The 2013 NBA Free Agency Thread

[DCZards]

Read where he said he liked everything except the length of the contract on Minny (1 year left). He apparently wants a 3 year deal at the same annual price. I wouldn't necessarily be against that, his contract would be up the same time as Nene's. It's less than David West got from Indy, and he's got similar overall value IMO.

So you'd be willing to give the 32 year old Kirilenko a 3 year, $30 mil contract? I wouldn't. I don't see Kirilenko as being as valuable as West, who is capable of doing major damage in the paint.

Andrei is a greater defender with the ability to be a stretch 4. But I wouldn't give him anything more than a two-year contract worth $6-$8 mil a year. In fact, is Kirilenko that much better than Ariza who we already have under contract for another year at about the same yearly money? I don't think so.

Edit to add: Ariza shot 36% from three point range last season, Kirilenko shot less than 30%. Not very good for a stretch 4.

[Dark Faze]

I still liked Garrett a lot dispite how bad the stats said he was. I don't think that translated to my eyeball test at all--I saw a guy who made good decisions on the court and mostly knocked down open looks.

[LyricalRico]

Read where he said he liked everything except the length of the contract on Minny (1 year left). He apparently wants a 3 year deal at the same annual price. I wouldn't necessarily be against that, his contract would be up the same time as Nene's. It's less than David West got from Indy, and he's got similar overall value IMO.

So you'd be willing to give the 32 year old Kirilenko a 3 year, $30 mil contract? I wouldn't. I don't see Kirilenko as being as valuable as West, who is capable of doing major damage in the paint.

Andrei is a greater defender with the ability to be a stretch 4. But I wouldn't give him anything more than a two-year contract worth $6-$8 mil a year. In fact, is Kirilenko that much better than Ariza who we already have under contract for another year at about the same yearly money? I don't think so.

Edit to add: Ariza shot 36% from three point range last season, Kirilenko shot less than 30%. Not very good for a stretch 4.

Not necessarily pining for AK47 at all costs, but I would think it's worth exploring. Something like Ariza+Singleton for Kirilenko signed for 3 years, $24-26M where the salary is decreasing would be tough to pass up IMO.

[WizardsWorld]

Not interested in AK47.... But I would like to check in on JJ Hickson. Rather spend the money on him than AK.

[miller31time]

Minnesota Timberwolves sign Kevin Martin - 4yrs/28mil

That's a steal of a deal right there. Martin's actual worth is probably about 9-10mil per year. Take into account NBA inflation and general GM stupidity (cough....Ernie....cough) and it could have very well been as much as 12 or 13mil per year.

[popper]

Not interested in AK47.... But I would like to check in on JJ Hickson. Rather spend the money on him than AK.

Hickson has been my target as well. Obviously he's not a stretch four but he hits the glass hard and can play both center and pf. Good insurance. His value would be maximized on the court with Wall and Maynor distributing just as he benefited from LeBron's assists in Cleveland.

[TGW]

Minnesota Timberwolves sign Kevin Martin - 4yrs/28mil

That's a steal of a deal right there. Martin's actual worth is probably about 9-10mil per year. Take into account NBA inflation and general GM stupidity (cough....Ernie....cough) and it could have very well been as much as 12 or 13mil per year.

That's a fanstastic deal. Martin is a much better player than Webster, but only pulled in 6 mil more. Impressive.

[montestewart]

Minnesota Timberwolves sign Kevin Martin - 4yrs/28mil

That's a steal of a deal right there. Martin's actual worth is probably about 9-10mil per year. Take into account NBA inflation and general GM stupidity (cough....Ernie....cough) and it could have very well been as much as 12 or 13mil per year.

That's a fanstastic deal. Martin is a much better player than Webster, but only pulled in 6 mil more. Impressive.

OKC was prepared to offer Harden a less than max but still pretty large deal before they traded him. Did they not sign Martin because they decided they didn't want him or because they literally couldn't afford him? That's a lot less than they offered Harden.

[Deeptu McPullup]

Minnesota Timberwolves sign Kevin Martin - 4yrs/28mil

That's a steal of a deal right there. Martin's actual worth is probably about 9-10mil per year. Take into account NBA inflation and general GM stupidity (cough....Ernie....cough) and it could have very well been as much as 12 or 13mil per year.

That's a fanstastic deal. Martin is a much better player than Webster, but only pulled in 6 mil more. Impressive.

OKC was prepared to offer Harden a less than max but still pretty large deal before they traded him. Did they not sign Martin because they decided they didn't want him or because they literally couldn't afford him? That's a lot less than they offered Harden.

Well, if it's true that they're never going to go over the luxury tax, they're more or less not going to sign or resign anyone until Perkins is disposed of:

http://storytellerscontracts.info/?page_id=1508

Two max deals on perimeter players is tough to manage without big market money.

They might have offered Harden the contract they did with the plan to trade someone expensive down the road as there was no imminent threat of their going over the tax at the time.

