NBA teams have a tendency to be a little reckless with their money during the commotion of free agency. But the Washington Wizards are taking that to a near-unprecedented level.
According to a report by Mitch Lawrence of Sporting News on Friday, the Wizards are prepared to offer former Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah a full max contract once Noah officially becomes an unrestricted free agent in July. A max deal for Noah would start at $28 million and would reach as high as $120 million over four years.
Such huge money would be sheer madness for the 31-year-old Noah, who is coming off the worst season of his NBA career thanks to various injuries and a marginalized role on the Bulls. It might also severely hamper the future flexibility of the Wizards as they already have more than $110 million committed to the John Wall/Marcin Gortat/Markieff Morris trio alone over the next three years. They have the restricted free agency of young guard Bradley Beal (who looks like he will be getting a max deal of his own) to worry about this summer as well.
Simply put, Noah might not be worth even half of that dollar figure right now. But Washington seems desperate after missing the playoffs for the second year in a row and now having a need in their frontcourt with Nene’s deal expiring. While the Timberwolves and the Knicks may also be major contenders for Noah’s services, don’t underestimate the power of that desperation (combined with an irrational spending complex) to get Noah into a Wizards uniform next season, for better or for worse.
H/T RealGM
