Free Agency Year 1: Where the poor stay poor
Oct 30, 2015 5:32:41 GMT
Minnesota, Swoosh, and 2 more like this
Post by dave on Oct 30, 2015 5:32:41 GMT
Free Agency is finally upon us. It is the time of the year that aspiring GMs say to themselves "I'm going to sign a star this year" only to be left disappointed by never bringing home that coveted free agent. This year is no different, in fact this year is terrible. Only a few of the players from the expansion draft decided to hit the market, and even less of them are any good. In theory this should be called Neil Johnston: The How I Got Super Paid Story, but alas I'll stick with the part about those of us who can't offer year 5 most likely aren't bringing home any new toys to play with.
Not counting the squads who own the bird rights to their free agents, there are only 7 potential other landing spots that have the capspace to bring on one of the what I'll call the "Free Agent Five", it's not cool like the Smackdown 6 but it'll do.
Washington Generals - 45 million
Boston Celtics - 28.9 million
Chicago Bulls - 22.8 million
Minnesota Timberwolves - 21.8 million
Tel Aviv Maccabi - 19.9 million
Los Angeles Lakers - 17.3 million
Cairo Zamalek - 16.4 million
Only two of these squads made the playoffs last season with Chicago (60-22) and Cairo (49-33) being the two best options to steal a guy based on the winning of last season. Minnesota with a great core of Wiggins, Garnett, and Jones would be a great spot if they were to go hard on anybody (Eddie Jones *wink*).
The Soon To be Rich:
Bob Kurland
Last season Bob as part of the Brose Baskets (what kind of name is that?) was good for 21.1 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 2.4 BPG. A 27 year old center that can defend and score would be a treasure in any free agent class, but in this one he looks like a fucking diamond. Bob is seeking a max and he will get it, luckily from Bamberg Bob isn't in the 18 million starting MAX range but he's going to be spendy to keep under his control.
What he's worth: MAX
What he'll get: MAX 5 YEARS
Neil Johnston
Neil Johnston, the third wheel of the Mexico City Titans is going to be the first recipient of the SUPER deal. One of the things I find humorous here is that Neil is only asking 9 million a year
He'll double that from any of the teams that can afford it. Last season Neil averaged 15/9/1.3 as a 3rd option. Can he be more if he goes to another team to be "The Guy"? Probably, will he? Not likely. The Titans are not in a great spot because I can't imagine they want to pay a 3rd guy 18+ million over 5 years, but they may not have the ability to try to get a deal with him. To another team that could lure him away, he's worth the cost but in Mexico where Sergei Belov is an upcoming FA this team could be locked into 3 huge deals in as many years.
What he deserves: 15 Million a year for 3 + Team Option
What he'll get: 18 Million a year for 4-5 seasons
Mike Conley
Conley is a super interesting Free Agent for year one. He was on a 60 win team, although at least 40 of those wins are solely due to Charles Barkley. Conley is going to take a big advantage of the thin market this offseason and cash in big time. Conley did most of his scoring around the rim thanks to his outstanding athletics, but looking a little deeper his jumpshot is suspect, and his 3pt shot is not even almost average. He has great hands and is an okay enough defender. He is a young PG in a league that has very little of that currently. If the Bulls want to be a top seed again, they'll need to lock up Conley for a few more seasons, but I think even if he goes to another team they are still a playoff squad.
What he's Worth: 12-13 Million a year over 4
What he'll Get: MAX
Eddie Jones
Voted by most, the luckiest man on earth. Eddie Jones is coming off of a year where he shot under 40% from the field and 31% from 3 for the Seattle Supersonics. He's basically a 3 and D guy without the 3 yet. Jones has great size but he's almost fully stuck into the SG position due to his lack of strength and lack of PSD to be a very effective SF. That will make things tougher if he resigns with Seattle having two other guys that deserve starting spots on the squad. Last season he put up 11/4/3, not really screaming SIGN ME! kind of numbers. If you want more laughs, check out his efficiency and shooting percents to really see what you're getting a hold of.
What he's worth: 8-9 million per over 3-4
What he'll get: 13 million-MAX
Paul Westphal
The last of the big name free agents is also a big question mark to some. Coming off of a 21/5/5 season, what he doesn't offer on defense he offers up extra O. Paul is a prolific scorer, and is hoping to get the big payday from the team that drafted him. He would be able to make use of the open space that Bill Russell could make if he develops any kind of scoring game. He is the least likely of the FAs to get signed by another team. He doesn't offer enough for most of the lotto teams with cap and he doesn't offer up enough defense for the playoffs squads. Well maybe Cairo because they only have 2 players and a bunch of dookie.
