The 2013 NBA Free Agency Thread

[jivelikenice]

You can't rely on Rice being the back up two from the get go. Who starts if Beal goes down? Who scores from the backcourt off the bench?

Edit...Glen Rice may surprise folks and be able to take on that role but you can't plan on it nor should you.

Webster?

It's been said that the SG & SF are interchangeable here but I never felt Webster was as effective at the two. Maybe its having quicker ppl guarding him? Either way we need someone to fill the role they envisioned Crawford would take. Webster isn't that type of player.

[mhd]

Zach Lowe on the Wizards' off-season:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/950 ... ng-between


"The Wiz probably enter the season as the favorite among teams chasing the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, and with some help and luck, they could push Atlanta for the no. 6 spot. This was a clear playoff team with both John Wall and Nene on the court, and the organization is confident Nene will finally be ready for a normal minutes load this season. They re-upped Martell Webster at a fair rate, and that signing gives them flexibility with Trevor Ariza on the trade market. Eric Maynor is better equipped than anyone Washington had last season to keep things afloat in the event of a Wall injury, and the long-term cap picture gets very sunny once the hideous Ariza–Emeka Okafor combo expires."

[80sballboy]

SA is pulling the qualifying offer on Gary Neal. Worth a call, althought I don't know if he'd sign for the minimum....

I don't think Neal is worth much more than the minimum. He basically brings what Temple brings but with less defense and more 3pt shooting. He's better than Maynor, but that's not saying a ton.

Temple isn't in the same world as Neal as a shooter. He's a better defender and point guard. Neal is a pure shooter coming off the bench, nothing more, nothing less. He's worth more than the minimum. How much more, we'll find out.

[Ruzious]

You can't rely on Rice being the back up two from the get go. Who starts if Beal goes down? Who scores from the backcourt off the bench?

Edit...Glen Rice may surprise folks and be able to take on that role but you can't plan on it nor should you.

There are 3 other SF's on the roster. One of them - most likely Webster - is going to need some time at the 2. Again, we have no need for Neal.

[Ruzious]

You can't rely on Rice being the back up two from the get go. Who starts if Beal goes down? Who scores from the backcourt off the bench?

Edit...Glen Rice may surprise folks and be able to take on that role but you can't plan on it nor should you.

Webster?

Yes.

[hands11]

The Wizards misplayed their hand when they struck quick to "lock up" Maynor. It would have been a bad move all by itself, even if these other PGs had signed MLE deals. That they're signing for the BAE (and less) just highlights how poorly conceived their off-season strategy was.

Just for kicks, here's the PPA for Maynor and for the other backups who have signed recently (average = 100, higher is better; replacement level = 45):

Maynor -- 32
Maynor (last healthy season) -- 57
Collison -- 116
Robinson -- 105
Price -- 84
Temple -- 60

Maybe Ernie had a vacation scheduled and wanted to get "sign backup PG" off the "honey do" list Ted gave him when the season ended.

Price really wasn't that great at running the offense. He did his best work once Wall returned and he was playing more like a SG at PG.

Wizards wanted a back up that could run the team so as to make other players better.

Thats a harder stat to extract. Would have to run numbers using 5 man line up with and with out those players are PG. Something like that. AST% would be a decent number as well.

Plus Maynor has experience being on the floor and doing well with other star PGs like Wall.

Not sure if your PPA number captures everything that is needed to do a comparison. And we don't know that Nate or Collison wanted to sign here.

You know what's harder to extract? Talent where it doesn't exist. Making guys like Vesely, Seraphin, Singleton & Booker look like competent NBA players is not going to be done by some scrub PG. To acquire a PG for that specific purposes borders on insanity. You want to make the bench better? Get better players and stop looking for "super smart" ways to save devalued assets that simply need to be dumped at this stage.

Ah, the insanity position. An oldie but a goodie.

Yeah, I think they know they want to have better players. I think that is what they tried to do by getting Maynor over Price. Maynor is better at running a team then Price was. He also has experience playing with stud PGs who can score.

From that list above, Temple is still with us, and who says Nate or Collison wanted to play for the Wizards this year. Nate went to Denver and Collison to LAC. Both established playoff teams. Wizards don't have that track record in recent memory. Plus LA is a place a lot of players like to go.

Maynor is a 30% AST% and 7 Ast per 36 player. 6-3 26 years old. decent 3 pt shooter.

Am I doing back flips over getting Maynor. No. Not freaking out either.

[hands11]

You can't rely on Rice being the back up two from the get go. Who starts if Beal goes down? Who scores from the backcourt off the bench?

Edit...Glen Rice may surprise folks and be able to take on that role but you can't plan on it nor should you.

Webster?

Which is way they need to keep Trevor A for now.

Until Otto is rolling, they need TA because if Beal misses games, Webster has to move to SG.

Which is why I liked the idea of getting CJM. He would have been the back up PG and SG.

Wall, Beal and CJM would have been awesome.

[Nivek]

SA is pulling the qualifying offer on Gary Neal. Worth a call, althought I don't know if he'd sign for the minimum....

I don't think Neal is worth much more than the minimum. He basically brings what Temple brings but with less defense and more 3pt shooting. He's better than Maynor, but that's not saying a ton.

