NBA: Biggest overpays in NBA free agency so far

There has been a history of teams overpaying to acquire, and or retain, their top target in NBA free agency. For example, during the last offseason, the Indiana Pacers were interested in acquiring Gordon Hayward from the Boston Celtics in a sign-and-trade.

Indiana planned to have Hayward opt in to the final year of his contract worth $34.2 million. After the last year of his Celtics contract, the Pacers would give Hayward a deal worth $100 million over four seasons.

Unfortunately, Indiana and Boston couldn’t agree on the compensation. Indiana wanted to give up Myles Turner and Doug McDermott in the sign and trade. However, Boston wanted Victor Oladipo or TJ Warren to come alongside Turner in the sign and trade.

The biggest moves have been made in NBA free agency, and there have been some bargains. There have also been some major overpays and we’ll evaluate those.

Negotiations broke off after several days, when Gordon Hayward received a phone call from Charlotte Hornets’ owner, Michael Jordan, on November 20th. While talking to Hayward, Jordan expressed that he had been interested in Hayward’s services since 2016, when the team gave Hayward an offer sheet in restricted free agency.

Jordan apparently went on to tell Hayward that the Hornets were willing to offer him a max contract, as the next day, Hayward signed a four-year, $120 million contract with the team.
The trend of overpays has continued this offseason as two teams overpaid to retain, and or acquire, the services of the top player on their free agent board: the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards.