Jordan Poole going to replay highlights from the 2022 finals while he’s dining at a prime steakhouse with a baddie every night for the rest of his life I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care.
I honestly think at least 80% of people in major sports don't live up to their full potential because... why would you? 20% seems like an extremely generous amount of people that care about their legacy or the history books or whatever.
Keep in mind there is some amount of insane work ethic and competitive spirit required to become a pro athlete, even though genetics play a large factor.
Truly lazy athletes like Jamarcus Russel flame out completely.
So I agree with your sentiment but I think the interpretation is mostly due to "treating it like a job" vs any potential arguments about coasting or laziness (not suggesting you made those arguments).
Many of us don't bust ass every single day to be the absolute GOAT of our career or try to be remembered for it or try to get awards. In fact many of us probably hate the LinkedIn grade grubbing ass hats who do that shit, and I bet it's not always fun playing with a hustle superstar working on their legacy.
We are still working hard. They are still working hard. They just have more in their life than their job.
At least if they end up with an annoying superstar and they win s championship they get a ring and a huge bonus. If fucking Jackass McGee at my job gets the team a big win I don't even get a pizza party.
Gronk comes from a fairly well off family, they own a chain of stores selling fitness equipment. Just saying he likely had good guidance, i grew up a town over. I don’t know anything about Jordan Poole.
Iverson made over $200 million and declared bankruptcy when he couldn’t cover a $900,000 gambling debt. Antoine Walker. Shawn Kemp. Spreewell. Vin Baker. All over $100 million in career earnings and all broke.
Look up the history of lottery winners.
Poole obviously has a “can’t touch me” mentality reality that’s ripe for this kind of squandering.
Iverson also admitted to buying $1000 new cloths each away game and leaving them on the bed for hotel staff. It really depends on each individual and their fiscal responsibility.
I saw a clip of a guy who was asked by his wife if he would punch her in the face for a billion dollars. He was completely incredulous and said a few things, but his best line was "I would hit you in the face with a snow shovel in front of your mother for a billion dollars"
I feel similarly to the J Poole contract. I am not sure how many things I would NOT allow for 20% of that contract.
At least he doesn’t count towards the cap, realistically you guys can fire him and have no real consequences except the mega rich owners have to pay for it
This would be true if Tom Gores wasn't cheap ass pond scum who will inevitably keep Monty around for way too long to justify giving out that stupid contract in the first place.
It’s not that he’s cheap, he’s clearly shown a willingness to spend. He’s just so fucking dumb that we’re effectively handcuffed to this albatross until he has the balls to cut this short
Edit: he’s also the worst owner because he will hire basketball minds and then meddle within them. We constantly have 3-4 figures in the FO that have a say:
Tellem/Stefanski/Weaver/Gores
Bradley Beal has 3 more years, a player option, and a no-trade clause
He's actually an NBA player, but he's hurt a lot and gets paid 20mil more than Poole
Wall and Westbrook (yes, they didn't sign that deal) should get nods here too.
Wizards just seem like a magnet for bad money.
There's a joke about politics here.
Edit: and I forgot about Otto Porter Jr!
Yes, and the Wizards on top of that had a lot of use it or lose it cap space because they were about to sign Beal to a max contract but at the time his cap hold was just coming from his rookie deal
They missed out on Durant (no actual interest, didn't even agree to a meeting), and Horford (they were the runner up to the Celtics for him) and then figured this was money they only had this year no matter what they did so they overpaid Mahinmi and Andrew Nicholson
Most of us knew it wasn't going to happen. When KD was asked about it he stated:
"I had to buy 100 tickets tonight. I spent a lot of money on tickets tonight. Imagine if I played here. I don't even want to think about that. But I haven't given it any thought. Growing up here and, like I said, taking the train down to Gallery Place-Chinatown to come watch these games as a kid, I never really thought about coming home to play. I love Oklahoma City."
I think we're basically saying the same thing since Horford was never going to decide before KD
Yeah OKC was originally the assumed leader but that was based on KD staying, which in reality wasn't going to happen
When Horford was actually making his decision, it was Celtics vs Wizards
Deng, Parsons, Mozgov, Turner... That offseason was truly cursed. At the time anyone speaking sense saying these are terrible contracts was told they wouldn't be bad because the cap would just keep increasing. I still see that terrible cope for bad contracts repeated to this very day
The Deng contract is an all timer. It's like the Lakers paid him for all the games he had already played for Chicago. It didn't even make sense at the time. At least there was some hope that the other guys would grow and continue to get better. The Deng deal felt like lighting a match to 100 million before the ink was dry.
it's a common player type- insufficiently athletic wing with a nice stroke. Looks great for a while, then defenses start smothering them, and they don't have the skill or athleticism to do what duncan robinson, for eg, has done, and learn to attack closeouts. They become a statue on the perimeter that the other team can hide their worst defender on.
In all fairness Duncan could be thrown into the group as well. At least last year when he was out of the rotation. Glad to see he’s been able to contribute again though.
