The 10 worst contracts in the NBA are released! 210 million podcast superstars are on the list, Embiid becomes the league s number one torture instrument

The new labor-management negotiation agreement does not leave too much room for the team to make mistakes, so avoiding bad contracts for players is an important part of team building. Often it is just a mistake that will cause the team's cap space to collapse, and it may take several years to get out of this quagmire. The following are the 10 worst contracts in the NBA this season. It should be noted that this ranking is not to reflect that every player on the list is not good or overvalued, but because this contract may currently have the opportunity to become the team's salary space killer in the future.

Note: Bradley Bill and Damian Lillard are not included in this list, as the remainder of their respective contracts will be shared through the extension clause for the next five seasons and no longer pose a threat to the team's cap space.

10 Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers Current contract: $149.5 million in 3 years (effective in 2024-25 season)

Since joining the Clippers in the 2019-20 season, Leonard has only played more than 60 games in total, and was also reimbursed for the entire season and was injured three times in the playoffs. Although Leonard is still the best two-way player in the league when he is able to play, in today's NBA, $50 million a year is still too high for a professional player who often appears on the sidelines in casual clothes.

9Jordan Poole, New Orleans Pelicans Current contract: $128 million in 4 years (effective in 2023-24 season)

Poole's current problem is that not only the contract amount is relatively high, but also inefficient. During the first four years of his career, Poole learned how to win and become a professional player with the Golden State Warriors (before he wasn't boxed by Draymond Green). But playing basketball with the Washington Wizards for two years completely unserious and unsupervised, completely destroying all these good habits. His faults are exactly the same as Kyle Kuzma. It is also doubtful whether he can restore his new environment to the previous 30% of the influence in the New Orleans Pelicans this season, because in terms of team culture, the Pelicans' team culture is closer to the Wizards than the Golden State Warriors.

8Brendan Ingram, Toronto Raptors' current contract: $120 million in 3 years (effective this season)

This signing is one of the most confusing decisions during his tenure as former Raptors president Marseille Ujerry. He once successfully operated a deal to get Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs, helping the team win the 2019 NBA championship. But after that, every move he did was basically confusing, and his last big decision as Raptors president was to trade Ingram. At that time, Ingram had essentially become a non-performing asset that no team was willing to trade or pay a large amount of money, but the Raptors still spent a huge amount of money to trade him and gave him a superstar-level contract renewal with an average annual salary of up to $40 million. At the same time, the third year was still a player option, which can be said to be a real person who was stupid and had more money!

7 Jerami Grant, Portland Trail Blazers Current contract: 5 years of $160 million (effective in 2023-24 season)

The decision of the Trail Blazers to give Grant this contract at that time was unexpected that Grant was in the last year of the previous contract, with an annual salary of about $20 million. To be honest, the price of $20 million per season is enough for Grant, but the Trail Blazers gave him a new contract with an average annual salary of $32 million in the past year, out of the idea of not wanting to lose him in vain. Although no one expected him to play a performance worthy of this contract, what was unexpected was that Grant's performance had reversed severely last season, averaging only 14.4 points and shooting percentage of 37%/37%/85%.

6 Kyle Kuzma, Milwaukee Bucks, Current contract: $90 million in 4 years (effective in 2023-24 season)

After spending several good seasons with the Lakers, Kuzma was sent to the Wizards and continued to play basketball games that won or lost in the next three and a half seasons, which also led to his extremely unscrupulous attitude towards the game. This negative mentality is directly reflected in the game data, reaching its peak in 32 games before the transaction. At that time, he averaged only 15.2 points per game and his shooting percentage was low 42%/28%/60%. Although the Bucks saved him from the Wizards' basketball purgatory environment, his performance in the playoffs was ridiculously poor, averaging 5.8 points per game, shooting only 34%/20%/50%, and it seems that he is not even as good as most DL players.

5 Dezhangtai Murray, New Orleans Pelicans Current contract: $114.2 million in 4 years (effective in 2024-25 season)

Murray has indeed been dragged down by injuries, but even if he did not suffer from a ruptured Achilles tendon in the middle of last season, his contract may still be on this list. For a player who is good at athleticism rather than shooting (his shooting percentage last season was 39%/30%/82%), and the BUF of a ruptured Achilles tendon superimposed on his already seriously injured knee (knee injury caused him to be reimbursed for the 2018-19 season), his remaining contract will not have any good results.

4Patrick Williams, Chicago Bulls Current Contract: $90 million in 5 years (effective in 2024-25 season)

Parway is the fourth pick in the first round of 2020, and is also the player with the highest draft pick since Derek Rose (2008 No. 1 pick).. But unfortunately, the Bulls did completely miss this draft. Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, he only spent a shrinking season at Florida State before being selected, and was actually a wingman who had never received systematic training. Paway's current average data (9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2 assists, shooting percentage of 40%/35%/72%) and his rookie season average data (9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists, shooting percentage of 48%/39%/73%) have basically not changed much, and even the efficiency is even worse! He will definitely choose to execute his player option in the 2028-29 season, and he will most likely leave the NBA after that. Terry Rozier, Miami Heat's current contract: $96.3 million in 4 years (effective in 2022-23) Rozier was once a starting point guard above the league average, averaging 20.2 points and 4.6 assists per game from the 2020-21 season to the 2022-23 season, with a shooting percentage of 44%/37%/82%. But he currently has almost no chance to play with the Miami Heat, and his average per game dropped to 10.6 points and 2.6 assists last season, and his shooting percentage was only 39%/30%/85%. What's even more terrible is that Rozier is still in the off-court gambling scandal. He was investigated for a match in March 2023. Rozier placed 30 bets in that match, and after Rozier left the game early due to so-called foot problems, he won all 30 bets.

2 Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers' current contract: $211.6 million in 4 years (effective in 2024-25 season)

George also has a $56.5 million player option in the 2027-28 season. You don't have to think about it and he will implement this player option, so he will be able to win the 76ers. It is impossible to deny that at George's peak he was indeed one of the smoothest and best two-way players in the league, but now he is a professional podcast host.

1Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers' current contract: 4 years of $242.9 million (effective next season)

76ers are indeed the sucker, which shows that Pighead Morey's vision is indeed unique. Embiid's annual salary for the 2024-25 season is as high as $55.2 million, and his three-year renewal contract worth $187.5 million will take effect next season. And in the third year of this contract, that is, the 2028-29 season, he still has a player option. From all the signs at the moment, Embiid will undoubtedly execute this $67 million player option. The 31-year-old has only played 58 games in two seasons since the MVP season in 2022-23, and has not cured his knee injury so far, so many people think he has retired.