Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Thirteen NBA players will earn more than LeBron James next season despite underwhelming performance metrics.
- The group includes veterans buried on deep rosters and recent draft picks failing to justify their cap hits.
- One former All-Star received a deal that triggered league scrutiny while others face crowded position battles that could limit their impact.
The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off the heist of the offseason when they landed LeBron James on a two-year, $7.9 million veteran-minimum contract. He instantly became one of the best-value contracts in the NBA, if not the best.
In LeBron's age-41 season — which wound up being his final year with the Los Angeles Lakers — he averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. He finished with 5.4 win shares across 60 games, which was his lowest mark since his rookie season but still put him in the top 75 leaguewide.
Suffice it to say, not every team is lucky enough to land an all-time great on a well-below-market contract. Unfortunately, the inverse tends to play out far more frequently across the NBA.
LeBron is now tied with New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan (lol) for the 291st-largest cap hit in the league this coming season. Among the 290 players above those two, 13 stand out as particularly horrific values.
Patrick Williams, Chicago Bulls
- 2026-27 salary: $18,000,000
The good news is that Patrick Williams is earning $18.0 million flat over each of the next three seasons, so the percentage of the cap that he's gobbling up is declining slightly each year. The bad news is that he's worth nowhere near $18.0 million.
This past season, Williams set career lows in points (7.0), rebounds (3.0) and minutes per game (20.5). He also shot a career-worst 37.2 percent overall, which was his second straight season below 40 percent. And he did that on a Chicago Bulls team that wasn't even trying to win for most of the year.
Williams is now set to be buried behind No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson, recent lottery picks Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue and veteran Jalen Smith. The Bulls are effectively lighting $18 million on fire for each of the next three years unless thanks to him.
Gary Trent Jr., Milwaukee Bucks
- 2026-27 salary: $15,200,000
Is it a good sign when you sign someone to a contract that almost instantly triggers an NBA investigation into possible salary-cap circumvention? Asking for Gary Trent Jr. and the Milwaukee Bucks.
This past season, Trent averaged 8.1 points per game—his lowest mark since his rookie season—while shooting only 38.7 percent from the field. He had a PER of 8.0, a minus-5.4 box plus/minus and a minus-1.2 value over replacement player. That didn't stop the Bucks from signing him to a contract worth more than the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, though.
Trent is only a few years removed from averaging 17.4 points per game with the Toronto Raptors, so perhaps he can bounce back on the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks (provided that his contract doesn't get voided). But he'll have plenty of competition in the backcourt between Tyler Herro, Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., Caris LeVert, AJ Green, Kasparas Jakučionis and rookie Brayden Burries, which could make it even tougher for GTJ to live up to this head-scratching deal.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Charlotte Hornets
- 2026-27 salary: $14.2 million
Last offseason, the Houston Rockets signed Dorian Finney-Smith to a partially guaranteed four-year, $52.7 million contract. One disappointing year later, they spent three second-round picks to salary-dump him on the Charlotte Hornets.
Finney-Smith averaged only 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game across 37 appearances during his lone season in Houston. He shot a career-low 33.3 percent overall and 27.0 percent from three-point range, as he never quite found his footing after offseason ankle surgery delayed his season debut until Christmas.
Perhaps Finney-Smith bounces back in Charlotte now that he's a year removed from his surgery. But there's also a chance that Father Time finally caught up to the 33-year-old for good. Fortunately for the Hornets, his contract is fully non-guaranteed after this season.
Zaccharie Risacher, Dallas Mavericks
- 2026-27 salary: $13,862,040
The jury still isn't out on Zaccharie Risacher, whom the Atlanta Hawks selected with the No. 1 overall pick in 2024. However, the Hawks were willing to trade him for Lu Dort this offseason, which is not a glowing endorsement of how they felt about his upside.
Risacher finished second in the Rookie of the Year race in 2024-25, but his production dipped this past season as the Hawks reoriented their team around Jalen Johnson. The fact that Risacher barely cracked the Hawks' playoff rotation was not a great sign about his future in Atlanta.
Perhaps Risacher turns his career around alongside Cooper Flagg in Dallas, although he has plenty of competition for playing time there as well. It's fair to lump him into this group for now until he proves us wrong, especially since No. 1 picks aren't immune to being busts.
Jarred Vanderbilt, Los Angeles Lakers
- 2026-27 salary: $12,428,571
Why the Lakers felt compelled to sign Jarred Vanderbilt to a four-year, $48 million extension in September 2023 is anyone's guess. They've grown to regret it ever since, though.
In the three years since he signed that deal, Vando has averaged 4.5 points and 4.7 rebounds in only 17.6 minutes per game. He's played only 130 games across those three seasons because of injuries, too.
It's a real mystery as to whether he'll pick up his $13.3 million player option for 2027-28.
Caleb Martin, Dallas Mavericks
- 2026-27 salary: $10,001,494
Two years ago, Caleb Martin averaged 10.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in what wound up being his final season with the Miami Heat. The Sixers signed him to a four-year, $35 million contract in free agency that offseason, which looked like a steal at the time but has turned into anything but.
The Sixers wound up trading Martin to the Dallas Mavericks for Quentin Grimes midway through his first season in Philly. This past season, Martin averaged a career-low 3.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 14.8 minutes per game, as he got buried by the Mavericks' glut of forwards.
This offseason, the Mavericks added Risacher, Santi Aldama and rookie Morez Johnson Jr. to that mix. They also still have Flagg, PJ Washington and Naji Marshall. In other words, Martin might be lucky to get off the bench at all this season. That's $10 million well-spent.
