5 of Memphis Grizzlies’ worst free agency signings of all time

2. Darko Milicic 2007: 3-year $21 million

Darko Milicic may be one of the NBA’s biggest draft busts. He went second overall in the 2003 NBA draft (right after Lebron James, but before Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade), and never found his stride in the NBA. His career high points-per-game was 8.8 in 2010. The 7-footer career high in rebounds per game only got up to 6.1 in 2008, and he only had two seasons where he played at least 70 games (06-07 and 07-08).

I admire Memphis for taking a chance at the Serbian-born center, but not for three years and $21M (13% of the team’s salary cap). He never turned out like other Serbian-born players like former All-Star Vlade Divac or Nikola Jokic, who won back-to-back league MVPs.

Memphis was the only team to offer him a contract that summer, and it is obvious why. His terrible performances, egotistical attitude, and playing alongside star Pau Gasol did not help his outlook. Even though Milicic started 60% of his game with Memphis, his production was lackluster and makes him the second-worst free agency signing in Grizzlies history.

Grizzlies’ worst move ever: Chandler Parsons 2016: 4-year $94.5 million maximum contract

Chandler Parsons was not bad, necessarily. He was a great three-point shooter in his first five years in the league (47% from 3). Prior to coming to Memphis, he was averaging 15 PPG, but after arriving in Memphis on a max deal, his three-point shooting percentage dropped to 38%. He averaged 7.2 PPG in Memphis. Again, all of this was under a MAX CONTRACT (25% of the team’s salary cap).

I can kind of understand the reasoning behind picking up Parsons. Memphis’ three-point percentage the year prior was 33%, and the team desperately needed some shooters on the team. However, signing a player like Parsons under a Max Contract is insane.

Some other free agents in the 2016 summer include Kevin Durant (two-years, $52 million with Golden State), Lebron James (three-years, $100 million with Cleveland), Bradley Beal (five-years, $128 million with Washington), Nicolas Batum (five-years, $120 million with Charlotte), and  Dwayne Wade (two-years, $48 million with Chicago). Memphis dropped the ball during that summer.

Parsons never got back to shooting well. On top of giving him a max contract, Chandler Parsons never played more than 36 games in a single year, again under a max contract. He also was coming off of multiple knee surgeries.  Not only is this the worst signing in Memphis history, but it is also one of the worst max contract signings in NBA history.