2. De'Aaron Fox
Average Annual Value: 32.6 million dollars
Production Value: 46.6 million dollars
Difference: 14 million dollars
A lot of the worst contracts that get handed out are those given to stars. Normally, this happens because non-max level players get paid like max players. However, this isn't the case with our leading man, De'Aaron Fox. Last season, Fox posted an EW of 13.7, meaning that his production value would be worth 46.6 million dollars if replicated in 2024-25.
When your best players are on good contracts, it gives you much more flexibility when fleshing out your roster. You can afford to pay a little extra for premium role players or imperfect stars (like Domantas Sabonis, who is making 8.1 million dollars more than his production value next season).
With this in mind, Fox's contract is set to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season. And unless he decides to follow in the footsteps of Jalen Brunson, Fox will likely want all the money he can get. If that happens, we'll need to hope that he maintains/slightly ups his production to be worthy of the increased payday.