I’ve been griping about it for a while, but guaranteed contracts are hurting the NBA. There is no greater anvil over the neck of a franchise than a $10 million-plus contract for a player who is not producing.

TrueHoop had a nice bit about it in its analysis of the Brandon Roy extension.

All the dollars and roster spots tied up in injured or ineffective players is shameful. The Euroleague and the D-League are loaded to the gills with players who would kill for those roster spots, and they’d play for a tenth of the money. The teams, of course, would kill for the same thing.

A fair percentage of NBA trades involve one GM saying “all right, I’ll give you this really really good player, but only if you also agree to pay these other guys who aren’t worth their contracts.” In other words, a decent chunk of NBA employees are burdens to their employers.

Holy inefficient market, Batman! My inner libertarian yearns for a world in which at least the worst of those cases could be set free (with cushy, insurance-funded retirements, or new smaller market-value contracts with other teams) much like the league’s one-time amnesty clause a few years ago. Wouldn’t the NBA be a better place if Daryl Morey could spend that $23 million on seven additional Luis Scolas, or whatever other players he wanted? Wouldn’t all those hungry players, in place of injured has-beens, increase the value and enjoyment of every ticket to every NBA game?

The simplest thing to do would be to make all of these contracts 50% guaranteed. If a player gets injured or is vastly underperforming, his team would have the option of cutting him loose and only have half of his remaining contract count against their salary cap. That way, the player gets some security, but the team has financial flexibility if the player doesn’t keep up his end of the deal. The player would have the option of signing with another team (if someone will have him) so he can still earn if he can still play.