worst contracts in the NBA currently

[Vermont Green]

Rk   Player                 Tm      2020-21           2021-22            2022-23       2023-24      remaining = current/2 + sum of rest
1   Kevin Love               CLE    $31,300,000    $31,300,000    $28,900,000                            $75,850,000
2   Russell Westbrook    WAS   $41,358,814    $44,211,146    $47,063,478                          $111,954,031
3   Kemba Walker          BOS   $34,379,100    $36,016,200    $37,653,300                            $90,859,050
4   John Wall                 HOU   $41,254,920    $44,310,840    $47,366,760                          $112,305,060
5   Blake Griffin             DET   $36,595,996    $38,957,028                                                   $57,255,026
6   D'Angelo Russell       MIN   $28,649,250    $30,013,500    $31,377,750                             $75,715,875
7   Andrew Wiggins       GSW   $29,542,010    $31,579,390   $33,616,770                             $79,967,165
8   Tobias Harris            PHI    $33,517,241    $36,000,000    $38,482,759    $40,965,517    $132,206,897
9   Al Horford                OKC   $27,500,000    $27,000,000    $14,000,000                            $54,750,000
10 Klay Thompson        GSW   $35,361,360    $37,980,720    $40,600,080   $43,219,440     $139,480,920

So by this, if Kemba is the 3rd worst contract and Blake Griffin is only the 5th worst, then we should trade Kemba for Griffin and we would come out ahead?  Same for Horford?  Boy, it sure doesn't seem that way.  For example, a trade of Horford and Hill for Kemba was discussed and most people thought that was an awful trade for the Celtics.  Same for Griffin.  People saying they wouldn't give up anything for him, even a second round pick, much less trade Kemba for him.

With Kemba, if he gets no better than he has played so far this season, the contract is really bad but he is probably going to play better.  I think 3rd worst contract is too harsh.

[NKY fan]

Westbrook, Klay, Tobias Harris, Kevin Love and Al Horford spring to mind immediately.

Having a closer look and Porzingis, Steven Adams, Draymond Green, Gallo, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Rubio are others who are massively overpaid. So is Marcus Morris, Eric Gordon, Davis Bertans and Justise Winslow

I thought about some of those but they make less money and Porzingis is injury prone but still is impactful.
That’s second paragraph you listed players that could be had for nothing just the tpe 🤷🏻‍♂️

[NKY fan]

Rk   Player                 Tm      2020-21           2021-22            2022-23       2023-24      remaining = current/2 + sum of rest
1   Kevin Love               CLE    $31,300,000    $31,300,000    $28,900,000                            $75,850,000
2   Russell Westbrook    WAS   $41,358,814    $44,211,146    $47,063,478                          $111,954,031
3   Kemba Walker          BOS   $34,379,100    $36,016,200    $37,653,300                            $90,859,050
4   John Wall                 HOU   $41,254,920    $44,310,840    $47,366,760                          $112,305,060
5   Blake Griffin             DET   $36,595,996    $38,957,028                                                   $57,255,026
6   D'Angelo Russell       MIN   $28,649,250    $30,013,500    $31,377,750                             $75,715,875
7   Andrew Wiggins       GSW   $29,542,010    $31,579,390   $33,616,770                             $79,967,165
8   Tobias Harris            PHI    $33,517,241    $36,000,000    $38,482,759    $40,965,517    $132,206,897
9   Al Horford                OKC   $27,500,000    $27,000,000    $14,000,000                            $54,750,000
10 Klay Thompson        GSW   $35,361,360    $37,980,720    $40,600,080   $43,219,440     $139,480,920

So by this, if Kemba is the 3rd worst contract and Blake Griffin is only the 5th worst, then we should trade Kemba for Griffin and we would come out ahead?  Same for Horford?  Boy, it sure doesn't seem that way.  For example, a trade of Horford and Hill for Kemba was discussed and most people thought that was an awful trade for the Celtics.  Same for Griffin.  People saying they wouldn't give up anything for him, even a second round pick, much less trade Kemba for him.

