Image via Complex Original
We all know that NBA stars will always make bank, so as long as there are billionaire owners who want to win championships. It makes sense after all—those millions of dollars so effortlessly spent by owners make sure their teams get the best talent and the most attractive stars to draw fans to the stadium, to hopefully win some titles and make even more money. But as the league gets richer the sea level of cash rises, and before you know it you've got scrubs and bench players in free agency getting checks that had previously been exclusively reserved for superstars.
Even though this past summer is the most famous example, NBA players of suspect talent have been earning big paydays for years now, finessing contracts from teams after brief periods of excellence only to prove they probably weren't worth the outlay. No shade at all, though—we're all for these guys getting their slice of the NBA's multi-billion dollar pie. But when Soloman Hill is in the middle of a 4 year, $52 million deal, maybe it's time to pay attention. Not all of these guys are finesse players, but they all certainly finessed their teams.
Ben Wallace
Team: Chicago Bulls
Year: 2006
Contract: 4 years, $60 million
Wallace will always be remembered for his elite defensive play on those 2000s Detroit Pistons teams. Based on that reputation alone, Wallace got a pretty big contract from the Bulls at the age of 32, even though it was clear that he was aging and his defensive presence was not as it once was. Offensively Wallace was always challenged, to say the least. For all their money, the Bulls only got a year and a half out of Wallace and watched his production dip on both sides of the ball before he got shipped to the Cavaliers in three team trade in February of 2008.
Gilbert Arenas
Team: Washington Wizards
Year: 2008
Contract: 6 years, $111 million
Now regarded as perhaps the worst contract in NBA history, Arenas was at one point a rising star in the NBA. Based on talent alone, the $100+ million contract doesn't seem that crazy and followed some impressive campaigns with the Wizards where Agent Zero averaged at least 22 points per game and nearly five assists. However, the year before he signed his massive deal, Arenas suffered a significant knee injury and he only played 13 games. And the first season of the deal he only played in two games. Before long, Arenas's once promising future started to sharply decline as he made more headlines for bringing a loaded gun into the Wizards' locker room than for his play on the hardwood. Arenas now claims he's strapped for cash, although he can always crash on his buddy Swaggy P's couch.
Andrea Bargnani
Team: Toronto Raptors
Year: 2009
Contract: 5 year, $50 million extension
The first overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft, Bargnani was supposed to be the next great big man and a franchise player for the Raptors. And from the beginning, Bargnani was good but rarely showed true glimpses of being an impact player for the long haul north of the border. Despite never averaging more than 15.4 points and 5.3 boards per game in his first three seasons, the Raptors rewarded the big man with a huge extension. Bargnani peaked in the 2010-11 season when he averaged a career high 21.4 points per game, but the Raptors shipped Bargnani to the Knicks largely due to the massive amount of money remaining on his contract.
Gerald Wallace
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Year: 2012
Contract: 4 years, $40 million extension
The Nets were desperate to field a contending team when they arrived in Brooklyn and they overpaid for Wallace. Twice. In order to get him, they traded the sixth overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft—which turned out to be Damian Lillard—while they were still in New Jersey. They were expecting a top player who was a a double-double threat every night but in reality all they got was one year of semi-productive ball in which Wallace averaged 9.2 points per in 69 games. In fact, Wallace's signing was a panic move by the Nets who were worried they'd miss out on free agency and hoped Wallace would further entice Deron Williams to stick around and sign a long term deal with the club. Wallace was gone the following summer in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce deal with the Celtics.
Tristan Thompson
Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Year: 2015
Contract: 5 years, $82 million
Prior to the 2015 season, Thompson held out trying to get a better contract from the Cavaliers. LeBron James said Thompson deserved all the money coming off an impressive 2015 playoff run for the Cavs in which he averaged 9.6 points and 10.8 boards per game and emerged as a difference-maker. The Cavs gave him what he was looking for and it caught a lot of NBA observers by surprise. While Thompson turned out to be a very valuable player in the 2016 playoffs averaging 6.7 points and 9 boards a game as the Cavs won it all, is that really worth max money?
Joakim Noah
Team: New York Knicks
Year: 2016
Contract: 4 years, $72 million
It wouldn’t be the New York Knicks unless they did something flashy and heavy handed. Aside from trading for Derrick Rose, they also signed Noah this past summer in what many believed was a pathetic attempt to recreate the magic the two enjoyed with the Bulls during the 2011 season. The only problem is that injuries have plagued Noah over the last several seasons and he played in a career low 29 games last season while appearing in more than 80 games only twice in nine seasons. The injury issues wouldn’t be as glaring if he was young, but Noah's already on the wrong side of 30 and will be eating into the Knicks' salary cap until he's 34.
Timofey Mozgov
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Year: 2016
Contract: 4 years, $64 million
Averaging a career 6.9 points and 5.1 boards per game, the 7'1" center is scheduled to make more in 2016 than two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry. But good for Mozgov for managing to cash out on a desperate Lakers team this past summer looking for a big body. What can the Lakers expect for their investment? Injuries and bad play led Mozgov to the bench for most of the 2016 playoff run while he was with the Cavs. He played only 27 minutes across the NBA Finals and while he's showed glimpses of being an impact player during his stints with the Cavs and Nuggets, he's the poster boy for the new NBA where back-up big man can average over $15 million a season.
Solomon Hill
Team: New Orleans Pelicans
Year: 2016
Contract: 4 years, $52 million
Who? Don’t worry if you never heard of Hill before, many fans had to Google his name after seeing that he got $52 million this summer. In three years in the league, Hill has averaged 6 points, 1.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds a game. Not sure what $52 million is about.
Ian Mahinmi
Team: Washington Wizards
Year: 2016
Contract: 4 years, $64 million
Mahinmi isn’t a terrible player but he certainly isn’t a particularly good one, either. As a big man his averages of 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for his career could be worse. But for $64 million, I’m sure you can do better, too. His current numbers with the Wizards (9.1 points, 4.3 boards per) are the best he’s done in his eight year career. In fact, his production was essentially double his career line up to that point in that contract year.
Tyler Johnson
Team: Miami Heat
Year: 2016
Contract: 4 years, $50 million
The 24-year-old guard was never a highly touted prospect. Coming out of Fresno State undrafted, most assumed Johnson wouldn’t amount to much. But his athleticism and defensive abilities earned him playing time and the Heat saw him as a rising player. Fate had him being a restricted free agent in the crazy 2016 offseason and the Brooklyn Nets offered a massive contract which the Heat matched. Johnson has potential and perhaps he'll match it with his production this season, but $50 million? That's a finesse.