2) Nazr Mohammed, Detroit Pistons -- 4 years, $25 million
When Ben Wallace departed Detroit for Chicago, the Pistons thought they had their replacement in the 6-10 Mohammed. The former San Antonio big man struggled mightily averaging just 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game before being banished to the end of the bench after Chris Webber was signed in mid-January. With the emergence of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson in the Pistons' frontcourt, Mohammed is not likely to see much playing time next season either, but he'll still be collecting nearly $20 million for his (lack of) effort over the next three years.We're not the only one thinking that that was a bad deal. Read on for more in the article.
NBA: Find Professional Basketball News, Videos and Photos Online | NBCSports.com (http://www.nbcsports.com/nba/1785451/detail.html)

It's nice to see Flip Murray did not make the list. Sure he doesn't make much, but the writer still saw fit to attack the Bonzi signing, which was for a total of $5 million over 2 years, or in other words, PEANUTS.

It's nice to see Flip Murray did not make the list. Sure he doesn't make much, but the writer still saw fit to attack the Bonzi signing, which was for a total of $5 million over 2 years, or in other words, PEANUTS.

Yeah, but he cited Bonzi's locker room cancer not the contract.

I'd pick the Stojakovic signing as the worst.

-He'll be 34 by the end of that contract.

-Has been injury prone the last several years

-Relatively one dimensional shooter;cannot create his own shot, awful defender, not much of a passer

-Has a history of being terrible in the playoffs

-Still has 4 years, 54 million on his contract

NOR could have picked up a younger shooter for much less. Even if Stojakovic stays healthy, his production probably won't live up to his contract.

If we didn't sign Nazr it would have been Przybilla and he made the list too. And there were a lot of folks who wanted Mike James and he made the list too.


One way or another we were going to get stuck with a poor choice.

I told you guys we would regret that Nazr deal. We can't even unload that garbage 'tract cause no one wants the guy....ESPECIALLY at that money. Even if people thought we would have had to trade because RE: him and Flip butting heads, we could have hijacked a ton of talent from another team in return instead of getting nothing

I would have much rather had Ben at 4 years $52 Mil...which I think was entirely possible judging from the $48 we offered...and I seriously doubt we would have made this list. CHI front loaded his deal and if we were so worried about him "losing a step" as the ABB suggests, we could have done the same.

Just think...no one running away from Lebron James as he drives to the basket with the game on the line.

I would add Ben Wallace to the list.

Here is why.

They paid him $15.5M last year
His FG% went down by 57 bases points
His FT shooting fell to .408
Points down 12%
Rebounds down 5%
Blocks down 9%
Steals down 22%
Turnovers UP 22%
They fared better when he was on the bench than when he was on the floor (in terms of scoring more than the other team).
When he was on the floor, their FG% was 1.5% worse
When he was on the floor, their allowed FG% was 3.7% worse.They didn't get what they overpaid for. And they lost to us in the post season.

...And they lost to us in the post season.

Talk to me when CHI has a roster with the talent equivalent to Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Sheed, McDyess, Delfino, & Maxiell

That's like saying apples do a better job of being apples than oranges do. CHI doesn't have the full talent on their roster as we did. There's no way you can say they didn't get their money's worth because it's not like they had the same level of players. If they had the same level of players that we did, they would have beat our arses. We couldn't even beat CLE without Ben. At least WITH Ben we could be the CAVS.

And, you can talk about scoring more than the other team all you want, but when you can't stop the other team from scoring at will (a la Lebron going to the hole untouched) you will lose. He helps that team, just like he helped our team and for the most part, he was the reason they stayed in games with us because half their roster failed to show up in our series. If citing offensive numbers for a defensive player makes people feel better about it, so be it. The guy has NEVER been an offensive player in his career, but it's awfully convenient that offense is the determining factor for everyone claiming he's worthless. Last time I checked, Ben Wallace wasn't Ben Wallace because he avg. 20 ppg and shot 98% from the line.

I'd happily have his 13 MIL on our salary cap in order to see Lebron's layups and dunks tossed back down his throat.

