The 5 worst signings of 2019 NBA free agency
4. Frank Kaminsky
Bringing in Frank Kaminsky actually makes a good bit of sense for the Phoenix Suns in a vacuum. They ranked dead-last in 3-point percentage and 28th in makes last season and could use some floor spacers to complement Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.
Kaminsky hasn’t done much during his time in the league, averaging just 9.8 points and 4.0 rebounds a game over the course of a four-year career. Standing 7’0” tall while having shot 36.0 percent from beyond the arc last season, there’s no denying his ability to stretch a defense out beyond the perimeter in the frontcourt.
Unfortunately for Phoenix, free agent signings don’t operate in a vacuum. Front offices are expected to pay the players they choose to bring in, with that dollar amount playing heavily into the overall perception of the transaction.
His two-year, $10 million contract isn’t as egregious as some of the other deals handed out over the last nearly two weeks, but here’s a list of some of Kaminsky’s positional contemporaries and the contracts they were given this summer.
- Noah Vonleh (one year, $2.0 million)
- Mike Muscala (one year, $2.0 million)
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (one year, $1.7 million)
- Markieff Morris (one year, $1.3 million)
- Anthony Tolliver (one year, $2.6 million)
We can sit here and debate their talent level all night long, but there’s no denying the massive overpay the Suns made relative to the rest of the market. It’s not a contract that will hamper Phoenix much moving forward, but it’s one that serves as another shining example of the organizational ineptitude that’s lasted almost a decade now.