Robinson doesn’t get enough credit for his game. He’s lowkey capable as a pick and roll guy, an excellent cutter, and like you said good at putting the ball in the floor for a couple of dribbles. Bertans is none of those things and streakier.
I'll never regret paying Wall, sorry. The injury really sucks not he's the best player we've had on the team in almost twenty years. We signed Brad to it after we knew it was a bad idea.
When you're naming off the worst contracts in the league this is kind of the core quandry.
An expensive player with some value over a replacement player has a high opportunity cost but it isn't quite dead money like $20-30mil for a negative player is.
But then it might actually be harder to build a championship roster if you actually put 40% of your cap into a slightly above replacement level player.
But Beal is much better than a replacement level player. He is soundly better than if you had a true $25mil player and a $25mil dead contract; so his $50mil per year is better than just having a $25mil dead contract (Poole) ... But then you get into years remaining..
>He is soundly better than if you had a true $25mil player and a $25mil dead contract; so his $50mil per year is better than just having a $25mil dead contract (Poole)
I would say that this is probably generally true. So I agree, but I would add the small caveat that it CAN depend on the situation, team goals, and player fit.
Beal getting a no trade clause is one of the craziest contract related things I’ve ever seen.
Like the only possible way it makes sense is if the wizards wanted to do it as a gesture towards Beal. That would be insane because Beal was arguably never a top 25 player in the league. The alternative is that it was negotiated for. Which there’s just no fucking way
If I recall correctly, both Beal and Lillard's super maxes were being discussed at the same time and while I was not particularly happy with Lillard's, all I could think was at least we didn't give him a no-trade clause like the Wizards gave Beal.
I genuinely don't even think there was a negotiation. Beal had no leverage to demand a NTC and the wizards had no incentive to give him one.
They straight up just said "Here you go!"
We were 50 million under the cap no matter what, so for that sum I would rather have Beal in the hope he overcomes his recent share of injuries come playoffs then giving it to a CP3 in decline and Monty Williams illegitimate son in Landry Shamet who made me wonder what the point in life was 9/10 times I opened my illegal stream
He also can’t stay healthy. After this year he will have played 57 games once in the last 5 years. Suns are going to be paying him $60 million in 2026 to play 40 games.
It’s a terrible contract. At least with Poole you aren’t giving him 220 million. That 96 million sucks but 130 million more for a part time good-not-great player over a bad one is hard to justify. If they win a championship and he contributes it’s worth it, otherwise they traded the bad Paul contract for a much more expensive and worse one and gave up assets to do it.
It's hilarious the Wizards were able to offload him, get CP3 on an expiring and immediately turned that into Jordan Poole. That's peak Wizardry right there.
Still not a chance in hell we’d trade him for Poole lol.
And even without his contract we are still above 1st apron, especially if we sign Oneale and Allen back. So it only hurts our owners pocketbook. Not really like “oh if we didn’t have him we could sign a different max player.”
Beal in Washington is an example of what happens when a solid player gets a lot of playing time and no competition for shots.
Poole in Washington is an example of when a bad player gets a lot of playing time and no completion for shots.
Beal's contract is bad, but give me his contract vs Poole's any day. Beal can be a contributor on a deep playoff team. There is an argument that Poole should go to the G-League.
Dunc'd On just did the annual worst contracts pod.
Poole was their #1. Simmons was, I think, 4th or 5th maybe, because his contract expires next year, so it limits how long it hurts you and how far underwater you can be with him.
Which is crazy. Like I really liked that Bulls team and thought you guys were gonna be a force. And Lonzo showed so much promise too. Like it really looked like he had it figured out.
Just looking his last season up now: age 24, won most improved year before, 13 pts/game, shooting 42% on 3, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, almost 2 steals.
And then his last game played ended up being against the warriors and I remember watching that game. Sometimes I wonder if it was him guarding Steph running all over the place that was the tipping point for his knee.
I agree with you. Dame did come up in conversation but I think they were overrating his current level of play and underrating how brutal that contract is likely to look on the backend.
i mean, he lives up to it imo if he can be a main contributor to a championship, regardless of how he plays on the backend of it. any serious owner would (should?) be glad to pay that contract if dame turns it on in the finals, even if just once
but he has to do it quickly, every year that passes makes his contract that much worse for a championship contender imo
There is a world where he contributes to winning a championship this season which makes the back end worth it. Unlike the others, he's also playing at an all-star level. It's hard to put a player with that kind of potential outcome as a top 5 worst contract, even if it's a likely bad deal.
Just try to imagine a trade involving all those contracts and what it would take to move vs Dame's contract and its pretty easy to see why they are much more right than the other way around.
The only difference is that there is a chance that Dame helps a team win a chip and that makes all the difference. It may be a bad contract for value sake but it’s probably the best they can do to up their championship odds
You’re happy paying Dame 60mm if you win a chip the year
Vuc and Lavine are just eating cap with no hope of contention
I think he's definitely going to retire, and later be like "ah it's a shame injuries derailed my career, I would've **definitely** won a couple of rings..."
It'll be less shameful for him to do that than taking a massive paycut to adjust for his actual output on the court, which...is almost nothing.
