The Wages of Wins blog just completed a top ten of the most reckless teams in the NBA. The New York Knicks are No. 1 but your Atlanta Hawks check in at No. 8 and I will let you guess why.
The Atlanta Hawks.
- Owner(s): Atlanta Spirt LLC (Michael Gearon, Jr., Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz, J. Rutherford Seydel, Todd Foreman, J. Michael Gearon, Sr., and Beau Turner, Bud Seretean)
- Reckless Contract Values: ~$189 Million
I get to count the Hawks as repeat offenders for overspending. They signed Joe Johnson to a huge contract in 2005, even though he had never been worth it. They repeated that mistake in 2010 They make the list for being dumb enough to make the same mistake twice.
One of the things I hate about the lockout the most is that everyone is searching for something to write about. That is why we get stories like this one about Johnson's unbelievably huge shoe vault with extravagant security. Before you know it that story has spread to about four other sites but more on that in a minute. While we have debated the contract extension at length, we have not talked about the Hawks decision to as the Wages of Wins writer describes "overpay" Johnson in 2005.
My view probably won't be very surprising. With the system that was in place I believe it was going to take Atlanta overpaying to bring a quality player in here. Johnson was one the hottest names on the market and the first big name free agent to show any interest in the Hawks in some time. So what say you? What is the feeling on Johnson's 2005 deal and where does it stack up with the decision to give him the max in 2010?
One more note, Johnson's truck and now his shoe vault has made news like he is the only highly paid athlete to buy or build extravagant things. Seriously is this news really? Who care? I sure don't. If somebody wants to give me a million dollars then I promise you I am going to buy something that I don't currently need.