6. Portland Trail Blazers
Yes, Gary Payton II was a key contributor to a title team. But paying him basically full midlevel money, and then guaranteeing the oft-injured Jusuf Nurkic 4 years/$70M, and the yet-to-prove-anything Anfernee Simons 4 years/$100M ensures the team won’t have access to the full midlevel exception again in Dame’s prime.
On the subject of Dame’s prime, extending him at 35% of the salary cap into his late 30s without any performance or team-success-based incentives amounts to just rolling over. At least this core will win more games over the duration of that contract than…
5. Washington Wizards
Last summer I called the Knicks and Wizards big offseason winners, so maybe I’m wrong again. But if I’m not, tethering themselves to Bradley Beal with not only a difficult-to-trade supermax contract but also a no-trade clause, certainly won’t lead to any great success in the short or long-term.