The 3 most overpaid Detroit Pistons for next season
Marvin Bagley III: $12.5 million
Still the most baffling signing of the Troy Weaver era, Marvin Bagley III still has two fully guaranteed years left on his contract that will pay him $12.5 million per season.
Like Wiseman, Bagley III was the 2nd pick in the NBA Draft, but has done little in his career, largely due to injuries and being in the wrong situation in Sacramento. Bagley can play, but he’s rarely on the floor, as the Pistons paid over $12 million last season (and will again for the next two) for a guy who played in a whopping 42 games, which comes out to nearly $300,000 per game, not bad work if you can get it.
After playing 62 games (a career high) in his rookie season, MBIII has played in 13, 43, 48 and 42 games in the four seasons since, so whatever the opposite of an Iron Man is, Bagley is that. No other teams were even interested in bidding for a tweener center who can’t shoot or defend, so Weaver essentially outbid himself for a guy no one else really wanted.
Bagley will be the 3rd-highest paid member of the Detroit Pistons next season even though he was 11th in games played last season, 7th in points, and 4th in rebounds out of four centers. Bagley’s production more closely matches a player on a minimum deal, as he has a .3 VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) which is equal to guys like Jose Alvarado and Charles Bassey, who basically are on minimum deals.
It’s clear where the Detroit Pistons need to trim some fat, as they have two backup centers making a combined $25 million who are producing like deep bench players on minimum deals.