take a step back in his role on the offensive end this season. Turning 32 in November will do little to help the former Duke Blue Devil as well, who will make another $16.8 million in 2013-14.

17. Emeka Okafor

Team: Washington Wizards
2012-13 stats: 79 G, 9.7 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.0 BPG
2013-14 salary: $14,487,500.00

Former No. 2 overall pick Emeka Okafor has been a pretty consistent player, and is a reliable defensive presence in the middle. He definitely has value as an NBA player and would start on many teams; however, he also is not worth more money per season than the likes of Roy Hibbert or Joakim Noah. Now on the wrong side of 30, Okafor will likely to see his production continue to steadily dip over the next couple of years, with both his scoring and rebounding already having seen noticeable declines over the last five seasons. Most troubling is his decline in shooting percentage, which at just .477 last year was his lowest since 2005-06.

16. John Salmons

Team: Sacramento Kings
2012-13 stats: 76 G, 8.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 3.0 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG
2013-14 salary: $7,580,000.00

In 2012-13, the winner of the dubious distinction for lowest PER among regular rotation players in the NBA was John Salmons. Among all players who participated in at least 75 games and played over 29 minutes a night, he posted a brutal 10.2 PER that was approached only by Cleveland's Alonzo Gee, and was simply brutal in most facets of the game. He shot a putrid .399 from the field, contributed very little on the glass (2.7 rebounds per game), and had one of the worst per 36 minute scoring rates of his career. With just one year left on his deal at $7 million, though, he is at least not entirely untradeable.

15. Kendrick Perkins

Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
2012-13 stats: 78 G, 4.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.1 BPG
2013-14 salary: $8,727,437.00

Kendrick Perkins was meant to anchor the paint for the Oklahoma City Thunder when they acquired him from Boston, and OKC basically chose him over James Harden when they elected to deal "The Beard" to Houston rather than amnesty Perkins and resign Harden. Perk has repaid them with a dramatic decline in his productivity, averaging just 4.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 26 minutes per game over the last two seasons. For someone who will be making almost $9 million this year and almost $10 million next year, that's simply an abysmal output.

14. Rodney Stuckey

Team: Detroit Pistons
2012-13 stats: 76 G, 11.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.6 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG
2013-14 salary: $8,500,000.00

Last season, there were only two guards who played at least 70 games, attempted at least 700 field goals, and shot a worse percentage from the field than Rodney Stuckey. Those two (Randy Foye and Brandon Jennings) made less than $6 million combined; Stuckey made $8.5 million, and will do so again this year. He attempted a career-high 2.4 three-pointers per game, but put up a three-point percentage of just .302. These are not the kinds of numbers you want from someone who comes off your bench and is supposed to give you a spark; fortunately for Detroit, Stuckey is an expiring contract and at least has some value to contending teams who are looking to add one more scoring piece off their bench.

13. Josh Childress

Team: Washington Wizards
2012-13 stats: 14 G, 1.0 PPG, 1.1 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
2013-14 salary: $7,182,500

To say the Phoenix Suns overreacted to losing Amare Stoudemire in the summer of 2010 would be quite the understatement. The nadir of their misplaced spending spree was Josh Childress, on whom they lavished a five-year, $33.5 million contract after he had spent two years playing overseas in Greece. Childress had been a solid role player in Atlanta, but whatever skills he had were left somewhere on the shores of the Mediterranean; he averaged just 4.2 points per game for the Suns, cracking the starting lineup just three times and causing the Suns to amnesty him in the summer of 2012.

12. Andrew Bynum

Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
2012-13 stats: N/A (Injured)
2013-14 salary: $12,250,000

While his hairstyles make him worth at least a couple million, Andrew Bynum has proven to be entirely too injury-prone to be worth the kind of money he's getting paid. There's no doubting he was great in 2011-12 (18.7 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 60 GP out of a possible 66), but after sitting out last year Bynum has now played just two of his eight NBA seasons at full health. While it's certainly reasonable to take a risk on talent, the two-year, $24.79 million risk the Cavaliers took on Bynum seems entirely too steep for someone who averages 47 games played over an 82-game season.

11. Hedo Turkoglu

Team: Orlando Magic
2012-13 stats: 11 G, 2.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 2.1 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG
2013-14 salary: $12,000,000

The decline in Hedo Turkoglu's game has been dramatic since he signed his five-year, $52.8 million deal with the Toronto Raptors during the 2009 offseason. He lasted just one season north of the border after seeing his scoring average drop from 16.8 to 11.3 points per game, then lasted just half a season in Phoenix before being dealt back to Orlando. He has floundered with the Magic, alternating between injured and unproductive while also managing to be one of the few players in NBA history ever to be banned for PED use.

10. Ben Gordon

Team: Charlotte Bobcats
2012-13 stats: 75 G, 11.2 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG
2013-14 salary: $13,200,000

Ben Gordon probably wakes up every morning, looks skyward, and thanks God that Joe Dumars was blessed with entirely too much cap space in the summer of 2009. Thanks to this surplus of cash in Detroit (seems like an oxymoron, right?), Gordon was able to land a five-year, $58 million contract to leave Chicago in favor of the Motor City, but once there his scoring immediately fell off a cliff. Gordon went from averaging 20.7 points per game his final season as a Bull to an average of 12.4 for the Pistons, who traded him to the Bobcats prior to 2012-13. In really the final indictment of his career, Gordon came off the bench for the woeful Bobcats last season and managed just 11.2 points per game on a career-worst .408 shooting percentage.

