Will a reported offer around 10 million a year, will Charlie V be this years FA bust?

With the NBA Free Agency officially open as of last night/this morning at 12:00 am 12:00 pm Midnight we are bound to see at least one player signed to a massive contract that they don’t deserve. Or a player who we think deserves it but injuries or declining play change our opinion in time, ie. Grant Hill or Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. With Kelly Dwyer’s report this morning that Carlie V and Ben Gordon are likely to sign with the Pistons and take up the majority of their 20 million dollars in cap space there is a good chance this years FA bust is one of the two (or both). I am a big fan of both Villanueva and Gordon but at 10 mill a year for both one is bound to under perform.

In honor of the beginning of this year’s free agency I present to you the top 3 free agent fuck ups since 1995:

Honorable Mention: Michael Stewart: $24 million over 6 (Toronto ‘99), Tim Thomas: $67 million over 6 (Milwaukee ‘99), Brian Grant: $84 million over 7 (Miami ‘00),  Vin Baker $56 million over 6 (Seattle ‘97)

3) Shawn Kemp (Cleveland ‘97): Shawn “the Reign Man” Kemp was a dominant force along side Gary Payton in Seattle. The team made it to the Finals one year, only to lose to Jordan and the Bulls. Soon afterwords Payton was traded to the Bucks for Ray Allen and the franchise started rebuilding around Allen. Kemp was allowed to walk and the Cavs quickly swooped in with a ridiculous $53 million over 5 years. Kemp proceeded to struggle with his weight, ballooning to over 300 lbs. (he was under 250 in Seattle) and seemed to lack the effort he showed in Seattle. His points per game output increased but that is misguiding because he shot career lows in FG% and was the focus of a terrible Cavs offense. In the last 2 years of his contract when he earned around 12 million a year he averaged 6.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg.

2) Grant Hill (Orlando ‘00): Remember Grant Hill before all the injuries? The guy who threw the ball in to Laettner for his famous game winning shot in the NCAA Finals. The guy who averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds, and was the face of the Pistons franchise. The guy who was supposed to be a top 10 player in the league. Yeah, you remember him? Well that guy didn’t show up in Orlando. After signing a $93 million 7 year contract with the Pistons he was traded to Orlando for Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace. Hill was supposed to form a dominant duo with Tracy McGrady but played only 47 games in his first 4 years with the franchise. When he finally returned to the team he was  32 and over the top.

1) Ben Wallace (Chicago ‘06): Ben Wallace was part of the scraps that was traded to Detroit in the Hill trade but ended up being a pleasant surprise. In the 6 years he spent with the Pistons he quickly turned into a rebounding and defensive specialist. In his first year with the team he averaged 13.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks and he improved each season on his way to 4 NBA defensive player of the year awards in his 6 years in Detroit. So when he became a free agent in the summer of 2006 everyone wanted him, especially Chicago. They offered Ben Wallace a outrageously big $60 million contract over 4 years. In his first year with the team he was okay averaging 10.7 rpg and 2.0 bpg but never exceeded 10 and 2 again (thresholds considered good for those categories). Now Wallace is a $10 million+ a year bench player.

- KC Roberts