NBA’s Worst Contracts of the Last 5 Years
David KenyonFeatured Columnist IVJune 22, 2024NBA’s Worst Contracts of the Last 5 Years0 of 7
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Every contract signed carries a level of risk for NBA teams, and the general hope is to avoid disastrous deals.
Unfortunately, nobody is ever perfect.
In the recent half-decade, organizations have committed tens—or even hundreds—of millions to standout players. They’re supposed to be cornerstones of the future and part of championship-contending teams.
Fast-forward a few years, though, and that vision of a best-case scenario may have vanished. Declining production, problematic roster fit and several other influences can create an eyesore of a contract.
The following list is subjective but considers those factors with players who signed agreements worth $70-plus million since 2019.
Tobias Harris1 of 7
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Contract: Five years, $180 million signed in 2019
Acquired at the 2019 trade deadline, Tobias Harris soon inked a near-max extension with the Philadelphia 76ers. He seemed like an ideal complementary wing to rising stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, huh?
Philly envisioned immense success from the trio, and it simply didn’t work out—more on Simmons later.
Harris consistently scored 17-plus points per game during the contract, yet he seemed to stagnate in his development and often faded in the postseason. Embiid’s injury woes provided Harris with several chances to become a temporary top player, but he never hit that level.
The full expectation is the Sixers will not re-sign Harris when he hits unrestricted free agency in July 2024.
Ben Simmons2 of 7
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Contract: Five years, $170 million signed in 2019
About two weeks later, the Sixers made the no-brainer move of locking up Ben Simmons to a max extension.
The versatile guard missed his first season with an injury but earned Rookie of the Year in 2017-18. Simmons then secured an All-Star nod, so his trajectory made this an easy decision for Philly. He even landed All-Defensive honors and a third-team All-NBA spot during the next two seasons.
But the nightmare began in 2021.
First, he memorably passed up a dunk in the Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The fallout led to Simmons requesting a trade, not participating in training camp or the preseason, getting suspended for the opener and ultimately being traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
Simmons missed the remainder of the season with a back injury, which became a recurring issue. He appeared in just 57 games over the next two years, including only 15 in 2023-24.
This contract expires after the 2024-25 season.
Gordon Hayward3 of 7
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Contract: Four years, $120 million signed in 2020
It’s definitely not a good thing when a contract is immediately criticized and we can’t disagree with the benefit of hindsight, either.
Look, the Charlotte Hornets aren’t exactly a destination team. It’s understandable why they offered Gordon Hayward such a lucrative deal, trying to spark his post-injury resurgence and attempting to build a more competitive roster around LaMelo Ball and others.
(Quick technicality: Charlotte added Hayward in a sign-and-trade with the Boston Celtics, but the Hornets negotiated the contract.)
In short, health setbacks defined his tenure in Charlotte.
Hayward appeared in fewer than 50 games during each season with the Hornets, who watched his scoring output drop from 19.6 down to 14.5. Charlotte dealt him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 2024 salary dump for both teams.
Incidentally, the next guy swapped places with Hayward.
Dāvis Bertāns4 of 7
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Contract: Five years, $80 million signed in 2020
Early in his career, Dāvis Bertāns carved out a valuable role as a reserve sharpshooter for the San Antonio Spurs. He knocked down 42.9 percent of threes in a high-volume role during the 2018-19 campaign.
San Antonio moved in a new direction, however, and that resulted in the Washington Wizards acquiring Bertāns.
That first season in Washington, he was given the greenest of green lights. Bertāns launched 8.7 triples per game, nearly doubling his previous best scoring average of 8.0 to 15.4. He parlayed that career year into a long-term extension with the Wizards.
Whoops.
Bertāns remained a dangerous long-range threat, but his overall limitations also didn’t change. He’s since bounced from the Wiz to the Dallas Mavericks, Thunder and Hornets, playing no greater than 15.7 minutes per night in each of the last three seasons.
Although he’s signed through 2024-25, Bertāns is guaranteed $5.25 of his $16 million. He could be released—potentially after a cap-clearing trade—at some point in the offseason.
Evan Fournier5 of 7
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Contract: Four years, $73 million signed in 2021
The next summer, the New York Knicks took a similar risk.
Evan Fournier had always been recognized for his perimeter prowess throughout his nine NBA seasons. To that point, he’d drained 37.9 percent of shots from beyond the arc—including a career-best 41.3 clip in 2020-21—as a high-volume option.
New York, which snapped an eight-year playoff drought that season, saw a window of contention opening. Whether the Knicks should’ve prioritized a true point guard is a fair question, but Fournier offered elite shooting.
Within a year, however, he was an afterthought.
Fournier fell out of the rotation in 2022-23 and could not regain a spot in 2023-24, either. He totaled 498 minutes with New York during those two seasons while earning $18-plus million each year.
After his very expensive bench-sitting, the Knicks shipped him to the Detroit Pistons at the 2024 trade deadline.
Bradley Beal6 of 7
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Contract: Five years, $251 million signed in 2022
On the bright side, the Wizards managed to shed Bradley Beal’s contract after just one season. As much criticism as Washington deserves for offering it anyway, it’s the Phoenix Suns’ problem now.
And it is a capital-P Problem.
Through two years of the agreement, Beal has missed at least 29 games in both seasons. It’s a worrisome trend as the veteran guard reaches the post-prime stage of his career.
Since his three remaining cap hits are each $50-plus million, Beal is practically unmovable.
While he waived the no-trade clause to leave the Wiz, that can be credited to Phoenix being a more competitive team. If the Suns aren’t excelling soon, it’s not unreasonable to say Beal probably is not playing at an All-NBA level—and wouldn’t be enticing on the trade market at his salary.
Jordan Poole7 of 7
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Contract: Four years, $140 million signed in 2022
Jordan Poole held a valuable role on the Golden State Warriors’ path to winning the NBA title in 2021-22. His breakout year arrived at a perfect time because he’d be eligible to sign a rookie-scale extension.
“Poole has proven to be a valuable part of the Warriors’ attack. Scorers get paid, and Poole can score,” B/R’s Eric Pincus wrote at the time. “Can he become a complete player?”
The punch—the one from Draymond Green—changed everything.
Instead of being able to develop in a great situation, Poole had to walk on metaphorical eggshells for a year in Golden State. It clearly became an untenable situation, and the Dubs shipped him to the Wizards before the 2023-24 campaign. Unsurprisingly, his efficiency dropped in a featured role on one of the league’s worst teams.
That’s the long version of saying Poole’s contract might actually look manageable if he was still with Golden State. As a top scorer in Washington, however, it’s not so friendly.
