Too Much and Too Little

The world of professional sports is all about the green. The main job description of the professional athlete is to fulfill their contract by providing an entertaining and marketable performance that leads to winning. Some players do that, others don’t. The NBA is a business of millionaires and while some are overpaid, others are not paid enough. Terrell Owens and his agent are trying hard to make a case with the Philadelphia Eagles that Owens is underpaid. He’s arguably the best receiver in the NFL, and is not paid as one of the top. The big issue with him is that he’s trying to renegotiate his contract to get a new one. This is the NBA’s off-season and a lot of players are searching for new contracts too. Guys like Samuel Dalembert and Bobby Simmons have already cashed in this summer. Guys like Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry are still waiting to see what kind of deals they can drum up. When the summers over and the NBA regular season starts a whole slew of players will have new contracts to live up to and while some teams have paid a fair market value for a player, a lot of them will have overpaid. Here’s a list of players that are overpaid and underpaid in the NBA. These are all players playing beyond their rookie contracts, as it’s easy for rookies to be underpaid. So without further adieu here are some of the leagues best values and biggest mistakes.

→ Center
Underpaid: Shaq (Miami Heat)
It’s a tough sell to say a guy that just signed a deal paying him roughly $20 million a year over the next five years is underpaid, but Shaq is. He opted out of a thirty million dollar contract year this season to renegotiate the terms of his deal. They settled on $125 million over the next five years. Shaq called back the next day and said he wanted only $100 million over five years. Right there the Heat saved $35 million dollars. Combine that with the fact that anytime Shaq is on your team, you’re a championship contender, and it becomes pretty clear why the Diesel is a marketing gem and true NBA bargain.

Overpaid: Lorenzen Wright (Memphis Grizzlies)
Wright is a serviceable center with career averages of 9ppg and 7rpg. But, those numbers aren’t that great, and he did make $7 million dollars last season. He’s also never averaged more than a half hour a game of playing time. While Wright isn’t too obscenely overpaid, he does make several million more than he’s worth each year. He’s an average player making more than average money.

→Power Forward

Underpaid: Ben Wallace (Detroit Pistons)
Call him a forward; call him a center, either way he’s underpaid. Wallace is the heart and soul of a team that won the championship a year ago and finished second this past season. He’s a three time all-star and defensive player of the year. Wallace is all of this in a package that comes just slightly cheaper than Lorenzen Wright's. His contract is going to be up soon and when it is, you can bet he’ll be cashing in, but until then, Big Ben is one of the leagues best values.

Overpaid: Antonio Davis (Chicago Bulls)
AD is a guy every team would love to have. He works hard, plays hard and is a born leader. He’s been an all-star in the past but is past his prime. That being said, he’s never been worth the money he’s made over the last five years. Signing a max contract in 2000 ensured Davis that he’ll be financially secure for many years to come, but he never lived up to being a max contract player. That being said, he’ll probably get another sweet deal, not max contract big, but at least a few million, when his contract is up at the end of next season. He’s the kind of guy teams want, just not for 12 million a year.

→Small Forward
Underpaid: Ron Artest (Indiana Pacers)
When he’s not suspended for fighting, Artest is one of the top five players in the NBA. He earns roughly $6 million a year and is also one of the leagues best bargains. If Artest can stay in the game for a few seasons he’ll be in line to earn some serious money in the future, but right now, he’s a steal. He’s been defensive player of the year and an all-star. He’s been All-Defensive-Team and All-NBA. All Artest has to do is stay on the court next year and the Pacers will go deep into the playoffs making him arguably the leagues best deal.

Overpaid: Keith Van Horn (Dallas Mavericks)
Van Horn was once a legit second man on the Nets. Now he’s a legit seventh man for the Mavs, but he’s still bringing in $14.5 million a year. While he never played well enough to merit a max contract, he was nearly all the Nets had when they gave him one back in 2001. That’s no reason to overpay for a player, but they did, and he’s been one of the most overpaid players ever since. Mark Cuban doesn’t seem to mind taking on his salary for one more season to have a solid player coming off the bench, but that still doesn’t make him anything but a terrible buy.

→Shooting Guard
Underpaid: Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers)
This is simple. AI has been the most marketable face in the NBA. His jersey is everywhere. He constantly makes the Sixers a playoff team. Even at $14.6 million last season, Iverson is still underpaid. He’s a marketing machine and is as visible a face as any in all of sports. This makes him albeit a high paid, great value.

Overpaid: Allan Houston (New York Knicks)
This too, is simple. Even at his best Houston never put up better numbers than 3.6rpg, 3apg and 22.5ppg. He’s never even averaged 1 steal-per-game or a block-per-game. He’s only been an all-star twice and somehow pulled down $17.5 million last season. Thats way too much to pay for a player that can barely pass and baerly rebound. H20 was a decent scorer in his prime, but that time is over now. Now he’s a frequently injured player who alone earns more than Ben Wallace and Ron Artest combined. Houston is the single most overpaid player in the NBA.

→ Point Guard:

Underpaid: Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)
This is even simpler. Nash was the MVP this season. He earned $8.7 million this season. He led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals too. When was the last time an MVP earned that little money? In 1999 Karl Malone earned only $6.1 million for the season. Even if Nash never repeats his performance of last year, he was still an amazing pickup for the Suns, one that came at an amazing price.

Overpaid: Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks)
Johnson is an extremely talented player and has all the makings of a superstar. That being said, nobody in the league will call him a value after his contract pays him nearly $20 million next season. The Hawks signed a front loaded deal, so the numbers won’t climb from there, but they still have overpaid. If he turns into Penny in his prime and stays that way, then Johnson will be a good deal. Only time will tell with him, but at this point, it looks like the Hawks have overpaid. But then again, you can’t put a price on dignity, and by signing a premier free-agent, the Hawks have taken a step towards becoming a dignified franchise once again.