2010 FA Thread

[Rafael122]

I checked 15 pages and didn't find anything. Obviously this is all about the Summer of 2010. You know the main players, and with the Wizards having a ton of cap space, they have enough to sign at least one major free agent.

Here's the list:

1. Lebron
2. Wade
3. Bosh
4. Boozer
5. Johnson
6. Scola
7. McGrady
8. Gay
9. Ginobili
10. Haywood
11. Foye
12. Miller
13. Nash
14. Amare
15. Camby
16. Okur


Obviously, there are more out there. I just named a couple off the top of my head. My plan would be to renounce Randy Foye. Dat said in another thread about wasting away $4.5 million on Foye. I like Foye, he's a solid player, but you're throwing money away when it could be better served to sign someone else.

I'd re-sign Miller. Hopefully we luck out and get a top 4 pick, and get a guy like Evan Turner, John Wall, etc.

PG - Arenas
SG -
SF - Miller
PF - Blatche

Now what do you do? There's a need at center and at guard. I'd be amazed if our draft pick, barring it being John Wall, would immediately start in his rookie year. I'd sign one major free agent and be done with it. There's going to be a handful of teams with the cap space we're about to get (Clippers, Heat to name a couple). Get a guy like Boozer and then fill out the rest of the roster with minimum salary guys and save the cap space for maybe a mid-season trade.

[Da HomeTeam]

Really who would want to play for us. Our best bet is the Oklahoma City model and build around a bunch of young guys. Hope to get lucky with a draft pick in the next couple of years. I wouldn't spend my money on any of those guys. And don't know why they would want to come here. Hmph!

[Rafael122]

I refuse to believe that no one will want to play here. It's DC, it's the city where Obama lives. High lottery pick, and some key management decisions and someone would want to come and play here. I've said it in the past, it's not all about the ring for some of these people.

The same was said a few years ago probably, when we signed Arenas and look at what happened after that. All it takes is one good signing to get the ball rolling.

[Hoopalotta]

Sorry Raf, but it would be very impatient to scrap for the 9th seed next year without bringing in a solid core of high lottery picks first.

OKC = Yes
Chasing the Pacers = No

I see it more like

All it takes is one big signing to sell the rebuild short and get better than we have any business being in the short term, at the cost of long term success.

We want a high pick next year and then, MAYBE we could think about a signing after that if we draft REALLY well.

[nate33]

Free agency is usually a sucker's bet. For the most part, free agents tend to get overpaid. The exceptions are superstars who are worth more than a Max Salary, overlooked free agents who are worth more than the MLE but get squeezed out when all over-the-cap teams run out of money, or really cheap "diamond in the rough" types of free agents who may not get resigned by their own teams for cap reasons.

In the "Max contract is a bargain" category, there's only Lebron and Wade. We're not getting either. I don't think a Max contract is a bargain for Bosh, Amare, Johnson or Gay.

In the "Worth more than the MLE but may not get it" category, there's: Scola, Miller, Harrington, and J.O'Neal.

In the "Diamond in the Rough" category, there's: Lowry, Haslem, Duhon, Hughes, Tyrus Thomas, Blake, Outlaw and I'm sure I'm missing a few. Some of these guys might slip through the cracks and be available dirt cheap.

I'm not sure if it's in our best interests to sign any older vets to a long contract. It'll depend upon the contract I suppose. Rather than focusing on free agents, I think we should also pursue trading cap space for under-contract players on teams looking to save money. Bascially, it's a back door way of signing decent free agents to short contracts. For example, maybe Houston let's us trade pure cap space for Shane Battier. It gives us a veteran mentor with a contract that expires next year. Or maybe New Jersey lands John Wall and they allow us to trade nothing for Devin Harris.

Obviously, the crappier the contract, the more incentive we would expect in the deal. We could trade nothing for somebody like Richard Jefferson or Peja Stojakovic and expect the other team to give us a pick for our trouble.

[Rafael122]

Signing who though? The 2011 while good, isn't as good or as deep as the 2010 free agent class. So we're going to sit on all this cap room and not use it?

Time to strike is this summer.

And let's not forget, if it weren't for Durant, we wouldn't even be talking about OKC as a blueprint to rebuild a team.

[AceDegenerate]

Who on that list do you think is going to care that "It's DC, it's the city where Obama lives" ? Also, how many other teams will have as much / close to as much cap space as the Wizards this offseason? You'd have to rank the Wiz at the bottom of the list of all those teams.

