These NBA players bet on themselves…and won BIG

Andy Hoops

These NBA players passed on a lucrative contract but got MORE. Let's take a detailed look at how it happened. contact@tablerock.com  I make all kinds of long-form NBA content which include player stories, analysis, breakdowns, and historical topics. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video! ► X: https://www.x.com/@andyhoopsyt ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andyhoopsyt ► Music:  Black Vortex by Kevin MacLeod Movement Proposition by Kevin MacLeod Pure Attitude by Kevin MacLeod Sardana by Kevin MacLeod Our Story Begins by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod Faceoff by Kevin MacLeod Stormfront by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (incompetech.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com #nba

Transcript

00:00A few years ago, I made this video.

00:03NBA players who bet on themselves and won,

00:06which included guys like Jalen Brunson, Jimmy Butler, Fred VanVleet, and even Tobias Harris.

00:12But it's been a few years, so I figured it's time for another.

00:15Now, we're going to take a look at more players, past and present,

00:18who rejected a contract offer to bet on themselves believing they could earn more,

00:23which they eventually did.

00:29In other words, you can call it the reverse Nerlens Noel,

00:33who, back in 2018, rejected a $70 million contract due to bad advice from Rich Paul, his agent.

00:40Noel bet on himself, but his bet failed, and he lost everything.

00:44Maybe now we should call it the reverse Jonathan Kaminga.

00:48Too soon?

00:49Anyway, on the contrary, these players actually succeeded,

00:52but we're going to take a look in detail on how risky it was for them.

00:56Or was it even risky at all to take the chance for a bigger payday?

01:00And did it turn out well for their teams?

01:02Let's take a detailed look at six more players

01:05and their circumstances that eventually helped them secure a massive bag.

01:14Austin Reeves

01:16In June of 2025, after a very good year on the Lakers that saw him average over 20 a game,

01:22at that point, it was the most productive season of his career and he was up for an extension.

01:27So, that's what the Lakers did.

01:28They offered him a four-year, $89 million extension,

01:31which, at the time, was the maximum that Reeves could have made.

01:36Regardless, $89 million is still a substantial amount of money for a player who went undrafted,

01:40and considering it was the most they could have offered, Reeves had a chance to cash in.

01:45You see, Reeves' maximum was actually quite low.

01:48Because they can only offer players 140% of their salary in the final year of their current deal,

01:53and at that time, he was on a very team-friendly, four-year, $54 million deal.

01:59In a landscape where any promising player was racking up at least 30 to 40 mil a year,

02:04sometimes even 50 mil a year, Reeves wanted more.

02:07Reeves splits the defense, the floater in the paint, it's good!

02:11At the buzzer!

02:12Austin Reeves does it again!

02:15He felt he was worth way more than four years' $89 million, which was about $22 a year.

02:20It was reasonable for him to reject this, but also quite risky.

02:24Despite his phenomenal 2024-25 season, Reeves encountered a horrendous matchup in the playoffs.

02:37Against a physical, lengthy, athletic Timberwolves defense,

02:41they had a track record of suffocating opposing guards, and Reeves got neutralized.

02:45I mean, he wasn't bad, but it was a substantial drop-off from his regular season production,

02:50as you can tell he was struggling to get off a good look.

02:53So by rejecting that extension, the 2025-26 season became the most important year for Reeves.

03:00Not only for his sake to secure the bag, but also for the Lakers to determine if this is the

03:06guy

03:06they want as the backcourt partner for Luka.

03:09Right from the start, Reeves blasted out the gates and played like an absolute superstar.

03:14In his first 20 games, he literally put up superstar-esque numbers.

03:17Over 28, 5, and 6, with even more absurd shooting splits.

03:22He became the de facto secondary scorer on the team.

03:25And more impressively, he was getting an insane superstar whistle.

03:29Reeves always had a knack for drawing fouls, but this was at a whole different level.

03:34In the first couple months, he shot nearly 10 free throws a game,

03:37with a true shooting percentage of 67%.

03:40Had he continued this onslaught, he would have finished as a top 5 most efficient player in the league.

