WPG was like: "Neal, here's an enormous amount of money. Please play for us." Pionk: "oh, ok"

When you factor their point production over an 82 game season, Horvat has 53 points whereas Larkin has 59 points. There really isn't a sizable difference there. As for your second point, calling Larkin on of the top 200 foot players in the league, that is simply false. Larkin is quite average defensively. Saying he is a country mile better than Horvat is quite an exagerration.

I'm sure that is exactly what happened

Its better than begging Big Buff to put down the keg tap, lose 100 lbs, and take a league minimum deal.