i can easily name 10-15 or even 20 players who deserve a contract like that more than him
and nowadays because of all social media, tmz, etc. we (general public) also know if something bad happens off the court.
The media makes alot of hype for certain player and that makes them overrated although that they have only a decent performance. This is one way of getting popularity and get yourself a great contract otherwise you wont really get it just by playing great on the court everytime ( wait , you can be good on the court ALL the time though )
You are especially social media in which people or then fans of that certain player show some of its highlights it allows the palywr to become more popular and gain fans which i think leads the management to see and know it. The tendency then is that dince they saw how good the player is because of the highlights the will get it
Player highlights alone can't get you too far if that is the only thing you can show for. The management isn't that stupid too rely on just video clips and signing a player because he is hyped by social media. That assumption is rather flawed since we all know that the best players are those who work the hardest and make their game speak for it.
Well i haven't said that players highlight alone can get you too far, i have only said that it would be a great boost for them as they become more popular and when management means business having a lots of fans will surely be considered. We cant deny the fact that everything also comes to business, no matter how good you are but when you were left behind of the competition you surely eithier get a slot
NBA is an entertainment so they would value more on the entertainment than the real competition, some games are intentionally rigged in order for the fans to witness a close games and that would make them feel the thrill and will get the worth of their money, that is NBA and player with so much publicity will be more popular and will help the NBA to stay profitable.
From a fan's perspective, that would be hard to accept. If some of the games are really rigged, as you are saying, would the fans still enjoy it as much knowing that the outcome has been determined even before the jump ball? I know there are referees that have changed the way games have resulted, but for the entire league to conspire in something this big would just drive fans away.