03:45A shooting guard who creates most of his shots with this efficiency is extraordinary,

03:50considering every player on this list is a center.

03:53The only question is, can he sustain this?

03:57Unfortunately, not.

03:59It started with a calf strain in late December, which caused him to miss the next 20 games.

04:04And then he strained his oblique right before the playoff started.

04:08This was horrible timing, and Reeves came out to express his frustration.

04:12It's been pretty miserable, just not having somewhat of a control on the game,

04:16just sitting over there with no hope in the game, and no hope that I can affect the game.

04:21There was some speculation that Reeves had rushed back from injury.

04:24In particular, his oblique was estimated to have a 4-6 week recovery time.

04:28Yet, he came back a few weeks early to help his team in the playoffs.

04:32I think he mostly wanted to get back out there to help his team,

04:35but on the back of his mind, this was also a contract year for him.

04:39He knew that.

04:43Overall, it was a very dicey latter half of the season for Reeves,

04:46but he showed enough for the Lakers to make their full commitment.

04:50In the 2026 offseason, his efforts paid off.

04:53He opted out of his player option to become an unrestricted free agent,

04:57allowing him to sign for much more.

05:00So, the Lakers gave him a new contract, worth a colossal 4-year $180 million,

05:06basically doubling his previous extension offer.

05:09Reeves bet on himself and hit the jackpot,

05:12although there was some risk to it, especially when he got injured.

05:15He had such a strong start to the season, though,

05:17that there was no doubt he was going to get paid.

05:20Which he did.

05:22Miles Bridges

05:24In October of 2021,

05:26Bridges had just finished his third year in the league,

05:28so an extension was in the works.

05:30The Charlotte Hornets offered him a 4-year $60 million extension,

05:34which at the time was a very good deal for him.

05:37Bridges was merely a 12-13 point-per-game role player

05:40with a limited skill set,

05:42and nobody was sure how much he could build upon his game.

05:47The Hornets had the right idea to not overpay him,

05:50and to lock in a young player who fit their playstyle quite well.

05:53But when Bridges was asked why he rejected this deal,

05:56he mentioned it was solely because of his agents.

05:59Quote,

05:59If it wasn't for them,

06:01I probably would have taken the deal.

06:03They got more confidence in me than I have sometimes.

06:06Guess who his agent was?

06:07Yup, it's Rich Paul of Clutch Sports.

06:10Remember when I mentioned Nerland Snowell in the beginning of the video,

06:13and how it turned out so poorly that he ended up suing Clutch

06:16for telling him to reject his $70 million offer?

06:19For Bridges, this could have very well been a repeat of that.

06:23The risk was blatantly obvious here.

06:25Bridges was simply a low-usage role player

06:28who got offered a significant extension that could have set him for life,

06:31but Rich Paul said no.

06:34However, there was something that worked in Bridges' favor.

06:37He had great chemistry with LaMelo Ball,

06:39and looking at the direction the franchise was headed towards,

06:42they were entering the beginning of a new era.

06:50The ball and Bridges' duo became a massive threat on and off the court.

06:55Bridges was one of their few young players with high potential,

06:58so his and LaMelo's minutes both jumped up at the same time,

07:01and Bridges feasted.

07:03His numbers skyrocketed playing in a much faster-paced offense,

07:07and he developed his game into a much more well-rounded scorer.

07:11While his bet paid off and he set himself up for a massive impending contract,

07:15this happened.

07:18Bridges, who led the Hornets in scoring last season,

07:20is facing two felony child abuse charges and a felony domestic violence charge.

07:25Bridges got arrested and charged with domestic violence and child abuse.

07:29Apart from how awful this is,

07:31it also created a strange quirk in his contract.

07:342022 was supposed to be the final year of his rookie deal,

07:37and he was up for a new one,

07:39but getting arrested put his career in limbo.

07:42He was still technically part of the team,

07:44but without a contract or a salary for the whole year.

07:47There was this looming assumption around the league

07:50that the Hornets would eventually let him go,

07:52and he would get blackballed from the league.

07:54But that didn't happen.

07:55After a one-year absence,

07:57he signed a qualifying offer for $8 million,

08:00and then became a restricted free agent in 2024,

08:03in which the Hornets re-signed him for three years, $75 million.

