The 10 Worst NBA Contracts of the Last Five Years

The nature of the NBA leaves them far more vulnerable for franchise-decimating contracts than the other major sports, a phenomenon that has been plaguing franchises during the entire salary cap era and has shown no signs of slowing down as teams hand out massive deals to less and less qualified players every year. With so many less spots than the other sports with a salary cap, a big NBA contract is always poised to take a larger toll on the rest of the roster, and the super-max's recent implementation has only made it easier for teams to throw ungodly amounts of money at guys that don't deserve it. We've seen countless examples of teams stuck in big, long contracts they have no way of getting out of it, and it can put a franchise in a chokehold for a number of years with minimal flexibility to move their organization any sort of direction. Here, we'll go through the ten worst contracts signed in the last five years, what makes them so bad, and the outlook for the team that got themselves on this list not long after they pulled the trigger.

1. Bradley Beal - Wizards, 5 years, $251M in 2022

My favorite part about this whole list is that the number one contract on this was traded for, and by a team that wanted to get better from it. The Bradley Beal contract is directly correlated to Phoenix's No. 26 ranking on my futures ranking (link), a supermax deal that has put the Suns in salary cap hell unable to move Beal and even less capable of building a roster around him. Phoenix picked up Washington's mess assuming most of Beal's contract, as he'll hit the Suns' cap for more than $50M over each of the next three years. And it's not moving the needle like the Suns would've liked, as on top of missing 29 games last season, Phoenix was swept in the first round of last postseason with Beal fouling out of a disastrous series-clinching Game 4. Beal is probably past the point of playing at an All-NBA level and that's likely only going to continue now on the wrong side of 30, so this deal isn't going to age well and already stands as the league's very worst. The Suns aren't where they need to be to compete with minimal room to grow, crippled by Beal's super-max that Washington pretty remarkably turned into someone else's problem.

  2.  Ben Simmons - 76ers, 2019 - 5 years, $170M

It was a complete no-brainer to give Ben Simmons this extension once he became eligible back in 2019, a superstar on the rise already at an All-Star level with the sky the limit. Philly looked on the verge of breaking through with a 22-year-old Simmons right at the forefront, and they'd reach the playoffs the next season and in 2020-21 finish first in the Eastern Conference before going down in the second round. It wasn't just any second round loss though, it was the end of Ben Simmons as we knew it. There were probably a lot of factors involved in what went wrong, and that well-known gaffe at the rim where he passed up a wide open finish deep in Game 7 certainly didn't help, and things were simply never the same for Simmons in Philadelphia as he seemingly never forgave the city and the franchise for the reaction to the miscue - and the series loss as a whole - and would cause a stir not playing for the Sixers before eventually being traded to Brooklyn next season. Now we weren't totally out on Simmons yet - there was reasonable optimism he'd be back to his old self if he just got a fresh start somewhere other than Philly - and that allowed the 76ers to get James Harden out of him, even as back issues would keep Simmons from playing a minute that entire season. As a lingering injury kept him from playing a second that season, even with continued reports that a return was nearing including right around the postseason, the league began to come to a realization this guy simply couldn't be relied upon. And that narrative wasn't going anywhere, as Simmons would play just 57 games over the next seasons and only 15 this season and worst of all, wasn't anywhere near the player he had been before. Simmons is far past the point where teams can justify all the baggage for what he provides, all while still riding out a 5-year/$170M deal that feels like ages it's been since it was signed. He's got one more year of that deal and when that winds down, I have my doubts he'll be able to land any sort of next contract, if that's even something he wants.