With Kemba, if he gets no better than he has played so far this season, the contract is really bad but he is probably going to play better.  I think 3rd worst contract is too harsh.

Those are all debatable but Griffin expires a year earlier given he picks (it’s a lock basically) his players option. But I doubt that Detroit would take Kemba for Blake. At this point Blake is a much worse player than Kemba however.

[PhoSita]

I don't understand how Kemba, who is actually able to play, can rank worse than Klay Thompson, who is going to be coming off two years without playing and may never be anything like what he was before.  Plus Klay makes more money and has more years.


This is an overreaction re: Kemba.

If he's just an average starting point guard for next 2.5 seasons, which I would call a pessimistic prediction, he's well overpaid but doesn't belong near the top of this list.

[Csfan1984]

I was doing this search last week but within the TPE range to see if there was anyone that could be a salary dump with a 1st. "Raef" type deal.

[GreenEnvy]

I was doing this search last week but within the TPE range to see if there was anyone that could be a salary dump with a 1st. "Raef" type deal.

I don’t think we should waste the TPE on a salary dump.

I’d rather save it for the summer and try to get a true impact player via a S&T, attaching picks. I’m sure Ainge will try to save face for this disaster of a season (this far, at least) by scouring the league for upgrades, but I doubt anything will materialize.

Let the team use this season to find it’s identity/hierarchy (Tatum 1, Brown 2, Kemba 3?), maybe we knock a higher seed or two off in the playoffs for a confidence boost, and get ready for the draft/free agency.

[gouki88]

Westbrook, Klay, Tobias Harris, Kevin Love and Al Horford spring to mind immediately.

Having a closer look and Porzingis, Steven Adams, Draymond Green, Gallo, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Rubio are others who are massively overpaid. So is Marcus Morris, Eric Gordon, Davis Bertans and Justise Winslow

I thought about some of those but they make less money and Porzingis is injury prone but still is impactful.
That’s second paragraph you listed players that could be had for nothing just the tpe 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sure, they might get paid less - they're still really bad deals. I'd rather give D'Angelo Russell, a fringe All-Star, that money than pay Gallo $20m. Zinger is too injury-prone to be left off, and while impactful he's not nearly as damaging as someone with his size and skillset should be.

Additionally, how is Kemba a worse deal than Klay? Kemba was an All-Star last year and has played games this year - Klay is going to have missed two whole years of hoops

[Wretch]

Player   Tm   2020-21   2021-22   2022-23   2023-24   2024-25   2025-26
Russell Westbrook   WAS   $41,358,814    $44,211,146    $47,063,478          
John Wall   HOU   $41,254,920    $44,310,840    $47,366,760          
Blake Griffin   DET   $36,595,996    $38,957,028             
Klay Thompson   GSW   $35,361,360    $37,980,720    $40,600,080    $43,219,440       
Tobias Harris   PHI   $33,517,241    $36,000,000    $38,482,759    $40,965,517       
Damian Lillard   POR   $31,626,953    $43,750,000    $47,250,000    $50,750,000    $54,250,000    
Kevin Love   CLE   $31,300,000    $31,300,000    $28,900,000          
Andrew Wiggins   GSW   $29,542,010    $31,579,390    $33,616,770          
Kristaps Porzigis   DAL   $29,467,800    $31,650,600    $33,833,400    $36,016,200       
D'Angelo Russell   MIN   $28,649,250    $30,013,500    $31,377,750          
Steven Adams   NOP   $27,528,090    $17,073,171    $17,926,829          
Buddy Hield   SAC   $24,431,818    $22,477,273    $20,522,727    $18,568,182

These contracts are all worse than Kemba's.  Before you flame me about Dame, look at the last 2 years when he's 34-35 years old.   

