4. Scott Williams
Sitting at number 4 is Scott Williams. Williams is a throwback for some of our younger readers and there is a chance you may not have heard of him if you are under the age of 30. Williams went to the University of North Carolina and played for the legendary Dean Smith. Following a 4-year career at Chapel Hill, where he was a 3-year starter, Williams went undrafted in the 1990 NBA Draft.
The Chicago Bulls signed Williams to their roster where he joined at the perfect time when Michael Jordan and the Bulls started their run for the first NBA Championship three-peat from 1991-1993. Williams was the definition of a role player and only played an average of 12 minutes and scored around 4 points per game during those three years.
This made it all the more confusing when the Sixers signed Williams to a 7-year contract, where he would earn $1.5 million in his first year and that number would increase year over year to north of $3.5 million by his seventh season on the deal. If the Sixers thought Williams would bring some Championship pedigree or that his value was more because he had played alongside Jordan, that was just not the case.
Williams’ time in Philadelphia can best be described as inconsistent and injury-ridden. He only played in 212 games during the five years that he was on the Sixers and the in and out of the lineup clearly affected his production. Williams’ best season in Philly was the first year after he signed where he averaged 6.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks per game and appeared in 77 games, starting 43 of those.
The inverse relationship of Williams’ contract to his contribution to the team is the main reason this contract turned out to be a dud for the Sixers. Doubling the salary of a young fringe role player is not usually prudent and the Sixers clearly overvalued Williams when they signed him in the summer of 1994. Players cannot control injuries and that unfortunately played a significant part as well in Williams being on this list.