Their defense was better when Ben Wallace was on the bench too. I thought I pointed that out.

I don't think the rest of the Bulls roster is as bad as you think it is. There was a pretty good debate going on heading into our series with Chicago about how we matched up with them position for position. And don't forget that even if we had a slight talent advantage, we were being coached by a moron... and we still won.

Low, I really like Ben Wallace. I root for the Bulls when they aren't playing the Pistons. But I think the Bulls would have been better off keeping Tyson Chandler for 2/3 the cost.

And I will admit that the Pistons may have been better with Ben... but I'm not sure we would have been good enough, and the salary ramifications are something to consider.

Their defense was better when Ben Wallace was on the bench too. I thought I pointed that out.

I don't think the rest of the Bulls roster is as bad as you think it is. There was a pretty good debate going on heading into our series with Chicago about how we matched up with them position for position. And don't forget that even if we had a slight talent advantage, we were being coached by a moron... and we still won.

Low, I really like Ben Wallace. I root for the Bulls when they aren't playing the Pistons. But I think the Bulls would have been better off keeping Tyson Chandler for 2/3 the cost.

And I will admit that the Pistons may have been better with Ben... but I'm not sure we would have been good enough, and the salary ramifications are something to consider.

I just don't see how it would have been a factor given our record with FA's and Drafties. We haven't done ourselves any favors with the the apparent "FA Money" we have and we just gave Billups the same kind of money without blinking, or without making any excuses of "losing a step," "being a malcontent," even though being cocky and having a lack of overall effort has been present for two seasons.

We've spend our FA money on cats like Half Price and Flip Jr...fantastic uses for all that FA money we saved ourselves. All I know is spare me the occasional Joe Smith, Flip Murray signings and keep someone who's proven their value around.

OK, can we get a moratorium on referring to Delfino as a key player?

Don't want to beat him up, but losing him will be like trading Ronald Dupree to Minnesota. Not a big deal.

Signing Nazr for MLE was a bad move but i don't know why he is not used. He deserves few minutes a game. He's not so bad. He played decent minutes for Spurs and he can do that for Pistons. It's Saunders' fault that he can't use him.

OK, can we get a moratorium on referring to Delfino as a key player?

Don't want to beat him up, but losing him will be like trading Ronald Dupree to Minnesota. Not a big deal.
:p_welldone:

OK, can we get a moratorium on referring to Delfino as a key player?

Don't want to beat him up, but losing him will be like trading Ronald Dupree to Minnesota. Not a big deal.
Okur wasn't a key player, it doesn't mean he couldn't have helped us. And Delfino was the only reason Tay didn't play 48 minutes a game.

The 1st round pick invested in Carlos is the only reason that Prince didn't play 48 minutes a game.

It's nice to see Flip Murray did not make the list. Sure he doesn't make much, but the writer still saw fit to attack the Bonzi signing, which was for a total of $5 million over 2 years, or in other words, PEANUTS.

I believe that he made $1.75 M last year and will make $1.89 M this year.

Hot Rod will make $1.6M this year

I think that Flip was worth $1.75 M last year which is only $150K more than a #15 pick.

Last year was Flips 5th in the league. Hot Rod's contract is scheduled to pay him $2.8 M in his 4th year.

For what we paid Flip he did okay. It just goes to show that you don't get a lot any more for under $2 M a year and maybe even under $3 M a year.

Putting it all in prospective it shows what a steal the Pistons got on AJ's new contract. If he turns out like a lot of us think he will I am pretty sure that the we will have to try and do an extension next summer or the summer after at the latest or risk losing him.

:hoops:

We'll hold Amir's Bird Rights. Unless someone wants to give him a Shard Lewis deal, re-signing Amir when Sheed is off the payroll should not be a problem.

We've spend our FA money on cats like Half Price and Flip Jr...fantastic uses for all that FA money we saved ourselves. All I know is spare me the occasional Joe Smith, Flip Murray signings and keep someone who's proven their value around.

