Cameron Payne s Underwhelming Bulls Stint Continues With D league Assignment
Every NBA Team's Biggest Mistake of Past Decade
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Even the NBA's model organizations make mistakes.
No franchise can nail every single draft pick for an entire decade—in this case, the relevant time frame extends back to the start of the 2008 offseason. Not a single one has hit a home run on each free-agent signing. All 30 teams have come out as losers on at least one trade.
Perfection is simply unattainable.
Fortunately, we have one luxury they didn't when making these ill-advised decisions: hindsight.
We don't have to worry about whether the choices made sense at the time. Only the results matter, and each of these 30 moves/signings/decisions/etc. set franchises back in their pursuit of expeditious rebuilds or boosts in the NBA standings.
Atlanta Hawks: Joe Johnson Gets All the Money
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The Atlanta Hawks have made plenty of mistakes over the last 10 years—the date range doesn't extend back quite far enough to bash drafting Marvin Williams over Chris Paul and Deron Williams—but nothing doomed the organization to perpetual mediocrity quite like the infamous Joe Johnson extension.
Even before Atlanta and the not-quite-a-star shooting guard agreed to terms on a six-year deal worth $124 million (astronomical at the time), it got bashed. Here's Kelly Dwyer for Yahoo Sports:
"It's never a good sign when, a full week before a player is set to put pen to paper to ink his most recent contract, that a good portion of the NBA community regards that contract as the worst it has ever seen.
"Not the worst trade, nor the worst draft selection. And we're not talking about consideringJoe Johnson's new contract with the Atlanta Hawks (as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski) as the worst contract we've ever seen a few years into the deal, or a few years after it expires in retrospect.
"We're feeling this way, right now. On July 1, seven days before he even gets to sign the deal. Worst contract, ever."
Maybe the Hawks didn't have a choice. They couldn't just let their best player walk for nothing, and he might not have agreed to a lesser deal. And yet, bringing him back for such a ginormous percentage of the cap doomed Atlanta to remain mired in the Eastern Conference's morass of mid-tier mediocrity.
It made the playoffs year in and year out, but the lack of financial flexibility lowered the ceiling and prevented the Hawks from even reaching the Eastern Conference Finals until he'd been traded away.
Boston Celtics: Trading Away Kendrick Perkins
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Don't take our word for it. Take Doc Rivers'.
"I think so because we needed the toughness," Rivers said to WEEI at a charity event about whether the trade was a mistake, as relayed by Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin. "The one thing we did by losing [Kendrick Perkins] was we removed Kevin [Garnett]'s protector. I didn't think it was a coincidence that, after Perk left, that Kevin got into all those little flicks with the other teams. Perk deflected all that."
Perkins, along with Nate Robinson, was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder toward the end of the 2010-11 season, and the incoming pieces never quite clicked in Boston. Jeff Green was disappointing and had unfortunate health issues, Nenad Krstic was never a game-changing piece and the first-round pick turned into...Fab Melo.
Boston was 41-14 (.745) at the time of the midseason swap. It went 15-12 (.556) after, then fell to the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs. The team's toughness and part of the defensive identity was missing, and the rest of the roster would break up shortly thereafter.
The C's had lost in the Finals during the previous season, and this knocked them off a trajectory that had them trending toward a legitimate shot at redemption.
Brooklyn Nets: Trading Every Draft Pick Ever
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Look, we're not even talking about the Gerald Wallace acquisition that cost the New Jersey Nets Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and the 2012 first-round pick that would become Damian Lillard. That was bad, but it still pales in comparison to the move that came to define ex-general manager Billy King's tenure.
Before the start of the 2013-14 season, King decided to make a series of massive moves to reinvigorate his franchise. Acquiring big names did lead to plenty of hype and feelings of legitimate excitement, but they were soon quelled when the team flopped out of the playoffs in the second round, lost in the first one year later and kept paying for the moves while engaging in perpetual lottery finishes from that point forward.
The Nets have already given quite a lot for Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, D.J. White and Kevin Garnett, who were all acquired from the Boston Celtics in the fateful (fatal?) move. They did also get 2017 first- and second-round selections from the C's, but the former was conveyed to the Los Angeles Lakers and became Kyle Kuzma, while the latter was used on Aleksandar Vezenkov.
King parted with Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries and the aforementioned Wallace in the deal. That's still not too bad yet. But there's a reason we used "have already given" rather than "gave" at the beginning of the previous paragraph.
He also dealt a 2014 first-round pick (James Young), a 2016 first-round pick (Jaylen Brown) and a 2017 first-round swap (Markelle Fultz, while Brooklyn moved down to No. 22 and selected Jarrett Allen). And it gets worse, because the Nets arestillon the hook for a 2018 first-rounder, which must be conveyed in unprotected fashion.
This move destroyed any hope of the Nets remaining competitive and is still preventing them from completing a rebuild. Even if they have the NBA's worst record during the upcoming season, they won't be rewarded with a top pick.
