The six worst free agent signings in Nets franchise history

2. Jayson Williams

A lot of what happened with Jayson Williams and the Nets was not his fault, but the immense size of his contract makes this one of the worst free agent signings in franchise history. The then New Jersey Nets resigned Williams to a six-year, $86 million contract after he became a free agent in 1998. That contract came after Williams had a career year, averaging a double-double, leading the league in offensive rebounds and making the All-Star game.

The Nets had high hopes for Williams and what he would be able o bring to the team for the next six years. Williams only played 30 games of his new contract, however. On April 1, 1999, Williams collided with a teammate and broke his leg. The injury led to a major surgery and turned out to be the end of Williams’ career. After sitting out the 1999-2000 season, Williams officially retired, crushing the Nets’ vision of finding success around him. Obviously, none of that was Williams’ fault, but it was still a big disappointment that this promising free agent signing did not pan out for the Nets.

To top hat off, Williams had a lot of legal trouble, involving assault and firearms. While most of that came to public attention after his retirement, there were also incidents during his playing career, which made him somewhat of a risky signing in terms of negative media attention.