OT: Posey to New Orleans

[jove9]

True. In just a few years (possibly sooner, rather than later) the Hornets will be trying to dump salary.

Mo Pete and Mike James make a bundle, but combined they still don't match Peja.

With Posey they have 11 guys under contract, and they still need to re-sign Pargo... and Rybo . Bonzi may be in another free agent lurch.

[King Roosk]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=Posey_Hornets-080716

You knew this was coming -- the inevitable overreaction to a role player on a championship team in free agency. Every year there's one guy whom teams can't stop fawning over, and this year it was James Posey. Sure, he was an integral part of championship teams for both Miami and Boston, but as with a lot of players who win rings it can be hard for us to look at him rationally.

That's why role players on title winners tend to get unusually generous contracts, and Posey appears to be the latest example. The same guy who inked a two-year deal (the second was a player option) for just a portion of the midlevel exception last summer to join the Celtics suddenly finds himself enriched with a four-year, $25 million deal by the Hornets. If that seems excessive for a 31-year-old who hasn't averaged more than 8.1 points per game in any of the past four seasons, it's because it is.

It's true that Posey brings three things to the table: defense, rebounding and 3-point shooting. He's not an all-defense guy, but he's an above-average defender who can play multiple positions, and that's certainly helpful. So are the 3s -- in his past three campaigns he's hit 40.3 percent, 37.5 percent and 38.0 percent from downtown. And he's an underrated defensive rebounder who had the third-best defensive rebound rate among small forwards last season.

But those strengths need to be seen in the context of the bigger picture. The guy has all but abandoned shooting anything besides a 3 -- two-thirds of his shots were triples, the fourth-highest rate in the league and the highest among nonguards -- so despite the 3s, he's a fairly inert offensive player.

Who cares if he's "a fairly inert offensive player"? Who cares if a majority of his shots are from beyond the 3 pt line? The Hornets don't need Posey to be any type of offensive force. All they want from Posey is perimeter defense and 3 pt shooting, and guess what? That's what he's best at! With CP3 on the team, Posey need not do anything but play hard nosed defense and camp out on the 3 pt line. NO already has CP3, David West, and Peja to handle the scoring load.

He's been a key role player to 2 different championship teams...that's not a coincidence. NO didn't need an all-star, they just needed a damn good role playing SG. Who on the current FA market fits that bill better than James Posey? Sure they may have overpaid a bit, but aren't we about to do the same for Carl Landry? Sometimes the pieces you need to complete the puzzle don't come at the best bargain. I think it's a great signing for NO.

[BaYBaller]

Not sure why people believe Posey can get serious burn at the 2. He's a SF people. Not only will he not be able to guard quick 2's, especially when teams go small, he won't be able to take advantage on the other end as his offensive repertiore consists almost entirely of 3's. Holliner makes some good points but the big one is really the length of the contract. It's almost guaranteed that Posey will be useless the last 2 or so years of that contract.

[cbs134679]

I dont like it, he was exactly what they needed, a defensive wing, I thought that was the main thing we had over them because they didnt have any body to guard t-mac.

[Ballings7]

Posey is a nice addition for what he does, and improves them in certain areas for sure... but they don't have a legit 3rd offensive creator (self mostly or self and others) after Paul and West. Peja's a versatile quality shooter, but average at best in other areas, thus limited, and can be basically shut down with solid defense.

Hornets are still a jumpshooting team that relies too much on CP3.

They also need to get their bench better at the point (Pargo?), and especially up at PF/C (aside from Armstrong). Wright should get more of an oppurtunity and get better, so that'll be a notable help for them.

[King Roosk]

Ballings7, is Bill Walton on crack in that youtube video in your sig?

[Ballings7]

lol

He may well of done something before that, he is just ridiculous