The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement included an amnesty clause allowing each team to get rid of one bad contract. (Though the player gets paid in full, the money isn't counted against the team's salary cap.) Six teams used it to waive the likes of Gilbert Arenas (Magic, pictured), Brandon Roy (Blazers) and Travis Outlaw (Nets). Still, each team still has at least one overpaid player on its payroll. Who isn't earning his money?

Everyone knew the Hawks, desperate to keep their star, were overpaying Johnson by giving him a six-year, $119 million deal in 2010. But it has to trouble them that he responded with his worst season since joining Atlanta in 2005. It will be a salary-cap killer when he's making $25M as a washed-up 35-year-old in 2015-16.
(* - Years and money remaining on contract, not terms of original deal.)

The Celtics will be overpaying Kevin Garnett (one year, $21.2M) and Paul Pierce (three years, $47.4M) at the tail end of their careers, but at least they've earned their dough. If there's one contract Boston would like to be rid of, it's probably O'Neal's. With his shot knees, he gave them only 24 games of minimal production last season. Problem is, the Celtics need him now that Kendrick Perkins and Shaq are gone.

If the 24-year-old power forward matures and develops into a consistent force on both ends of the court, he'll be worth the contract he signed with the Bobcats last summer. But that's far from a sure thing after he missed half of last season with injuries and averaged just over 10 points and five rebounds. Don't expect Michael Jordan to be any more patient as an owner than he was as a player.

You can't call Boozer a bust after his big free-agent signing last summer. After all, he averaged 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds while helping the Bulls finish with the NBA's best record. Still, for someone being paid like a superstar, Boozer ultimately didn't provide enough help for league MVP Derrick Rose when it mattered most. He was crummy in the playoffs, often getting benched in the fourth quarter for Taj Gibson, a bargain backup making barely $1 million.

The Cavs used amnesty to shed themselves of Baron Davis' bloated contract, but they're still left with the rest of the six-year, $50M deal Varejao signed in 2009. The 6-foot-11 Brazilian hustles and rebounds and plays annoying defense, but without LeBron around the Cavs need him to do more. And he can't.

The Mavericks made Haywood one of the league's highest-paid centers last summer, then wisely put him on the bench when Tyson Chandler, another offseason acquisition, proved to be the better player. Haywood did help Dallas as a backup big man during its unlikely title run, but now they need much more with Chandler leaving for New York.

One reason it took so long for the Nuggets to trade Carmelo Anthony? They kept trying to throw in Harrington as part of the deal. It didn't take long for Denver to sour on the trigger-happy small forward after giving him a fat free-agent deal last summer. Now they're stuck with his bloated contract and regressing talents as they try to build a sleeker, less selfish team.

In the summer of 2009, the Pistons were flush with cap room, so they handed huge contracts to free agents Villanueva and Ben Gordon. Both players have been a terrible investment, but at least Gordon is a more dependable scorer and has a better attitude. Villanueva seems content to launch 3-pointers, avoid rebounds and wait for his next contract year.

What were the Warriors thinking when they gave the skinny, 7-foot Biedrins a six-year, $62 million contract in 2008? If they thought he'd blossom into an All-Star center, they were sorely mistaken. He's only gotten worse, averaging 5.0 points last season while making 32 percent of his free throws. Golden State didn't learn its lesson. Last summer it signed David Lee, another big man with limited skills, to a five-year, $80M deal.

The Rockets may be the rare team that doesn't regret any of its contracts. They're overpaying Luis Scola (four years, $57.2M) and Kevin Martin (two years, $25M), but at least they're productive players. The same can't be said of Thabeet, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2009 who was banished to the D-League, then traded to Houston. The Rockets want to see if they can turn the 7-3 center into some approximation of Dikembe Mutombo. It may be a waste of time and money, but it's probably worth a shot.

The Pacers used amnesty on James Posey and no longer have any dead weight on the roster. Still, the team needs a star, and Granger was supposed to become that guy when he averaged 25.8 points four seasons ago and signed a five-year, $60M contract extension. Instead, his scoring average and shooting percentage have slipped each season. At the age of 28, he should be getting better, not worse.

Williams' contract seemed reasonable when he was in LA's starting lineup. But in a span of two days in December, the Clippers acquired Chauncey Billups and Chris Paul. Now Williams is the team's third-best point guard and is making more money than Blake Griffin.

Is anyone on this team not overpaid? The NBA's largest payroll includes the gargantuan contracts of Kobe Bryant (three years, $83.5M) and Pau Gasol (three years, $57M), plus the hard-to-justify deals of Ron Artest (three years, $21.8M), Steve Blake (three years, $12M) and Derek Fisher (two years, $6.8M). But the one player LA could lose without missing a beat is Walton, who parlayed one decent season into a six-year, $30M jackpot in 2007.

Fearing they would regress and turn off their fanbase if they didn't keep their rising star, the Grizzlies gave Gay a five-year, $80 million deal in 2010. As it turned out, they progressed and energized their fans without him. Memphis surged after Gay's season-ending shoulder injury and won their first playoff series with an upset of the top-seeded Spurs. Maybe Zach Randolph should have been the Grizzlies' go-to guy, all along.

