The 5 Most Disappointing $30M+ NBA Contracts in the Last 5 Years

When the Phoenix Suns acquired Bradley Beal in 2023, they imagined him forming a deadly scoring trio with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. But many doubted if the 2013 All-Rookie was a good fit for the Suns from the start, and so far this season, those concerns have proven valid.

Beal’s contract, a five-year, $251 million deal signed with the Washington Wizards in 2022 that will pay him over $50 million per year through 2026-27, has become a nightmare for the Suns. 

At the time, that pay agreement seemed reasonable given his performance level, but ever since then his play has declined dramatically. He is now no more than a volume scorer with little defensive value and an enormous salary.

Things are even worse in Phoenix than they were in Washington, as Beal is now playing out of position as a primary ballhandler. He has grown infamous for frequent turnovers and has struggled to score efficiently while also failing to rotate properly on defence. NBA fans believe Beal's worth around $8 million per year based on his on-court production, a tiny fraction of what he is actually being paid. 

That disparity alone should be the core problem for the Suns to contend with, but it is further compounded by Beal’s no-trade clause. He is one of only two players in the league (along with LeBron James) who holds a full no-trade clause that will follow him to any team he plays for in the future.

That gives Beal control over his fate that the Suns can’t afford, particularly given their current situation. They are already paying the luxury tax and have an ageing core of players, so there is little room for error in terms of salary-cap management.

The Suns took on Beal’s contract in hopes of contending for a title during Kevin Durant’s twilight years. However, it’s possible that deal has actually closed their championship window before it even opened, and that they’ll be paying for it for years to come.

2. Ben Simmons

In 2019, in a move that has proven to be one of the most disastrous in recent NBA history, the 76ers signed Ben Simmons to a 5-year, $177.2 million extension. At that point he was coming off of an All-NBA defensive season in which he showed the ability to play some of the best defence in the league, while also acting as one of the better passers. While his future looked bright and he had the potential to help any team contend for championships, things didn’t work out as planned.

Things started falling apart shortly after, as despite a commendable 2019-20 season, he had a disappointing showing during the playoffs, becoming infamous for passing up an open dunk in Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks during the 2021 playoffs. When looking back on his career with the 76ers, that play somewhat encapsulated his tenure with the team.

Ben Simmons became a bit of a cautionary tale during his final few seasons with the 76ers. While his playmaking and defence remained elite, he became a liability due to his shooting deficiencies. Not only did he struggle shooting from deep, but his mid-range and paint shots were inconsistent as well.

In the summer of 2021, Simmons’ relationship with the team began deteriorating to the point where both sides wanted to move on from one another. Simmons was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a deal that saw James Harden go to the 76ers. 

This, in retrospective hindsight, also turned out to be a move that worked out poorly for both teams, with neither being able to reach their full potential during Simmons’ first two seasons in Brooklyn. In fact, in the course of that period, he earned an All-Star selection but was limited to just 57 games due to injuries. 

While the 76ers suffered by missing out on crucial developmental years from some of their younger players, the Nets have been forced to pay him a fortune, with Simmons earning $40.3 million this season alone.

3. Zach LaVine

When Zach LaVine signed a max five-year deal worth $215 million with the Bulls in 2022, the move was perceived as a major development for the franchise. He was undoubtedly their best player at the time, with his electric scoring and sky-high leaping ability having earned him two consecutive All-Star berths. It seemed to many that LaVine was the cornerstone around whom the Bulls were building their future.

Just two years later, however, things look different. While the 28-year-old is still an elite scorer capable of putting up 40 points on any given night, weaknesses in his game that were always there but perhaps overshadowed by his scoring prowess have become more apparent. 

The contract has become an albatross in Chicago and around the league for a multitude of reasons:

• He doesn’t make enough plays for teammates or guard well enough. 
• He has knee issues. 
• He’s making more than $40 million per year through 2027. 
• Other teams have no interest in taking on that deal.