9. Kris Humphries

Team: Boston Celtics
2012-13 stats: 65 G, 5.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.2 SPG, 0.5 BPG
2013-14 salary: $12,000,000

There once was a time where Kris Humphries was more than a punch line; proving to be one of the few competent players on the 2011-12 Nets, he averaged a career best 13.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, earning himself a two-year, $24 million extension. He did not respond favorably last year, plummeting to per game averages of 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds and ultimately getting buried on the Nets' bench. Now playing for the rebuilding Boston Celtics, Humphries has gained a little value only because he has an appealing $12 million expiring contract to use as a potential trade chip.

8. Gerald Wallace

Team: Boston Celtics
2012-13 stats: 69 G, 7.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.7 BPG
2013-14 salary: $10,105,855

If you want to make a Celtics fan really sad, just show them a picture of Gerald Wallace and gently remind them that he is going to be their No. 2 option on offense before Rajon Rondo returns. Wallace looked beyond washed up last season, scoring just 7.7 points and grabbing 4.6 boards per game, his worst numbers in both categories since 2003-04 when he was playing just 9.1 minutes a night for Sacramento. He also has one of the worst contracts in the league, as he is owed just over $10 million per season through 2015-16 and cannot be amnestied because he signed his contract after the new CBA was put in place.

7. Richard Jefferson

Team: Utah Jazz
2012-13 stats: 56 G, 3.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG
2013-14 salary: $11,046,000

Richard Jefferson was a great player for the Nets, but at this stage of his career is barely hanging on. That didn't stop San Antonio from making a rare mistake, though, as they handed Jefferson a four-year, $39 million deal in the summer of 2010. Since inking that deal, RJ has bounced from the Spurs to the Warriors and now to the Jazz, where he'll try to improve upon the brutal 3.1 points per game average he put up last season. Considering how bad Utah will likely be, he'll at least have ample opportunities to throw up meaningless shots.

6. Andris Biedrins

Team: Utah Jazz
2012-13 stats: 52 G, 0.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.3 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.8 BPG
2013-14 salary: $9,000,000

While Andris Biedrins certainly got his career off to a promising start, things sort of went off the rails the season after he inked a six-year contract for $54 million with the Warriors. His first season under the new deal went well, as he averaged career highs of 11.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. In the four seasons since, though, those numbers have fallen off a cliff. He bottomed out in 2012-13, averaging 0.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while logging 29 DNPs. He was essentially given to Utah for free in the offseason simply to clear cap space, and it's unclear what (if any) role he'll play there this season.

5. Andrew Bogut

Team: Golden State Warriors
2012-13 stats: 32 G, 5.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.1 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.7 BPG
2013-14 salary: $14,000,000

The five-year, $60 million contract extension the Bucks handed Andrew Bogut in the summer of 2007 made perfect sense at the time; he was a talented 22-year-old center who looked like he would be a double-double machine for a decade, and consistently productive centers carry tremendous value in today's NBA. However, now entering the final year of that deal, Bogut now is a burden to his team's cap space due to a series of injuries that have kept him off the court for all but 44 games over the last two seasons. His 2012-13 looked particularly dreadful, as in 32 games he managed just 5.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, the former the worst and the latter the second worst totals of his career.

4. Joe Johnson

Team: Brooklyn Nets
2012-13 stats: 72 G, 16.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG
2013-14 salary: $21,466,718

Joe Johnson is definitely a good player, and one who will age well thanks to his incredible long range game. But is he worth more than Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, or LeBron James? Of course not; especially with the arrivals of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Johnson is a complementary piece on a Nets team that is going to have a difficult time finding enough shots for each of its key players. He already saw his shots per game dip to their lowest number since 2004-05, and Johnson shot his lowest percentage from the field since his second year in the league (when he was still a role player). At 32 years old, it's unlikely we're going to see him get any better, either.

3. Brandon Roy

Team: Retired
2012-13 stats: N/A (Retired)
2013-14 salary: $17,779,458

The Brandon Roy story is a sad one, given how explosive the former Trail Blazers guard could be and how great he would have been if not for his horrifically bad knee problems. It always felt like we were on borrowed time with him considering the red flags that had been raised regarding his knees beginning in college, and ultimately they proved to be his undoing. Despite a brilliant beginning that saw Roy average over 21 points per game between 2008 and 2010, early in the 2010-11 season he hit a wall and had to miss significant time due to further breakdown of the cartilage in his knees and was forced to retire at the end of the season. The Trail Blazers amnestied the five-year, $82 million extension he had signed in August of 2009, and after an ill-fated five game comeback attempt last season with the Timberwolves Roy was done.

2. Amare Stoudemire

Team: New York Knicks
2012-13 stats: 29 G, 14.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.7 BPG
2013-14 salary: $21,679,893

The Knicks knew the risks when they signed Amare Stoudemire to a five-year, $99.7 million contract during the tumultuous 2010 offseason. His balky knees were so bad that nobody would insure the contract (something typically done in the NBA), and for a year it looked like it would all be worth it as Amare rejuvenated the Knicks franchise and posted numbers among his career best. However, the last two years have seen the injury bug rear its ugly head as Amare played in just 47 games in 2011-12 (the 66 game lockout-shortened season) and 29 last season. Coming off the bench in 2012-13, his production declined dramatically to career worsts of 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game.

1. Gilbert Arenas

Team: Shanghai Sharks
2012-13 stats: N/A (China)
2013-14 salary: $22,346,536

Gilbert Arenas is about to begin his second season with China's Shanghai Sharks, but that doesn't mean he still can't be paid one of the highest salaries in the NBA. Agent Zero is technically entering the final year of the six-year, $111 million contract extension he signed with the Wizards in June of 2008. Since signing that extension he's been arrested on gun charges, traded to the Magic, waived via the amnesty clause, been a backup for the Grizzlies, and finally landed in Asia. That is definitely not the return on investment you'd hope for from the third-highest paid player in the league.