[gouki88]

Player   Tm   2020-21   2021-22   2022-23   2023-24   2024-25   2025-26
Russell Westbrook   WAS   $41,358,814    $44,211,146    $47,063,478          
John Wall   HOU   $41,254,920    $44,310,840    $47,366,760          
Blake Griffin   DET   $36,595,996    $38,957,028             
Klay Thompson   GSW   $35,361,360    $37,980,720    $40,600,080    $43,219,440       
Tobias Harris   PHI   $33,517,241    $36,000,000    $38,482,759    $40,965,517       
Damian Lillard   POR   $31,626,953    $43,750,000    $47,250,000    $50,750,000    $54,250,000    
Kevin Love   CLE   $31,300,000    $31,300,000    $28,900,000          
Andrew Wiggins   GSW   $29,542,010    $31,579,390    $33,616,770          
Kristaps Porzigis   DAL   $29,467,800    $31,650,600    $33,833,400    $36,016,200       
D'Angelo Russell   MIN   $28,649,250    $30,013,500    $31,377,750          
Steven Adams   NOP   $27,528,090    $17,073,171    $17,926,829          
Buddy Hield   SAC   $24,431,818    $22,477,273    $20,522,727    $18,568,182

These contracts are all worse than Kemba's.  Before you flame me about Dame, look at the last 2 years when he's 34-35 years old.

Damian Lillard is arguably the greatest Trail-Blazer ever and is still a perennial MVP candidate. You can't say a contract is bad based upon what you think will happen to a player.

Additionally, Wiggins and Wall have both been significantly better than Kemba this year. Never thought I'd say it, but their contracts might be better

[NKY fan]

Player   Tm   2020-21   2021-22   2022-23   2023-24   2024-25   2025-26
Russell Westbrook   WAS   $41,358,814    $44,211,146    $47,063,478          
John Wall   HOU   $41,254,920    $44,310,840    $47,366,760          
Blake Griffin   DET   $36,595,996    $38,957,028             
Klay Thompson   GSW   $35,361,360    $37,980,720    $40,600,080    $43,219,440       
Tobias Harris   PHI   $33,517,241    $36,000,000    $38,482,759    $40,965,517       
Damian Lillard   POR   $31,626,953    $43,750,000    $47,250,000    $50,750,000    $54,250,000    
Kevin Love   CLE   $31,300,000    $31,300,000    $28,900,000          
Andrew Wiggins   GSW   $29,542,010    $31,579,390    $33,616,770          
Kristaps Porzigis   DAL   $29,467,800    $31,650,600    $33,833,400    $36,016,200       
D'Angelo Russell   MIN   $28,649,250    $30,013,500    $31,377,750          
Steven Adams   NOP   $27,528,090    $17,073,171    $17,926,829          
Buddy Hield   SAC   $24,431,818    $22,477,273    $20,522,727    $18,568,182

These contracts are all worse than Kemba's.  Before you flame me about Dame, look at the last 2 years when he's 34-35 years old.

Damian Lillard is arguably the greatest Trail-Blazer ever and is still a perennial MVP candidate. You can't say a contract is bad based upon what you think will happen to a player.

Additionally, Wiggins and Wall have both been significantly better than Kemba this year. Never thought I'd say it, but their contracts might be better

I think my ranking is fairly fair since not many on here tore me apart. I also think that Lillard’s reported amounts are off on his extension. The salary cap stayed flat instead of rising significantly and I think that reduced his projected extension numbers. I think he’s mAking mid 40s millions in his last contract year...

[Csfan1984]

I was doing this search last week but within the TPE range to see if there was anyone that could be a salary dump with a 1st. "Raef" type deal.

I don’t think we should waste the TPE on a salary dump.

I’d rather save it for the summer and try to get a true impact player via a S&T, attaching picks. I’m sure Ainge will try to save face for this disaster of a season (this far, at least) by scouring the league for upgrades, but I doubt anything will materialize.

Let the team use this season to find it’s identity/hierarchy (Tatum 1, Brown 2, Kemba 3?), maybe we knock a higher seed or two off in the playoffs for a confidence boost, and get ready for the draft/free agency.

I agree. It's meant a's a last ditch use for it in offseason. To not let it expire and getting nothing for Hayward.