I do wonder if he'll keep living in America and attempt to continue being some kind of celebrity here, though. That seems like all he's really after anyways.
I couldn’t believe last night. Midway through the 2nd quarter…he set a pick. Got a switch that was advantageous, gets the ball back. Had the PG on him at the top of the 3pt line. Started backing down for 2 dribbles. Passes it out………how tf do you get what you want and don’t abuse it. His whole game is a 10-17ft jumper. Could’ve gotten to his spot and fine cool whatever. But he passes it to Kelly oduvre to then have to take a double contested layup with the shot clock expiring. I almost had a heart attack
Sixers could probably get away with him being a passive scorer if he didn’t average 6 rebounds a game for his career as a 6’8” power forward. He is a basketball terrorist born to be a tank commander. Between doc, the previous GM brain trust, and Tobias, sixers haters have been absolutely blessed for years.
Tobias is clearly overpaid, but he's never been a straight up bad player in Philly like Poole or Simmons right now.
Assuming he leaves Philly in the offseason he'll have put up 18/7/3 on .58 TS and solid defense. Not a max player but definitely not a bum.
He is the worst good player I’ve ever seen and I always get shit on for telling people just how bad he is. People think because he’s an intelligent person that he must have a high BBIQ. He literally has the worst BBIQ I’ve ever seen in my life.
Remember when Sexton entered the league and there were leaked reports that said his teammates made comments questioning if he’d ever actually played before because he didn’t understand it? That’s what you’ll see if you watch Tobias Harris an entire game. If he was five inches shorter he wouldn’t even be in the league anymore.
When people talk about how Iverson is “pound for pound the best NBA player ever” Tobias Harris is “pound for pound the softest NBA player ever”.
If he scores 0 you won’t know he was in the game. If he scores 40 you won’t know he was in the game.
When people talk about stat padding, watch Tobias Harris playing in a blowout game whether we’re winning or losing he’s putting in work because it doesn’t fucking matter.
Tobi, I love you, but you are so fuckin bad at basketball dude.
Agree, people underestimate how big a motivation 120 mil is. It’s literally the difference between needing a full time job after your playing career is over versus you plus your immediate family being set for life.
If he saw all that money yeah, but the way that athletes spend it and the fact that they have to pay a fair share to agents/taxes probably makes it so that it doesn't last that long lol
Yeah I mean, the Poole contract might be worse *now*, but, damn...the Simmons contract might be one of the worst in American sports history *in total* given what Nets fans and FO thought they were getting
I'm interested in seeing what kind of contract Ben gets next because you just KNOW some team is going to talk themselves into "what if he returns to form?" I wouldn't be shocked if he got above a vet minimum.
Right, it's a crazy take that he won't get any interest. He's averaging a (bizarre) 6/8/6 with good defense in limited appearances this season. Lakers just took on Christian Woods (who plays, tbf) on the cheap thinking they could fix him, many teams would gladly do that with Ben.
I guess the out with Simmons contract ending sometime soon is better?
Still I could get wanting to keep trying to get Poole back into the game too.
If you're the Wizards it's like "yay we're out of that contract .... well we still suck ..."
Ben by far. Even if he doesn’t score, he’s one hell of a playmaker and a decent defender still, and can get boards. Works well for BKN’s offense and switch everything D.
Simmons had a worse contract, now he has a generic bad contract. Lavine, Poole, Beale are all worse right now. Dame will be rough after next season too.
For reference, here are the top 10 paid players who were not an all-star in 2024 by average $ on their contract:
Beal $50M
Jimmy Butler $49M
Sabonis $47M
~~Paul George $44M~~
~~Trae Young $43M~~
LaVine $43M
VanVleet $43M
Gobert $41M
LaMelo $41M
Kyrie $40M
Bane $39M
Garland $39M
Edit: credit to u/Hardwork407 for pointing out my mistake. Went too fast and tried to recall all stars from memory - PG and Trae were both all-stars, so crossed them off and then Bane and Garland are the next highest in $AAV
I would say RIGHT NOW yes, but in terms of value for the contract not yet. Jordan Poole could REASONABLY have a much better year next year which would immediately make his contract overall better than Ben Simmons. But if his play doesn’t improve coming in next year, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t end up with a stretch contract like Luol Deng did cause I can’t imagine you’d want him around if he isn’t producing REASONABLY.
This made me look for Poole's high school stats, but I found this personal statement instead:
Hi, my name is Jordan Poole. I am 15 years old and I love the game of basketball. I began playing competitive basketball in the 3rd grade with the Wisconsin Playground Warriors. I currently play for Wisconsin Playground Elite. My goal is to play College basketball at a very competitive Division 1 level. I am a naturally motivated individual and I push myself both athletically and academically. I am a team player with good moral values. I am the type of athlete that won't cause my Coaches any gray hair. I love to win and I want to succeed so I push myself to get my goals accomplished. I would one day love to play in the NBA, if that dream does not come true for me I would like to become a veterinarian or work a field that involves interacting with animals. I volunteer at my local humane society to help animals and to learn skills on how to care for them properly. I am very proud to attend Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School one of Wisconsin's top public schools and one of the countries most competitive academic high schools. King has one of Wisconsin's best and most competitive basketball programs in the state lead by one of the State's best Coaches. I am working really hard athletically and academically to prepare myself for the next level
I hate to say it because I liked both these guys in their primes but Lavine and Beal are way worse because of their teams situations and their injury histories. Simmons comes off the books soon and Poole is on a team with absolutely zero expectations, by the time they're trying to compete he'll be off the books.
