Worst Contracts in NBA history?

[Ryanwb]

Just wondering who you thought to be the worst NBA contracts in NBA history?

I vote for:

Jim McIllvane $33 million six years

 

[F-Dog]

Shawn Kemp's contract has to be right up there near the top. He didn't even suffer a major injury, did he?


I'm guessing that the contenders for this will fall into three categories:

1. "Superstar attitude, role player production"
2. "Whoops! (Kerflush!)
3. "Desperate donut hurls itself at the feet of a stiff center"


The Suns are experts in #2 and #3...

 

[scotsman13]

hardaway's hands down there is no other player who has shown from the time he got it, that they are not worth money.

kemp got out of his contract because he didnt feel he was earning it.

 

[Espo]

richard dumas' contract. he got that and like two weeks later got caught with drugs. wasnt bad in the fact that it cost us a lot but bad because he set us back years.

 

[Ryanwb]

Grant Hill anyone?

 

[capologist]

I vote for Alonzo Mourning’s last contract from New Jersey. In terms of dollars per minute played, that’s gotta be near the top of the list. It was like $22M for 215 minutes. Unlike most cases of contracts torpedoed by injury, this one was not insured.

 

[Ryanwb]

How about instead of worst payout vs. reward.....

Worst contracts that absolutely crippled a team's ability to be competitive....this is why I mentioned McIllvane, he ruined Seattle

 

[Joe Mama]

So far I would have to say Grant Hill's contract has been the worst.

Joe Mama

 

[capologist]

Originally posted by scotsman13
hardaway's hands down there is no other player who has shown from the time he got it, that they are not worth money.

I’d say Hardaway contributed at least as much as Juwan Howard, and for considerably less money (especially adjusted for time).

Originally posted by Ryanwb
Worst contracts that absolutely crippled a team's ability to be competitive....

In that case, I’d have to say, Scott Layden.

 

[Phill11]

1st- Alonzo Mournings contract Last year

2nd- Penny's contract

 

[capologist]

I think that Penny’s is getting magnified in our minds simply because it’s so close to come.

How would you make the case to a neutral observer that Penny’s contract is worse than Juwan Howard’s? Or, for that matter, Grant Hill’s?

 

[scotsman13]

Originally posted by capologist
In that case, I’d have to say, Scott Layden.

boy isnt that the truth.

ok so go.

scott layden
.
.
.
.
.
grant hill
penny hardaway
zo morning

in that order.

howard at least played most of his contract.

 

[BMF]

No takers on Vin Baker? even when he does play well, he isn't worth it...........

 

[George O'Brien]

So many great choices...

Any contract for a player who gets injured and is not productive, is by definition a bad contract. However, this is perhaps unfair. I did not like the Googs contract when he came to the team (I always felt he was too soft on defense to be a real PF), but his productivity did not get destroyed until he became injured -- AND HE DID NOT HAVE A HISTORY OF INJURIES.

Signing Mouring to a four year deal after he had been out of the game for two years due to a life threating kidney problem -- this was bad going on bizzare. It is on that criteria that I questioned Penny's contract. He had a history of injuries in Orlando and yet got a very big six year deal.

I can't remember if Hill had a history of injuries prior to signing with Orlando.

The McIllvane case was more than just paying too much for a stiff. The signing really irritated the other players who felt underpaid and blamed the signing.

 

[capologist]

I can't remember if Hill had a history of injuries prior to signing with Orlando.

Sort of, but not much more than Googs did prior to signing with us.

Hill had some problems with his ankle his final season at Detroit. But the prognosis looked good — he was expected to make a complete recovery. Didn’t.

(Googs missed half of his final season at Minnesota — broken foot, IIRC. It had absolutely nothing to do with his later injuries.)

BTW, in comparing Hill’s contract to Penny’s, it’s worth noting that both deals were sign-and-trades. Penny’s cost us Danny Manning, Pat Garrity, and two future first-round picks. Hill’s cost the Magic Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace.

Ouch.

$93M and Ben Wallace, for a guy who, halfway through that seven-year contract, has played 47 games.

No takers on Vin Baker?

The way things look now, it seems likely that Baker’s contract won’t make it to seven years. If he falls off the wagon one more time, the contract will be terminated.

You just know he’s going to have Celtics fans constantly cozying up to him and offering to buy him a drink...

 

[Joe Mama]

As bad as Penny Hardaway's contract is he's not even on the top three. He's probably not even in the top five of worst contracts ever. Shawn Kemp's contract was worse. So was Tom Gugliotta's contract.

What about Jayson Williams contract? Didn't he signed a contract worth just over $100 million before he broke his leg the first time?

If we are just talking about players whose injuries are not the reason the contract is bad Shawn Kemp, Jim McIllvaine, Tariq Wahad, Travis Knight, almost everybody and the New York Knicks have signed in the last 5-10 years should be topping the list.

Joe Mama

 

[KloD]

Shawn Bradley when he was drafted was given 7 years for 44 million. Jordan would have made less than 4 million that year had he not left to try baseball and Shawn Bradley was making almost double that. I'm sure there are worse contracts, but this one has stuck in my mind as one of the worst from the minute Philly signed him.

 

[Beaver]

How about that Bryant Reeves guy? Not sure what his contract numbers were though. or Kwame Brown.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by BendCardfan
How about that Bryant Reeves guy? Not sure what his contract numbers were though. or Kwame Brown.

Brown is no where near the stiff that Kemp became. He qualifies as a draft disaster (taken far too high) rather than primarily a contract disaster. Brown is making $4.25 million this year and is scoring 8.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and is shooting 45.6% from the field. He may be a bit overpaid, but not grossly for those numbers. (I cannot comment on his defense). He is reputed to have bad hands and has 1.77 turnovers per game, but that is hardly enough to put in the Kemp/Baker/Mutombo (pre-buyout) league.

 

[PhiLLmattiC]

I think Grant Hill may have the worst....Magic denied salary cap exception

 

[Wally]

First, I apologize for this post in advance.

The way some on this board have bee promoting Kobe as a future Sun, next year we can resurrect this thread and mention the shoulder injury which was supposed to be ok.

Seriously though, I have to agree with those who picked Zo Mourning’s last contract.

Man, I never thought about how many really bad contracts were out there. Penny’s & Googs combined give them all a run for the money. We were stuck with TWO at the same time so that should count for something.

 

[JCSunsfan]

1. Grant Hill. You could make a case for this being #1 because it is longer than Zo's. About Hill's injury history, HE WAS ON CRUTCHES WITH A BROKEN FOOT WHEN HE SIGNED THE FREAKIN DEAL! No production, big bucks, no retiring, no exceptions. But the worst part. They gave up Ben Wallace to the Pistons as part of the sign and trade to make it all work!

2. Zo. Played a little over a month. Its guaranteed. And because a pre-existing condition, no insurance. How many years was it?

3. Kemp.

4. Googs.

Penny is down the list some. While it was still disappointing, he at least produced on some level.