NBA: 15 Players Not Living Up To 2015 Summer Contracts
After a summer of eye-popping free agency signings and re-signings, here’s a look at 15 NBA players who are not living up to their summer contracts in 2015-16.
With the NBA salary cap jumping to $70 million this season and projected to skyrocket to $89 million this summer, the concept of a max contract has greatly changed. Once reserved for superstar players who served as the face of a franchise, now those gaudy extensions are handed out to crucial role players or anyone young and promising enough to merit a long-term commitment.
For NBA players, their contract situations and the influx of incoming money from the league’s massive TV deal could really be summed up by the incomparable Drake: “What a time, to be alive!”
This past summer, our concept of what an appropriate amount was to spend on a quality NBA player drastically changed. With everyone and their mothers getting contracts that would’ve made general managers faint 10 years ago, it’s become harder to judge the value of a signing without automatically resorting to, “With the way the salary cap is going up, it won’t look so bad down the road!”
While this go-to response still holds true for the vast majority of the contracts signed in 2015, there are certainly a few players who stand out based on their performance this season, either validating those significant investments or making them look foolish.
Related Story: 15 Players Living Up To 2015 Summer Contracts
In order to sort out the bad free agency signings and re-signings of the past summer, here’s a look at the top 15 players who are not living up to their new or extended contracts from 2015 (with preference being given to the max deals over the bargain bin contracts since those massive signings can make or break a franchise).
NOTE: Players who have not lived up to their contracts due to injury — Wilson Chandler, DeMarre Carroll, Brandan Wright, Mike Dunleavy, etc. — are not included here, since there’s not really much they can do about being unlucky. We also excluded first-year players who just signed their rookie contracts and anyone who was traded over the summer rather than signed/re-signed in free agency.
Honorable Mentions: Marco Belinelli, Alexis Ajinca, Kyle O’Quinn, Mo Williams, C.J. Watson
TBD: LaMarcus Aldridge. He may be an All-Star (somehow) while putting up 15.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game on a 39-7 team, but he’s disappeared at times and the jury’s still out on whether he can help the Spurs beat the Warriors in a seven-game series — the whole purpose of his signing. The first meeting was not an encouraging sample, and his four-year, $84 million contract is no small deal. It’s far too soon to slot him in our top 15, but all is not as hunky-dory as the Spurs’ record suggests.
Next: No. 15