All for some aging former stars who never helped them win anything.
Charlotte Hornets: Trading Tyson Chandler
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During the 2009-10 season, Tyson Chandler and the Charlotte Bobcats actually won enough games to advance to the playoffs, though they were subsequently swept by Dwight Howard's Orlando magic.
The 27-year-old center was still moving toward his prime, averaging 6.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.3 steals and 1.1 blocks in limited run. Though his offense wasn't nearly what it would become later in his career, he remained a dominant rim-protecting force who helped make up for any perimeter disasters.
Then Charlotte traded him and Alexis Ajinca to the Dallas Mavericks for Matt Carroll, Erick Dampier, Eduardo Najera and some cash. In retrospect, that was...a bad idea.
While Chandler would blossom in Dallas and play an integral part on a title-winning squad before going to the New York Knicks and experiencing the best individual seasons of his career, the Bobcats (now the Hornets) would fall to the bottom of the NBA totem pole. They dropped to 34-48 as the new pieces failed to coalesce, had a dreadful 7-59 record during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign and only bounced back to 21-61 the following year.
Is it merely coincidental they had one of league history's most disastrous three-year stretches immediately after giving up talent for end-of-bench pieces? Probably not.
Chicago Bulls: Moving for Doug McDermott
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Perhaps the Jimmy Butler trade will eventually work its way into the featured spot, since the Chicago Bulls somehow managed to get only a nine-spot jump in the draft, Kris Dunn and a post-ACL-tear Zach LaVine for their bona fide superstar. Trading Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks for nothing more than cash deserves a (dis)honorable mention, as well.
But the Doug McDermott deal is the coup de grace of the GarPax era.
The Bulls were so convinced the Creighton small forward would become an NBA star that they had to move up in the draft to select him at No. 11. So they traded a 2015 second-rounder (Sir'Dominic Pointer) and two 2014 first-rounders to the Denver Nuggets for McDermott's services.
While those two selections became Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic—both of whom are now impact players for the Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively—McDermott is preparing to play for his third team in the last two years. He lasted just 2.5 seasons with the Bulls before he was dealt with Taj Gibson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for nothing more than Joffrey Lauvergne, Anthony Morrow and Cameron Payne.
In his 161 games with the Bulls, he averaged just 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists while playing woeful defense and slashing 44.5/39.8/84.9. Capable three-point shooting that must be used situationally is only worth so much.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Drafting Anthony Bennett
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Was there any doubt?
Arguably the worst NBA draft selection of all time, Anthony Bennett lasted just one year with the Cleveland Cavaliers before he was included as more of a throw-in than a central piece in the deal that sent Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. And that one year wasterrible.
Bennett played just 12.8 minutes per game over the course of 52 appearances, and that's maybe the most positive stat of all. He averaged 4.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.2 blocks while shooting 35.6 percent from the field and 24.5 percent from downtown, looking wholly overmatched on both ends of the floor.
Since then, Bennett has proved it might not just have been injuries and an out-of-shape frame that held him back in his initial location.
After failing to make the rebuilding Phoenix Suns' roster as a 24-year-old forward this offseason, he'll look for his fifth team in five years. He's displayed no sticking power with any organization, and it's telling that he's now floundered for two different squads looking more for upside than current production.
All that saves him from easily being the worst No. 1 pick ever is the lack of overall talent at the top of the 2013 NBA draft, which featured Victor Oladipo, Otto Porter Jr., Cody Zeller and Alex Len joining him as the first five selections. The Cavs were never going to reach for Giannis Antetokounmpo or Rudy Gobert, since they didn't have the luxury of hindsight.
But still, literally every other lottery pick—even Trey Burke—would've been an upgrade.
Dallas Mavericks: Trading for Lamar Odom
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How does it get worse than sendingJae Crowder,Jameer Nelson,Brandan Wright, a 2016 first-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Dwight Powell and Rajon Rondo, who was dismissed from the team midway through a playoff series shortly thereafter? Great question, but Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has the answer.
Per the Dallas Morning News, the business mogul himself considers the acquisition of Lamar Odom the worst move of his tenure with the team, and it's tough to argue.
The Los Angeles Lakers had previously tried to include the point forward in the vetoed deal for Chris Paul, and he wasn't going to stick on the roster after the move was rescinded. As he told ESPN.com's Jeff Caplan, "I felt a little disrespected. After being here for so long and going through so many things, I felt like they could have just told me and I probably would have accepted it. If someone is telling you that you can't be here or there's no more room for you, you got to understand that."
Los Angeles had to move him to a contender, and that was the Mavs.
Dallas sent a 2014 first-round pick away for his services, which really wasn't too lofty a price to play. But Odom's presence didn't exactly do wonders for a team coming off a championship, given his clashes with management, malcontent play, stints in the D League and midseason departure. Culture matters, after all.
Odom was supposed to be an integral part of the title defense, and opportunity cost is what pushes this deal ahead of the Rondo disaster.
