It was obvious as the summer of 2016 was unfolding that teams were making enormous mistakes in the way they were handing out goofball contracts to mediocre players, but like an 8-year-old with a box of Pixy Stix, front-office execs around the league could not stop themselves.
Two years later, we still see the effects. More than a third (11 total) of all teams have made front-office overhauls since that summer, and as we unveil our annual list of the NBA's most overpaid players, we find that 11 of them were given contracts in that fateful 2016 offseason.
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As for the list itself, the standard rules apply. Players who have been bought out are not on the list, even if their old salary was exorbitant. So we won’t see Luol Deng, though we will see Joakim Noah, whose buyout from the Knicks is expected but still pending.
We also won’t see players whose seasons were sunk by injuries, with a 41-game threshold the loosely accepted minimum. Players like Noah and Timofey Mozgov, however, are eligible, because their seasons were trashed simply because their coaches did not want to play them, not because they were hurt.
But the likes of, say, Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons in Memphis don’t warrant inclusion, even in a case like Parsons’, where his injury troubles should have been a deterrent to signing him. Parsons played only 36 games but was out because of his knee injury.
With that, let’s get into the guys who are collecting very big paychecks entering this year, despite having not produced worthy results...
1. Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves
The Wolves finally returned to the postseason last year, but it was as much despite Wiggins’ mediocre contributions than because of any improvement on his part. Wiggins averaged 17.7 points, down from 23.6 the previous year, and his efficiency suffered.
He is not much of a passer, rebounder or defender, which leaves him as an inefficient No. 2 option who will make $25.5 million next year, 19th in the league.
2. J.R. Smith, Cavaliers
Smith was wildly inconsistent in the postseason and became the meme of the playoffs after his Game 1 blunder in the NBA Finals. That should not overshadow just how bad he was in the regular season, when he averaged just 8.3 points.
It's easy to imagine him going off the rails without LeBron James in Cleveland, and the Cavs will pay him $14.7 million next year as they see how this unfolds. By midseason, it might be better for Cleveland to eat this contract and waive Smith before the $15.2 million owed in 2019-20 becomes fully guaranteed.
3. Evan Turner, Trail Blazers
Turner was more efficient as a shooter last season (44.7 percent, 31.8 percent from the 3-point line) but still averaged only 8.2 points and will be paid $17.8 million this year. He's scheduled to get $18.6 million next year and remains the most glaring of Neal Olshey’s contract mistakes.
4. Timofey Mozgov, Magic
It's tough to size up Mozgov and where he fits into the league at the moment. He’s still useful as a space-eating center, but most teams aren’t playing a Mozgov-style big man anymore, not with so many fives able to shoot 3s. He played only 31 games last year for Brooklyn, and that would disqualify him for this list except that he was not hurt. He just did not play.
It’s doubtful the Magic will have many minutes for him, and for $16 million this year (and $16.7 million next), that’s some expensive idle time.
5. Joakim Noah, Knicks
Like Mozgov, it’s hard to say just how far Noah’s game has fallen because he played only seven times for a total of 40 minutes last season, when he was mostly a healthy scratch. He has $18.5 million coming this year, and $19.3 million next year, and the Knicks could well buy him out before the season starts, so the team can stretch his salary and create space for next summer.
But for now, he is a Knick, and one who has been dumped from the rotation, which explains his position on this list. He is 33 and could simply be physically finished — he has not been able to stay healthy going back to his All-Star season in 2013-14. But if healthy and slipped into the right situation, there's a chance Noah could still contribute.
6. Wesley Matthews, Mavericks
Matthews has never been the same after injuring his Achilles tendon in 2015. He is a good enough shooter to warrant his spot in an NBA rotation (he made 38.1 percent from the 3-point line last year), but he doesn't get to the rim, and if he is not making 3s he doesn’t contribute much else. He's in the final year of his contract, which will pay him $18.6 million, ranking him in the top 50 in the league.
