The League Leader

Golden State Warriors

The worst free agency signing in the Warriors history is also the biggest name on this list. Coming off multiple championship runs and a career high in assist, Derek Fisher signed a 6 year, 37 million contract with the Warriors. Some fans were immediately worried after the deal was announced, especially with how much the contract was worth in the year 2004. To put into perspective, the 6 million annual payroll is the similar as what Ben Wallace was getting paid. Wallace had won the DPOY award in back to back years before 2004. While Fisher averaged a career high in points, he only started in less than half of the games that season. He was not the playmaker he was known for when he played next to Shaquille O’neal and Kobe Bryant, and was traded to the Utah Jazz. To make matters worse, he eventually hit a playoff game winner against the Warriors in 2006 as a Jazz and started all 82 games for 4 straight season as a Laker when he returned, proving he can still start games as an impactful playmaker.

Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings has not had as much big free agency moves in the past compared to the Lakers and other historical franchises, but some of their recent free agency moves have stood out. An honorable mention is the Harrison Barnes contract, which was worth 83 million through 4 years. Barnes never turned out to be the All-Star talent the Kings hoped for. However, the worst free agency move in Kings history belongs to Dewayne Dedmon, who unlike Barnes, is not even on a roster right now. The veteran center signed a 3-year, $40-million contract with the Kings after a career year in Atlanta. Dedmon quickly struggled as a Kings and lost his starting sport to Richaun Holmes in just 4 games. He publicly demanded a trade from the Kings in the 2019-20 season and was fined 50,000 by the NBA for causing controversies. The center was eventually traded back to the Atlanta Hawks, but the Kings needed to attach two second round picks just to off-load his contract.

Los Angeles Lakers

The worst free agency signing and the worst contract in the franchise’s long history is easily the Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov deals of 2016. In the free agency of 2016, the Lakers signed Deng to a four-year, $72 million deal and signed Mozgov to a four-year, $64 million deal. The two players quickly disappointed in the following season, as Deng only played 57 games for the Lakers, averaging 7.5 points and 5 rebounds. Similarly, Mozgov played 54 games and averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds before being traded a year later to clear cap space. The large salaries for contributed to a financial burden and hampered the team’s flexibility while providing little on-court value.

Los Angeles Clippers

Despite being known for having a bad playoff history, the Clippers does not have much bad free agency signings. Some contracts, such as John Wall in 2022, did not pan out as they wanted due to injuries, but it was not as bad as other teams. The worst contract in Clippers history would belong to the 2016 signing of Wesley Johnson. The Clippers signed Wesley Johnson to a 3 year, 18 million deal in 2016 hoping he can contribute his 3 point shooting and defense to the contending Clippers. However, the former fourth overall pick under-performed significantly in 2016-17. On top of posting a career-low of 2.7 points per game, he shot 35.6% from the field and 24.6% from the three-point line. He was quite literally a negative asset on the court, which forced the coaching staff to cut his minutes significantly.