3. Jordan Poole - Warriors, 2022 - 4 years, $170M

We can't go into denial on just how crucial Jordan Poole was in Golden State's championship run in 2022, averaging 18.5 points that regular season and serving as their top guy off the bench in their postseason, all while only a 22-year old third-year player. It made a ton of sense for Golden State to give him the rookie-scale extension, a potential rising star already flashing tons of potential within an overall aging roster. It's amazing what one punch can do, as after a preseason practice altercation ended in Draymond Green punching Poole square in the face, it's all gone downhill for Poole and this contract. He and Golden State stuck it out for one more year but it was clear the bridge had been broken beyond repair, with the contract lingering on disastrous territory with the Warriors already looking to ship him only one year in. Even when Poole was traded to Washington, he seemed poised for a situation putting up big, inflated numbers as the go-to guy on a bad team, finally able to unleash his complete scoring arsenal with no one really standing his way, but Poole underwhelmed those backhanded expectations too, and significantly at that. Washington was as bad as expected but Poole wasn't even getting his, putting up his lowest points per game in three years and shooting only 41.3% from the field and 32.6% from three, relegated to the bench for a bit in an overall nightmare of a season for all the parties involved. Poole is a liability on the floor when the shot is not falling, an he'll be on this deal for another two years already reaching the point where maybe the worst team in basketball is having a hard time putting him on the floor.

  4. Zach LaVine - Bulls, 2022 - 5 years, $215M

The Bulls' direction or lack thereof these last few years can be largely attributed to passivity from the higher-ups, but LaVine's contract that just growing worse and worse by the day is contributing its fair share to Chicago's extended stay in no-man's land. The deal has reached the points it's made LaVine completely untradable, as he was playing well below the All-Star level he's being paid at before a season-ending injury limited him to just 25 games. There's been reasonable doubt his ability to contribute to winning whatsoever considering he's won one playoff game in ten years, and it's getting easier to notice the liabilities in his game once you get past the sheer scoring ability plus the athleticism. But LaVine's scoring has been dropping in recent years, and one more injury added to the list, this one to the foot, isn't going to do his athleticism much good as he approaches the wrong side of 30. And between he and the organization, It's a strained relationship between two parties stuck looking one another in the face as they run out the clock of this deal. LaVine has been his 20s pass by in about as brutal a way as he could've imagined, while the Bulls are still stuck paying out a massive deal they can't get rid of for a guy that not only hasn't stayed healthy, but hasn't delivered much of any real results for the franchise since the contract was signed. And that deal has still got three years to go. Yikes.

  5. Tobias Harris - 76ers, 2019 - 5 years, $180M

A 5-year deal that felt like eternity, Sixers fans couldn't wait for the moment this contract came to an end this offseason, with everything wrong with Harris in Philly lasting all the way up until his final moments with the team. At least from Jimmy Butler's perspective, Philadelphia was content enough letting him walk and bringing Harris in as replacement the summer of 2019. And while he was always a solid, reliable player for much of the year, he never made the step further some fans were hoping for and was more importantly a consistent playoff letdown for the entirety of his tenure. Sixers fans were already past their wits end with Harris by the time this postseason rolled around, and he just for good measure gave them the very worst postseason series of his career, averaging 9 points and being held scoreless in the series-clinching Game 6 at home. As Philadelphia has built up a pretty substantial reputation for their playoff failures, Harris always seems to be at the center of it. While he never reached unplayable or unavailable heights that some other members of this list would, there aren't many contracts in the sport a fanbase was more excited to see expire, an overall brutal for Harris, the team, and the fans alike.

  6. Gordon Hayward - Hornets, 2020 - 4 years, $120M

It's a fitting day for this to release as it comes on the very day Gordon Hayward retires from basketball, a telling sign of just how brutal this deal was when it was signed in 2020. The only reason this wasn't a bigger discussion is that money probably wasn't going to much of a better cause in Charlotte, a team still very much entrenched in a rebuild and one of the last places any big free agent would consider, but they still took a gamble on Hayward that backfired completely from a mix of injuries and an overall decline. The extent of the contract made sense at the time - a lot more sense than the team who signed him - with Hayward coming off a really solid 2019-20 and looking back like the player he was before his gruesome leg injury two years before. But he played just 61% of the games he could've since putting pen to paper including over 50 games once, this season with 51, and Charlotte wasn't making the progress they were hoping with a proven veteran added to the mix. They'd dump him off to OKC at the deadline this year where he couldn't find the floor on a contending roster, ultimately ending his career. From a value to money standpoint, this is certainly one of the worst contracts of the last 10 years, and the only saving grace might be that Charlotte likely wasn't spending this money too much better if they had the chance.

