The 2013 NBA Free Agency Thread

[barelyawake]

Thanks Kanye. Yep, Gortat was good. But, not to get on another tangent at all, I think Z has been underplayed by history. I kinda get upset when people say, "LeBron had no help," as if Z wasn't a very good center. I don't remember the year that Z started really slowing down. But, even a slower Z was good. And a younger, uninjured Z was (choosing my phrasing here) quite good. Not turning this into a Z debate in any way, shape or form.

[Nivek]

I agree on Ilgauskas. He went to a couple All-Star games, but not in the years I have rated as his best (rookie season (97-98) and 05-06). I think perception of his contributions was affected by the fact that he was big and slow.

His career followed a fairly standard arc once he got back from that foot injury that limited him to 5 games in his 2nd season, just 24 games his third season, and then just 62 games in his 4th season. After that, he played basically a full schedule (78+ games/starts) for 5 straight years. His post injury peak was 05-06 -- age 30. After that, his production tapered down through 08-09, then fell off a cliff.

[Ruzious]

If not for the foot problems, I think Z would have been one of the dominant players in the game - once he got the ball inside, it was 2 points. But after the injuries started, he was generally just a decent starter - which was often good for being Cleve's 2nd best player. Cleve's most talented team was I think the 2003/2004 season - whenever it was that Boozer was in his 2nd year. They had Z, Boozer (looking really good), and Lebron in the front court - not bad. And hot-dogging Rickey Davis - what a waste of talent - but still productive - and ex-Zard Jeff McInnis was even productive for them. But Boozer perpetrated the biggest betrayal against Cleve by tricking Gilbert he would stay and then breaking his promise, opting into free agency, and leaving. In Lebron's last 2 seasons in Cleve, he carried the team - and they had the best record in the NBA both seasons.

[stevemcqueen1]

I'd forgotten about that Boozer incident. Man, was it really that long ago?

If he'd stayed in Cleveland there is a good chance he'd have a ring now IMO. LeBron really just needed a little bit more help. Perhaps sometimes it isn't worth it to dick people over for money? Also, if LeBron wins a ring in Cleveland, does he ever leave? That's a crazy path to start traveling down.

[Dat2U]

If not for the foot problems, I think Z would have been one of the dominant players in the game - once he got the ball inside, it was 2 points. But after the injuries started, he was generally just a decent starter - which was often good for being Cleve's 2nd best player. Cleve's most talented team was I think the 2003/2004 season - whenever it was that Boozer was in his 2nd year. They had Z, Boozer (looking really good), and Lebron in the front court - not bad. And hot-dogging Rickey Davis - what a waste of talent - but still productive - and ex-Zard Jeff McInnis was even productive for them. But Boozer perpetrated the biggest betrayal against Cleve by tricking Gilbert he would stay and then breaking his promise, opting into free agency, and leaving. In Lebron's last 2 seasons in Cleve, he carried the team - and they had the best record in the NBA both seasons.

I remember that. Never was a Cavs fan but I hated what Boozer did. Really showed a lack of character IMO.

[hands11]

I'd forgotten about that Boozer incident. Man, was it really that long ago?

If he'd stayed in Cleveland there is a good chance he'd have a ring now IMO. LeBron really just needed a little bit more help. Perhaps sometimes it isn't worth it to dick people over for money? Also, if LeBron wins a ring in Cleveland, does he ever leave? That's a crazy path to start traveling down.

Was it more help LeBron needed, or just more time to mature mentally and round out his game.

Had he stayed and that team stayed together, his improved play over take would have most likely won him a title.

Playing with Bosh and Wade not only helped mentor him but it took the spotlight off being focused squarely on him and he kind of needed that. All eyes on LeBron and he choking on the mounting pressure. It even followed him to Miami the first year, but there was Bosh and Wade to deflect some of it.

I think the move to Miami helped him get there faster. But he might have been able to pull it off anyway in Cleveland. I think LeBron played it safe going to Miami. Greater chance of success.

Only remaining question is, how will this affect him historically. Will it affect his legacy ? I think it will some. He will always get compared with MJ and MJ rebuilt Chicago on his own back. They will likely always say, LeBron needed to play with to other established ASs to do it.

[DCZards]

Only remaining question is, how will this affect him historically. Will it affect his legacy ? I think it will some. He will always get compared with MJ and MJ rebuilt Chicago on his own back. They will likely always say, LeBron needed to play with to other established ASs to do it.

With all due respect to MJ, it's an overstatement to say he '"rebuilt Chicago on his own back." MJ had Pippen and Horace Grant/Rodman playing the similar roles that Wade and Bosh play for the Heat. He also had some decent role players in Paxson, Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc and Bill Cartwright.

If anyone deserves the credit for building a team around Jordan it's Jerry Krause.