08:08The result of his felony charges concluded with insufficient evidence

08:12and just three years of probation,

08:14as this whole thing got swept under the rug.

08:16I think if something like this happened to a player of less talent,

08:20he would have for sure been blackballed.

08:21But Bridges had a lot of value to the Hornets,

08:24and he became a 20-point-per-game scorer who fit well on the roster,

08:27so they didn't want to let him go for nothing.

08:30Despite the arrest and the one-year suspension

08:33and taking a massive risk by rejecting his initial extension,

08:36it all still worked out for Bridges in the end.

08:41John Collins

08:43This might be the least risky decision in the video,

08:46because when the Hawks offered John Collins

08:48a four-year, $90 million extension in 2020,

08:52it was pretty obvious back then that Collins deserved more.

08:55He just had a season averaging over 20-10 as a 22-year-old,

08:59along with shooting 40% from three.

09:02Even if he didn't watch a single Hawks game,

09:04this stat line alone is enough to warrant a much larger payday than what he got.

09:08He rejected the offer immediately, and then said this to the media.

09:12If I finish the season averaging 20-10,

09:15the other guys who are averaging 20-10 are max-caliber guys.

09:18I'm in that conversation and feel like I am worthy of being extended as such.

09:22But the team situation, future cap and all that,

09:25now you have a contract negotiation.

09:28He did have a point about the team's salary situation,

09:30because the Hawks were adding other pieces that offseason,

09:33like Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovich,

09:36both of whom were pivotal to help the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

09:40So Collins essentially got low-balled

09:42because the Hawks wanted to add more role players,

09:44and wanted to pay less tax.

09:47For him, it was the obvious choice to reject it and hope for a bigger deal next year,

09:51but there was some risk too.

09:53He got injured prior to the 2021 playoffs and struggled.

09:58While many of his injuries seemed like freak accidents,

10:00over the years he developed a reputation for being injury-prone.

10:04And perhaps signing him to a long-term, massive deal wasn't the right choice.

10:08Regardless, it didn't matter.

10:10As the 2021 offseason commenced and backed by a run to the Conference Finals,

10:15the Hawks needed to keep the squad together.

10:17So they offered him 5 years, $125 million,

10:21which he gladly signed.

10:23For Collins, it was a rather safe bet that paid off,

10:26but at what cost?

10:27The cost of the Hawks' chances to compete in the playoffs.

10:31Because as the years progressed,

10:32this contract severely bottlenecked the Hawks' flexibility.

10:36Collins' production and his random injuries

10:38did not meet the expectations of his salary.

10:41And soon, he was traded.

10:43The long-awaited John Collins trade.

10:46He is on his way to Utah.

10:48For Rudy Gay, a future second-round pick.

10:52Harrison Barnes.

10:54In October of 2015,

10:56a few months after the Warriors won the championship,

10:59they gave Harrison Barnes a rookie extension

11:01that seemed very, very good at the time.

11:03Four years, $64 million.

11:05That's $16 million a year,

11:07which is about the same per year

11:08as they gave Draymond Green.

11:10Considering that Green was by far the more impactful player

11:13and extremely important to the Warriors system,

11:16it was a generous offer for Barnes.

11:18Yet, he still rejected it

11:20and preferred to wait another year.

11:22At a glance, this seems stupid.

11:24Not only was he the least important player

11:26in their starting lineup,

11:27but he also had a horrendous year afterwards.

11:30Remember how bad he was in the 2016 playoffs?

11:33Dude was abysmal

11:34and capped off by an even worse finals.

11:37Harrison Barnes, who is 2 of 22

11:39over the last two games.

11:41No, Harrison Barnes has struggled.

11:43That 2 for 14 performance

11:45followed by an 0 for 8 performance

11:47will forever be etched

11:48in the memory of all Warriors fans.

11:50If they were alive back then.

11:52With Barnes' reputation completely broken,

11:55they didn't even want to keep him anymore.

11:57Everyone assumed he made a massive mistake

11:59in rejecting that offer.

12:00How in the world is he supposed to get paid now

12:03after this?