Zeke Nnaji, Denver Nuggets
- 2026-27 salary: $7,466,667
The Denver Nuggets might have begun developing buyer's remorse on Zeke Nnaji's four-year, $32 million extension before the ink even dried.
When they signed him to that deal, he was fresh off a season in which he had a career-worst minus-3.7 BPM. He matched that mark the next year, jumped up to minus-1.3 in 2024-25 and then dropped right back down to minus-3.5 this past season.
Nnaji shot 43.9 percent from three across his first two seasons, but he's been at a subterranean 27.8 percent over the past four. He can hold his own defensively, but he's such a non-factor on offense that he's been on the fringes of the Nuggets' rotation ever since signing his deal. Making matters worse: He's a virtual lock to pick up his $7.5 million player option in 2027-28 as well.
Jordan Hawkins, New Orleans Pelicans
- 2026-27 salary: $7,021,895
The New Orleans Pelicans selected Jordan Hawkins with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2023 draft. In his three NBA seasons, he has yet to shoot better than 38.2 percent from the field. This past season, he shot a career-worst 36.6 percent while averaging only 5.1 points in 13.6 minutes per game.
Hawkins finished this past season with a PER of 7.6, a minus-6.2 BPM and a minus-0.7 VORP. He was also in the 1st percentile of Dunks and Threes' estimated plus/minus. And he's earning more than $3 million more than LeBron this coming season.
Somehow, he might not even be the Pelicans' worst contract. But we'll get there later.
Rob Dillingham, Chicago Bulls
- 2026-27 salary: $6,889,320
The Minnesota Timberwolves traded an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a top-one-protected 2030 swap to the San Antonio Spurs for the rights to Rob Dillingham, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 draft. Less than two years later, the Wolves shipped him and four second-round picks to the Chicago Bulls for Ayo Dosunmu.
Prior to that trade, Dillingham averaged only 3.5 points on 33.3 percent shooting for the Timberwolves last season. He put up better numbers in Chicago—9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 42.8 percent overall—albeit on a team that was playing out the string on a lost season.
Dillingham finished last year with a PER of 7.7, a minus-7.3 BPM and a minus-1.3 VORP. Despite that, he's set to earn roughly $3 million more than LeBron this year.
Cody Williams, Utah Jazz
- 2026-27 salary: $6,015,600
Cody Williams had a historically bad rookie season for a lottery pick. He shot a dismal 32.3 percent overall and 25.9 percent from deep while averaging only 4.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.2 minutes per game. He finished with a league-low minus-1.2 win shares and had a PER of 3.7 and a box plus/minus of minus-7.3.
Williams improved last season, averaging 8.8 points on 46.8 percent shooting overall, but he shot a horrific 21.4 percent from three-point range. His advanced metrics were also slightly better—his PER jumped to 9.6—but he still finished with a minus-5.5 BPM and a minus-1.5 VORP. (Also, just to put it in perspective, a league-average PER is 15.)
Williams still has a chance to turn his NBA career around, but two years into it, the No. 10 overall pick from the 2024 draft is looking like an unmitigated bust. The Jazz owe him $6 million this year and have a $7.7 million team option on him in 2027-28, but it's no certainty that they pick that up based on his production to date.
Devin Carter, Atlanta Hawks
- 2026-27 salary: $5,158,080
Two years after the Sacramento Kings selected Devin Carter with the No. 13 pick in the 2024 draft, they salary-dumped him on the Hawks.
As a rookie, Carter averaged only 3.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 11.0 minutes per game while shooting 37.0 percent overall and 29.5 percent from deep. His averages jumped last season to 8.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.4 minutes per game, but he shot only 26.3 percent from three and 41.4 percent overall.
The 6'2", 195-pound Carter was also a clear net minus on defense this past season. He should have a chance to bounce back in Atlanta, particularly when paired with elite defensive personnel like Dort and Dyson Daniels, but he still might have a tough time living up to his $5.15 million salary this year.
Dalton Knecht, Los Angeles Lakers
- 2026-27 salary: $4,201,080
Dalton Knecht entered the NBA as a 23-year-old prospect, which is typically a red flag (albeit not as much in the NIL era). The consensus All-American projected to be a shooting specialist in the NBA, but that's a valuable archetype to pair with LeBron (and eventually Luka Dončić).
After shooting 37.6 percent from distance as a rookie, Knecht plummeted to only 34.2 percent this past season. On a related note, his production dropped across the board, as he averaged only 4.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 made threes in 10.2 minutes per game.
Unlike many of his fellow 2024 draftees who still have a long runway to turn their careers around, Knecht already turned 25 in mid-April. If he can barely crack the floor for a Lakers team that needs more wing depth and shooting, that doesn't bode well for his chances of sticking in the NBA moving forward. Yet he'll be earning roughly $325,000 more than his former teammate this coming season.
DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans Pelicans
- 2026-27 salary: $3,876,529
We're technically cheating here, as LeBron is earning the exact same amount as DeAndre Jordan this coming season. But that's insane enough that it's worth highlighting regardless.
Last season, Jordan played 199 total minutes across 12 games with the Pelicans. He averaged 4.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game in those outings.
By all accounts, Jordan is a great locker room presence and veteran leader. Does that justify giving him a two-year deal, though? Because the Pelicans went that route, his full $3.9 million cap hit goes on their books rather than the prorated veteran-minimum amount of $2.4 million.
The Sixers should have zero regrets about signing LeBron to that deal, even as naysayers already try to stoke the flames of dissension in Philly. The Pelicans should have nothing but regrets about handing Jordan the exact same contract.
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