Denver Nuggets: Firing George Karl
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As Tom Ley wrote for Deadspin immediately after news of George Karl's ouster broke, this decision during the 2013 offseason (important because of the award Ley is about to mention) was always a short-sighted one:
"The 2013 coach of the year, who was nine years into his tenure (the longest he had ever been with one team) is gone, because the Nuggets think they can find someone better. Maybe they can. But Karl seemed to be the perfect coach for this team. After undergoing a slew of roster makeovers, it looked like the Nuggets had finally assembled the ideal George Karl team: a deep roster full of long, athletic playmakers that could score in gobs, play defense, and run the floor. The Nuggets built a unique machine, and Karl was the ideal technician to make it hum. He successfully juggled a deep rotation that had no clear alpha dog, developed Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried—neither of whom was a lottery pick—into two of the NBA's top young players, and even got JaVale McGee to be something other than a laughingstock. Will Lionel Hollins or Brian Shaw be able to do the same?"
The answer to that final question proved a resounding "no."
Brian Shaw was a disaster, as his player-development skills didn't leave him qualified for the head coaching role. He squandered a roster with plenty of potential, failed to connect with his players—going so far as rapping pre-game scouting reports to try bonding with millennials under his supervision—and lasted less than two seasons before Melvin Hunt replaced him as an interim coach.
Oh, and their winning percentages in that 2014-15 campaign? Shaw (.339) lagged well behind Hunt (.435).
Michael Malone has since brought some stability to the sidelines, but it's hard to avoid imagining what this team might have done if it had treated Karl with more patience. Maybe he was difficult for upper management to get along with, but it's tough to blame him for postseason failures when so much bad injury luck was involved.
Detroit Pistons: Josh Smith Time
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How do you top handing Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon a combined 10 years and $96 million in a single offseason? You bring in Josh Smith to serve as a supersized small forward alongside Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond.
This one was doomed from the start. Everyone saw the potential for disaster stemming from playing a shot-happy but severely limited shooter next to a pair of paint-bound bigs. Well, everyone but the Detroit Pistons, who somehow decided to hand Smith a four-year deal worth $54 million in the summer of 2013.
Saying it didn't work would be a drastic understatement.
Smith averaged 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists during his first season in the Motor City, which seems fairly positive.Problem is, those numbers came while he shot 41.9 percent from the field, 26.4 percent from downtown (on 3.4 attempts per game) and 53.2 percent at the stripe. Since the NBA installed the three-point arc, no qualified scorer logging at least 16 points per game has posted an inferior true shooting percentage (.463). The closest contenders are 1988-89 Rex Chapman and 2002-03 Antoine Walker.
Midway through the follow-up campaign, Detroit decided it had dealt with enough. It used the stretch provision to waive him, thinking it was better to spread out his remaining salary and pay him slightly more than $5 million every year through 2019-20.
Seriously. In 2019-20, the Pistons will still owe Smith$5.4 million to not be on the team.
Golden State Warriors: Using Amnesty Clause on Charlie Bell
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From the stretch provision to the amnesty clause.
We'll let Tim Kawakami, writing for theMercury News, explain this one in detail, because it's fairly complicated:
"They didn't want to use the amnesty on Andris Biedrins, because they believed he was too young and played too valuable a position, and they weren't enthralled with paying him $9M over the next three seasons to see him play for somebody else.
"They sure didn't want to use the provision on David Lee, acquired only a year earlier and a useful player, despite his massive long-term salary commitment.
"So it was [Charlie] Bell, a journeyman acquired before the 2010-'11 season in the deal that sent [Corey] Maggette to Milwaukee.
"The GSWs could've held onto the provision for a later time, but they used it to clear Bell's one-year salary (of $4.1M), and cleaned out a little more room (by, among other things, releasing [Jeremy] Lin), they had exactly enough money to offer [DeAndre] Jordan a 4-year, $43M deal."
A relic of the old 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the amnesty provision allowed each team the opportunity to waive a single player between 2011-12 and 2015-16. It would still owe the departed contributor his agreed-upon salary, but that money wouldn't count toward the financial ledgers, enabling a team to clear up more space for free-agent signings and trades.
The Bell decision was remarkably short-sighted, and not just because the Los Angeles Clippers would match the Jordan offer while Lin would go on to break out with the New York Knicks. Biedrins remained a massive monetary liability for a few more years, and Bell, who wouldn't play again in the NBA, was already going to be a free agent at the end of the year.
Still, it's hard for the Warriors to be too mad at any prior decisions. They all led to the current era of dynastic dominance, even if in a roundabout way.
Houston Rockets: The Dwight Howard Experiment
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At this point, it just about goes without saying that Dwight Howard's time with the Houston Rockets was a disaster. He never meshed with James Harden, didn't play to his potential and produced far less impressive results than could've been expected when the franchise initially acquired him from the Los Angeles Lakers.
