The NBA’s 6 Most: Overpaid Players
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The NBA is home to the world’s biggest basketball stars. It is also home to some of the biggest player contracts in the world of sports.
Everyone in the NBA gets paid big, as the average NBA salary is around $7.7 million. The better players perform, the more money they get come contract time. At least, that’s how it should be. Here’s a list of six NBA players that are overpaid and costing their team long term because of it.
6. Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry has officially passed his peak. In the Raptors championship run, he was either a huge factor or not a factor at all, depending on what game it was. Last season and this season, Lowry’s overall production is on a decline, and his time as an All-Star in the NBA is surely coming to an end. His production hasn’t been terrible, though, as he is one of the driving factors keeping the Raptors in contention.
This season he’s averaged 19.7 points per game and 7.7 assists per game. His body of work this season is just what the Raptors need from him, but his price is way too high. Lowry signed a one year $30M extension in October, but his production doesn’t match his contract. The Raptors might have been better off by trading Lowry for cheaper talent and paying Fred VanVleet what he deserves, but time will tell how the Raptors’ choice will affect their future. Lowry is solid, he always has been, but he isn’t worth $30M.
5. Harrison Barnes
Unlike most of the players on this list, Harrison Barnes does what he’s asked to do for Sacramento. But that doesn’t mean he’s worth the contract he has. Being a part of the 73-9 Warriors team and winning a title a year prior is the highlight of Barnes’ career. His production for that Warriors team got him a big deal from Sacramento, as they signed him to a four year $85M deal in July of 2019. The Kings had the money to spend, as they didn’t have to pay anyone else.
They would later extend Buddy Hield in October of 2019. However, just because you can afford to pay for someone doesn’t change their productivity. In sports, teams expect to get what they paid for. They don’t always get what they want from a player. Harrison Barnes is a great role player, a good third option, and can help a contending team tremendously, but he isn’t worth $85M. Not even on his best day.
4. Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins is an outstanding player and possibly All-Star material. He is not a bust, but he definitely isn’t close to what people expected him to be at this point in his career. He signed a 5-year max deal that started in the 2018-2019 season from the Timberwolves but was traded this season to the Warriors for D’Angelo Russell. The Timberwolves initially felt that the Wiggins and Towns duo would take them far, but they finally realized what Jimmy Butler was trying to tell them the year prior.
Wiggins is set to make over $90M in the next three seasons, but as Minnesota and Jimmy foresaw, he won’t live up to his contract. This season for Minnesota and Golden State, Wiggins averaged 21.8 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game, and 3.7 assists per game in 34.4 minutes per game. His numbers are great; they are what you want to see from your third option, but max players are the best of the best, not third options.
Andrew Wiggins is the 28th highest-paid player in the NBA, and he gets paid more than Otto Porter and D’Angelo Russell. At the end of the day, Andrew Wiggins is a great pick up for the Warriors; I applaud them for trading for him. But Wiggins is not a max player and will never be.
3. Kevin Love
Kevin Love really had the world fooled when he was in Minnesota. He was putting up astounding numbers, and people could only wonder what he could do if paired up with another superstar. He did just that by joining Cleveland via trade and winning a title there. But in the process of that, the world began to see his flaws. Kevin Love is an above-average talent, but he is not a franchise player. He recently signed a 2-year extension worth $120M in 2018 to his original 5-year $113M contract. He produces, he does his job, but he isn’t winning, and that’s the problem.
As the leader of the team, you have to be the best player on the floor, and Kevin Love has not been. He averages 17.6 points per game and 9.8 rebounds, but that kind of production is not worth over $28.9M a season. Especially if he isn’t winning anything, the Cavs overpaid for Kevin Love, but they won’t suffer as badly for it because it is highly unlikely that they will sign a marquee free agent this offseason or the next few.
2. Draymond Green
Back on July 9, 2015, Green signed a five year $82M contract. Then just last year, on August 3, 2019, he signed a four year $99.6M extension, with the contract ending with a player option in 2024. Draymond played a key role in all four of the Warriors championship runs, but when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were out due to injury this season, he failed to produce.
In the 43 games he played this season, he only averaged 8 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 6.2 assists per game, 1.4 steals per game, and 0.8 blocks per game in 28.4 minutes per game. As an organization that has become accustomed to winning, would you be willing to pay Draymond Green over $20M a season for that? He’s been solid this season, but he hasn’t lived up to his extension, and the Warriors will pay for it in the years to come.
1. Otto Porter, Jr.
Otto Porter Jr. is the most overpaid player in the NBA today. What looked like a promising prospect turned out to be an average role player. I don’t know what the Wizards saw in Otto Porter, but in July of 2017, the Wizards signed him to a four year $106.5M contract. Once they realized the mistake they made, Porter was traded to Chicago in 2019. Although he only played 14 games this season due to injury, he only averaged 11.9 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 1.8 assists per game in 23.6 minutes per game.
Over $27M for the next two years for Otto Porter’s talents is a waste of money. The Bulls could be using that money to put towards an offer at Anthony Davis this offseason. Otto Porter Jr. makes more than Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal, AD, and Nikola Jokic. Let that sink in.
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-Mike Dancy II – Franchise Sports Media