[popper]

Is Daniel Orton any good? Does he rebound and defend better than Seraphin and Vesely? If so, could we buy out Singleton or make another move within the cap to add him?

[hands11]

Only remaining question is, how will this affect him historically. Will it affect his legacy ? I think it will some. He will always get compared with MJ and MJ rebuilt Chicago on his own back. They will likely always say, LeBron needed to play with to other established ASs to do it.

With all due respect to MJ, it's an overstatement to say he '"rebuilt Chicago on his own back." MJ had Pippen and Horace Grant/Rodman playing the similar roles that Wade and Bosh play for the Heat. He also had some decent role players in Paxson, Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc and Bill Cartwright.

If anyone deserves the credit for building a team around Jordan it's Jerry Krause.

MJ helped build Pippen. Do you remember Pip crumbling over the pressure of the playoffs and having migraines when he was just getting started.

With all do respect DC. Chicago was built on MJs back. No real center to speech of. Some nice support players but that team would have been nothing if not for MJ. As I recall, MJ just went off his first few years but he eventually learned even as good as he was, he needed a team around him. He then startered to pick his spots better during the season. He would start off getting more player involved. He would set other players up for big shots. But down the stretch, more often then not, it was MJ closing out the games. Specially come playoff time.

[montestewart]

Only remaining question is, how will this affect him historically. Will it affect his legacy ? I think it will some. He will always get compared with MJ and MJ rebuilt Chicago on his own back. They will likely always say, LeBron needed to play with to other established ASs to do it.

With all due respect to MJ, it's an overstatement to say he '"rebuilt Chicago on his own back." MJ had Pippen and Horace Grant/Rodman playing the similar roles that Wade and Bosh play for the Heat. He also had some decent role players in Paxson, Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc and Bill Cartwright.

If anyone deserves the credit for building a team around Jordan it's Jerry Krause.

MJ helped build Pippen. Do you remember Pip crumbling over the pressure of the playoffs and having migraines when he was just getting started.

With all do respect DC. Chicago was built on MJs back. No real center to speech of. Some nice support players but that team would have been nothing if not for MJ. As I recall, MJ just went off his first few years but he eventually learned even as good as he was, he needed a team around him. He then startered to pick his spots better during the season. He would start off getting more player involved. He would set other players up for big shots. But down the stretch, more often then not, it was MJ closing out the games. Specially come playoff time.

Largely agree with this. Pippen became a great player, but he didn't come into the league like that. he was picked 5th, so people obviously saw his potential, but after four years at a small college, he scored 7.9 ppg as a rookie (Jordan scored 28.2) and many people, myself included, did not see him as a major long term asset to partner with Jordan. It really wasn't until the end of his 3rd year (I think) when he started to put his all around game together. He probably would have been a quality player no matter what, but I think playing next to Jordan helped him develop his work ethic and drive and prevented defenses from keying in on him. Jordan no doubt benefited from that partnership as well.

[Kanyewest]

Thanks Kanye. Yep, Gortat was good. But, not to get on another tangent at all, I think Z has been underplayed by history. I kinda get upset when people say, "LeBron had no help," as if Z wasn't a very good center. I don't remember the year that Z started really slowing down. But, even a slower Z was good. And a younger, uninjured Z was (choosing my phrasing here) quite good. Not turning this into a Z debate in any way, shape or form.

Yeah Big Z will go down as a better player than Gortat. Although I think in that season Gortat was better in their postseason matchup- although maybe it was because he didn't have to log as many minutes as Big Z and he was also a decade and a half younger. Dwight Howard was also probably the worst possible matchup that Big Z could have had.

Cleveland's supporting cast was alright- Orlando's was another level.

[rockymac52]

So the internet pretty much agrees that it's a foregone conclusion that the Bulls will amnesty Carlos Boozer this summer, getting them out of the last year of his $15 million or so deal. If that's correct, then Boozer will hit waivers at that point. I think he's still a very solid player, and I'd like the Wizards to consider signing him/placing a waiver claim bid on him.

My question is how big of a waiver claim bid do you think we'd have to make in order to be awarded Boozer?

Although it's possible, I highly doubt that any team would give Boozer a full bid (meaning they'd pay him the entirety of his existing contract). As far as partial bids go, whichever team submits the largest bid gets the player. So suddenly it becomes a game of guesswork, where our front office has to guess what Boozer's largest bid will be, and then beat it. Guess right, and you get the player. Guess wrong, and you get nothing.

Boozer would be one of the best, if not the best player who was amnestied since the new CBA created the rule. Any ideas on how much the winning bid would be? If we could acquire Boozer for under $10 million, I'd have to think that would be the best value deal we could hope for in free agency. That would also leave us enough cap space to sign another solid player (or re-sign Ariza or Okafor).