As Fran Blinebury detailed for NBA.com, the chemistry sunk to new lows between the two stars, ruining what was once a promising pairing:
"This time 12 months ago, the Houston locker room could hardly have been more toxic if someone had dropped a vial of sarin gas in the middle of the floor. Colorless, odorless, deadly.
"After every game, win or lose, Howard would sit in his chair on one side of the spacious, ultra-modern digs and to tap away on his phone and answer questions with soul-less platitudes. Harden, meanwhile, stood directly opposite him, singing and rapping loudly to himself, barely acknowledging that an outside world existed. Theirs was never a war of open hostility, but more like a junior high cafeteria where the students talk around each other."
We've seen what the Rockets have morphed into since he left—a three-happy offensive juggernaut with Clint Capela stepping into the role Howard once filled. And that makes it all the more disconcerting that they could only win two playoff series in his three years with the team.
Of course, this wasn't aterriblemistake, all things considered. So let that speak to the quality of the organization, since it hasn't given us too many more missteps from which we can choose.
Indiana Pacers: Paul George Trade
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The Indiana Pacers finally decided to trade Paul George and got back a staggering package: Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and a couple future first-rounders for their troubles.
Wait. No first-round picks were included? They only got second-rounders for a legitimate superstar? No? They didn't even get a single draft pick???
Well, that changes things.
Nothing about this trade made sense, even though George's impending status as a flight risk to the Los Angeles Lakers was driving down his price tag. The Pacers still surely could've held out and gotten more than a disappointing second-year big who could fall behind Myles Turner, Thaddeus Young and T.J. Leaf in this year's pecking order and a plateauing combo guard on a slightly unpalatable contract.
Of course, the youngsters still have time to prove this evaluation incorrect. But unless they experience massive growth that helps Indiana expedite the new rebuild, this will go down not just as the franchise's biggest mistake in the last decade, but one of the most lopsided deals ever.
Lest we forget, George is still a superstar in his prime. Those don't grow on trees.
Los Angeles Clippers: Offloading Baron Davis
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The Los Angeles Clippers still owed a 31-year-old Baron Davis $13.9 million for 2011-12 (and a bit more for the end of the 2010-11 season), so they decided to move on by dealing him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unfortunately, that salary was so much of an albatross that they had to give up a bit more just to send him away.
And by "a bit," I mean "a lot."
While the Clippers received Jamario Moon and Mo Williams from their trading partner, Cleveland wound up with Davis and an unprotected 2011 first-round pick. We'll come back to that.
Moon played just 14.6 minutes per game in 19 appearances before leaving in free agency—really, he didn't bring enough to the table and was allowed to walk, failing to sign another deal until the 2012-13 season was nearly over. Williams struggled immensely on defense for 1.5 years until LAC traded him to the Utah Jazz.
And that first-round pick? Cleveland won the lottery with it and rejoiced that no protections were included. It selected Kyrie Irving, who would blossom into one of the league's best point guards to rub some salt in the Clippers' wounds.
All this to avoid paying Davis.
Los Angeles Lakers: Trading for Steve Nash
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Did Steve Nash play even a single minute for the Los Angeles Lakers before back issues forced him into a premature retirement?
Obviously, that's slightly hyperbolic. Nash suited up in purple and gold during two different seasons, averaging 29.8 minutes per game over the course of 60 total appearances. But he only played 61 total playoff minutes, and that's the bigger issue.
This point guard was supposed to be the final piece in the Lakers' turnaround, teaming up with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard to bring another championship to Los Angeles. Instead, injuries and a lack of chemistry with his new teammates prevented him from making any sort of noticeable impact.
Essentially, the Lake Show parted with a 2013 first-round pick and two second-round selections so that Nash could largely collect game checks while watching from the bench. Even when he played, he was less productive than he'd been since first bursting onto the scene with the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, woefully overmatched on defense and unable to get to his preferred spots within the half-court set.
How bad did it get?
Nash even had to post an explanation on Facebook of why he was videoed swinging a golf club when his back wasn't working well enough to play basketball. That's when you know a deal has hit rock bottom.
Memphis Grizzlies: Drafting Hasheem Thabeet
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Midway through Hasheem Thabeet's rookie season with the Memphis Grizzlies, he was sent down to the D League's Dakota Wizards. Even though the organization had selected him at No. 2 in the 2009 NBA draft, he'd already made it painfully obvious that he wasn't ready to contribute to an NBA organization.
One day short of a year after that demotion, Memphis traded him, a first-round pick and DeMarre Carroll to the Houston Rockets for Shane Battier and Ish Smith, jumpstarting a journey that would see Thabeet suit up for Houston, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder before failing to get any more NBA chances after the 2013-14 season.
Thabeet never found success anywhere, and his biggest claim to fame was becoming the highest draft pick to get sent down to the sport's minor league.