12:04It turns out,

12:05this was the perfect time to get paid

12:07because every single player knew

12:09the summer of 2016 would be a goldmine.

12:12Due to a new TV deal,

12:13the salary cap spiked by 34%,

12:15increasing from a $70 million cap

12:18to $94 million.

12:20This meant every team

12:21had so much more money to spend,

12:22way more than what the players were worth.

12:25Apart from the worst offenders

12:27like Chandler Parsons or Luol Deng

12:29or Timofey Mozgov or Evan Turner,

12:31Harrison Barnes also hopped in.

12:33He accepted 4 years,

12:34$94 million from the Mavericks.

12:37Initially, this deal was perceived

12:39as bad as the others,

12:40but for the Mavs,

12:41it was worth taking a risk on him.

12:43Keep in mind,

12:44at one point,

12:45he was the number one ranked

12:46high school prospect in the nation.

12:47The team was in a rebuilding phase,

12:49so they were willing to give him

12:50the keys to the offense

12:51and see if that potential is still there.

12:55In retrospect,

12:56Barnes did not live up to this deal

12:57and got traded fairly quickly,

12:59but he was way more productive

13:01than, you know,

13:02Luol Deng or Timofey Mozgov.

13:04So he wasn't the worst signing.

13:07Joe Johnson.

13:09Let's go back in time.

13:12It's September, 2009.

13:1428-year-old Joe Johnson

13:16is at the peak of his career

13:17and had just gotten out of a meeting

13:19with the Hawks' front office.

13:21In that meeting,

13:22they offered him a 4-year,

13:23$60 million extension,

13:25which would cement him

13:26as the highest-paid player

13:27on the team.

13:28It was a reasonable offer

13:29at the time.

13:30Johnson had just made

13:31his third straight All-Star team,

13:33and the Hawks just reached

13:34the second round of the playoffs.

13:35But Johnson believed

13:37he could get more.

13:38With another successful year

13:40under his belt

13:40and the Hawks winning over 50 games

13:42for the first time in a decade,

13:44the impending 2010 free agency

13:46was just around the corner.

13:48And it set the stage

13:49to be the most iconic summer

13:50in history,

13:51with guys like LeBron,

13:53D-Wade,

13:54Chris Bosh,

13:54Amari Stoudemire,

13:55Carlos Boozer,

13:56and David Lee

13:57all hitting the market

13:58at the same time,

13:59with so many teams

14:00ready to pounce.

14:02Joe Johnson would also

14:03be among those guys,

14:04but while these other stars

14:06took slight pay cuts

14:07or signed shorter-term deals,

14:09Johnson hit the jackpot.

14:11With him being

14:12an unrestricted free agent,

14:13the Hawks could not

14:14let him walk for nothing,

14:15so he had all the leverage

14:17in the world

14:17to negotiate what he wanted.

14:19The result?

14:20The new contract he got

14:21would be worth

14:22the full maximum

14:23of six years,

14:24$124 million,

14:26more than any other

14:27free agent signing

14:28that summer.

14:30Now, was he actually worth it?

14:31Hell no.

14:33He was a B-tier All-Star,

14:35making as much

14:35as a top-five player

14:37of that era.

14:38Then, two years

14:39into the deal,

14:39the Hawks traded him away

14:40as they were stuck

14:41as a mediocre playoff team

14:43with Johnson leading the way.

14:45As illustrious of an NBA career

14:47as Johnson had,

14:48this wasn't as much

14:49of a gamble for him

14:49as it was for the Hawks.

14:51Him and his agent knew

14:52that even if they rejected

14:53that $60 million extension,

14:55barring any sort of

14:56major injury,

14:57the Hawks were for sure

14:58gonna throw him the bag

14:59a year later.

15:00They couldn't afford

15:01to lose him

15:02or risk another team

15:03swooping in to take him.

15:05Joe had several suitors

15:06that summer,

15:07which included

15:07a prominent meeting

15:08with the Knicks

15:09to reunite him

15:10with coach Mike D'Antoni

15:11in New York.

15:12The Hawks overpaid,

15:13but it was necessary

15:14to keep him.

