Pick the worst contract so far this summer.

[Luke]

Originally Posted by Diable

The Lopez deal would be a whole lot worse if it had been given out by a rebuilding team like the Magic. In that event a deal like that would have destroyed any chance you had to getting where you want to be. It certainly is no bargain for the Nets, but that team is where they are going to be. They were already boxed in by all of those other contracts, none of which are going anywhere.

So the only thing the Lopez contract really hurts is the Russian gangster's wallet. If it does not bother him it does not bother me. Of course it would be a lot better to trade him for someone who can rebound and defend.

This.

[ChrisWoj]

The Asik deal shouldn't be anywhere near this list. That was a great contract. Yeah, he's overpaid in the final year of his deal but the fact remains that he's very reasonably paid for two years, and the heavy backloading makes it super-easy to unload in the final year for some other assets. He's going to be pretty damn overpaid that season, but it was a very very well built contract for the Rockets - and in the end that is what matters: how does the deal look for the team that signed it. What does it do for them.

[hroz]

No mention of jameer's contract?????

Lopez is the worst for value for talent. But Russian gangsters are rich and they dont care.

[-James-]

Asik and Fields' contracts aren't backloaded...

[E.H. Munro]

Yeah, I'm going with Nelson and Lopez. If you're giving Howard away for nothing, you should be letting 'Meer leave in free agency. Lopez has exactly one NBA skill, which he won't be exercising on the Brooklyn Nets and therefore no trade value for 3.5 years. Hideous hideous deal.

[Adam]

1. Jeff Green
2. Jameer Nelson
3. Landry Fields

[ChrisWoj]

Originally Posted by -James-

Asik and Fields' contracts aren't backloaded...

My bad. What happened to the initial reports that Asik was receiving something along the lines of 5M/5M/15M? When did that change?

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by E.H. Munro

Yeah, I'm going with Nelson and Lopez. If you're giving Howard away for nothing, you should be letting 'Meer leave in free agency. Lopez has exactly one NBA skill, which he won't be exercising on the Brooklyn Nets and therefore no trade value for 3.5 years. Hideous hideous deal.

And who's the Magics starting PG in that situation?

[E.H. Munro]

Originally Posted by R-Star

And who's the Magics starting PG in that situation?

Anyone else? Christ they could have signed Aaron Brooks off the scrap heap for less than they're paying Nelson and gotten every bit as little.

[e-monk]

my friend from Boston when asked about the Green deal:

"I don't know..." looks off into the distance, " I just... dont know" bows his head

[E.H. Munro]

People complain, but what the hell else was Boston supposed to do for a power forward? If they'd renounced everyone they still wouldn't have a PF, would likely have sacrificed cap space to re-sign Green anyway, and wouldn't have had the money to add Terry, Lee, et al. Once Howard, Paul, and Williams came off the free agent market Boston moved on to plan B, keep the payroll high and maintain flexibility for a trade pickup later this year.

I mean the alternative is the defenseless 6'7" Brandon Bass, and Green pretty much does everything Bass does, except better.

[Diable]

Bass is a much better jump shooter and Boston's entire offense relies upon everyone except Rondo being able to hit mid-range jumpshots. Bass was pretty damned good offensively for the Celtics' last year. Green hasn't ever been that. Everything he's done as a pro is pretty underwhelming and he hasn't even underwhelmed for some time.

[E.H. Munro]

Actually he isn't a much better jump shooter. In his stretch in Boston in 2011 Green shot deep 2s at a 51% clip, compared with Bass' "much better" 48% clip last year. But hey, thanks for playing.

And to reiterate, this is not a claim of Green's being any good, this is simply and solely a comment that he's a much better player than Bass, who's one of the worst PFs in the NBA. Boston was between a rock and a hard place, the prime free agents weren't available, and signing a Bass/Green replacement required them to not upgrade anywhere else while not getting an appreciable upgrade at the 4 as guys like Kris Humphries have their own failings. So they decided to pray that Green could reach average performance levels again (which would be a major upgrade considering how bad they were at the 4 last year after they shifted Garnett to center) and concentrate on improving their backcourt.

[Dre]

No one's saying they shouldn't have signed Green but they bid against themselves with a contract that high

[e-monk]

emh why are you talking about Bass? didnt the Celtics just sign him back as well? they have both so it's not like they went with green instead of bass, it's just that they decided to pay him twice as much

andd btw Green isnt that much better defensively and um, rebounding