(Note: Only contracts of two years or more were considered, as really bad one year deals are actually quite useful in the current NBA landscape as trade pieces.)
10. Bobby Simmons, Milwaukee BucksContract Remaining: 3 years, $29.8 million
Analysis: Simmons is a classic example of a player parlaying one good season into a massive contract. After posting averages 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in his final season with the Clippers Simmons signed a long term deal with the Bucks. In his first year with Milwaukee Simmons saw his stats go down in PPG, RPG, AST, STL, and FG%. Then the real bad news came: Simmons missed the entirety of the 2006-2007 season due to two surgeries needed to repair his foot and ankle. In a show of how bad Simmons' contract is, his replacement, Charlie Bell, put up almost the exact same numbers the Simmons had in his one season in Milwaukee:
Simmons 2005-2006: 13.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.3 AST
Bell 2006-2007: 13.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.0 AST
The difference of course being that Bell only made $744,551 for the season. The Bucks now have a mediocre swingman coming off two surgeries making almost $10 million a season. Ewww. Even worse for Simmons, the Bucks are rumored to be looking at Corey Brewer and Jeff Green in the draft, who both play Simmon's position.
9. Troy Hudson and Marko Jaric, Minnesota Timberwolves
Contract Remaining: Hudson: 3 years $18.9 million, Jaric: 4 years $27.3 million
Analysis: So have you ever wondered what happened to KG and the Wolves after his MVP season? Well, they let Latrell Spreewell and Sam Cassell go, and then used a ton of free agency dollars on these two stiffs. Jaric was signed after posting 6.6 AST in his final season with the Clippers, and Hudson was resigned after a big postseason in the Wolves' conference finals year. Since then? Jaric only started 17 games this past season, averaging 5.3 points and 2.1 assists per game. Hudson has only played a total of 70 games the past two seasons, and this year only averaged 5.9 points and 2.1 assists. The duo also figures to play even less in the coming years, as the emerging Randy Foye will consume their minutes, meaning that the Wolves will have two PGs sitting on their bench eating roughly $13 million in cap space. Yuck.
8. Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans HornetsContract Remaining:4 years, $54.5 million
Analysis: Peja was signed last summer to be Chris Paul's running mate, but that plan was short circuited when Peja missed almost the entire season with complications from a back surgery. Now the question is whether or not Peja will ever be able to regain his former 24 PPG form, or if he will continue his downward scoring trend of the past few seasons. If Peja is unable to regain his form then he will be a $15 million lead weight when the Hornets have to re-sign Chris Paul in a couple of years. Even in a best case scenario, the Hornets will be paying a one dimensional player an average of $13 million a year for the next four years.
7. Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ersContract Remaining: 4 years, $43.8 million
Analysis: Size is indeed at a premium in the NBA these days, but Dalembert has yet to show himself to be an elite level center, which his contract would seem to require. Dalembert seems to constantly find himself in foul trouble, and has never been able to stay on the court for more than 31 MPG. Also worrisome is the fact that Steven Hunter was steadily cutting into Dalembert's minutes at the end of the season. So is 10 PPG and 8 RPG worth almost $11 million a year, especially when the 76ers will need to have room to re-sign Andre Igoudala in the coming years? Nope.
6. Erick Dampier, Dallas MavericksContract Remaining: 4 years, $41.3 million
Analysis: The signing of Dampier was a case of the Mavericks experiencing an identity crisis. Much like when the Suns inserted Kurt Thomas against the Spurs this postseason, the Mavericks wanted to become more of a traditional team instead of a high paced offensive mahcine. Dampier was signed to a seven year deal and thru three seasons has yet to average 10 points, 9 rebounds, or 2 blocks in any season. Not exactly the numbers you would expect from a franchise center, or even a mediocre one, and it is Dampier's bad deal that will likely lead to the Mavs having to jettison either Devin Harris or Jason Terry in the coming years.
5. Andrei Kirilenko, Utah JazzContract Remaining: 4 years, $63 million
Analysis: Kirlenko would never be considered a conventional franchise forward, but up until this year his blend of elite defense, great passing skills for a big man, and decent scoring touch made him a very valuable piece of the Jazz. This year however, three things happened that might spell the end of Kirilenko's usefullness in Utah:
1. Deron Williams took over the offense, making Kirilenko's passing skills much less needed
2. Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur were healthy for an entire season for the first time, and they took away a large amount of Kirilenko's minutes and shots.
3. Paul Milsap came out of nowhere and looks primed to become the small forward of the future for the Jazz.
All of these things leave Kirilenko with a very small role in the offense, as well as very few minutes left for him. The Jazz are stuck with him at an average of almost $16 million a year, since no team would take a player with as little scoring ability for that much money. Kirilenko's contract is also going to force the Jazz to make some very tough choices when it comes time to sign Milsap and Williams to extensions.
4. Shaquille O'Neal, Miami HeatContract Remaining: 3 years, $60 million
Analysis: The Heat got the championship that they desired from Shaq, but the future looks very bleak from here on out. The Heat will have almost 40% of their salary cap space consumed by Shaq the next three years, and his steady decline in both health and skills is sure to continue. The Heat will have little ability to find help for Dwayne Wade, so don't look for the Heat to be able to make an impact in the playoffs until four years from now when they are finally able to rid themselves of Shaq's contract and get Wade a new sidekick.
3. Quentin Richardson, Jerome James, Stephon Marbury, and Steve Francis, New York KnicksContract Remaining: Richardson: 3 years, $26.3 million, James: 3 years, $18.6 million, Marbury: 2 years, $42 million, Francis: 2 years, $33.6 million
Analysis: Oh where oh where to begin with this mess. Richardson has been a shell of the player he was with Phoenix, as well as missing nearly half of the time with injuries. James was able to turn one decent postseason series into a huge contract, and does not even average double digits in minutes for the Knicks. Marbury and Francis are like two shades of the same color, both being washed up former star PGs playing out the string on their pricey contracts. Absolute train wreck.
2. Larry Hughes, Cleveland CavaliersContract Remaining: 3 years, $38.5 million
Analysis: Hughes was pegged as the Pippen to LeBron's Jordan after his career year in Washington, and that is why this contract ranks so high on this list. The Cavs made a mistake with this choice, and it will likely prevent LeBron from ever reaching his full potential while Hughes is on the team. In fact, the poor choice made with Hughes might lead to LeBron eventually leaving the Cavs, since his huge salary cap number along with big Z's contract will likely keep Cleveland from properly fixing the roster problems that have become so glaringly apparent during this postseason.
1. Kenyon Martin, Denver NuggetsContract Remaining: 4 years, $59.1 million
Analysis: Kenyon Martin was brought in the year after Carmelo Anthony was drafted to be the number two man in Denver. Think of it as a more expensive, more injury prone, and less productive version of the Larry Hughes situation discussed above. In his three years in Denver Martin has missed increasingly more and more games, playing 70, 56, and 2 games. Last season Martin saw his production peter out at 12.9 PPG and 6.3 RPG, numbers that are completely unnacceptable for a player making nearly $15 million a season. Two things are becoming very obvious with Martin: his early career success was likely a product of playing with Jason Kidd, and he may never recover from the surgeries he has had on both knees. The Nuggets are also left in miserable salary cap position. Just how bad? Four years from now the Nuggets already have $52 million of contracts on the books...from only four players. With Oden and Durant entering the Western Conference next season, the Nuggets might fall behind the pack and out of the playoffs.