What he's worth: 10-11 million over 3-4
What he'll get: 13-15 million over 4-5
Honestly, the rest of the free agent class will be lucky to get anything over minimum contracts so this will go quick and go big. Not sure where I came up with the values for these guys since I always think guys are worth less then they get, so suck it if I am guessing lower then they may deserve. In the end they are all going to be winners and cash HUGE paychecks.
Not counting the squads who own the bird rights to their free agents, there are only 7 potential other landing spots that have the capspace to bring on one of the what I'll call the "Free Agent Five", it's not cool like the Smackdown 6 but it'll do.
Washington Generals - 45 million
Boston Celtics - 28.9 million
Chicago Bulls - 22.8 million
Minnesota Timberwolves - 21.8 million
Tel Aviv Maccabi - 19.9 million
Los Angeles Lakers - 17.3 million
Cairo Zamalek - 16.4 million
Only two of these squads made the playoffs last season with Chicago (60-22) and Cairo (49-33) being the two best options to steal a guy based on the winning of last season. Minnesota with a great core of Wiggins, Garnett, and Jones would be a great spot if they were to go hard on anybody (Eddie Jones *wink*).
The Soon To be Rich:
Bob Kurland
Last season Bob as part of the Brose Baskets (what kind of name is that?) was good for 21.1 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 2.4 BPG. A 27 year old center that can defend and score would be a treasure in any free agent class, but in this one he looks like a fucking diamond. Bob is seeking a max and he will get it, luckily from Bamberg Bob isn't in the 18 million starting MAX range but he's going to be spendy to keep under his control.
What he's worth: MAX
What he'll get: MAX 5 YEARS
Neil Johnston
Neil Johnston, the third wheel of the Mexico City Titans is going to be the first recipient of the SUPER deal. One of the things I find humorous here is that Neil is only asking 9 million a year
He'll double that from any of the teams that can afford it. Last season Neil averaged 15/9/1.3 as a 3rd option. Can he be more if he goes to another team to be "The Guy"? Probably, will he? Not likely. The Titans are not in a great spot because I can't imagine they want to pay a 3rd guy 18+ million over 5 years, but they may not have the ability to try to get a deal with him. To another team that could lure him away, he's worth the cost but in Mexico where Sergei Belov is an upcoming FA this team could be locked into 3 huge deals in as many years.What he deserves: 15 Million a year for 3 + Team Option
What he'll get: 18 Million a year for 4-5 seasons
Mike Conley
Conley is a super interesting Free Agent for year one. He was on a 60 win team, although at least 40 of those wins are solely due to Charles Barkley. Conley is going to take a big advantage of the thin market this offseason and cash in big time. Conley did most of his scoring around the rim thanks to his outstanding athletics, but looking a little deeper his jumpshot is suspect, and his 3pt shot is not even almost average. He has great hands and is an okay enough defender. He is a young PG in a league that has very little of that currently. If the Bulls want to be a top seed again, they'll need to lock up Conley for a few more seasons, but I think even if he goes to another team they are still a playoff squad.
What he's Worth: 12-13 Million a year over 4
What he'll Get: MAX
Eddie Jones
Voted by most, the luckiest man on earth. Eddie Jones is coming off of a year where he shot under 40% from the field and 31% from 3 for the Seattle Supersonics. He's basically a 3 and D guy without the 3 yet. Jones has great size but he's almost fully stuck into the SG position due to his lack of strength and lack of PSD to be a very effective SF. That will make things tougher if he resigns with Seattle having two other guys that deserve starting spots on the squad. Last season he put up 11/4/3, not really screaming SIGN ME! kind of numbers. If you want more laughs, check out his efficiency and shooting percents to really see what you're getting a hold of.
What he's worth: 8-9 million per over 3-4
What he'll get: 13 million-MAX
Paul Westphal
The last of the big name free agents is also a big question mark to some. Coming off of a 21/5/5 season, what he doesn't offer on defense he offers up extra O. Paul is a prolific scorer, and is hoping to get the big payday from the team that drafted him. He would be able to make use of the open space that Bill Russell could make if he develops any kind of scoring game. He is the least likely of the FAs to get signed by another team. He doesn't offer enough for most of the lotto teams with cap and he doesn't offer up enough defense for the playoffs squads. Well maybe Cairo because they only have 2 players and a bunch of dookie.
What he's worth: 10-11 million over 3-4
What he'll get: 13-15 million over 4-5
Honestly, the rest of the free agent class will be lucky to get anything over minimum contracts so this will go quick and go big. Not sure where I came up with the values for these guys since I always think guys are worth less then they get, so suck it if I am guessing lower then they may deserve. In the end they are all going to be winners and cash HUGE paychecks.
