With the Free Agency period just around the corner, teams should be warned about overspending on potential.  Big, goofy, white centers seem to be the biggest mistake in the past, so avoid Joel Przybilla.  Here are the 10 greatest free agency bungles in NBA history (in no particular order).

Travis Knight (7 year, $22 million), BOS Celtics.  After a rookie season with the Lakers that showed promise, he signed a deal with the Celtics to be their low-post scorer and a complement to Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker.  He was traded after one season and ended up on the Knicks, barely finding time to pick the splinters off his butt from his extensive bench work.

Eddy Curry (6 year, $60 million plus 2 1st round picks), NY Knicks.  Time will tell if Curry can help this team go back to respectability, but an eight-figure salary is a lot to invest in a player with a heart condition and an 8:1 turnover to assist ratio.  Let's not forget they'll lose out on 2 potential lottery picks, with next year's possibly being Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.

Jim McIlvaine (5 year, $35 million), SEA Sonics.  1996 saw the Sonics go to the finals and all they needed was a center to play off of Shawn Kemp.  McIlvaine was signed and went on to average a career high 3.8 points in his first season and started a string of bad center choices that continues to this day.

Brian Cardinal (6 year, $37 million), MEM Grizzlies.  He has the heart of a HOFer, but the body of a gingerbread man.  Cardinal made over $100,000 per rebound last year and it doesn't look like he'll be seeing many minutes with the acquisitions of Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift.

Kenyon Martin (7 year, $91 million plus 4 1st round picks), DEN Nuggets.  A maximum dollar deal shouldn't go to a player whose attitude gets him suspended in the playoffs.  He can put up numbers when he wants, but he lost the desire once he saw his first paycheck.

Todd MacCulloch (6 year, $34 million), NJ Nets.  Being big enough to play against Shaq can really get you paid.  MacCulloch showed 0 coordination and 0 durability as he was able to manage only 2 more seasons before his feet and knees forced him to retire.  His scoring can be excused due to the "Allen Iverson effect". 

Vitaly Potapenko (6 year, $33 million), SEA Sonics.  The "Ukraine Train" never left the station as he was yet another Seattle center that couldn't cut it.  His value has most notably been as a throw in to free up future cap space.

Calvin Booth (6 year, $34 million), SEA Sonics.  The third Sonics center on the list has bounced to 4 teams in the last 4 years.  He averaged 1 point and 1 rebound a game, but you put two "1's" together and you get "11". 

Howard Eisley (7 year, $41 million), NY Knicks.  Remembered best as John Stockton's heir apparent, Eisley was the least heralded of all the Knicks blunders through the years.  The difference is that Eisley did nothing to deserve this contract except play behind Stockton for 5 years.  Someone should have told Eisley in all his time in Utah, he should have watched and learned.

Jon Koncak (6 year, $13 million), ATL Hawks.  The money may not seem as high as some of the others on the list, but in 1989, the deal made him a higher paid player than Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, or Michael Jordan.  He may have re-signed with his original team, but it was Koncak's contract that is noted as the start of inflation for contract negotiations for other players and it prevented the Hawks from pursuing other free agents.  He is why they refer to any bad deal as a "Koncak".

Anyone else have one, share it with me.  I always tend to forget one.