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The salary cap bump in 2016 resulted in many mediocre players getting paid top dollar in the NBA. Then, the market stabilized somewhat in 2017 and those contracts which didn't look good back then, seem awful now. You can literally roll out a list of about 10-20 players on very bad contracts but we'll limit it to just 5 here. Understandably, four of the selections are from the 2016 offseason.
Honorable Mention
Bismack Biyombo
2016/17 Averages: 6.0 Points, 7.0 Rebounds, 1.1 Blocks
Contract Left: Three Years, $51 Million
You just knew someone was going to overpay for Biyombo after his great showing in a couple of Conference Finals games in 2016 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That happened to be the Orlando Magic. While Biyombo would perhaps have been a decent acquisition for some other team, the Magic didn't really make sense. They already had Nikola Vucevic, Serge Ibaka, and Aaron Gordon for his position. While Ibaka has since been traded, he still doesn't seem to be a great fit. Biyombo is a role player off the bench at best and giving him a 4 year $72 million contract for that didn't make sense then and it surely doesn't now.
#5 Omer Asik
2016/17 Averages: 2.7 Points, 5.3 Rebounds
Contract Left: 3 Years, $24.8 Million
Omer Asik's salary is lesser than Biyombo's but his contract is definitely worse. While Biyombo can still be a solid role-player, Asik isn't likely to be one. He is 31 years old so the only way his development is going is down. His skill set is just not suited for the league anymore. Asik used to be a decent rebounder and defender, but age and injuries have taken their toll.
He can't really shoot or score in the post and he wasn't really athletic, to begin with. Unlike Biyombo, he isn't too good in the pick and roll either. To put it in short, Asik can do next to nothing on offense nowadays.
His contract has been incredibly problematic for the Pelicans, as they haven't been able to surround Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins with enough talent due to the chunk of the cap that his salary eats up. No team understandably wants to trade for Asik either and it will remain a problem for the Pelicans for the next 3 years.
#4 Timofey Mozgov
2016/17 Averages: 7.4 Points, 4.9 Rebounds
Contract Left: 3 Years, $48 Million
You know it's a pretty bad contract when the team has to give away a promising young player just to get the contract off their books and that's exactly what happened with the Los Angeles Lakers. Unloading Mozgov proved to be so problematic that they had to give up D'Angelo Russell to the Nets as a part of the deal.
The Lakers shocked everyone by offering him 4 years $64 Million last year as soon as free agency began. He was coming off an abject 2015/16 season, which culminated with him averaging 5.8 minutes per game in the Playoffs. Like Asik, he really isn't suited to the league anymore.
Unlike the Pelicans, however, this contract doesn't hurt the Nets too much. They're rebuilding so they don't plan to sign any big name free agents in the near future and can absorb the cap hit with ease. It also gave them a potential cornerstone in Russell to lead the franchise.
#3 Luol Deng
2016/17 Averages: 7.6 Points, 5.3 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists
Contract Left: Three Years, $54 Million
As if signing Mozgov wasn't bad enough, the Lakers then proceeded to give Deng an absurd contract. It didn't look like a good deal then and it certainly doesn't look good now. You know the contract is pretty bad when an unprotected 1st round pick from the Lakers wasn't good enough for teams to trade for Deng.
The contract that Deng is on would have looked good 6-7 years back when he was a pretty good player but that simply isn't the case now. His jump shot has always been a bit shaky and his advancing age means he isn't the defender that he used to be.
His contract will be the big hurdle for the Lakers to get past before the offseason. They have plans to sign two max contract free agents in 2018, but they won't be able to accomplish that unless they trade away Deng. It's the parting away present from former team vice president Jim Buss, which is likely to hamper the Lakers for the next couple of years.
#2 Joakim Noah
2016/17 Averages: 5 Points, 8.8 Rebounds, 2.2 Assists
Contract left: Three Years, $55.6 million
No list of worst contracts handed out can ever be complete without a Knicks player in it. Phil Jackson made quite a few puzzling moves in his tenure as Team President and this might be the worst of them all. Pretty much everyone was bemused when they signed Noah to a long-term contract and the salary figures were bewildering. His contract doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it. He's always had injury issues and was coming off two disappointing seasons in Chicago.
After realizing their stupidity, the Knicks have tried to trade Noah but unsurprisingly no one is interested. Like Asik and Mozgov, he just doesn't fit in the modern NBA as he can't really do much on offense and while he used to a premier defensive player once upon a time, those days are long gone. During the whole Kyrie Irving saga, it was reported that the Cavs wanted Kristaps Porzingis but the Knicks were insistent on Noah being a part of any potential deal. The Cavs weren't too keen to take on Noah which says all you need to know about his contract.
#1 Chandler Parsons
2016/17 Averages: 6.2 Points, 2.5 Rebounds, 1.6 Assists
Contract Left: Three Years, $72.3 Million
Despite all of the atrocious contracts on this list, Parsons is the runaway winner and for so many reasons. His $24 million cap hit per year is easily the highest among this lot and couple in the fact that he's had season-ending knee injuries for the last 3 years and it all amounts to just an awful contract. Also, he's 29 now and his injury situation isn't likely to get any better. The Grizzlies gambled on Parsons staying healthy and it didn't pay off.
He probably wasn't worth the money even when fit. Parsons is a decent complementary player and nothing more. If he was healthy, however, he would have been a decent 3rd wheel alongside Mike Conley and Marc Gasol and boy do they need one. Parsons' contract has limited what the Grizz can surround their two best players with in the coming seasons. That has more or less ended their slim hopes of contending for a title, as both Conley and Gasol are in their 30s now and they've had injury issues in the last few seasons.
Guess the Lakers players!
