by Lang Whitaker

On the surface, it sounds like a good match. Last season, the Washington Wizards had about as little interior presence as is possible to have in the NBA. So this summer, they went out and picked up Darius Songaila, who played pretty well in Sacramento a few years ago in their Princeton offense, which is similar to what the Wizards run.
Nice, right? Well, wait until you see the contract: five years, $23 meeeeelion. He’s obviously better than Michael Ruffin, who they relied on heavily last season, but is he $5 million a year good? And would you rather have him for five years and then watch Jared Jeffries walk next summer when your mid-level exception is tied up?

Every year some team ends up overpaying for a free agent when the better guys are off the market. I think Washington just moved into first place for that award, but to be fair, let’s give Danny Ferry a chance to overpay for some guys in Cleveland and give the illusion that he’s trying to make the Cavs better.