[AFM]

No one was going to pay Martin 12M a year? Are you crazy Miller?

[miller31time]

No one was going to pay Martin 12M a year? Are you crazy Miller?

His salary last season was $12,439,675 and he hasn't really regressed that much. I could see a 2-year deal for 24 million from certain GMs.

[nate33]

Minnesota Timberwolves sign Kevin Martin - 4yrs/28mil

That's a steal of a deal right there. Martin's actual worth is probably about 9-10mil per year. Take into account NBA inflation and general GM stupidity (cough....Ernie....cough) and it could have very well been as much as 12 or 13mil per year.

That's a fanstastic deal. Martin is a much better player than Webster, but only pulled in 6 mil more. Impressive.

It is a good deal, but there's a bit of apples and oranges when comparing it to the Webster signing. Webster was signed to an MLE-sized deal. Just about everyone in the league was capable of offering comparable money, so the demand was there to drive up his value. Martin is a better player, but there are only a handful of teams with cap room who are in need of a shooting guard. Minnesota wasn't bidding against too many other suitors.

In general, the best bargains for player salaries are found with superstars being underpaid at max money, and for better-than-MLE-caliber players being signed for just above the MLE because no one else has the cap room to sign him for more.

[80sballboy]

Did some of you guys actually watch Kevin Martin play last year? Sure, he's a better overall player than Webster and has much better handles, but he stunk it up at OKc. I doubt he's on the upside of his career at 30.

[montestewart]

Did some of you guys actually watch Kevin Martin play last year? Sure, he's a better overall player than Webster and has much better handles, but he stunk it up. I doubt he's on the upside of his career at 30.

I saw him a few times, and he looked pretty good, but at 30, it's an increasingly good bet that the next year will be worse than the last one.

[80sballboy]

Did some of you guys actually watch Kevin Martin play last year? Sure, he's a better overall player than Webster and has much better handles, but he stunk it up. I doubt he's on the upside of his career at 30.

I saw him a few times, and he looked pretty good, but at 30, it's an increasingly good bet that the next year will be worse than the last one.

He was a huge disappointment last year coming over in the Harden trade. Numbers can be misleading though his postseason numbers were worse than his regular season. I guess you when you watch a guy play for a very good team and get limited minutes after posting really good numbers with Sacramento, you see his value diminish. I think he was a tad overrated a few years back because he took a lot of shots for a bad team, but then he also got to the foul line. That's something he rarely did last year.

[WizardsWorld]

Ya Martin wasn't very good last year for OKC...especially in the playoffs he stunk it up. They needed him to step up and be the #2 guy once Westbrook got hurt and he simply couldn't do it. Decent deal for the Wolves but I wouldn't say great or fantastic by any means. The Wolves will still fall short of the playoffs in the West and we the Wiz will get the 6th seed in the East.

[hands11]

I still liked Garrett a lot dispite how bad the stats said he was. I don't think that translated to my eyeball test at all--I saw a guy who made good decisions on the court and mostly knocked down open looks.

Agreed. And he seemed to have tones of confidence. He never approached the game like he was skating on thin ice. If the shot was his to take, he took it. I think he is a perfect bench guard because he can play PG and SG and he is 6-6. They probably should have signed him longer.

[Maefteda]

Hey, Twolves fan here:

What would you guys say to a Derrick Williams for Ariza and 2014 1st trade?

Derrick Williams seem to fit very well with your organization, as he is both a good stretch 4 for John Wall, and he has the right age to be a part of the current Wall/Beal/Porter core you have going on. Ariza would be a good fit for Minnesota now that Kirilenko is likely gone, and he is expendable for you guys with Porter and Webster on board. GIven the difference between Williams and Ariza's contracts, you'd have another 2,5 million in free agency as well. Stiemsma(unguaranteed) can be added if the numbers don't work.

PS: The 2014 pick would obviously have a protection on it to compensate a hypothetical injury to Wall or any of you other players, but I'm curious to see what kind of protection you would require. That is if you even agree that this is a good trade.

[jivelikenice]

I think most of us would be agreeable with our current roster makeup as long as the first rounder was sufficiently protected. An alternative is Ariza + Seraphin for Williams + Steitsma.

[Maefteda]

What kind of protection though? Next years draft has a lot of amazing talent at the top, so I guess top 8 protection at the very least. I think top 14 is fair personally. Williams still has potential to at least live up to being the second best player in the 2011 draft, and I think coming into his third year now he could thrive in the right system. I mean, you managed to make Webster into a 4/22 player(thanks to EG ), so why not Williams into something even better. He is a good kid, coach-able and also loyal by the looks of it. It's just a shame he is stuck behind Kevin Love.

Didn't see this proposal in the trade thread. My apologies. I think it's an interesting trade, and as an added bonus the Wizards would be my favorite team in the East if this trade happens