It wasn't surprising that the Boston Celtics lost Luke Kornet during the offseason, as it was somewhat expected. However, it was very surprising to see him receive the contract he did.
Kornet landed a four-year, $40.7 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs, with $24 million in guaranteed money.
It comes out to about 10.2 million AAV, and Kornet likely isn't worth that much.
While one could argue that the center market just isn't where it needs to be around the NBA, and teams have to make decisions that might seem desperate, Kornet has been a very average player throughout his career.
For that reason, Yahoo Sports recently named him the fifth-worst free agency contract of the summer, and it's tough to argue against.
“I like Luke Kornet. I feel like I need to say that about all of these guys. They are worthwhile NBA players.
“But the 30-year-old has not averaged more than six points since his early 20s, when he was toiling for terrible New York Knicks teams. He built his value over time on the Boston Celtics, turning himself into a fringe contributor on a championship team, all while playing on a series of veteran minimum contracts,” they wrote.
MORE: Trade Proposal sees Celtics acquire top Eastern Conference big man
From the Celtics' perspective, while many fans loved Kornet, and so did the players, there was nothing they could've done differently.
The Celtics had no reason to consider giving Kornet this type of money, as he's coming off a year in which he averaged 18.6 minutes and scored just 6.0 points per game.
In the 2023-24 season, the numbers were even worse, averaging 15.6 minutes per game and 5.3 points per game.