12 Worst free agent signings in Golden State Warriors history

Worst Warriors free agent signings No. 8: Kwame Brown, 2011

Kwame Brown is the poster child for how the NBA was ill-prepared for the wave of high schoolers entering through the draft. Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards became enamored with Brown’s size and athleticism and took him first overall in the 2001 NBA Draft, then failed to give him the support he needed to develop as a player and a person.

Even so, Brown was a hard worker and still had those excellent physical tools, so he managed to hang around the league. He played four seasons in Washington and 2.5 in Los Angeles before he began bouncing around, playing in Memphis, Detroit, and Charlotte over the next four years.

So we came to the offseason of 2011, and the Warriors were in the market for a big man. In a financial context where the salary cap was much lower than it is today, the Warriors invested $6.75 million in a one-year deal for Brown, perhaps thinking they could finally be the ones to translate his physical gifts into something more.

They never truly got that chance. Brown was up-and-down in the first nine games of the season and then suffered a chest injury that knocked him out for the rest of the year. He would not return, playing just 22 games for Philadelphia the following year before his career ended.