7. Ryan Anderson, Suns
The Rockets’ pivot toward defense last year meant that the team pivoted away from Anderson, who was shipped to Phoenix in the offseason. Anderson maintains his two best assets — he is tall (6-10) and can shoot (38.6 percent from the 3-point line) — but he has always had an aversion to rebounding, and he will be paid $20.4 million, 40th in the NBA, by the Suns.
8. Tyler Johnson, Heat
Miami has always liked the scrappiness shown by Johnson, but the thing about scrappy players is this: You give them 10-day contracts (which Johnson has had). You do not give them $19.2 million, which is what Johnson will make this year thanks to the loophole in his contract that will shoot him up from $5.9 million last year.
At 11.7 points per game and with solid defense, Johnson fits his role nicely with the Heat, but he will be the league’s 44th highest-paid player next season, and he has an option for another $19.2 million the following year. Safe bet he will take it.
9. Allen Crabbe, Nets
It’s not Crabbe’s fault, of course, that he was given a four-year, $75 million deal from Brooklyn as a restricted free agent (which the Blazers matched before eventually trading Crabbe to the Nets anyway). But he has shown no sign of playing up to his paycheck, even after having been given a starting job with Brooklyn last year.
He was inconsistent as a shooter and showed only marginal improvements as a passer and rebounder. Crabbe is slated to make $18.5 million this season and next.
10. Harrison Barnes, Mavericks
In fairness to Barnes, he has done what has been asked of him, becoming a top-tier option operating mostly at the elbows. Coach Rick Carlisle loosened Barnes’ game a bit last year — Barnes took 4.3 3-pointers per game, up from 2.8 — but Barnes is still a high-post, face-up offensive player.
With 18.9 points (on 44.5 percent shooting) and 6.1 rebounds, he does a decent enough job, but Barnes is being paid $24.1 million, ranking him 29th in the league. He is a solid, above-average starting forward, but he's being paid like a star.
11. Ian Mahinmi, Wizards
Mahinmi was among the winners of the 2016 free-money NBA sweepstakes, now entering the third year of a four-year, $64 million contract. He is slated to make $15.9 million this year and will once again play a limited role, this time behind Dwight Howard. Mahinmi played 77 games last season but averaged only 14.9 minutes.
12. Serge Ibaka, Raptors
Ibaka is only 29 (or is listed as such, at least), so it does not equate that he is seeing his athleticism fade so quickly — he does not block shots as he used to and is much less mobile at both ends of the floor.
Toronto made a go of things with Ibaka at power forward last year, but over the course of the season the team lost confidence in him and he was relegated to the end of the bench in the postseason. That might be where he belongs. Problem is, he will be paid $21.7 million this season and $23.3 million next.
13. Bismack Biyombo, Hornets
Biyombo used an outstanding playoff performance with the Raptors in 2016 to vault his way to a four-year, $70 million deal that will pay him $17 million this season and next. Of course, what he had done in Toronto was not much different than what he had done before — block shots and rebound, with little else to add — only that he did it on the big stage and with great energy.
In Orlando, Biyombo returned to the form he'd always had, as a limited offensive big man who can play good defense. He’ll do that in Charlotte next season but will get way too much money to do so.
14. Tristan Thompson, Cavaliers
Thompson got a five-year, $82 million from the Cavs in 2015, a contract the team tried very hard to avoid. We can see why — Thompson has talent but is too easily set off course during the season to be worth the $17.5 million he will get this season.
Like Smith, the Cavs have to worry about how the loss of James will affect Thompson’s focus. He averaged only 5.8 points and 6.6 rebounds last season, and while he has traditionally bounced back to have an impact in the playoffs, that bounce-back was more limited this year.
15. Kent Bazemore, Hawks
Bazemore is another scrappy wing who plays solid defense and had the good fortune of being a free agent in 2016, receiving a four-year, $70 million contract. He had his best career season for the woebegone Hawks last year, but that still yielded only 12.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 27.5 minutes.
To be worthy of $18 million next season, the Hawks will need much more, and Bazemore is just not capable.