Temple isn't in the same world as Neal as a shooter. He's a better defender and point guard. Neal is a pure shooter coming off the bench, nothing more, nothing less. He's worth more than the minimum. How much more, we'll find out.

In terms of overall impact, they're about the same. Neal's a better shooter; Temple the better defender. Whether Neal is worth more than the minimum is almost beside the point for the Wizards -- the minimum is all they have available.

[Dat2U]

Price really wasn't that great at running the offense. He did his best work once Wall returned and he was playing more like a SG at PG.

Wizards wanted a back up that could run the team so as to make other players better.

Thats a harder stat to extract. Would have to run numbers using 5 man line up with and with out those players are PG. Something like that. AST% would be a decent number as well.

Plus Maynor has experience being on the floor and doing well with other star PGs like Wall.

Not sure if your PPA number captures everything that is needed to do a comparison. And we don't know that Nate or Collison wanted to sign here.

You know what's harder to extract? Talent where it doesn't exist. Making guys like Vesely, Seraphin, Singleton & Booker look like competent NBA players is not going to be done by some scrub PG. To acquire a PG for that specific purposes borders on insanity. You want to make the bench better? Get better players and stop looking for "super smart" ways to save devalued assets that simply need to be dumped at this stage.

Ah, the insanity position. An oldie but a goodie.

Yeah, I think they know they want to have better players. I think that is what they tried to do by getting Maynor over Price. Maynor is better at running a team then Price was. He also has experience playing with stud PGs who can score.

From that list above, Temple is still with us, and who says Nate or Collison wanted to play for the Wizards this year. Nate went to Denver and Collison to LAC. Both established playoff teams. Wizards don't have that track record in recent memory. Plus LA is a place a lot of players like to go.

Maynor is a 30% AST% and 7 Ast per 36 player. 6-3 26 years old. decent 3 pt shooter.

Am I doing back flips over getting Maynor. No. Not freaking out either.

You should know first hand about insanity, since your actually whining about Blatche being gone, lol.

Who says Nate or Collison wouldn't want to play for the Wizards, especially if we had more to offer than just the NBA minimum?

[dckingsfan]

And in other news... it most likely means that unrestricted free agent Ivan Johnson will not return.

I know that we are probably capped at 14 players... but I wouldn't mind adding Johnson to our too many PFs. I would rather have a C... but whatever.

[LyricalRico]

More on the free agents still out there:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-the-free-agent-update

Any interest in Mozgov in a sign-and-trade scenario? Quality backup this year, possible longterm replacement for Okafor?

[Nivek]

Mozgov doesn't look like either a quality backup or a long-term replacement for Okafor. He'd be better off the bench than what the Wizards had last season, but I wouldn't spend much to get him.

[gwizz]

I would be all over Ivan Johnson... i bet you can snag him cheap and he'd be a good hustle bench big.

[Dat2U]

Cutting Chris Singleton + Signing Ivan Johnson = improved team.

[Nivek]

The Wizards already sorta have an Ivan Johnson in Trevor Booker. Johnson is the better defender; Booker actually rebounded a little better last season and makes fewer bad plays on offense. Booker can't seem to stay healthy, though, so I'd still be willing to sign Johnson -- he's better than Vesely, Singleton and Seraphin.

[Dat2U]

The Wizards already sorta have an Ivan Johnson in Trevor Booker. Johnson is the better defender; Booker actually rebounded a little better last season and makes fewer bad plays on offense. Booker can't seem to stay healthy, though, so I'd still be willing to sign Johnson -- he's better than Vesely, Singleton and Seraphin.

I don't disagree... but anything that gets Singleton off the roster is move in a positive direction. I'm afraid, he along with Ves & KSera are going to get every chance to prove naysayers wrong.... at the expense of winning games.

[Nivek]

I agree dat. I'd sign Johnson to take the roster spot of at least one of the Grunfeld Three. He and Booker might end up cannibalizing each other's minutes, but Booker's been hurt so much that I wouldn't avoid making a move to preserve his spot in the rotation.

[Ruzious]

To me, Ivan is an ideal 12th man type. He's very limited physically (other than strength), but he gives you 100% effort almost all the time.

[LyricalRico]

Adding Blair and Johnson could give us the "Bash Brothers" bench duo we thought Seraphin in Booker were going to be. Double sign and trade of Blair+Neal+Bonner+2nd for Ariza+Seraphin?

Then move Booker to a team with cap space for a 2nd, and sign Johnson. We'd have to give Blair and Neal multi-year deals, but they can be only partially guaranteed for 2014 to preserve flexibility. Based on the fact that they are still unsigned, they could go for it.

Okafor/Blair/Vesely
Nene/Johnson/Bonner
Webster/Porter/Singleton
Beal/Neal/Rice
Wall/Maynor/Temple

Much tougher and better rebounding team. We can certainly give Vesely/Bonner more minutes based on matchups or if we're limiting the minutes for Okafor/Nene. And we'd have some role players on non-guaranteed deals to include as filler in trades should an opportunity present itself.

[penbeast0]

Machado just got cut loose, I know a lot of posters here were talking about him as a possible 2nd round target . . . any interest still?