Five Ridiculous NBA Contracts

We are going to look at five players who are getting paid a ridiculous amount of money for the 2009-10 season today and Five Bargain NBA Contracts tomorrow. Also, check out The Top 10 Dunks by the Top 10 Dunkers.

1. Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets – $23,239,561
He was a two-time NBA scoring champion and signed this contract years ago, but in an injury-plagued season last year, he put up 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists, while shooting less than 40% from the field for the first time in his career. Those are not the kind of numbers you are looking for from the highest paid player in the NBA and the cornerstone of your franchise. He was often thought of as a similar player to Kobe Bryant, but McGrady has yet to win one playoff series in his career. The Rockets will be very happy to have him off the books next year and might be able to trade what is left of his game & expiring contract. The organization was very unhappy with how he handled his injury situation last year, which they had to hear about through the media.

2. Jermaine O’Neal, Miami Heat – $22,995,000
Now here is a big man that is several years past his prime. He still gets over 2 blocks per game, but has averaged only 13.4 points and 6.5 rebounds over the past two seasons, which netted him $40M+. What I find really shocking is that he has never shot better than 49% from the field or played an entire 82-game NBA season. I think the Heat are pretty happy to clear him off their books to lure another big-time name to join Dwayne Wade in South Beach.

3. Kenyon Martin, Denver Nuggets – $15,363,636
This former #1 pick is getting paid top-20 money and was only fifth in scoring and fourth in rebounds on the Nuggets last year. I understand he brings other intangibles to the table like solid defense and that sick lips tattoo on his neck, but come on now. He has a player option to make over $16M next season…think he will pick that up?

4. Larry Hughes, New York Knicks – $13,655,268
He has had an up-and-down career and is now getting paid top-30 money to play less than 27 minutes per game. It would be somewhat understandable if he was an aging big man, but he is a 30-year old guard. To beat up on the Knicks a little, they are also paying Eddie Curry, Al Harrington, and Cuttino Mobley all over $9.5M each this year.

5. Bobby Simmons, New Jersey Nets – $10,560,000
When I mention B. Simmons, people probably automatically think of the Sports Guy. That is not who we are talking about! We are talking about about an NBA player that has averaged 7.7 points & 3.6 rebounds over the past two seasons and is getting paid over $10M per year. He hasn’t even started half of those games and has been playing for the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks!

The NBA…where amazingly horrible contracts are handed out every year!

Please check out Five Bargain NBA Contracts tomorrow. Also, you might want to check out The Top 10 Dunks by the Top 10 Dunkers.

Salary Cap & Tax Level Info: The NBA cut both the Salary Cap & Tax Level this year, which were set at $57.7M & $69.92M, respectively. For every dollar that a team exceeds the Tax Level, they are hit with a dollar tax. According to Hoops Hype, there are 12 teams that are over that number, including the Washington Wizards who finished 13 games behind every team in the Eastern Conference last year. The NBA has a Minimum Team Salary Cap, which is set at $43.275M (75% of the Salary Cap). The Salary Cap & Tax Level are expected to drop again next year.

Related posts:

1. Five Bargain NBA Contracts
2. James White to Denver
3. Gasol or Randolph?

Tags: bobby simmons, contracts, Denver Nuggets, houston rockets, jermaine o'neal, kenyon martin, larry hughes, miami heat, NBA, New Jersey Nets, new york knicks, ridiculous nba contracts, tracy mcgrady

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 10:00 AM and is filed under Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, NBA, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.