The Los Angeles Lakers’ 5 Worst Contracts Heading Into 2016-17

C Timofey Mozgov

I get it–the whole contracts increasing to match the revenue situation. It makes sense on many levels, but it absolutely doesn’t make sense in this instance. Even with inflation, there’s no world in which Timofey Mozgov is worth $64 million over four years.

His contract makes him the 10th-highest paid center in the NBA (via Spotrac). The players right next to him on that list? DeMarcus Cousins and Jonas Valanciunas. I certainly hope the Lakers aren’t expecting anywhere near that type of effectiveness with Mozgov.

Let’s look at his stats from a season ago. In 76 games (48 starts) for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mozgov averaged 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. He was also irrelevant during the team’s playoff run, which is likely why he was interested in the center-deprived Lakers.

Roy Hibbert put up similar numbers (5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks per game) as the starter last year, and he was widely considered a disappointment.

The best the Lakers can expect from Mozgov is what he did during the 2014-15 campaign–9.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. I don’t know about you, but that type of production doesn’t seem worth $16 million per year and is unlikely anyway.

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I understand the Lakers wanted to add size, but they didn’t need to overpay for an average-at-best starter in Mozgov. This is by far their worst contract heading into 2016-17.