NBA: 5 Worst Contracts Of The 2016 Free Agency Class
By Justin Rowan
Not every NBA free agent has found a home yet this summer, but most of the dust has settled at this point and we can begin to take a look at some of the worst contracts given out this offseason.
There are few things more exciting and fun to keep track of than NBA free agency. The possibility for change, the new rosters that fans of NBA 2K will get to use next year (not a sponsored shout out, but I will gladly listen to future offers to sell my soul), as well as the formation of new superteams and powers that will duke it out late into next season.
But for those of us the joy of all those things pales in comparison to the glee that comes from a team handing out an incredibly questionable deal that sends the basketball community into a fit.
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While players like LeBron James and J.R. Smith remain unsigned, it’s unlikely that any deal they receive will land on this list given the contributions they made to lead their team to a championship. So unless a remaining free agent like Dion Waiters lands himself a max deal, it seems unlikely that we will have any new additions to this list.
The spike in the salary cap this summer resulted in record contracts. The looming spike in the salary cap next summer was thought to bring the cap to $108 million, which may have factored into the justification of some of these deals. That number is now only being projected at $102 Million, meaning that the deals on this list will take up a larger portion of the cap than anticipated.
So with all that being said, let’s look at some of the worst deals handed out this summer based both on the money being paid to the player, plus their fit on the team.
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