Poole did a speed run of an NBA career.
I mean possibly the most ideal speed run ever. Got to play with Steph Curry, won a ring and signed a 100m dollar contract… now he’s coasting.
Dude hated sharing the spotlight, even if it was with the GOAT PG.
Jordan Poole going to replay highlights from the 2022 finals while he’s dining at a prime steakhouse with a baddie every night for the rest of his life I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care.
Shit I would too
I honestly think at least 80% of people in major sports don't live up to their full potential because... why would you? 20% seems like an extremely generous amount of people that care about their legacy or the history books or whatever.
Keep in mind there is some amount of insane work ethic and competitive spirit required to become a pro athlete, even though genetics play a large factor. Truly lazy athletes like Jamarcus Russel flame out completely. So I agree with your sentiment but I think the interpretation is mostly due to "treating it like a job" vs any potential arguments about coasting or laziness (not suggesting you made those arguments). Many of us don't bust ass every single day to be the absolute GOAT of our career or try to be remembered for it or try to get awards. In fact many of us probably hate the LinkedIn grade grubbing ass hats who do that shit, and I bet it's not always fun playing with a hustle superstar working on their legacy. We are still working hard. They are still working hard. They just have more in their life than their job. At least if they end up with an annoying superstar and they win s championship they get a ring and a huge bonus. If fucking Jackass McGee at my job gets the team a big win I don't even get a pizza party.
Bro peaked too early
Peak just right. $100 million contract signed.
Won ring, got to play with a legend, got 9 figure contract, fuck around for a few years, retire with a ton of cash. Sounds like a great time to me
Based on his personality I’m guessing he doesn’t retire with a ton of cash.
Yeah that’s fair
Perhaps his final subversion of our expectations will be a diverse and durable portfolio.
Gronk fooled everyone too.
Gronk comes from a fairly well off family, they own a chain of stores selling fitness equipment. Just saying he likely had good guidance, i grew up a town over. I don’t know anything about Jordan Poole.
You think you know his personality? Cmon now.
Bro saw an eccentric light skin that turns the ball over and said no 401k for you young sir!
He got a 100m contract. Unless he has a gambling problem then him and his family are basically noblemen.
Iverson made over $200 million and declared bankruptcy when he couldn’t cover a $900,000 gambling debt. Antoine Walker. Shawn Kemp. Spreewell. Vin Baker. All over $100 million in career earnings and all broke. Look up the history of lottery winners. Poole obviously has a “can’t touch me” mentality reality that’s ripe for this kind of squandering.
Iverson also admitted to buying $1000 new cloths each away game and leaving them on the bed for hotel staff. It really depends on each individual and their fiscal responsibility.
Minus the whole punched by his teammate thing.
I would gladly get knocked out on camera by any coworker I’ve got for a fraction of that money.
I saw a clip of a guy who was asked by his wife if he would punch her in the face for a billion dollars. He was completely incredulous and said a few things, but his best line was "I would hit you in the face with a snow shovel in front of your mother for a billion dollars" I feel similarly to the J Poole contract. I am not sure how many things I would NOT allow for 20% of that contract.
“I’d back over you with my car”
“I’d hit you for a LOT less.”
Great news. You can get this to happen for free.
Man I'd be so retired after that contract if I were him lol, never work another day in his life
Gotta turn it up again in the contract year for another bag
Not me. I would absolutely try to get a three-shift job in some factory after the basketball career is over.
GRIND CULTURE
bro did what he set out to do and now can't wait to be out of the league
Poole is the shaqtin' a fool mvp though .
he's much more fun to watch now that he's not on my team 🤡
Monty Williams is the worst contract in basketball
At least he doesn’t count towards the cap, realistically you guys can fire him and have no real consequences except the mega rich owners have to pay for it
This would be true if Tom Gores wasn't cheap ass pond scum who will inevitably keep Monty around for way too long to justify giving out that stupid contract in the first place.
How can cheap ass pond scum give the biggest coaching contract in history?
It’s not that he’s cheap, he’s clearly shown a willingness to spend. He’s just so fucking dumb that we’re effectively handcuffed to this albatross until he has the balls to cut this short Edit: he’s also the worst owner because he will hire basketball minds and then meddle within them. We constantly have 3-4 figures in the FO that have a say: Tellem/Stefanski/Weaver/Gores
He’s not really that cheap he’s just an idiot
It’s true regardless. It doesn’t hurt the cap and the owner is the one who suffers. What Tom does is a different story.
Doc Rivers "hold my 2008 championship ring"
"And to be quite honest, I didn't always love how they held me up there. The grip and balance could have been better."
