Los Angeles Lakers: Luol Deng and the worst contracts in franchise history

After the Los Angeles Lakers recently decided to show Luol Deng the door, it just made sense to take a peek back at the franchise’s worst contracts ever signed.

For the most part, the Los Angeles Lakers have always been smart with their money. They may throw it around as much as any team in the league, but at least they tend to throw it at the right players. Take the signing of LeBron James this offseason as an example.

Unfortunately, we can’t say that about every Lakers deal that’s been struck. In fact, some were considered horrific mistakes before the ink had even dried. At that point, though, it’s just something you have to live with — especially with nearly all NBA contracts being fully guaranteed. Deals like that are why Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak are no longer with the organization.

That’s neither here nor there, though. This isn’t about pointing fingers. Instead, it’s simply about trying to understand which Lakers contracts should never have come into existence.

Disclaimer: You won’t see any long-ago contracts in here. The Lakers front office set the standard for awful contracts in 2016, so don’t be surprised to see most of the deals mentioned hailing from only a couple of offseasons ago.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s jump right into the worst contracts signed in Lakers history. Let’s just say there were exorbitant amounts of money thrown into bank accounts they absolutely didn’t belong in.

All contract details via Spotrac.com.