3. Kent Bazemore
Bazemore was coming off his breakout season with the Hawks in 2016 when he hit the free agent market, and Atlanta wanted to keep him in town. He went undrafted in 2012 and struggled to get consistent minutes until landing with the Hawks. Bazemore played well in back-to-back playoff runs and was fresh off averaging 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 27.8 minutes per game.
Nobody expected him to get the four-year $70 million contract that he received. It was the year the cap spike and every team had money to spend. The Hawks were afraid they would lose Bazemore, so they gave him $17.5 million per season to stay.
The 6’4 wing played well over the next three seasons as he averaged 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.4 steals in 26.3 minutes per game. Bazemore was never the most efficient scorer, but he was a solid defender and floor spacer. The Hawks made just one playoff appearance in those three years before he was traded to Portland before the final year of his contract for Evan Turner.
The Atlanta Hawks handsomely overpaid for a role player that came off the bench for the majority of his career, but given the cap landscape, everybody was overpaying for talent.