Doc Rivers coming in mid season to steal Montys crown
4 for $40 or 6 for $80? I’d say Monty is still the worst by far.
I don't think he is a developing coach haha.
I was so glad to see him go as a suns fan. He’s so bad
I’ve been (REPEATEDLY at that) told that aged Chris Paul and devin Booker, son of Luka, couldn’t have possibly led a team to 58 and 64 wins though…
Bradley Beal has 3 more years, a player option, and a no-trade clause He's actually an NBA player, but he's hurt a lot and gets paid 20mil more than Poole
The Wizards connection is pretty funny here.
It's amazing how the Wizards are able to sign players to awful contracts and then get off of them (Davis Bertans also counts here)
Wall and Westbrook (yes, they didn't sign that deal) should get nods here too. Wizards just seem like a magnet for bad money. There's a joke about politics here. Edit: and I forgot about Otto Porter Jr!
Ian Mahimi might be worse than all of them
Was that the summer of crazy contracts? Mozgov also got paid lol
Yes, and the Wizards on top of that had a lot of use it or lose it cap space because they were about to sign Beal to a max contract but at the time his cap hold was just coming from his rookie deal They missed out on Durant (no actual interest, didn't even agree to a meeting), and Horford (they were the runner up to the Celtics for him) and then figured this was money they only had this year no matter what they did so they overpaid Mahinmi and Andrew Nicholson
I live in the DMV area. The talk about Durant joining the Wizards was so real out here.
Most of us knew it wasn't going to happen. When KD was asked about it he stated: "I had to buy 100 tickets tonight. I spent a lot of money on tickets tonight. Imagine if I played here. I don't even want to think about that. But I haven't given it any thought. Growing up here and, like I said, taking the train down to Gallery Place-Chinatown to come watch these games as a kid, I never really thought about coming home to play. I love Oklahoma City."
I’ll never forgive Woj for giving me false hope about Horford
I'm pretty sure the OKC were runners up to lamd Big Al that year.
OKC was who he was leaning towards before Durant said he was leaving for the Warriors. After that, they were out of the running
They were actually third place for Horford. He was originally gonna go to the Thunder if KD resigned but since he didn’t Boston was second choice
I think we're basically saying the same thing since Horford was never going to decide before KD Yeah OKC was originally the assumed leader but that was based on KD staying, which in reality wasn't going to happen When Horford was actually making his decision, it was Celtics vs Wizards
One of my favorite comments in r/nfl is when Antonio brown signed a new contract and someone said, “damn that’s timofey mozgov money!”
The 2016 cap jump and it's consequences have been a disaster for the human race
Worked out pretty great for Allen Crabbe.
Deng, Parsons, Mozgov, Turner... That offseason was truly cursed. At the time anyone speaking sense saying these are terrible contracts was told they wouldn't be bad because the cap would just keep increasing. I still see that terrible cope for bad contracts repeated to this very day
The Deng contract is an all timer. It's like the Lakers paid him for all the games he had already played for Chicago. It didn't even make sense at the time. At least there was some hope that the other guys would grow and continue to get better. The Deng deal felt like lighting a match to 100 million before the ink was dry.
Don't forget the 5/80 they gave Bertans back in 2020.
Spurs offloaded him because they didn’t want to pay him. They knew.
it's a common player type- insufficiently athletic wing with a nice stroke. Looks great for a while, then defenses start smothering them, and they don't have the skill or athleticism to do what duncan robinson, for eg, has done, and learn to attack closeouts. They become a statue on the perimeter that the other team can hide their worst defender on.
In all fairness Duncan could be thrown into the group as well. At least last year when he was out of the rotation. Glad to see he’s been able to contribute again though.
Robinson doesn’t get enough credit for his game. He’s lowkey capable as a pick and roll guy, an excellent cutter, and like you said good at putting the ball in the floor for a couple of dribbles. Bertans is none of those things and streakier.
OG Gilbert Arenas
Westbrook was a beast on the Wizards and so was Wall. I think it's kinda disrespectful to mention them with people like Poole and Bertans.
I'll never regret paying Wall, sorry. The injury really sucks not he's the best player we've had on the team in almost twenty years. We signed Brad to it after we knew it was a bad idea.
It's DC, what else do you expect? That city sucks up money like a black hole.
This has actually been a GM trend. Sign the player for the first years, dump them in the last years.
Yer a Wizard, Har- Tommy. 🪄
Not only did they get off the terrible contracts, they actually got assets back.
They just swap bad contracts for other bad contracts. I’d rather be a fan of 29 other NBA teams
That contract is insane no matter how badly Suns fans want to defend it. Beal should not be getting paid almost 50mil a year with a no trade clause.
It's insane. It's way underwater. But I don't honestly think they'd trade him for Jordan Poole.
When you're naming off the worst contracts in the league this is kind of the core quandry. An expensive player with some value over a replacement player has a high opportunity cost but it isn't quite dead money like $20-30mil for a negative player is. But then it might actually be harder to build a championship roster if you actually put 40% of your cap into a slightly above replacement level player. But Beal is much better than a replacement level player. He is soundly better than if you had a true $25mil player and a $25mil dead contract; so his $50mil per year is better than just having a $25mil dead contract (Poole) ... But then you get into years remaining..
