Revived wrote:What was Utah thinking when they gave him that ridiculous contract?
He played well in 2018 and is only 23. The contract isn't ridiculous so much as a slight gamble.
The NBA Salary Cap is 99M. Exum makes 9.6M per which is roughly 10%.
Utah's actual salary this year is 113M of which Exum makes up 8%. Hardly a cap-killer.
Logic dictated the team prefers to moves on from Ricky Rubio (15M) this off-season which would have given Utah a chance to have a combined 13M starting backcourt between Exum/Mitchell. Hardly a tragedy if Exum ends up the 3rd guard again.
A quick glance at 2020 bench guard salaries around the NBA
Kent Bazemore: 19M
Goran Dragic: 19M
Evan Turner: 18M
Dennis Schroder: 15M
Jordan Clarkson: 13M
Patty Mills: 12M
Courtney Lee: 12M
Spencer Dinwiddie: 10M
Markelle Fultz: 9.7M - a fair baseline for Exum.
Fred VanVleet: 9.3M
Exum is paid like a solid backup (6th-8th man).
Now if you want "ridiculous": Nicolas Batum is owed 52M over the next two years and just started logging DNP-CDs (read: not DNP-INJs). And let's not talk about John Wall, who will probably make as much in two months on the sidelines as Exum will in two years.