During his 1.5 years on Beale Street, he could only average 2.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.1 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.9 blocks while shooting 55.3 percent from the field. The defense was solid, though a lack of mobility forced him to remain around the rim. Even his strong field-goal percentage stemmed from an inability to do anything but finish plays at the tin. He just never exhibited growth or a distinct set of skills—aside from his unteachable 7'3" frame, of course.
Making matters worse, James Harden came off the board one spot behind Thabeet. Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan and Ricky Rubio also went in the lottery.
Miami Heat: Drafting Michael Beasley
- Chicago Bulls took Derrick Rose
- Miami Heat took Michael Beasley
- Minnesota Timberwolves took O.J. Mayo (and traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies)
- Seattle SuperSonics took Russell Westbrook
- Memphis Grizzlies took Kevin Love (and traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves)
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Hearken back to the 2008 NBA draft with us—as far back as we're allowed to go in this analysis of the last decade.
Here were the top five picks:
Two of those are not like the others.
At the time, Westbrook and Love didn't seem like they were at the same level as the top two selections. Debates were about whether Beasley should go No. 1 over the Bulls' future MVP, not whether he should drop below any other players in this particular prospect pageant.
"I hate to break it to what looked like a very sober, perhaps disappointed Pat Riley, but the Heat won this draft. They walked away with arguably the best player in the draft..." Chad Ford wrote for ESPN.com following the selection. "Beasley has a chance to be a superstar. With him and Dwyane Wade, the Heat have a terrific future."
Whoops!
Again, thank you, hindsight.
Milwaukee Bucks: J.J. Redick Rental
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Drafting Joe Alexander with the No. 8 pick of the 2008 NBA draft was a close second, but no move has been worse than the quick rental of sharpshooter J.J. Redick.
The Milwaukee Bucks needed another scorer who could space the floor for Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings during the 2012-13 season. So, teetering on the brink of playoff contention with a 26-27 record, they pulled off a deadline deal for this particular Duke product.
It kind of worked. Milwaukee did advance to the postseason after going 12-17 during the rest of the year, but it was quickly swept by the juggernaut known as the Big Three-era Miami Heat. So at least it got to play 86 games rather than the minimum of 82?
That brief experience, the one that followed Jennings' bold prediction about the Bucks winning in a six-contest series, just wasn't worth the price tag.
Redick was essentially traded for two second-round picks during the offseason that followed, which means they turned 20-year-old Tobias Harris (still under contract for two more seasons) into a playoff sweep that didn't even follow a winning record, as well as the selections that became Marcus Paige and Lamar Patterson. That's far less than an ideal outcome, especially as Harris continues to develop with the Detroit Pistons and morph into a fringe top-50 player.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Vintage David Kahn in the 2009 NBA Draft
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Four point guards were expected to become lottery picks during the 2009 NBA draft, and the Minnesota Timberwolves emerged with two of them. Unfortunately, those were Ricky Rubio (No. 5) and Jonny Flynn (No. 6), both of whom were taken just prior to Stephen Curry (No. 7) and Brandon Jennings (No. 10).
How differently might 'Wolves history have unfolded if they'd had access to the greatest shooter in NBA history, pairing him with Kevin Love to form an incredible offensive duo almost guaranteed to end the playoff drought still plaguing the Land of 10,000 Lakes? Maybe Curry wouldn't have turned into the world-beating shooter he's become with the Golden State Warriors, but even a version hobbled by ankle injuries surely would've outperformed Flynn.
The Syracuse product lasted just three seasons in the NBA, and he only played 134 games for Minnesota. During that brief time, he averaged 10.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 0.9 steals while struggling with turnovers, playing dismal defense and slashing 40.5/34.3/81.7.
Instead of becoming a permanent fixture in the starting lineup, he lost that responsibility during his sophomore season and began bouncing between the big league roster and the D League affiliate before the 'Wolves traded him to the Houston Rockets. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly as successful as the first unanimous MVP in NBA history, who was taken just one pick after Flynn strode across the stage and shook the commissioner's hand.
New Orleans Pelicans: Doubling Down on Eric Gordon
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This might have gone in an entirely different direction if Eric Gordon's knees hadn't betrayed him, but injuries sapped some of his prime years and prevented him from fully reaching the potential that once had him looking like a potential superstar. Back during his Los Angeles Clippers day, Gordon's ability totorment defenses both with his perimeter shooting and drives to the cup seemed the future of the shooting guard position.
But the former Hoosier logged just nine games during his first season with the New Orleans Hornets, and he hasn't been the same since. Unable to finish plays around the hoop and more hesitant to attack off the dribble, every part of his output declined—from his scoring average to his three-point percentage, since defenders could play him tighter on the edges of half-court sets.
Still, that didn't stop New Orleans from doubling down during the 2012 offseason.
It first acquired him from the Clippers as the centerpiece of the Chris Paul trade in December 2011. Then, with just nine NOLA games under his belt, it watched as he flirted with the Phoenix Suns and signed an offer sheet to leave. His team matched the contract and bring him back for four years and $58 million. Bleacher Report's Dan Favale, a few years later, called it the NBA's worst contract.