Thus the Bulls are stuck in a familiar NBA limbo. They have too much money committed to LaVine and others—DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević are also on big contracts—to blow things up and start over. But they’re also not good enough to think about contending for a championship. As a result, the Bulls have assembled the same team that was. 500 in 2022-23. 

In signing LaVine to that massive deal, Chicago committed a common mistake in today’s NBA: paying for a player's scoring as though it would automatically translate to wins. That just hasn’t happened. 

4. Jordan Poole

At the end of the 2021-2022 season, things were going great for Jordan Poole and the Golden State Warriors. Fresh off of winning the NBA championship, the Warriors had just proven that they could develop players as well as anybody, and Poole had become the latest example of this. 

Coming off of a huge year, he was rewarded with a 4-year, $140 million contract extension that included both guaranteed and incentivised money. Fast-forward less than a year, and things had changed dramatically.

A physical altercation with teammate Draymond Green at practice changed everything for Poole in the Warriors' pecking order, as he went from key contributor to persona non grata. He struggled mightily throughout the season, and Golden State ultimately paid Washington to take him off their hands, ending the Jordan Poole era in the Bay Area in embarrassing fashion.

It's not as though the change of scenery has helped Poole become the player many thought he'd be either. Through his first 31 games with the Wizards, he averaged 18.1 points on 39.4% shooting overall and 25.9% from three. In addition to struggling with his shot, he's also been criticised for poor shot selection, being a defensive liability, and generally making poor decisions while on the court.

His extension, which was agreed upon when still employed by the Warriors, contains incentive clauses that reward minutes played and deep postseason runs, but so far, he's missed out on these too. It's an expensive lesson for the Warriors but one that could benefit other teams going forward: beware of paying players based on short-term success.

5. Joel Embiid

It’s rare to find players like Joel Embiid who can totally change the game on both ends of the court, which explains his MVP recognition in 2023. But despite being amazing when he’s healthy, the 76ers big man hasn’t been able to feature in many games lately. Since being named MVP, Embiid has suited up for just 58 contests over two seasons—including only 19 last campaign.

That number is disturbing for the 76ers, who gave him a five-year, $213 million supermax contract in 2021 (later restructured to $196 million). In essence, the team is paying its star to take the court 82 times a year. Yet because of chronic knee problems, there’s now a good chance that Embiid will fail to reach half of that total for the third consecutive season. 

For the 76ers, there’s no more important player on their roster with Embiid standing as the key to everything they do. But he’s also become a very expensive wild card. Paying someone $200 million to play basketball makes sense only if you think they’ll dominate games on a regular basis and help you win a championship. But what if that person isn’t around enough for either of those things to happen? Then it’s not a smart investment but a gamble. And so far, at least, the 76ers have lost that bet big time.

A Pattern Written in Dollars

Across all these stories, there is a common thread: every team has committed the same sin by paying players based on their reputation, potential or how they think they will play in the future instead of the present. Whether it’s Bradley Beal getting a max contract with no outs, 

Ben Simmons being paid like an MVP candidate after a few playoff series, Zach LaVine getting paid like a true No. 1 scorer, Jordan Poole getting paid for potential that hasn’t (and may never) developed, or Joel Embiid getting paid without considering if his health will let him play at an elite level ever again – teams are getting burnt for overpaying based on expectations rather than the here and now.

With the severe luxury tax penalties in the modern NBA, every roster decision comes with significant financial implications. Because of this, front offices must carefully evaluate contracts to determine whether they make sense -- not just from a basketball standpoint, but from a financial one as well. 

The reality is simple yet harsh: for most clubs, expensive mistakes could prove damaging if they are not rectified. Thus, it's no longer tenable to give out massive deals based on hope alone. Gone are the days when NBA teams could splurge on a single contract without suffering long-term repercussions. The golden era of NBA spending is over; financial responsibility has become essential for success.