9. Allan Houston

Date: 2001
6 years/$100 million. That's all that really should be said. That contract crippled the franchise and it sucked because Allan was a good guy. That had nothing to do with the fact that his one-dimensional game was not worth even a fraction of all that scratch. Houston had one of the purest shots in the game, but played little to no defense and shrunk in the biggest games. His $20 million a year salary made him untradeable, so New York was stuck with an overpaid "franchise" player nobody wanted. His contract was so bad, the NBA introduced the amnesty clause. The clause allowed teams to waive a player, so the contract wouldn't count towards the luxury tax threshold. The rule was tweaked in the new CBA of 2011-2012 allowing teams to waive one bad contract and said contract won't count towards the salary cap or the luxury tax. Three years after signing that huge deal, Allan injured his knee and was forced to retire in 2005. His contract counted towards the salary cap until 2007.