The NBA’s 10 Most Overpaid Players

BY MATT LAFLEUR

After Steve named the NHL’s 10 Most Overpaid Players I had to make a NBA list of my own:

10. Tracy McGrady (ORL) – $22.8M / 1 year remaining

A few years ago McGrady’s inclusion on a list like this would have been met with raised eyebrows, now you could argue he should be ranked higher up it.  Fortunately for Houston, T-Mac’s in the final year of a contract he signed before becoming a victim of microfracture surgery. An injury he came back from by showing up out of shape and playing with such little passion that Alexei Kovalev thought he was dogging it.

If McGrady hadn’t shut himself down a couple days prior to the trade deadline last year, he’d now have more frequent flyer miles than Quentin Richardson and George Clooney combined.

9. Shaquille O’Neal (CLE) – $21M / 1 year remaining

The self-proclaimed “most dominant of all-time,” Shaq has seen his expiring contract become more valuable than his on-court contributions. After leaving Kobe and the Lakers (where his last two years were spent “playing himself into shape”), the Diesel arrived in South Beach and actually got into shape.  There he performed like his old self, roping Miami into a five-year extension worth $100 million.

Once secure, he got injured in the second game of the next season and rode Dwyane Wade’s coattails to his fourth ring.  Now he’s as bloated as his fellow lawman Steven Seagal, averaging career lows in points, rebounds, blocks, minutes and self-nicknames.

8. Peja Stojakovic (NO) – $13.3M per / 2 years remaining

Once regarded as the best shooter in the league, Peja’s prime, like that of the Sacramento Kings, came and went quicker than a plate of chilli fries in front of Bob McKenzie.  Already battling a bad back his last two seasons in Sacramento, Hornets GM Jeff Bower (who now also coaches the team) did what any front office man would do with a guy suffering from back spasms… he signed him to a five-year, $64 million contract.

In three-and-a-half seasons since signing that monster contract, Peja has missed 97 games. More impressively, he also joined Marko Jaric in the “I play in the NBA but my lingerie model-wife is more famous than me” movement.

7. Kenyon Martin (DEN) – $15.8M per / 2 years remaining

The only winner here was the New Jersey Nets, who were smart enough not to match Denver’s staggering seven-year, $92.5 million offer sheet.  Then again, anytime you can pay a role player like an all-star you have to do it, especially when that guy has gone under the knife more than Kenny Rogers. Before Joe Dumars signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva for a combined $66 million last summer, this was the NBA’s “spending money for the hell of it” benchmark.

6. Andrei Kirilenko (UTA) – $16.5M per / 2 years remaining

The lanky Russian would have topped this list two years ago when the Jazz were still on the hook for $66 million.  Now, he’s nothing more than next seasons most coveted expiring contract.  The emotional Kirilenko, once the most feared defender in the league, hasn’t been the same since breaking down in 2007.  He’s an embarrassment to a country that’s produced hard-asses like Ivan the Terrible, The Bolsheviks and Dinara Safina.

5. Michael Redd (MIL) – $17M per /2 years remaining

Talk about untradeable. After blowing his knee out for the second time, Redd’s about as valuable as a Tony Romo jersey. By now the Ohio native has to be thinking, “Why didn’t I sign with Cleveland?” His shooting and ability to spread the floor would have been worth every penny to the Cavs, instead he’s helped the Bucks average only 32 wins a season since signing that monster contract.  With that ROI, Milwaukee might as well have paid Snooki to play shooting guard. Redd’s injury trouble, not to mention Carlos Boozer’s, should be all the warning LeBron needs to stay in Cleveland.

4. Emeka Okafor (NO) – $10.7M per / 5 years remaining

Let’s get one thing straight: You don’t win championships in the NBA paying stiffs like Okafor $11 million a year.  His signing was the equivalent of a Hollywood shelling out $20 million to have Tom Cruise star in a romantic comedy when Matthew McConaughey could have done it for a set of bongo drums and a bottle of tanning oil.

A toss-up on draft day 2004, there were many “experts” who thought Okafor deserved to be taken ahead of Dwight Howard.  The former 2^nd overall pick has never lived up to the hype, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watched the robotic Okafor underwhelm while at UConn.

Similar to Greg Oden and Hasheem Thabeet, in college Okafor was able to outrebound guys and alter shots despite his poor defensive posture. In the NBA, where everyone is just as tall and just as quick, his lack of fundamentals and jumping ability expose him as a younger version of Erick Dampier.

3. Vince Carter (ORL) – $16.1M per / 3 years remaining

Does anyone else think the Orlando experiment is going to end badly?  Judging by Rashard Lewis’s reaction after VC bumped into Ron Artest on Monday – resulting in “Wince” taking himself out of the game, collapsing on the bench and covering his face with a towel – even he’s losing patience with Carter. By the way, Lewis questioning your toughness is like Jeremy Piven making fun of you for wearing a toupee.

In the past, teammates shrugged off Carter’s theatrics and defensive shortcomings, but now that’s he’s 33 year’s old and going through the worst season of his career, they’re hard to overlook.  Averaging a paltry 16.8 ppg and shooting a brutal 38% from the field (not to mention 31% from behind the arc), it’s only a matter of time before Stan Van Gundy makes Vince the highest paid 6^th or 7^th man in the league.

If Orlando wants to prove that last years Finals appearance was no fluke they should seriously consider starting Mickael Pietrus and moving #15 to the bench immediately.

2. Elton Brand (PHI) – $14.8M per/ 4 years remaining

After Philly overpaid to retain Andre Iguodala, a sidekick on a championship team at best, and Samuel Dalembert, a role player who needs an earthquake to ignite his passion, they outdid themselves in the summer of ’08 when they blew their entire wad on this former Clipper.

The 76ers believed adding Brand to their young, high-flying squad would make them an instant contender. Oops. After finishing .500 last year, the Nets are the only thing between the Sixers and the bottom of the Eastern conference standings this season.

Maybe it’s payback for screwing over the Clippers and Baron Davis, but Brand never fully recovered from a torn Achilles in 2007-08 and was damaged goods the minute he landed in Philadelphia. To make matters worse, as a team the 76ers need to run to be successful, but now they’re stuck dumping the ball into the post. This signing was about as well thought out as The Tooth Fairy starring The Rock.

1. Gilbert Arenas (WSH) – $16.1M per / 5 years remaining

Who else could it be?  In less than four weeks Agent Zero has gone from goofy and overpaid to the most toxic, untradeable athlete in professional sports.  Unfortunately for Gil he would have topped this list even if he hadn’t lost his marbles and (possibly) the remaining $80 million on his contract.

Like Brand, Arenas suffered a major injury and opted out of the final year of his contract in order to sign his current deal (one in which Washington offered him $24 million more than the next highest bidder, the Warriors, and added an extra year).  Arenas thanked Washington by ignoring team doctors and rehabbing his knee on his own schedule. Predictably, Arenas then blamed the organization for “not looking out for him” after suffering a relapse in his recovery.

Even before the “incident,” this season was turning into a complete disaster. In the games he was actually healthy enough to play, Arenas hogged the ball, broke plays to launch contested 25-footers and almost single-handedly destroyed Caron Butler’s all-star numbers. If Washington can void Arenas’ contract, it may just be the luckiest break in the history of professional sports.

For The Steve Network, I’m Matt LaFleur.

(Steve Starr would like to point out that the opinions held by Matt Lafleur are his and his alone. He’d also like to point out that Matt LaFleur is not the son of Guy, and therefore, has never been dropped off at a hotel by his father to have sex with a minor. Glad we cleared that up.)