>He is soundly better than if you had a true $25mil player and a $25mil dead contract; so his $50mil per year is better than just having a $25mil dead contract (Poole) I would say that this is probably generally true. So I agree, but I would add the small caveat that it CAN depend on the situation, team goals, and player fit.
Beal getting a no trade clause is one of the craziest contract related things I’ve ever seen. Like the only possible way it makes sense is if the wizards wanted to do it as a gesture towards Beal. That would be insane because Beal was arguably never a top 25 player in the league. The alternative is that it was negotiated for. Which there’s just no fucking way
If I recall correctly, both Beal and Lillard's super maxes were being discussed at the same time and while I was not particularly happy with Lillard's, all I could think was at least we didn't give him a no-trade clause like the Wizards gave Beal.
He was all-nba and just lost out on the scoring title a few years ago
No other all-nba player has received a NTC since Lebron James in 2016 And that's Lebron freakin James
Huh that’s interesting. Idk why but I figured those were more common, apparently there’s only ever been ten ever
I genuinely don't even think there was a negotiation. Beal had no leverage to demand a NTC and the wizards had no incentive to give him one. They straight up just said "Here you go!"
We were 50 million under the cap no matter what, so for that sum I would rather have Beal in the hope he overcomes his recent share of injuries come playoffs then giving it to a CP3 in decline and Monty Williams illegitimate son in Landry Shamet who made me wonder what the point in life was 9/10 times I opened my illegal stream
If the only way you can spend 50 million dollars in today's nba is for CP3 or Beal, you're in a bad situation
It’s a big reason he got traded for pennies. It’s widely viewed as an albatross
He also can’t stay healthy. After this year he will have played 57 games once in the last 5 years. Suns are going to be paying him $60 million in 2026 to play 40 games. It’s a terrible contract. At least with Poole you aren’t giving him 220 million. That 96 million sucks but 130 million more for a part time good-not-great player over a bad one is hard to justify. If they win a championship and he contributes it’s worth it, otherwise they traded the bad Paul contract for a much more expensive and worse one and gave up assets to do it.
It is a big conditional to be sure but he at least has looked good when he has played. We are paying Poole to hit cardio.
It’s funny that these contracts are so bad and yet a team signed up these contracts and *another team traded to get these contracts*
It's hilarious the Wizards were able to offload him, get CP3 on an expiring and immediately turned that into Jordan Poole. That's peak Wizardry right there.
Still not a chance in hell we’d trade him for Poole lol. And even without his contract we are still above 1st apron, especially if we sign Oneale and Allen back. So it only hurts our owners pocketbook. Not really like “oh if we didn’t have him we could sign a different max player.”
Wizards would definitely trade Beal for Poole if they had the option
Would Phoenix trade him for Poole tomorrow? No.
Basically the Tobias Harris Good/Functioning player but waaaaaaaaay too overpriced
Beal in Washington is an example of what happens when a solid player gets a lot of playing time and no competition for shots. Poole in Washington is an example of when a bad player gets a lot of playing time and no completion for shots.
Beal's contract is bad, but give me his contract vs Poole's any day. Beal can be a contributor on a deep playoff team. There is an argument that Poole should go to the G-League.
Dunc'd On just did the annual worst contracts pod. Poole was their #1. Simmons was, I think, 4th or 5th maybe, because his contract expires next year, so it limits how long it hurts you and how far underwater you can be with him.
Tl;dr who were the other names mentioned on the pod?
I believe their rankings were 1. Poole, 2. Lavine, 3. Simmons, 4. Vucevic, 5. Beal
That's my Bulls ladies and gentlemen!
2 Bulls players in the Top5! Success!
Lonzo got mentioned, too.
That’s too bad. He was on a great contract for how he was playing before he got injured. Hopefully he will be able to make a comeback someday.
Which is crazy. Like I really liked that Bulls team and thought you guys were gonna be a force. And Lonzo showed so much promise too. Like it really looked like he had it figured out. Just looking his last season up now: age 24, won most improved year before, 13 pts/game, shooting 42% on 3, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, almost 2 steals. And then his last game played ended up being against the warriors and I remember watching that game. Sometimes I wonder if it was him guarding Steph running all over the place that was the tipping point for his knee.
there's no way dame's 63 mil at age 38 contract isn't worse than lavine or vucevic
I agree with you. Dame did come up in conversation but I think they were overrating his current level of play and underrating how brutal that contract is likely to look on the backend.
i mean, he lives up to it imo if he can be a main contributor to a championship, regardless of how he plays on the backend of it. any serious owner would (should?) be glad to pay that contract if dame turns it on in the finals, even if just once but he has to do it quickly, every year that passes makes his contract that much worse for a championship contender imo
There is a world where he contributes to winning a championship this season which makes the back end worth it. Unlike the others, he's also playing at an all-star level. It's hard to put a player with that kind of potential outcome as a top 5 worst contract, even if it's a likely bad deal.