[rockymac52]

Here's a quick projection of teams with cap space this coming summer, via Hoops World:

Los Angeles Lakers — $46-52 million
Philadelphia 76ers — $34 million
Dallas Mavericks — $31 million
Utah Jazz — $23-43 million
Phoenix Suns — $19.5 million
Charlotte Bobcats — $19 million
Orlando Magic — $19 million
Washington Wizards — $15 million
Atlanta Hawks — $12 million
Detroit Pistons — $12 million
Milwaukee Bucks — $12 million
Golden State Warriors — $10 million
Toronto Raptors — $8-26 million
San Antonio Spurs — $7 million
Cleveland Cavaliers — 6.5-$24 million

The Cavaliers range depends on whether or not the cut Bynum and/or Varejao. The Raptors range depends on whether or not Rudy Gay exercises his player option, which I'd assume he will, meaning they'd only have $8 million in cap space. The Jazz range is based on expected extensions given to Favors and/or Hayward. The Lakers range is based on whether or not they trade Nash for an expiring.

Based on this list, which teams would even want Boozer (assuming he costs at least $5 million)?

It's easier to eliminate the teams that clearly would NOT want Boozer.

The Cavaliers probably don't want Boozer, in part due to the possible presence of Bynum and/or Varejao, in addition to Thompson and Bennett, as well as the fact that Boozer spurned them so badly in the past and that bridge is most likely burned.
The Bucks probably don't want Boozer, since they seem to like their front court with Sanders, Henson, Ilyasova, and a few others. Their issues are in the back court.
The Pistons probably don't want Boozer, even if they part ways with Monroe, because of their logjam down low.
The Hawks probably don't want Boozer, since they already have Horford and Millsap.
The Magic probably don't want Boozer, because he's going to be 33, and they're still rebuilding.
Ditto for the Bobcats.
Ditto for the Suns.
Ditto for the Jazz, and they also have Favors and Kanter down low who they seem to like.
And finally, the same goes for the 76ers.

That leaves us with the following teams:
Wizards
Lakers
Mavericks
Warriors
Raptors
Spurs

If Boozer is valued enough, his price tag might exceed the $7 or $8 million that the Spurs and Raptors, respectively, would be able to offer.

I think our main competition for Boozer would be from the Lakers and Mavericks, and to a lesser extent, the Warriors (since I think they might prefer to re-sign Bogut). If that's the case, then there aren't going to be many teams who can put together a competitive offer for Boozer, meaning our chances of signing him are pretty good.

Then the question becomes how greedy do we want to be, AKA how big of a risk are we willing to take in an attempt to get Boozer on the cheapest contract possible?

On one hand, I'd be happy to pay Boozer something like $10-12 million next year just to be safe. On the other hand, I can't help but love the thought of stealing Boozer for a relatively small salary of only $4-6 million.

[dangermouse]

Watching the Clippers game now... why did we not go after Mullens (if we actually didnt)?

We could have offered him more money if we didnt offer Maynor his contract.

He could have started while Okafor is out.

Hes a stretch-5.

I think signing Maynor so early and not looking into any of the half-decent bigs on the market has to be up there amongst Ernie's Biggest Blunders.

[montestewart]

Watching the Clippers game now... why did we not go after Mullens (if we actually didnt)?

We could have offered him more money if we didnt offer Maynor his contract.

He could have started while Okafor is out.

Hes a stretch-5.

I think signing Maynor so early and not looking into any of the half-decent bigs on the market has to be up there amongst Ernie's Biggest Blunders.

Seems more like an average EG move, which is of course not the same as an average move.

[Nivek]

Wizards didn't miss a lot with Mullens. He managed to reduce his fouling last season, but he's still terribly inefficient on offense and he's not much on the boards. If the Wizards had signed him using the BAE, I'd have been almost as disappointed as I was with the Maynor move.

[verbal8]

If Boozer is valued enough, his price tag might exceed the $7 or $8 million that the Spurs and Raptors, respectively, would be able to offer.

I think this is right around where his amnesty bid value would be. Although I could see the Spurs making a move or two to free up more if they thought he was the missing piece. It would be a huge upgrade over Diaw and Bonner. And who knows one of them may even come back on a vet mini or "room"-MLE deal.

[deneem4]

Off season we should make specer hawes a priority...he can shoot pass rebound and block
..higly doubt sixers resign him considering they have noel and are still rebuilding, we can get him for less than $10mil...that solves most our front court offense...



Our only issues left holding us back is 25min nene...

[payitforward]

Off season we should make specer hawes a priority...he can shoot pass rebound and block
..higly doubt sixers resign him considering they have noel and are still rebuilding, we can get him for less than $10mil...that solves most our front court offense...

Our only issues left holding us back is 25min nene...

Hawes, meh. But, I do like your sig -- very imaginative!

[GhostsOfGil]

Hope!
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... -Extension