That I can agree with. It sucks losing a player to save money when the money is then wasted. Especially if they don't even get playing time. You may as well fill the bench with cheap young players that you can mold, and who aren't disgruntled with sporadic minutes. Seems like that is the new direction.

Still, I think the Bulls are at a bit of a disadvantage going forward because of Ben's contract. He will be tough to trade in another year because the team that gets him will need to incorporate him properly. Not many coaches out there seem like they would be capable/ willing to do that.

Yes you have got to hand it to Joe D. to be able to get us to the ECF 5 years running and still continue to stay under the cap.

We should all be grateful that we ain't the Knicks. $45 M over the cap. Zeke was given an impossible job as President of Basketball Operations, inheriting a team greatly overpaid and under performing players, to say nothing of their negative locker room behavior.

Can you imagine how good the Pistons would be if Mr D. would let Joe go over the cap with no limitations except for Joe D.'s discretion.

:hoops:

Can you imagine how good the Pistons would be if Mr D. would let Joe go over the cap with no limitations except for Joe D.'s discretion.


It would be 5 Championships running.

Still, I think the Bulls are at a bit of a disadvantage going forward because of Ben's contract. He will be tough to trade in another year because the team that gets him will need to incorporate him properly. Not many coaches out there seem like they would be capable/ willing to do that.

See, I doubt that because A) Ben is in excellent physical condition no matter how many "steps" people keep finding that he lost. and B) They planned to have him for four years so they know they have at least that long to do one of two things. 1) Make a run by adding the final piece and compete while their core is young or 2) Have Wallace teach the young guys they have the hard work and determination it will take to overcome any deficiencies they may have skill wise which is very valuable judging from most of the rooks this league has seen of late.

After that, he's either going to go somewhere where he can coast with minimal minutes to another ring (a la mourning) or just call it quits and hang out at the bank. It's a win-win in my opinion.

Physical Condition- His hand pops out of socket and he has to manually re-attach it. It is such a problem that he holds the NBA record for lowest FT% EVER. The shooting arm is a pretty critical component of a basketball player's body.
Mentoring- He was fighting with the coach continuously about how he shouldn't have to comply with team rules (headband, pre-game music, and ankle taping). Bad example for the youth.It's definitely a win for Ben with the money and all, but even though he didn't agree with Flip, he's gotta miss playing for a coach who is too afraid to challenge him.

Ben did not make the list because his coach felt that he contributed to his team last year. Gotta remember his intangibles...................

Physical Condition- His hand pops out of socket and he has to manually re-attach it. It is such a problem that he holds the NBA record for lowest FT% EVER. The shooting arm is a pretty critical component of a basketball player's body.
Mentoring- He was fighting with the coach continuously about how he shouldn't have to comply with team rules (headband, pre-game music, and ankle taping). Bad example for the youth.It's definitely a win for Ben with the money and all, but even though he didn't agree with Flip, he's gotta miss playing for a coach who is too afraid to challenge him.

Having an issue at some point during the season is hardly equivalent to "fighting with the coach continuously." But, whatever...all I know is this team went further with Ben Wallace than it will ever go without him until it is revamped.

I'm just exaddurating. They actually got along great. Two compatible personalities with a common goal.

I'm just exaddurating. They actually got along great. Two compatible personalities with a common goal.

Now THAT'S exaggerating...

Maybe I should have said their personalities were TOO compatible. That would probably be more accurate.

Yin and Yin.

I bet Skiles would have a hard time working under Ben's rules.

1) lift weights from 6AM to 11AM each morning.
2) lift weights from 1PM to 5PM each afternoon.
3) don't talk about rules 1 and 2.

Maybe I should have said their personalities were TOO compatible. That would probably be more accurate.

Yin and Yin.

I bet Skiles would have a hard time working under Ben's rules.

1) lift weights from 6AM to 11AM each morning.
2) lift weights from 1PM to 5PM each afternoon.
3) don't talk about rules 1 and 2.

I wonder if that would have done anything for Skiles' hair loss...

Keep in mind that we lost a key player in Delfino this year.

Keep in mind that we lost a key player in Delfino this year.

:pound::pound::pound::pound::pound: