Washington Wizards: Ian Mahinmi has one of the worst contracts in Wizards history
Ian Mahinmi’s contract will go down as one of the worst deals in Washington Wizards history.
Ian Mahinmi is entering his third year with the Washington Wizards and 11th season in the NBA. It’s easy to say that the center hasn’t been anything special throughout his career.
In 2016, the Wizards decided to reward Mahinmi with a 4-year, $64 million dollar contract. He had just come off his most productive season with the Indiana Pacers averaging 9.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Did this type of season warrant this kind of contract? Absolutely not.
When contemplating which Wizards contract signing is the worst in history, most would think of Gilbert Arenas or Juwan Howard. In 2008, Washington signed Arenas to a 6-year, $111 million contract. Everyone knows how that one ended…
Howard’s was one of the most complicated in Wizards history. His first one was an 11-year, $36.6 million dollar contract with an opt out clause after 2 years. Howard then opted out and tried to sign with the Miami Heat. But due to tampering charges by Pat Riley, Howard was a free-agent once again and re-signed with the Wizards on a 7-year, $105 million dollar contract.
Both of these were terrible signings since these players didn’t really amount to anything, but Ernie Grunfeld and the team did it again with Mahinmi’s deal. Giving $64 million dollars to a player who never averaged double figures is down right absurd.
In his first two seasons with the Wizards, Mahinmi never averaged above 5.6 points per game. As for this year, he’s only played 11 out of the team’s 20 games. And the only thing that he’s displayed this season is that he’s awful. There was some hype around him this offseason, especially since he was working on his 3-point shot, but that didn’t amount to anything.
Washington essentially gave a good chunk of money to someone who’s just dead weight. It would be fantastic if the team could somehow find a trading partner to off-load his contract, but that doesn’t seem likely given the fact that he’s been terrible.
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At least with Arenas and Howard they had superstar potential. Those risks are worth it once in a while.
Unfortunately for everyone in D.C., Mahinmi’s got one more year left on his contract. Honestly, the team should just cut him so we aren’t constantly reminded of how much of a disappointment he’s been.