7. Andrew Wiggins - Warriors, 2022 - 4 years, $109M

This is the second deal to crack the list handed out by Golden state in their post-title offseason of 2022, by no means surprising or even overly questionable deals with Wiggins and Poole both having played such critical roles in their success. But Wiggins hasn't gotten much of anything going since, missing much of the ensuing season and taking a very concerning step backwards this past season amidst Golden State's struggles. And he's being paid like a borderline All-Star through it all, even while his position as a starter on this team was put into question at times in 2023-24. The Warriors have fallen into difficult times trying to put a formidable roster around Stephen Curry in the later stages of his career, with this major deal going a long way in hindering that. Most teams with any guy you'd want aren't going to be lining up to pick up Wiggins' $25M+/year deal, but expect the Warriors to keep trying with two more years still left to go on this big contract.

8. Davis Bertans - Wizards, 2020 - 4 years, $80M

Now in this day in age, $20M a year isn't going to break the bank. But when the guy becomes unplayable two years in, it's tough to dodge this list. Bertans had a career year prior to hitting free agency in 2020 as a big man able to stretch the floor and knock down threes, but it was a short-lived run effectively filling that role in Washington. The shots stopped falling and Bertans became a consider liability right as his second year on the deal began, and he's had a hard time finding much of any role ever since all while being paid like a starter. After that first year he's averaged no more than 15.7 minutes/game in a season and still hasn't gotten a new deal now a month into free agency, a bit of a gamble taken by Washington that quickly became a hopeless endeavor. Now a free agent once again and still just 31, I'd be truly stunned if he got more than the minimum.

  9. Devin Vassell - Spurs, 2023 - 5 years, $135M

This was definitely an unprecedented deal for San Antonio to hand out to such a young, unproven player, but they needed to ensure some sort of production around Wemby and it's hard to deny this deal helps do so. But Vassell hasn't done much more than be a good scorer on a bad team, something we've grown to learn doesn't necessarily translate to a player worth big money. He averaged 19.5 PPG last season and 18.5 PPG the year before, by no means emerging a a particularly good fit alongside Wembanyama and a pretty limited player aside from his scoring. He'll continue to score at solid rates, but this isn't a guy I see taking that leap into an All-Star player, nor a guy whose level or production can't be replicated by plenty of guys across the league. This is probably won't ever be up there with the absolute worst deals in basketball but I think down the line as San Antonio becomes a more enticing destination as Wemby continues to grow, they're going to wish that money was going a lot of other places other than this long-term deal.

10. Evan Fournier - Knicks, 2021 - 4 years, $73M

This one had red flag written all over when it was signed, with Evan Fournier coming off a brief but largely uninspiring second half with the Celtics now on his way to a Knicks team still riding a brutal track record putting forth deal likes this. He scored well his first year in New York though questions about just about every other aspect of his game continued to be raised, and just seven games in to 2022-23 season was sent to the bench amidst a particularly rough start. And once you fall out of favor in Tom Thibodeau's rotation, good luck getting back in. Fournier fell out of the rotation completely and would never return, seeing the floor if he was lucky during a blowout and only appearing in three games for the Knicks last season before a mid-season trade. It seemed a bit harsh to see Fournier's entire role dissipate in the blink of an eye, all while on this big contract still at an age he felt he could contribute, but the Knicks had no problem putting their hand up on that failed deal before ultimately trading him to none other than Detroit. A year in it became painfully clear New York had zero intentions of ever using Fournier, and he's still got another year to go cashing checks like a starter.