4. Offering Dennis Schroder a four-year, $84 million contract
Dennis Schroder saved Rob Pelinka from signing one of the worst contracts in the NBA. If Schroder would not have turned down the four-year, $84 million contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers then it would be much higher on this list. However, just because Schroder saved Pelinka from embarrassment does not mean that it is not a fireable offense.
Schroder was not even playing that well for the Los Angeles Lakers last season and Pelinka was still convinced that the best move was to lock him down for another four seasons at a premier salary for a role player.
Granted, Pelinka could have been making this offer with the intent of trading Schroder in the offseason as a contract. Perhaps this was his contingency plan in a future Westbrook trade if Montrezl Harrell opted out of his contract.
I would not give him the benefit of the doubt because no team would have valued Schroder at $84 million. As bad as Westbrook has been, I am not sure the Wizards would have taken a deal that included this big of a salary for Schroder for another four seasons.
The most damning aspect about this offer is seeing what Schroder ended up getting as an unrestricted free agent. All Schroder could muster was a Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception deal from the Boston Celtics worth $5.9 million for one season.