"There was a little bit of dysfunction," Gordon said during the All-Star break in 2016-17, per NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan. "My role changed a lot. If I would have had the same freedom that I had [in Houston], it would have been a different result. It's always been a little dysfunctional, not just for me...everybody."
It also might have been different if he'd never gotten hurt. But he did, and here we are.
New York Knicks: Carmelo Anthony Trade
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The New York Knicks have done plenty wrong in the last decade. They've handed out terrible contracts (Tim Hardaway Jr. might join that club), made inadvisable trades (hello, Andrea Bargnani) and engaged in strange hirings (what's up, Phil Jackson?). Owner James Dolan alone has provided us with plenty of material.
But especially after Carmelo Anthony departed for the Oklahoma City Thunder and brought back nothing more than Doug McDermott, Enes Kanter and a second-round pick, the original move to acquire him rises to the forefront of this conversation.
Anthony's time in the Big Apple wasn't terrible. He led the team on a fun playoff run in 2012-13 while pacing the league in scoring, made numerous All-Star appearances and returned relevancy to the downtrodden organization. But he also operated on a bloated salary, may have hindered the growth of Kristaps Porzingis and ultimately didn't win anything notable for his hometown franchise.
Now, let's look back at what New York had to give up in order to get him.
Everyone knew the Denver Nuggets basically had to trade Anthony, which should have lessened their leverage. But they still made off like bandits in the three-team trade that featured their superstar departing. And the Knicks, who also landed Renaldo Balkman, Chauncey Billups, Corey Brewer, Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams and a 2016 first-round pick with which they'd later part, gave up too much.
Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, cash, a 2012 second-rounder (Quincy Miller), a 2013 second-rounder (Romero Osby), a 2014 first-rounder (Dario Saric) and a 2016 first-round swap (Jamal Murray) went to the Nuggets. Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph and cash went to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Not only did many of those players blossom, but the Knicks effectively destroyed their bargaining power throughout the foreseeable future because of the Stepien Rule. Already owing first-rounders through 2016, they couldn't add significant draft assets to any proposed trade in an attempt to put more stars around Anthony.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Goodbye, James Harden
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This is a groundbreaking revelation. No one in the history of Al Gore's internet has ever questioned the Oklahoma City Thunder's decision to trade James Harden, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to the Houston Rockets for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin a 2013 first-round pick (Steven Adams), a 2013 second-round pick (Alex Abrines) and a 2014 first-round pick (Mitch McGary).
LOL JK. Everyone has.
ESPN.com's Jeremias Engelmann called this deal one of the most lopsided of the 21st century. Bill Simmons, dating back to his Grantland days, has talked about the move so frequently that Kevin Durant himself told him to "just let it go!" Just this offseason,Sports Illustrated listed the swap among the 13 worst trades in league history.
My take here isn't exactly new, but that doesn't make it incorrect.
Adams and Abrines developing into useful pieces helps mitigate some of the damage, but it doesn't mean the Thunder had to essentially choose Serge Ibaka over Harden. Legitimate MVP candidates are hard to come by, and OKC once had three players under team control who'd eventually develop into that category before willingly parting with one of them.
Orlando Magic: Hiring Rob Hennigan
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Rebuilds are supposed to lead toward growth into a competitive squad. They're not supposed to segue into yet another rebuild.
Yet thanks to Rob Hennigan's lack of vision during his time as the Orlando Magic general manager, that's exactly what's happening to this Florida-based franchise. It's still trying to figure out which members of the roster are core pieces and how it can avoid squandering Aaron Gordon's talent, since almost nothing that happened under Hennigan's supervision worked out.
Most notable was the move for Serge Ibaka, who lasted less than a full seasonin Orlando after coming aboard for Ersan Ilyasova, Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. That betrayed the vision deficit, since Orlando was attempting to feature too many towering frontcourt players in a league that was going small.
Hennigan was saddled with a bad situation when he was hired back in 2012, as his first move involved trading away disgruntled franchise centerpiece Dwight Howard. But the bad deals that followed and lackluster top draft picks piled up, along with—more importantly—constant losses.
"We appreciate Rob's efforts to rebuild the team, but feel we have not made any discernible improvement over the last few years specifically," Orlando CEO Alex Martins said in an April statement, per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. "It's time for different leadership in basketball operations. We certainly wish Rob and his family well."
Philadelphia 76ers: Everything About Andrew Bynum
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Andrew Bynum was supposed to be a franchise-changing piece for the Philadelphia 76ers. And in some ways, he was, since acquiring him led directly into the "Trust the Process" era.
Coming off the first All-Star appearance of his career, Bynum entered the 2012 offseason as a coveted commodity. He'd just averaged an efficient 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds, and he'd made an impact during the 2012 playoffs with his defensive excellence even as he struggled to find his shooting stroke.
