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 o####ingerbread 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 #### 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.
it's early yet, but the bucks signed bobby simmons to a 4 year, $45 million dollar deal last summer. he averaged about 12 points, and wasnt even close to being the defensive stopper he was supposed to be. oh, he averaged just over 6 points per in the 1st round series against detroit.
we also signed dan gadzurich to a 6 year, $36 million dollar deal last summer. i dont even want to look at the numbers on him last season. probably about 5 points and 4 rebounds, and some games he didnt even play unless the score was completely lopsided.
allan houston, new york knicks ring a bell? he was decent when the knicks signed him, but you had to wonder why nobody, including the pistons, were willing to offer anything close to what NY did....i think we all know the reason now.
Cuziffer- I knew you'd bring up Simmons, being a Milwaukee guy and all. But you're right, it's too early with him.
Allan houston I thought about including, but he was a 20 point scorer in Detroit, so they were at least somewhat justified.
i think i'm becoming predictible with my simmons bashing. i've only been on his case for about....ever since i've been blogging here.
yeah, houston was a scorer with detroit, and i think he had 1 or 2 decent years with the knicks also, but didnt they give him a huge extension after that?
how about greg ostertag? he had to have gotten a hefty contract at some point. he was about as good as mclvaine, but got away with it more by playing next to karl malone....he wasnt expected to do much besides get a few rebounds and use his 6 fouls.
Jerome James and Erick Dampier must surely deserve mention.
Todd Maculloch was a reasonable centre, but still horribly overpaid.Eddy Curry would be a good player if he was subbed off whenever defense was required
cuziffer- Yea, the simmons bashing has been consistent, but I can't fault you for that. He's a Depaul player, but like Steven Hunter, he's an overrated one.
Houston got a max contract, but that was more justified than many of the other contracts above.
Ostertag actually got an extension that paid him more than Karl Malone at the time. The Jazz though like their model citizens and pay them accordingly.
Mixevian- Maybe they can just keep switching James in on defense and Curry on offense. Buy you're right, James does deserve at least a dishonorable mention. I was debating between him and Cardinal, so I went with the bigger contract.
Dampier isn't worth the money, but he does at least produce something for the team. Dampier was getting double-doubles off the bench for the Mavs, so their disappointment was tempered.
michael olowokandi? (sp?) he was a bust as a draft pick, and still got a big contract as a free agent. it just goes to show that if you're tall and/or beefy, you're going to get paid....kinda like left handed pitchers.
ostertag was a kansas guy...there's been a few kansas bigs who havent exactly lived up to their hype. kinda reminds me of duke alum's.
like *cough cough* Trajan Langdon, Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner.
Anyone who hits 7' or close to it gets a big deal guaranteed. Look at Nene's new deal, he will never be worth that money.
i seen that deal here on raiderjon's blog, as well as on fox's front page....i just shook my head.
as for the duke guys, cherokee parks? danny ferry? even laettner. yeah, they were pretty good in college, but find me a 6'10"+ guy who wasnt. it's not too hard to be good when you rarely face anyone as big as you.
besides elton brand, are there any former duke players who arent considered anything more than role players?
If Grant Hill would have stayed healthy, he could have been up there as a great player.
What's funny is that it's the undersized players that play the hardest; Earl Boykins, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman, even Elton Brand.
i completely forgot about hill. and the funny thing is, even when he came out, not that many people thought he'd be a top tier player in the nba. he was somewhat of a point-forward, kind of like scottie pippen, only better offensively, not as good defensively.
and every time we played the pistons, hill showed us exactly how much we screwed up by not taking him first. in the long run, with all his injuries, i guess in a way we made the right choice...maybe....he did play 10 years for us, which is more than hill played in detroit. (although they got something in return in the sign-and-trade deal with orlando)
yeah, but both teams would have taken Jason Kidd if they could have a redo. You better hope the Bucks don't try to keep Magloire by offering one of those 6 year, $60 million contracts that have been popular for underproducing centers.
oouch, dont even kid around like that. he's got 1 year left on his current deal, so i'm hoping that expiring contract will work in the bucks favor in trade talks. i'm not even sure they have that kind of money to offer him. with redd ($15+ mil), simmons ($11+ mil), gadzurich ($6 mil) bogut and CV, we cant have too much left in the bank to give to anyone. and i know we're not going to go the knicks route and spend $115 million.
i'm trying to recall who the PG was back then....jay humphries? erick murdock?....must not have been that good, or was just that forgettably bad.
How about Lee Mayberry? I think that's who it was. a Kidd-Baker connection would have worked a little better.
Magloire could net them someone good, we all know how overvalued bigmen are. I could see a 1st round pick and a player.
mayberry sounds right. the thing about him, murdock and humphries, is that none of them were terrible, just not great. i mean, they were all nice guys, and the fans liked them, but they werent going to dominate or anything. murdock had a few games where he scored alot, and then thought he was a scoring machine.
i really liked vin baker back then. i was upset when we traded him, but i think we did it just in time, since he was never the same after that.
i bet the knicks would give up a 1st rounder...if they had one....but i dont think i want any of their current players.
i'd still take devin harris. he has alot of what we're looking for, minus the 6'6" frame.
Wow mate, great list. Koncak got that much in 1989? Unbelievable.