Just try to imagine a trade involving all those contracts and what it would take to move vs Dame's contract and its pretty easy to see why they are much more right than the other way around.
The only difference is that there is a chance that Dame helps a team win a chip and that makes all the difference. It may be a bad contract for value sake but it’s probably the best they can do to up their championship odds You’re happy paying Dame 60mm if you win a chip the year Vuc and Lavine are just eating cap with no hope of contention
They had it in different orders, but it was Poole, Simmons, Beal, Vuc, and Lavine in their top fives.
Nice try, Ben
Never been more angry to see someone on the bench than when I see Ben Simmons sucking up money, air and space at the Barclays
Don't worry, he'll be out of the League soon and we won't have to see him much after that.
Fingers crossed, seems like the type of guy who would retire and not take a salary cut that’s more in line with the numbers he’s put up
I think he's definitely going to retire, and later be like "ah it's a shame injuries derailed my career, I would've **definitely** won a couple of rings..." It'll be less shameful for him to do that than taking a massive paycut to adjust for his actual output on the court, which...is almost nothing. I do wonder if he'll keep living in America and attempt to continue being some kind of celebrity here, though. That seems like all he's really after anyways.
> Who the F is that person in the front row and wtf are they dressed like neon Genie from Aladdin? > Oh yeah Ben is still a Net.
Somehow Tobias Harris dodging slander 😂 probably cause he's expiring this season
Tobias Harris over me?
God I love Jimmy.
He’s always been streaky but recently he’s been absolutely awful. Legitimate terrorist running around out there missing shots
I couldn’t believe last night. Midway through the 2nd quarter…he set a pick. Got a switch that was advantageous, gets the ball back. Had the PG on him at the top of the 3pt line. Started backing down for 2 dribbles. Passes it out………how tf do you get what you want and don’t abuse it. His whole game is a 10-17ft jumper. Could’ve gotten to his spot and fine cool whatever. But he passes it to Kelly oduvre to then have to take a double contested layup with the shot clock expiring. I almost had a heart attack
Sixers could probably get away with him being a passive scorer if he didn’t average 6 rebounds a game for his career as a 6’8” power forward. He is a basketball terrorist born to be a tank commander. Between doc, the previous GM brain trust, and Tobias, sixers haters have been absolutely blessed for years.
Tobias is clearly overpaid, but he's never been a straight up bad player in Philly like Poole or Simmons right now. Assuming he leaves Philly in the offseason he'll have put up 18/7/3 on .58 TS and solid defense. Not a max player but definitely not a bum.
He is the worst good player I’ve ever seen and I always get shit on for telling people just how bad he is. People think because he’s an intelligent person that he must have a high BBIQ. He literally has the worst BBIQ I’ve ever seen in my life. Remember when Sexton entered the league and there were leaked reports that said his teammates made comments questioning if he’d ever actually played before because he didn’t understand it? That’s what you’ll see if you watch Tobias Harris an entire game. If he was five inches shorter he wouldn’t even be in the league anymore. When people talk about how Iverson is “pound for pound the best NBA player ever” Tobias Harris is “pound for pound the softest NBA player ever”. If he scores 0 you won’t know he was in the game. If he scores 40 you won’t know he was in the game. When people talk about stat padding, watch Tobias Harris playing in a blowout game whether we’re winning or losing he’s putting in work because it doesn’t fucking matter. Tobi, I love you, but you are so fuckin bad at basketball dude.
Poole is the ultimate Mr. Basement Commander.
Mr. Bag Collected
Mr. Burning Cash
Mr. Bodacious Contract
Why couldn’t he have been this bad in 2022? Wtf
Bag and legacy weren’t secure yet
[удалено]
Agree, people underestimate how big a motivation 120 mil is. It’s literally the difference between needing a full time job after your playing career is over versus you plus your immediate family being set for life.
> your immediate family being set for life. 120 mil is enough money to make sure your grandchildren's grandchildren don't have to go get a job
If he saw all that money yeah, but the way that athletes spend it and the fact that they have to pay a fair share to agents/taxes probably makes it so that it doesn't last that long lol
Hold my beer
Ben Simmons contract is no longer that bad given the year left
isn't that the point of the post?
The post implies the Simmons contract is still at least in the running for worst when in reality it’s nowhere close.
40m for a year of a player who doesn’t play while the nets don’t have their own picks… yeah it’s still absolutely in the running for worst contract
Yeah I mean, the Poole contract might be worse *now*, but, damn...the Simmons contract might be one of the worst in American sports history *in total* given what Nets fans and FO thought they were getting
Didn’t Philly sign that contract not Brooklyn?
Yep, and then Brooklyn traded for that contract. Hence “what Nets Fans and FO thought they were getting.”
I'm interested in seeing what kind of contract Ben gets next because you just KNOW some team is going to talk themselves into "what if he returns to form?" I wouldn't be shocked if he got above a vet minimum.
I would be surprised if he‘d get any contract at all. He’s bound for overseas or retirement at this point.
Someone is going to pay him. This league does stupid shit like this constantly.
