Over the past seven years, some players have successfully bet on themselves, meaning they turned down smaller contracts only to proudly sign big extensions the following year. Look no further than Jimmy Butler or Tobias Harris.
Jimmy was able to get 90 million out of that, and Tobias, got 180 million even tho he was initially offered just 80.
Though every “bet on yourself” story like this is a feel-good one, however, there have been some cautionary tales. In those tales, players dropped the bag by overplaying their hand and putting themselves in the never-fun situation to sign a deal that pays them far less than what they believe is their market value. So Let’s look at some of them. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
Let’s start with the freshest of examples - Denis Schroeder.
In March of this year, the German reportedly turned down a four-year, 84 million contract extension from the Lakers (ова reportedly го ставам пошто сегде по релевантниве беше така). His logic must have been that playing for the Lakers with LeBron, they'll go very deep into the postseason and may even repeat, so there will be a lot of suitors come free agency. Unfortunately for him, that’s not how things turned out. Though he was not bad in the six game series against the Suns, with averages of 14.3 points and around 3 assists and as many rebounds in the six-game loss – his regular-season stats were similar - 84 million seemed very steep. There weren’t even suitors that would pay at least half of that. In the end, several days ago, Schroder agreed to a one-year deal with the Celtics that will pay him just 5.9 million. It will be fascinating to see whether lack of demand, so to speak, will motivate him and how he will respond considering he will be a free agent next summer, too.
When compared to the Schroeder situation, Oladipo’s dropping of the bag can legitimately be described as twice as worse. But there hasn’t been much criticism for him. People seem to have forgotten that
First, before he was traded to the Rockets, the Pacers offered him the biggest amount they could under the rules - a starting salary of $25.2 million and a total value of 112,896,000 dollars over four years. Dipo said no.
Then, in Texas, he was offered in February of this year a two-year extension worth 45.2 million. He said no again. Safe to say he wished he would have signed one of those deals, preferably the bigger one, considering that he signed at the start of this month for the veteran minimum with the Heat, the team he’d ended up via trade after Houston.
The veteran minimum for the 2021-22 season is expected to be 2.4 million. That’s what leaving 110 million dollars on the table looks like.
In 2021, Dipo appeared just four times for the Heat (all starts and all in the regular season), averaging 12 points 3.5 rebounds and as many assists per contest.
Sure, this is not to be overly critical of Oladipo, but the effects of that quad tendon rupture in 2019 are felt to this day.
Not many people remember this, but Noel was supposed to be the next big thing in the NBA. Though he slid to number six in the 2013 draft, mainly due to an ACL tear, and missed the entire 2013-14 season, he showed flashes of what he could do. However, he believed the Sixers collection of big guys, including Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor, was too much. So, when he was traded to the Mavs in 2017, there were a lot who believed that he could fulfill the initial expectations.
Though his stats were not flashy, 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds, the Mavs believed in his potential, especially on the defensive end. So much so that at the start of free agency, they tabled a four-year, $70 million contract. The centre, however, turned it down. Noel never revisited the offer, according to Mavs owner Mark Cuban, which the team may have still honored if Noel had a change of heart.
Towards the end of August, Noel signed a 1-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer to stay with Dallas, meaning he would become a free agent in the summer of 2018.
The 2017-18 season, however, saw him play 30 games (six starts), with averages of 4.4 points and 5.6 rebounds. `That summer, he signed a one-year deal worth 5 million with OKC.
Wells had one of his best seasons of his career with the Kings in 2005-06. His averages of 13.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in the regular season rose drastically to 23.2 and 12 against the Spurs in Round 1 of the Playoffs (the Kings last postseason appearance). The Kings, of course, wanted to reward him and what better way to do that than to hand him a 36-million deal over five years. Somewhat surprisingly, Wells turned it down in August.
After the turning down, the player fired his agent, Bill Phillips, and hired a new one, Merle Scott. Attempts to work a sign-and-trade that might've allowed Wells to match or improve the Kings' offer failed because Sacramento refused to take back any salaries after signing John Salmons with the money refused by Wells