15:17Kevin Garnett.

15:19Let's go back

15:20even further in time.

15:22It's August, 1997.

15:25After his sophomore year

15:26concluded,

15:27Kevin Garnett had a meeting

15:28with the Wolves owner,

15:29Glenn Taylor.

15:30Back then,

15:31the length of rookie

15:32contracts were different,

15:33so they were already

15:33discussing a new extension

15:35for him,

15:35because the Wolves needed

15:36to lock him in

15:37for the long haul.

15:38Garnett had just made

15:39the All-Star team

15:40in his second year,

15:41and judging by what

15:42the Wolves witnessed,

15:43he was on his way

15:43to becoming one of the

15:44best players of the sport.

15:46The high school kid

15:48is the number five pick,

15:49Kevin Garnett.

15:51Predicting KG's rise

15:52into superstardom

15:53was one of the few things

15:54they got right.

15:55That's why Glenn Taylor

15:57prematurely offered him

15:58a six-year,

15:59$103 million extension,

16:01a surprising offer

16:02for a player so young,

16:03but an even bigger surprise

16:05when Garnett said no.

16:07Not many players

16:08as young as him

16:08would have rejected

16:09this kind of money,

16:10but him and his agent

16:11opted to continue negotiating.

16:13They felt they could get more,

16:15and they did.

16:16Two months later,

16:17in October,

16:18they came to agreement

16:18to a new contract,

16:20one that would give

16:21the 21-year-old Kevin Garnett

16:23the largest contract

16:24in NBA history

16:25in terms of total value.

16:27Six years,

16:28$126 million.

16:30That was in 1997,

16:32and that was more

16:33than what Shaq got

16:34in the previous year

16:35when the Lakers

16:36gave him seven years,

16:37$120 million.

16:38And Shaq was much more

16:39accomplished at that time.

16:41This KG contract

16:42broke records,

16:44but it was the consequences

16:45of it that led

16:46to the 1999 NBA lockout.

16:48Both players and team owners

16:50were unhappy

16:51with this contract

16:52because owners feared

16:53that players were getting

16:54paid too much,

16:55while the players,

16:56on the other hand,

16:57reeked of jealousy.

16:59Garnett signed this deal

17:00at a time when the NBA

17:01was exploding in popularity,

17:02and as a young player,

17:04he reaped the rewards

17:05while the older players

17:06who came before him

17:07were envious.

17:08For example,

17:10this deal he signed

17:10would pay him more

17:11than Scottie Pippen's

17:12entire 17-year NBA career.

17:16Charles Barkley

17:17infamously reacted

17:18by saying,

17:19$120 million.

17:21That's a lot of damn money,

17:22isn't it?

17:23What a great country.

17:24Imagine if he could play.

17:26I mean,

17:27you could see the salt

17:28seeping through his body.

17:29In an interview

17:30when he was asked

17:31how he was treated

17:32after signing this deal,

17:33Garnett mentioned,

17:34everybody I played after that

17:36felt personal.

17:37People that I thought

17:38were cool

17:38went across the lines,

17:40that coolness went away

17:41and it became a real battle.

17:42It became real intense.

17:45He felt there was a target

17:46on his back

17:47and every player in the league

17:48was giving him

17:48their best shot.

17:49I mean,

17:50it makes sense.

17:51That was an unfathomable

17:52long-term deal

17:53for a player of his age.

17:54To decline an already lucrative

17:56103 million

17:57was crazy to begin with,

17:59but to have the confidence

18:00to go back to the table

18:01and negotiate it

18:02up to 126 million?

18:04And actually exceed

18:05every expectation

18:06they had of him?

18:07Garnett changed the game

18:09on and off the court.

18:12Anyway,

18:13that's all folks.

18:14Those were six NBA players

18:15who rejected an offer

18:16and got even more.

18:18Let me know your thoughts

18:19in the comment section.

18:20I hope y'all enjoyed the video.

18:22Thank you all so much

18:22for watching.

18:23And of course,

18:24as always,

18:25I'll see you next time.

18:26Peace.

18:34Peace.

18:35Peace.

18:37Peace.

Category

Transcript

Recommended