Remember When Michael Jordan Made This $120 Million Mistake?
The NBA season is 47 days away from September 1, so there is still plenty of time to reflect on past seasons before the new one picks up.
Free agency is always fun to look back on, because some teams make incredible deals, while others lock themselves into contracts that hinder their franchise for years to come.
In the summer of 2016, NBA teams had a lot more money to spend based on the cap increase around the league.
Therefore, teams splurged their extra cash on a lot of players that were not worth the kinds of contracts that they were getting.
One of those players was Nicolas Batum.
Before the 2015-16 season, Batum was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Charlotte Hornets, and with the Hornets he averaged a very solid 14.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.
Following the season, the Hornets re-signed him (27-years-old at the time) to a five-year, $120 million deal, which turned out to not be a very smart decision.
When they made the deal, he was a really good player who was entering his prime.
After the contract, he played four more seasons for the Hornets.
During the 2017 season he was still a very productive player, and averaged 15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
However, the following three seasons his points per game went down dramatically each year.
In 2020, he only averaged 3.6 points per game, and the team waived him before the start of the 2020-21 season.
The Hornets are still paying him nearly $9 million per season even though he is now on the Los Angeles Clippers.
At the end of next season, they will finally be off the hook from paying him.
