100 millions is quite a money for an average person.
For a good NBA player novadays it’s a given.
If you play good, you’re just gonna get a 100 million dollar contract.
You will.
But what if you don’t really perform up to your contract?
Hey everyone, hope you’re doing well I’m PRPLPRNCH and today I want to look at the
first 100 million player in the NBA and was he worth the money?
Juwan Howard entered the NBA in 1994 as the 5th overall pick by Washington Bullets.
Already in his rookie season Howard was a prominent part of Washington’s lineup.
Playing a little bit more than 36 minutes per game he was averaging 17 points and 8.4
rebounds per game.
His second season was better as he carried more of the offensive burden and did it well
averaging 22.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
The 1995-96 season was actually Howard’s best season.
Juwan howard scored at least 20 points in his last 16 games and he even made the 1996
all-star team.
And boy, was that a good timing on Howard’s part.
After the 1996 season Howard was very appealing to a lot of teams, but nobody was more interested
than
the Miami Heat.
At first The Bullets offered Howard 89 million dollar contract, but that was quickly outbid
by Miami Heat who offered a 7-year contract worth around 100 million dollars.
But, according to the NBA League office Miami miscalculated their available cap-space as
they didn’t include performance bonuses for Tim Hardaway, P.J.
Brown and the real financial results of renegotiating Alonzo Mourning’s contract.
Ultimately, NBA rejected the deal because Howard’s contract would place Heat over
salary cap for the 96-97 season.
Washington used the situation as they weren’t limited by the cap because Howard was their
own player and signed Juwan to a new 7-year deal worth 105 million dollars.
Juwan Howard had just become the first NBA Player to sign a contract worth 100 million
dollars or more.
Unfortunately Juwan Howard never became the player Bullets wanted him to become.
In fact, he never even repeated the success of his second season in the league.
Over the next 4 seasons of his new 7 year deal Howard averaged 17.9 points and 7.2 rebounds
per game which was solid but definitely not worth one of the richest contracts at that
time.
By the 1999 Juwan Howard would be seen more as a disappointment than a solid player.
Fans were frequently booing him during the games as he didn’t produce the same way
as other highest paid players in the league.
Howard was the 4th best paid player in the league only behind
Shaquille O neal, Kevin Garnett and Alonzo Mourning.
When Wizards changed the head of basketball operations for their team, that’s where
the changes started for Howard as well.
Juwan Howard was traded to Dallas Mavericks.
His stint in Dallas was very short as next season he got traded to Denver Nuggets
where he also played just a bit more than one season.
His 100 million deal was over and the next one he got was a 5-year 28 million dollar
contract from Orlando Magic.
A bit of a drop from the previous deal wouldn’t you say?
After 1 season in Orlando Howard was traded to
the Houston Rockets.
In Houston he would become more of a role player averaging less than 10 points and 6
rebounds per game.
Three seasons in he was bought out of his contract.
He had some short stints in Dallas, Denver, Charlotte and Portland
and in 2010 Miami Heat finally got Juwan Howard, only 14 years later.
They didn’t get Juwan Howard the all-star, they got Juwan Howard the team leader and
that’s it.
But it worked out for both parties as in the last 2 years of his career Howard won 2 rings
with the Heat, mostly serving as a motivational leader.
For his career, Howard averaged 13.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
So the question is, was he worth it as a first 100 million dollar man?
I think everyone knows the answer here and it’s no.
There were so much better players in the NBA around that time, but Howard was the first
who got the 100 million contract.
It’s safe to say that Washington overreacted when Miami Heat offered Howard a 100 million
dollar deal, as there were reports that Bullets initial offer was around 11 million annually.
In the end it turned into 15-20 million annually and that was a mistake.The team was going
nowhere, Juwan Howard himself was getting injured frequently and just wasn’t the player
everyone thought he could become after his only all-star season.
Maybe,,,, he wasn’t a real all- star in the first place.
What do you think guys?
Do you think Howard is a worthy first 100 milliion dollar man?
If you were a GM, what contract would have you offered Juwan Howard?
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This was PRPLPRNCH, and I’m OUT!