RealGM

2023 list
Special re-do



1. Bradley Beal (2 years, 103.8 million + 57.1 million 3rd year player option - no trade clause)



2. Paul George (3 years, 155 million + 56.6 million 4th year player option)



3. Joel Embiid (4 years, 227.2 million + 67.3 million 5th year player option)



4. Jerami Grant (3 years, 96 million + 36.4 million 4th year player option)




5. DeJounte Murray (3 years, 94.7 million + 31.6 million 4th year player option)



6. Kawhi Leonard (3 years, 149.5 million)



7. Immanuel Quickley (5 years, 162.5 million)



8. Jordan Poole (3 years, 95.5 million)



9. Jalen Green (1 year, 12.4 million rookie contract + 2 years, 69.3 million extension + 36 million 4th year player option)



10. Patrick Williams (4 years, 72 million + 18 million 5th year player option)

Honorable mention: Deandre Ayton, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine, OG Anunoby, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Zeke Nnaji

To put it in perspective on our 2023 list that was so weak it that prompted a 2024 re-do, Duncan Robinson was 1st with a Patrick Williams type contract.

Now that I look at it a player that may have gotten off the hook is Wendall Carter, but Williams seems worse so he probably wouldn't have made top 10.

There’s always going to be different perspectives on these sort of things. I pushed my agenda a bit — guys that make big money that simply don’t play much due to chronic or serious injuries. I suppose that really only applies to Embiid, Kawhi and Dejounte here, though. The rest are under-performers on big or long deals, with Beal’s NTC as an extra “bonus”.

Things will change, as always. We could find out Paul George was dealing with something specific but undisclosed (besides the disintegration of the contender he thought he was signing with) and he bounces back. Quickley could prove me wrong with a strong 2025-6 season. Maybe Green develops some offensive consistency and a taste for defense. Who knows?

I agree that there are less bad contracts, that did make it harder, and IMO, more interesting to think about because it is very much a philosophical discussion. e.g., I wouldn't have Quickley nearly as high, nor even maybe top 10. But I think it is justifiable given cost relative to track record. Instead I'd be picking players who - even at their best - haven't proven they can contribute to winning and are 25ish and older (e.g., RJ Barrett who will be 25 in 3 months, Jerami Grant, Jordan Poole).

Dr Positivity wrote:To put it in perspective on our 2023 list that was so weak it that prompted a 2024 re-do, Duncan Robinson was 1st with a Patrick Williams type contract.

Now that I look at it a player that may have gotten off the hook is Wendall Carter, but Williams seems worse so he probably wouldn't have made top 10.

WCJ and Scottie Barnes are two obvious names to think about in 1-2 years.

Another one could be Gobert if his back-issues cause him to miss 20+ games every year.

I'm hoping Siakam ages well or at least doesn't decline during this contract.

LaMelo could make it in this list.

The only player on this list I don't necessarily agree with is Quickley, but I get not everyone watches basketball through an impact/glue guy type view and he is paid on the higher side for even that type of player while his impact numbers have slipped on a weak team.

I get why people didn't like Quickley, I just have a very different approach.

babyjax13 wrote:I agree that there are less bad contracts, that did make it harder, and IMO, more interesting to think about because it is very much a philosophical discussion. e.g., I wouldn't have Quickley nearly is high, nor even maybe top 10. But I think it is justifiable given cost relative to track record. Instead I'd be picking players who - even at their best - haven't proven they can contribute to winning and are 25ish and older (e.g., RJ Barrett who will be 25 in 3 months, Jerami Grant, Jordan Poole).

I would put Quickley as closer to a peer to Barrett and Poole than Grant is. Quickley is older than both Poole and Barrett.

I agree with this list overall. There are overall less bad contracts compared to back in the past. Part of that is the new CBA rules, which are forcing teams to spend money more wisely. However there always a few bad GM will massively overpay players and players who will suddenly just massively decline in performance out of nowhere. Who predicted that Emiid be on a list like this even a just a year ago, let alone 2+ years ago?

Now far as guys I would watch for in the future to have possibly the 10 worst contracts in the NBA who haven't signed new contracts yet would be guys like Austin Reaves(anyone who pays him more than 11-13 million dollars per year would be a total fool), Kevin Durant if his next team gives him the same amount of money as he's making right now on what's likely going to be his last major contract assuming he doesn't pull a Lebron 2.0 and able to play at a very level at 40+ years old, Mikal Bridges(there's a chance the Knicks are going to give him 45 million per year,instead of 25-30,which is more of his range), James Harden(I think he will demand a decent amount of money and the Clippers will have no choice, but give him what he want with the situation that they're in).

Other future candidates that already have gotten contract extensions to crack the top 10 worst contracts in the NBA would be guys like Anthony Davis(his injury are starting to be a bit concerning again after being mostly healthy for the 2 years before his abdominal injury vs the 76ers), KCP, OG Anunoby,Jared Venderbilt,Jimmy Butler,along with a few others.

Does the Worst list not get a sticky?

Besides Beal and probably George (though at the time his deal was justified imo) I feel like this is a pretty tame list of bad deals. Think there's far less dumb FOs then there used to be. Multiple guys on this list I could be convinced some team would take on as neutral in a deal

K_chile22 wrote:Besides Beal and probably George (though at the time his deal was justified imo) I feel like this is a pretty tame list of bad deals. Think there's far less dumb FOs then there used to be. Multiple guys on this list I could be convinced some team would take on as neutral in a deal

Increasing cap makes most seem more palatable


Quickly and the Raptors in general still confuse the hell out of me

ThatBoyNick wrote:

K_chile22 wrote:Besides Beal and probably George (though at the time his deal was justified imo) I feel like this is a pretty tame list of bad deals. Think there's far less dumb FOs then there used to be. Multiple guys on this list I could be convinced some team would take on as neutral in a deal

Increasing cap makes most seem more palatable


Quickly and the Raptors in general still confuse the hell out of me

Meant to be an overpay first 2 yrs and more of a bargain/solid deal latter 2 years. 20/5/5 on 58% TS for <20 percent of cap is a decent deal by the 3rd year

The issue I have with whatever Masai’s plan is in Toronto is locking in all of these unremarkable players into large-ish deals. There’s mostly no major flaws to these guys, but few strengths, either.

Ingram has played at the highest level of the group, but he’s clearly fragile and often seems disinterested.

Barrett gets in the lane and draws contact. That’s his only remarkable skill. He’s just ok in general.

Quickley isn’t a creative point guard. He plays mistake-free basketball quite a bit, which is nice, but doesn’t do anything interesting, either.

Barnes is a guy I like to watch play, and he has the highest ceiling of these four, but it’s just hard to lead an offense with a weak shooter. Still think he has improvements coming, but he’s at best a 1b on a team with no 1a.

All four of these guys are ugly contracts. Not terribly ugly, but combined they use a lot of Toronto’s payroll and likely a non-serious-contender ceiling. This feels like stuff the Kings and Bulls have done in recent years. Not a fan.

Could we sticky this?