But the Los Angeles Lakers moved to replace him with Dwight Howard, so they included him in a four-team deal that sent Howard to Hollywood and Bynum to the 76ers.
Let's focus on the Philly side of the deal, though. The Sixers essentially gave up Andre Iguodala (back when he was an All-Star in the Eastern Conference), Maurice Harkless, Nikola Vucevic and a 2017 first-round pick (De'Aaron Fox) for Bynum and Jason Richardson. Looking back, that's just about laughable, even if it seemed like they were receiving a bona fide star who could help them build upon the previous year's postseason exit in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Instead, it was a disaster.
Bynum made headlines for his hairstyles and bowling habits while sitting out with knee injuries, and he signed a free-agent deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers the next summer. He never played a single minute for Philadelphia.
Phoenix Suns: Giving Up on Isaiah Thomas
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Isaiah Thomas made the All-Star roster during each of the last two years, then served as one of the key pieces in a trade for Kyrie freaking Irving. He was named second-team All-NBA for his work in the final year of his Boston Celtics tenure, put up some of the greatest fourth-quarter scoring figures in league history and finished fifth in the MVP race, behind only Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James.
Looking back, it's hard to believe the C's got him for practically nothing.
That's not hyperbolic.
Back in 2014-15, Phoenix quickly grew frustrated with its three-headed monster at point guard, since it was already clear Thomas, Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe couldn't all coexist. But it still should've seen the immense offensive potential of the diminutive floor general averaging 21.4 points and 5.2 assists per 36 minutes while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from downtown and 87.2 percent at the stripe.
Focus on those numbers for a moment. Since the start of 2012-13, only 16 different qualified players have averaged at least 21 points and five dimes per 36 minutes with a true shooting percentage no worse than 57 percent. They're almost universally All-Stars, with Mike Conley, Goran Dragic and Nikola Jokic serving as the lone exceptions.
And yet, the Suns parted with a player on the verge of joining that club, getting back nothing more than Marcus Thornton and the 2016 first-round pick that eventually turned into Skal Labissiere.
Portland Trail Blazers: Brandon Roy Extension
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This is different than the Chicago Bulls signing Derrick Rose to a massive extension and then watching as his knee got shredded. This isn't the same as Chris Bosh failing to make good on his big deal with the Miami Heat because of blood clots that forced him into an early retirement.
When the Portland Trail Blazers handed Brandon Roy a five-year maximum extension in 2009, they already knew about his knee concerns.
All the way back in 2006, DraftExpress wrote the following in his pre-draft scouting report:
"The biggest issue for Roy has to do with his bad knee, which has bothered him for quite some time now. It really hampered him early last season, and a couple of surgeries may have robbed him of a bit of explosiveness. While Roy probably isn't in the same category of a Kennedy Winston, you can bet that his knee will get lots of attention from NBA teams."
Before the start of the 2008-09 campaign, Roy had gone under the knife to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Though the franchise ultimately couldn't know the degenerative issue would grow so cumbersome in such a quick time, warning signs werethere. They assumed some risk, and it backfired.
The 2-guard had one more All-Star campaign left in the tank, then he played just 47 games in 2010-11. After missing all of 2011-12 and embarking upon a failed comeback effort with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012-13, he hung up the sneakers for good.
Sacramento Kings: Not Getting More for DeMarcus Cousins
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Here's CBS Sports' Matt Moore with a harsh assessment and big fat "F" for the Sacramento Kings in their DeMarcus Cousins trade:
" Never make trade calls over hurricanes at Patty O'Brien's in the quarter, friends.
The central idea behind this deal is the Kings' belief that Hield is a top-five pick talent. Hield is 23 years old. Cousins is 26. You're banking a lot on a 23-year-old rookie who's had a very mediocre rookie season overall. Even if you believed that Hield is the next coming of a late-bloomer Kobe Bryant, you could have at least gotten Jrue Holiday. Or multiple picks. The surrender cobra is streaking across all of Sacramento tonight like a virus. This is a disaster."
Kevin Pelton was a bit more generous for ESPN.com. He gave the Kings a "D" for their (being free with this term) haul: "If Sacramento was truly desperate to be rid of Cousins' toxic presence as soon as possible, I can't blame the organization. But if this trade enables the Kings to turn the page, it doesn't do a whole lot more than that to help them navigate a new rebuilding path."
Peruse the interwebs, and you'll see plenty of similar assessments.
Getting just Buddy Hield (in the midst of a disappointing rookie season with the New Orleans Pelicans), Langston Galloway (gone after the rest of the season), Tyreke Evans (gone after the rest of the season) a 2017 first-round pick (Zach Collins) and a 2017 second-rounder (Frank Mason) was, in two pointed words, a pathetic return.
Somehow, even against the backdrop of plentiful ill-advised decisions by this organization in the past decade, this one stands out.
San Antonio Spurs: Re-Signing Richard Jefferson
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Shockingly, the San Antonio Spurs haven't made many mistakes during the past decade. Finding one that had lasting repercussions is an impossible task, since they've largely kept the same core together, engaged in approximately zero blockbuster trades and rarely made top picks in any given draft.
