Here is an entertaining read. Top Ten Worst Free Agents over the last decade!

[Louie Vega]

Once you get there you can navigate through the story by using the "Next" and "Previous" page. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0608/gallery.worstfreeagents/content.1.html

[Solid D]

dupe thread.

[exstatic]

The link was broken on the first one.

[NBA Junkie]

They forgot one of the worst ever when Juwan Howard got that 7 year, 100 million dollar contract to stay with Washington in 1996 after the league rescinded the contract he signed with the Heat.

Even though he averaged around 18 points a season during the lifetime of the contract, the teams that he played for where he was the go-to-guy were awful for the most part. Not a team leader by any means. His overall attitude wasn't the best either.

He was hardly the impact player that would warrant such a hefty contract such as that one.

[slayermin]

What about Big Country? Didn't he get a max contract?

[mathbzh]

I would like to read the same story on the top ten best free agents.

The Grant hill story is interesting. If Amare was available as free agent, after 2 knee surgery... would you sign him? If so, in 2016 someone may classify this move in the top 10 worst free agent.

[toosmallshoes]

"Leave it to Isiah Thomas to sign a 30-year-old center coming off a five-point, three-rebound season and talk endlessly about the man's "potential." In his first season with New York, James was out of shape, perpetually in foul trouble (averaging a whistle every 3.9 minutes) and clearly a few years removed from his pitiful "prime." Even worse, the fact that the Knicks have to pay James through 2010 stopped the team from matching a relatively minuscule contract offer from the Spurs for Jackie Butler, a superior pivotman who is a decade younger."
#6 worst free agent signing according to the gallery.... It almost seems like the Spurs are picking on Isiah. If so--smart.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

SI did the 10 best FA signings the other day:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0607/gallery.bestfreeagent/content.1.html

[pjjrfan]

Grant Hill was arguably the best perimeter player that year. He was the second big fish after Tim Duncan that year. In hindsight, yes it was a bad deal, but at the time without the knowledge of how severe his injury was, the money and the deal were no brainers.

[spursfaninla]

I was thinking about the tragedy that is the spoiled carrer of Grant Hill. A great person who actually probably ruined his career by "playing through it"...I wonder if his playing on the broken ankle really was the determining factor in his chronic injuries, or if it would have happened anyway...

Sadly, this sport is hard on the body and many players get hurt and are never the same player, often retiring if they are later in their career rather than try to rehab hard for a year...penny, brad daughterly, larry johnson ( back just 2 years into his career, making him an old man at under 30...), larry bird (still good when back went out), mourning, barkley and our own sean elliot and cummings among some of the allstar level players who were "cut down" when still in their productive years.

Some of his regression came from trying to come back too soon, iirc...

[waly.mg]

And now the Best and the Worst of the Spurs

Best: Bowen

Worst: Rasho

[JMarkJohns]

You can't forsee career ending injuries from the likes of Hill and Hardaway.

Hill was a complete fluke. No one could have known his ankles never would take to any procedure. He was a great player with All-Time potential who was just entering the prime of his career. You can't fault a team for offering him MAX money because of a broken ankle? A one-time broken ankle.

Hardaway missed significant time for one injury in from December of the 1997-98 season (playing just the first 19 games) until early February of the 1998-99 season (playing the final 50). After returning, he showed very little ill affects, averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 39 minutes per game. The contract was definately a risky one, but even after that first season, Penny was well on his way to living up to it (17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists in 37 minutes per). He didn't have the dreaded microfracture surgery until December of 2000 or January of 2001.

Granted, hindsight is always 20/20, but signing an All-Star with tons of potential still untapped to a MAX deal isn't nearly as stupid as signing Tariq Abdul-Wahad or Even Eschmeyer or Adonal Foyle to 35+ million deals or that of offering MAX contracts to solid, but unspectacular third options such as Derek Anderson, Juwan Howard and Tim Thomas.

Maybe if the player is 30 years or older and you're signing him to the MAX, then if something happens, the "you should have known better" tag can be used, but a 25 or 26 year old? C'mon... Injury shouldn't be the deciding factor in this.

Signing a scrub to a big-money deal is far, far worse to a team.

[Fillmoe]

some of these werent bad deals at the time, but looking back at them now is a different story.... no gm can predict injuries....

[GrandeDavid]

I still cannot believe that Adonal Foyle received that much jack. And Tariq Abdul Wahad. Look, congratulations to those guys for getting P-A-I-D.


What sort of IQ range is the prerequisite to being an average NBA GM or front office geek?

[GrandeDavid]

And that Jerome James contract! :lmao

[MrChug]

Anything done by Isaiah Thomas and uhh...

Rasho and Hedo :lmao

[mardigan]

Yeah that Abdul Wahad deal is insane

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

There were at least two other HORRIBLE contracts given to centres by the Sonics in the '90s besides Jim McIlvaine, but damned if I can remember who...

[exstatic]

Anything done by Isaiah Thomas and uhh...

Rasho and Hedo :lmao
Hedo wasn't a FA. He was acquired via a 3 team trade between SA, Sacto, and Indy in the summer of '03.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

yeah you dumbass! Hedo owned Rasho too in terms of hustle, defense, rebounding, points, and of course, choking.