Basketball Update: Top worst bargains made in the NBA this year
This year has been quite a run for the NBA teams and players, a lot of players were utterly disappointed, as they could not join the teams they wanted to because someone else took their spot or simply the team did not welcome them. Not only were the players affected but many big franchises were literally left crying because they had been despatching their key players in order to make space for new stars, who bluntly rejected them.
With that said, let’s take a brief look at the top 5 bargains in the NBA this year:
Joe Johnson, a man who created a bit of hype in the NBA free-agency this season, was because he was one of the few who grabbed on to a max contract worth $124M, joining the Atlanta Hawks. Although Johnson is an extremely hard-working shooting guard, who averaged an astounding number of 21.3 points with 4.9 assists per game in this year’s playoffs, has proved over the years he cannot create depth in the Atlanta Hawks. He might be considered one of the best shooting guards right after Dwyane Wade but the swingman could have opted for another team, as the critics say he is one of the greedy players. The bargain worked well for the Hawks, as they would have had a massive crater in their roster if Joe had left, but for Joe, he is another one of those good players whose talent will go to waste by playing for a terrible team like the Atlanta Hawks.
Another Johnson to hit the market this year was Amir. Amir Johnson played for the NBA development team last year, he was signed on by the Toronto Raptors in order to fill in Chris Bosh’s shoes, who left the team to join the Miami Heat to form a much talked about trio these days which include LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Amir lacks experience compared to Bosh, he has only played in two playoffs previously once in 2008 and the other in 2009, where he was not given more than 5 minutes to play. While Bosh on the other hand has had an amazing scoring average of 20.5 with 9.0 rebounds per game.
So is Amir worth the $34M? From the overview of things, the player not only lacks experience but perseverance, he might be known to be competitive but that only time will tell. For now the Toronto Raptors are keeping faith in a lousy player, hoping they’d make a mark in the playoffs, which they do, for being amongst the worst team.
This year was tough for the New Jersey Nets. The franchise which is owned by billionaire named Mikhail Prokhorov and partially owned by the famous mogul rapper Jay-Z were hoping on landing the biggest stars, the free-agency had to offer, but sadly they weren’t able to convince any. After the trauma they faced, it was like the team tried grabbing on to whatever they could. Travis Outlaw was the unfortunate fish they succeeded to reel in, Travis has not been able pass his usual scoring average which is 9 points per game, since a while now, and the highest average he maintained was 3 years ago, that too in the off-season, with 13.3 points per game. Whatever may the case be, the desperate player made it to an extremely desperate team The New Jersey Nets for $35M.
Tyrus Thomas, a young player who came to the NBA in 2006 was drafted by the Chicago Bulls as the 4th pick overall. He is known to be an aggressive forward, and is quite athletic for a man his size (6’10”). He averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. This year after becoming a free-agent, Thomas signed on a contract with Charlotte Bob Cats for five years worth $40M. Charlotte Bob Cats did not only make a hasty decision but they have contracted a player who has an uncertain future. Experts say that the Bob Cats are one of the worst franchises of the league, who need to rebuild their team from scratch and by obtaining players with poor averages; it will only make their team worse. Experts say for teams not to realize the obvious and make the same mistake every year is quite appalling.
John Salmons is an aspiring player who has proved to the NBA he is a hard working player, who has gradually increased his scoring average. But sadly he was traded by the Chicago Bulls to the Milwaukee Bucks for Hakim Warrick. Chicago has yet to realize John was the best thing that happened to them since a long time, with a scoring average of 17.0 with 3.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the 2010 playoffs, he was on his way to become their star player but sadly it was all over for him. Although he has signed a contract for $40M over a five year period with the Milwaukee Bucks and that amount of money might be attractive for a player with his calibre but it will certainly cast a big shadow on his future as a player.
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