With little cap space left after signing the Big Three in 2010, the Heat couldn't afford to waste money. But it looks like that's what they did with Miller, who spent the first season of a five-year, $30 million deal as an injury-prone bricklayer. He missed half the season, then put up career lows in almost every category as Miami fell short of the title. Good health might let him become the 3-point marksman Miami needs, but the Heat probably wish they had their money back to pursue a free-agent center or point guard.

It's no coincidence that a lot of bad contracts were signed in 2010, when teams had cleared cap space for that summer's bumper crop of free agents. When teams didn't get the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (all of whom, you may have heard, signed with the same team), they threw silly money at players like Gooden, who has played for nine teams in nine NBA seasons and should be paid like a journeyman, not a borderline All-Star.

The Timberwolves drafted the 6-11, 290-pound Pekovic in 2008, then lured him to the U.S. two years later with a three-year, $13 million contract. Should they have bothered? Pekovic looked like a big stiff in his first NBA season, averaging 5.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 fouls per game as Darko Milicic's backup. (Really, how good can you be if you're Darko's backup?) At least Ricky Rubio appears to be worth the wait.

Yes, Okur is grossly overpaid at this point in his career. But the Nets were desperate for a big man when Brook Lopez broke his foot before the season, so they made a trade with the Jazz for the sweet-shooting but slow-footed center. At least the move made a lot more sense than the big contract New Jersey gave Travis Outlaw in 2010. They amnestied Outlaw a year later.

After losing David West as a free agent and trading Chris Paul, Okafor may be the team's biggest star, a role for which he is ill-suited despite his hefty salary. New Orleans overpaid the solid-but-unspectacular center with a six-year, $72 million deal three years ago, but at least it means he can't split town any time soon.

Balkman's contract is chump change in today's NBA, especially compared to the max deals of Knicks teammates Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. But the Nuggets got under the luxury tax by including Balkman in their trade of Anthony to the Knicks, and they got rid of a useless player. He has scored a grand total of 30 points in the last two seasons, which is a good night for Amar'e or Carmelo.

The Thunder were excited to trade for Perkins last year, and they surely don't regret giving him a four-year contract extension before he played a game for them. Not yet, anyway. The problem may come in the next few years as they try to keep Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka. They're all better players than Perkins, who was also the fifth-best player in Boston, but how much money can OKC afford to pay them after over-valuing its tough but limited center?

The Magic were thrilled to get rid of Gilbert Arenas and his ridiculous contract, but they surely wish they were allowed to use amnesty on two players. Turkoglu isn't the same player who helped the Magic reach the NBA Finals in 2009, but he's getting paid like a star.

When the Sixers signed the free-agent power forward to a five-year, $80 million deal in 2008, it was widely considered a bold move toward title contention. Instead, it's become yet another cautionary tale about investing in a player coming off a major injury. Brand had missed most of the previous season with a torn Achilles' tendon and has never regained his explosiveness. Not coincidentally, Philly hasn't finished above .500 since signing him.

For some reason, it must not have bothered the Suns that Childress didn't exactly tear up the Greek league while playing two years for Olympiakos. Phoenix traded for his rights last summer and signed him to a five-year, $34M deal, then watched him make just one 3-pointer all season and fall out of Alvin Gentry's playing rotation. If the Suns could send him back to Athens, they surely would.

The definition of wasting money is paying someone who doesn't play. Oden has played 82 games, the equivalent of one full season, since being picked No. 1 in the 2007 draft. He hasn't played at all in several years because of knee injuries, but the Blazers still decided to keep him with a one-year qualifying offer. It will be a smart move if the 7-footer ever gets healthy and becomes an impact player for Portland. At the age of 23 there's still hope for Oden, but it's hard to be optimistic. 

With Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton, John Salmons and Jimmer Fredette now on the roster, the Kings don't have much use for an oft-injured and one-dimensional shooter like Garcia. Yet he's their third-highest paid player this season, thanks to a five-year, $30 million contract extension he signed in 2008. At the time, he seemed like a key part of Sacramento's future. Now he's just taking up cap space.

Even after Jefferson was a bust in his first season with the Spurs, they doubled down on their investment and signed him to a new four-year, $39 million deal last summer. Once again, he was mediocre in the regular season and a disaster in the playoffs. So instead of keeping San Antonio's championship window open, Jefferson is the one player most responsible for slamming it shut.

Of all the ridiculous contracts signed in 2010, Johnson's may be the nuttiest. In five NBA seasons, the power forward had done nothing to remotely warrant a five-year, $34 million deal. Yet the Raptors, knowing Chris Bosh was about to leave, overpaid Johnson to remain in Canada. The 24-year-old averaged 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds last season and may yet become a decent NBA player. But it will be a long time before he truly earns his money.

He used to be a defensive stopper who could knock down 3-pointers. Now Bell may be the worst starting shooting guard in the league. At 35, his best days are way behind him.

The only way the Wizards could rid themselves of Gilbert Arenas was to take on a contract nearly as bad. Lewis never really deserved the six-year, $110 million deal he got from the Magic in 2007, but he was a key player on the Orlando team that reached the Finals in 2009. He's regressed since then, however, becoming an increasingly passive 3-point shooter and little else. He'll probably be remembered as a symbol of the NBA's era of economic excess.