A lot of memorable guys on that list - for that dificiences, not their quality play. I think when a guy is known for his high degree of "suckocity", it speak as loudly as those who get all the headlines for high scoring average, rebounds etc.
The Knicks would offer the money for the entire Bucks team salary. Devin Harris would be a good fit, T.J. Ford with more size but those same penetration skills (that sounded bad). With Mike James possibly joining them, Harris could get shopped.
The Bucks are going to have to find an answer at the position, but if they persue Speedy Claxson, I hope they don't overspend.
NorthSideFan- Totally agree with the suckocity factor, that's why people like Ed O'Bannon will be remembered as much as Damon Stoudamire (the ROY) in that draft.
EdClinch- Nevitt, there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Bradley and Muresan are both examples of height being a way to get paid. At least Muresan has his acting career, remember "My Giant"?
i just read the kings are looking at claxton now that bobby jackson signed with the hornets. i wouldnt be against signing him, but it's looking like his price tag may be a bit high.
now i'm going to start praying the mavs get james, and we can coax them to give up harris. extremely doubtful it would happen though. harris is what? 23 or 24 years old? then again, by locking up terry and likely having to give james a 5 year deal, it is possible he'll be on the block.
and yeah, that did sound kinda bad.
ed, 2 more guys who got paid basically because they were/are TALL. neither really showed much of anything, yet bradley still found a couple contracts we'd all give a kidney for, so to speak.
hey, i'm happy with that.....let's get this deal done.
dallas could lose their other big man Mbenga(?) so they could use a guy like magloire. we'll take harris and daniels off their hands. those 2 would really solidify the backcourt.
Vin Baker - Sonics
Jerome James - Knicks
Vitaly Potapenko - I believe he signed a big deal with the Celtics, not the Sonics. The Sonics traded for him, Joseph Forte, and Kenny Anderson in the Baker deal.
Cuziffer- Go to Cuban's blog and propose it, get it done.
RaiderJon- At least the Sonics were justified in offering the deal to Baker. As for Potapenko, I think you're right, my mistake. Can't blame me though, they both have young big guys with no talent, easily confused.
2 small problems with that idea george. 1. i dont have the link, and 2. i dont know enough about matching salaries to actually make it work. i'm sure he's been reading how i dont really care for his actions during games, and would do everything he could to make me look like a fool. lol
lol...good point. like i said, i'm sure he's reading this anyway, so he's got enought information to get the ball rolling. (now i need to stop talking bad about magloire, and tone down my praise for harris and daniels) (by the way, sometimes when i type in parentheses, it doesn't allow certain people the ability to read it...so, mark cuban cant read what i'm typing now)
(you mean he's got one of those computers you talk to, and it types for you?)
my guess is daniels would still be coming off the bench, but he could spend time at the SF, SG, and run the point a little bit in the right situations. if for no other reason than the huge salary simmons is getting, i dont see the bucks bringing him off the bench in favor of daniels. but i definitely like the idea of harris and daniels for magloire. i'd even throw in jermaine jackson if it would make the numbers match.
hell, throw in tito and randy jackson too. I wouldn't be surprised if Simmons became a 6th man again. Toni Kukoc made big money and did the same thing.
Norcalfella- Thanks and I'm with you there. I hate this time of year for sports, which you'll see in my next post
RaiderJon- I just saw that. 4 years, $25 million!!! I think he may be on this list in 2 years. They pass on Paul and Foye in successive years and Claxson is the answer???
i'll throw in tito, randy, michael, jermaine, allan, jesse, action, samuel, and even phil....or any combination of that group plus magloire for harris and daniels.
oh, and jim jackson too....he's a free agent. we could sign him and ship him fedex or something.
that, and claxton signed (verbally agreed, whatever) with the hawks. we're running out of options through free agency. i still dont see how they can go into this season without adding another PG. even if they do give the starting job ot mo williams, charlie bell isnt a primary backup, not for a whole season.
i'm not exactly doing the happy dance with that suggestion. i'm just gonna put all my eggs in the magloire for harris trade basket....and likely be really disappointed when it doesnt happen.
Wisconsin Viking- That's a very good one and I didn't really consider it. That definately is up there in terms of follies. The fact that he went to Milwaukee didn't help either.
k-mart needs to change his name to walmart, lower his prices, and move to a new location. i never did figure out why everyone thought he was so great coming out of college. he was athletic, but he's really not my idea of a solid nba forward. jason kidd made him look so much better than he really was. now, with an injury history and a bad attitude, the nuggets are all but stuck with him. i'm thankful we picked up villanueva so we wont be tempted to trade for him or carlos boozer.
his contract makes webber's look like a price roll back at wally world.
Cuziffer- Webber has the highest salary for this upcoming season in the NBA. As for CV, it is good, at least he doesn't have the baggage of Kenyon or Boozer.
BullDance- James will earn his place on there in another year, but I am intrigued to see if/how Isiah uses him.
My name is George. I just graduated from Depaul University and was accepted to the University of Illinois for graduate school (not as sweet as once thought). I am a major sports fan, watching every sport I find. I also have a short attention span, which is why most of my articles are lists.
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.
saw the Sonics go to the finals and all they needed was a center to play off of Shawn Kemp.
big enough to play against Shaq can really get you paid.
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.
