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NBA free agency: Each team’s worst signing in franchise history

By Josh Cornelissen

Eddy Curry, New York Knicks, Ben Wallace, Chicago Bulls. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Eddy Curry, New York Knicks, Ben Wallace, Chicago Bulls. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Austin Croshere, Indiana Pacers
Austin Croshere, Indiana Pacers. (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Worst free agent signing in Indiana Pacers history: Austin Croshere

7 years, $51 million

Sometimes, teams get enamored with their own players, those whom they get to see up close and firsthand. That can happen with stars, overvaluing them in comparison with the rest of their peers. Yet it can also happen with role players, as it did for the Indiana Pacers and forward Austin Croshere.

In 2000, the Pacers made the NBA Finals for the first time since joining the NBA, and Croshere was a valuable player on that team. He averaged a career-high 10.3 points per game and largely came off the bench, spacing the floor for the Pacers.

That summer he was due for a new contract, and the team was enamored with his contributions to their NBA Finals run. That likely led to the overpay they promptly dished out, a seven-year deal worth $51 million.

Although Croshere briefly fell out of the rotation, he regained his spot in later years as a key backup under head coach Rick Carlisle. His high water mark as a player came in a contract season, a feat that gets the player paid, but often results in bad contracts.