So we're left turning to an ill-advised free-agency decision, and none were worse than re-signing Richard Jefferson to a four-year pact worth $39 million.
Plenty of analysts were shocked after the move, which came on the heels of the small forward opting out of a $15 million agreement. As Kelly Dwyer wrote for Yahoo Sports, "The Spurs did this guy a favor. He turned 30 earlier this summer and has seen his per-minute contributions decline two years in a row. He could bounce back for a season or even two, and the Spurs need someone at his position. But nearly eight-figures-a-year 'need'? What a summer."
Dwyer, and many others, were right.
Jefferson decided to make every three-pointer he looked at in the following 2010-11 campaign, but the rest of his game just kept declining. Then, less than 1.5 years into the new contract, the Spurs shipped him, T.J. Ford and a first-round pick (eventually Festus Ezeli) to the Golden State Warriors for Stephen Jackson.
Like we said, there weren't many lasting repercussions. But it was still a rare misstep for this model organization.
Toronto Raptors: Signing Hedo Turkoglu
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At the time, this didn't seem like an atrocious move. Five years and $53 million was a massive contract, but Hedo Turkoglu was coming off a stellar season with the Orlando Magic, one in which he averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the NBA's runners-up. Plus, the Toronto Raptors were trying to do everything possible to convince Chris Bosh he should stay north of the border, and that included spending heaps of money to bring aboard more talent.
But disaster ensued.
Not only did Bosh still jet to the Miami Heat one summer later, but Turkoglu struggled immensely. He was no longer functioning as a point forward, but rather ceding touches to Jose Calderon. His effort levels waned noticeably, leading to across-the-board statistical declines and some of the worst defense of his lengthy career. He was even benched and fined for enjoying a night on the town after missing a game against the Denver Nuggets with a stomach virus.
"When the circumstances turned against me, I lost my enthusiasm for this city," Turkoglu said two months later in an interview with a Turkish television station, per ESPN.com. "My lawyers have talked to the front office recently. Honestly, I do not want to go back to Toronto. My lawyers talked to Mr. [Bryan] Colangelo and I hope that they will come up with a solution soon."
He got his wish, and the Raptors traded him away for Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones as their nightmarish 2010 offseason began to unfold. After going 40-42 during Turkoglu's lone season with the team, they'd fall to just 22 victories during the following year.
Utah Jazz: Not Giving Gordon Hayward More Money
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The Utah Jazz haven't done much wrong in quite some time, though some members of the passionate fanbase will likely still be peeved that Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap were allowed to walk in free agency rather than get traded at previous deadlines.
But it's Gordon Hayward's departure to the Boston Celtics that stands out as the biggest mistake. Not because the Jazz did anything wrong this summer; they did everything possible to retain him and just couldn't make as appealing a proposal as the Beantown representatives.
They just could've secured his services even earlier, back when he was a restricted free agent in the summer of 2014. ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon explains:
"The Jazz could have given Hayward a five-year maximum contract then. In that case, as it turns out, his salary in Utah would have been a relative bargain through the 2018-19 season. Instead, the Jazz allowed Hayward to explore the market and opted to match the max offer he received from Charlotte, a four-year deal that included a player option for this season."
Admittedly, giving him the full max would've been risky at the time. Hayward was a nice piece, but he wasn't the full-fledged star he's become since signing that offer sheet with Charlotte.
But we have the benefit of retrospective analysis here, and that's rather easily the biggest mistake Utah has made while building a home-grown contender.
Washington Wizards: The Gilbert Arenas Contract
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"I'm No. 1? Of all time? Well, it could be...I'm not arguing that it's not," Gilbert Arenas admitted to TMZ Sports after learning that his contract with the Washington Wizards had been deemed the worst in NBA history.
Arguing against that status is tough. Arenas was handed $111 million over the course of six years during the 2008 offseason, and he played in just 55 more games for the Wiz before they shipped him to the Orlando Magic and took back another albatross contract (Rashard Lewis) in return.
Even saying "he played in just 55 more games" might be overselling his contributions.
Arenas appeared in only two games during the 2008-09 season, dealing with constant injuries to various parts of his body. One year later, he was suspended for the final 50 games of the year after he and Javaris Crittenton got into an argument over a card game that spiraled into both bringing guns to the team's practice facility days later. Arenas pled guilty to asingle felony count of carrying a pistol without a license and spent 30 days in a halfway house.
He'd eventually return from the suspension, but his shot didn't before he was dealt for Lewis. Given the chemistry concerns, declining production and off-court problems, the Wizards were done with him and the worst contract they've ever handed out.
AdamFromalcovers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter:@fromal09.
Unless otherwise indicated, all stats fromBasketball Reference,NBA.com,NBA MathorESPN.com.
Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2738135-every-nba-teams-biggest-mistake-of-past-decade
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