OPINION: NBA Contracts Are Officially Absurd

It’s beginning to get a little ridiculous, don’t you think?

Okay, yes, we know the NBA is going to extend its salary cap in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement, allowing for teams to overspend, but it has reached the point of absurdity.

I can understand Al Horford signing with the Boston Celtics for on a four-year $113 million deal. Is he worth it?

No. But how many of them are?

Horford is a pro, with the numbers to back it up. Now, he’s dipped a bit over the last two years as far as his point production (15.2 ppg in consecutive seasons) when compared to his best season in 2012-2013 where he averaged 17.4 points per, but he has always rebounded.

AL HORFORD CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Last season was Horford’s third-lowest rebounding average of his career (7.3 rpg). He has been in the league for nine seasons, made the All-Star team four times and helped the Atlanta Hawks to reach the postseason every year he’s been in the league.

So Horford I can stomach. But Ian Mahinmi, four years, $64 million?

C’mon, you’ve gotta be kidding me, right?

Mahinmi is an eight-year pro, who had, by far, his best campaign in 2015-2016, his walk year. The Frenchman averaged 9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest this past season with the Indiana Pacers, his first as a starter.

MARCIN GORTAT POSTERIZES IAN MAHINMI

Let’s assume for a second that Mahinmi will give you the same production over the life of his contract with the Wizards, the numbers still don’t add up.

$16 million per year for 9 and 7?

The issue is that Mahinmi’s best season prior to last year was in Dallas in 2011-2012, when he posted an eye-popping 5.8 ppg to go with a Barkley-like 4.7 rebounds per.

So who’s to say you’ll even get 9 and 7?

But Mahinmi is far from alone.

Forward Harrison Barnes is set to ink a four-year $94 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks once the moratorium has passed. Barnes is head and shoulders above Mahinmi as a player, so there is no reason to compare the two.

HARRISON BARNES SCORES 18 IN GAME 3 OF 2016 NBA FINALS

Barnes is still young, just 24 years old, but his best performance also came in his walk year. The 6-foot-8 stretch-three, poured in a less than powerful 11.7 ppg in Golden State’s record-setting season, coupled with 4.9 rebounds per contest.

Not exactly frightening numbers for opposing defenses, but hey, what the hell, he’s 24, let’s give him over $23 million per season and see how it turns out. What do you think?

How about Tyler Johnson?

Tyler Who?

Don’t be embarrassed, I had to look him up too.

Johnson is a guard from North Dakota who went undrafted in 2014. He played college ball at Fresno State where he averaged a whopping 10.6 points per game.

In his breakout year in Miami last season, he averaged 8.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

So you can obviously understand why the Brooklyn Nets offered him $50 million over four years.

THE BEST TYLER JOHNSON HIGHLIGHTS WE COULD FIND

 

Wait What? Tyler Who got what now?

That’s right times are changing.

The Bismack Biyombo’s of the world are signing contracts for $18 millie per season. I hear the Knicks signed a crossing guard to their D-league team because he looked like he could help on defense.

Jimmer Fredette is the next one to cash in.

Get real NBA. The money being spent on mid-level players could be put to better use elsewhere, expanding the league perhaps.

But with the new rules permitting logos directly on jerseys, maybe teams are still trying to figure out how to spend their expanded revenue streams.

Either way, it has been made abundantly clear: NBA contracts are absolutely absurd.