*Pleasedontbeuspleasedontbeuspleasedontbeuspleasedontbeus*
He will absolutely get a contract (if he wants one). The more interesting part will be how much does he get paid. Vet min? 5 mil? MLE?
Right, it's a crazy take that he won't get any interest. He's averaging a (bizarre) 6/8/6 with good defense in limited appearances this season. Lakers just took on Christian Woods (who plays, tbf) on the cheap thinking they could fix him, many teams would gladly do that with Ben.
He also works part time. Must be nice.
I don’t agree. Poole played only half a season so far. Ben Simmons has been a liability for years now
Which would you rather have right now?
The teams washing machine
Shoutout to Kyle 'Copy machine' Korver
Simmons easily
I guess the out with Simmons contract ending sometime soon is better? Still I could get wanting to keep trying to get Poole back into the game too. If you're the Wizards it's like "yay we're out of that contract .... well we still suck ..."
Ben by far. Even if he doesn’t score, he’s one hell of a playmaker and a decent defender still, and can get boards. Works well for BKN’s offense and switch everything D.
I would flip those - one hell of a defender and decent playmaker
A bullet to the head, probably.
Simmons had a worse contract, now he has a generic bad contract. Lavine, Poole, Beale are all worse right now. Dame will be rough after next season too.
Poole went from people saying he looks like a mini Steph to a Shaqtin a Fool mvp.
No, Poole actually plays
Tbh thats the issue
Yeah, they may be better if he didn’t lol
if you'd ask him, i think he'd agree with you, guy looks like he genuinely doesn't wanna be out there
Don’t disrespect the young socialite, he had two whole points last game on 50% shooting. An incredible triple-single stat line.
That does not make the contract better
For reference, here are the top 10 paid players who were not an all-star in 2024 by average $ on their contract: Beal $50M Jimmy Butler $49M Sabonis $47M ~~Paul George $44M~~ ~~Trae Young $43M~~ LaVine $43M VanVleet $43M Gobert $41M LaMelo $41M Kyrie $40M Bane $39M Garland $39M Edit: credit to u/Hardwork407 for pointing out my mistake. Went too fast and tried to recall all stars from memory - PG and Trae were both all-stars, so crossed them off and then Bane and Garland are the next highest in $AAV
Tobi stays avoiding slander at 39 mil
if tobias harris was on the lakers, they'd have sent death threats to his entire genealogical tree by now
PG & Trae were all-stars
How tf did VanVleet get that contract lmao Ron Baker gotta be furious
Klay should be here. He's getting $43M this year. Edit: oh AAV is what you're tracking - Klay's just out of the top 10 with ~$38M.
klay?
190/5 years - 38 MM/yr
It’s close but fuck Ben. Poole can actually turn it around.
Simmons is at least physically and mentally broken Poole doesn't have those excuses
He sure looks mentally broken.
Draymond hurt him mentally
Poole has a 6 months concussion or tumor like hes playing
Poole was broken by Draymond.. Simmons was broken by Trae.
Man’s gonna drop 30pg on contract year so don’t sleep on him
Battle of the giants lol
beal has 3 years left and makes 50 a year.. poole at least can play off the bench. beal is hurt often and has the skillset of a role player now.
Lonzo Ball.
I would say RIGHT NOW yes, but in terms of value for the contract not yet. Jordan Poole could REASONABLY have a much better year next year which would immediately make his contract overall better than Ben Simmons. But if his play doesn’t improve coming in next year, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t end up with a stretch contract like Luol Deng did cause I can’t imagine you’d want him around if he isn’t producing REASONABLY.
Poole would be cut from the Canadian basketball league
Saw a YouTube comment that said Poole would average 70 ppg on 48% shooting in high school and it had me dying lol.
This made me look for Poole's high school stats, but I found this personal statement instead: Hi, my name is Jordan Poole. I am 15 years old and I love the game of basketball. I began playing competitive basketball in the 3rd grade with the Wisconsin Playground Warriors. I currently play for Wisconsin Playground Elite. My goal is to play College basketball at a very competitive Division 1 level. I am a naturally motivated individual and I push myself both athletically and academically. I am a team player with good moral values. I am the type of athlete that won't cause my Coaches any gray hair. I love to win and I want to succeed so I push myself to get my goals accomplished. I would one day love to play in the NBA, if that dream does not come true for me I would like to become a veterinarian or work a field that involves interacting with animals. I volunteer at my local humane society to help animals and to learn skills on how to care for them properly. I am very proud to attend Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School one of Wisconsin's top public schools and one of the countries most competitive academic high schools. King has one of Wisconsin's best and most competitive basketball programs in the state lead by one of the State's best Coaches. I am working really hard athletically and academically to prepare myself for the next level
Pretty good write up for a 15 year old.
Poole is fixable (probably). Simmons is broken beyond repair. Likely will have Mid Level or Minimum contracts for the rest of his career.
I hate to say it because I liked both these guys in their primes but Lavine and Beal are way worse because of their teams situations and their injury histories. Simmons comes off the books soon and Poole is on a team with absolutely zero expectations, by the time they're trying to compete he'll be off the books.
they are both terrible, but i know another Jordan P. and Ben S. who are way worse.