[Rafael122]

Who on that list do you think is going to care that "It's DC, it's the city where Obama lives" ? Also, how many other teams will have as much / close to as much cap space as the Wizards this offseason? You'd have to rank the Wiz at the bottom of the list of all those teams.

There's gotta be a list out there somewhere. I can only think of Washington, Chicago, Miami, New York and the Clippers with just as much cap space if not more than us. But then you factor in a team like Miami who wants to keep Wade and then sign another free agent. Clippers are probably going to put all their eggs in a basket for Lebron, same with the Knicks. Chicago is going after Wade. Basically, these teams are going to make a run at James and Wade, while everyone else sits back and wait.

[verbal8]

4. Boozer
<snip>
6. Scola
8. Gay
11. Foye
12. Miller
<snip>
15. Camby
16. Okur

These are the guys I see the Wizards targeting. Boozer, Scola and Okur only if they slip through the cracks and are looking for a one year showcase deal. I think Boozer would be a bad idea because he would take playing time from Blatche/McGee.

I think Camby on a one year deal might not be a bad option. He seems to have some of the strengths that McGee does and could be a good mentor.

Gay is a deluxe version of Nick Young(scorer and not much else), but if he gets overlooked he might not be a bad option.

Whether it makes sense to keep Miller and Foye depends on the asking price. Miller seems to be the ultimate glue guy, so there may be some interest for him in a S&T.

[nate33]

Who on that list do you think is going to care that "It's DC, it's the city where Obama lives" ? Also, how many other teams will have as much / close to as much cap space as the Wizards this offseason? You'd have to rank the Wiz at the bottom of the list of all those teams.

There's gotta be a list out there somewhere. I can only think of Washington, Chicago, Miami, New York and the Clippers with just as much cap space if not more than us. But then you factor in a team like Miami who wants to keep Wade and then sign another free agent. Clippers are probably going to put all their eggs in a basket for Lebron, same with the Knicks. Chicago is going after Wade. Basically, these teams are going to make a run at James and Wade, while everyone else sits back and wait.

Yes, but then James and Wade are going to make their decision and Chi/Mia/NY etc will go for "Plan B" and start throwing their money at Bosh, Stoudemire, Boozer and Johnson. I'm sure the agents for Bosh, Stoudemire, Boozer and Johnson are well aware of this so they won't accept a lowball offer from the Wizards before the Wade/Lebron situation gets resolved.

[verbal8]

In the "Max contract is a bargain" category, there's only Lebron and Wade. We're not getting either. I don't think a Max contract is a bargain for Bosh, Amare, Johnson or Gay.

I don't think he will end up coming to DC, but offering Bosh a max deal may not be a bad move. He might not be worth max money, but I think he is a guy you can build around.
Johnson will probably get max money in a situation similar to Lewis to the Magic. He is not worth max money, but if he is the final piece to building a contender someone will pay him. I think Gay will be overpaid by some team that overvalues his scoring ability. I think Amare is the big man version of Arenas(although not as much of a headcase). He is a very exciting player with a big injury risk, but not much of a defender. He needs to be paired with a good defender(or 2) in the front-court and needs a good PG to set him up.

[MJG]

I'd throw max contracts at James and Wade and probably Bosh as well, which of course they will promptly ignore, then sit out the rest of free agency, at least as far as first and second tier free agents go. No Boozer, Stoudemire, Johnson, Gay, etc. Going after those guys is just going to make you the next Sixers or Pistons. I'd so much rather save that cap space for the season, when we can pull an OKC and force other teams to give us talent or picks for taking expirings off their hands.

[Notorious_1]

What about David Lee? Didn't he only re-sign with NY on a 1 yr deal and becomes unrestricted this year?

[nate33]

What about David Lee? Didn't he only re-sign with NY on a 1 yr deal and becomes unrestricted this year?

Yes, David Lee is an unrestricted free agent. I think he'll end up being overpaid. I'd don't think he's worth much more than $7M per year, but he'll get $10M. I wouldn't go after him, except with a lowball offer.

[Rafael122]

What about David Lee? Didn't he only re-sign with NY on a 1 yr deal and becomes unrestricted this year?

If Blatche can play the 5...Lee could man the 4. We'd definitely be pretty sweet with rebounding. The argument out on him is that he may or many not be a hustle player but when you're averaging a double double, it's pretty easy to argue against that. He's going to get paid though...wouldn't mind signing him, but wouldn't go further than what he's making this year.

[Kanyewest]

I refuse to believe that no one will want to play here. It's DC, it's the city where Obama lives. High lottery pick, and some key management decisions and someone would want to come and play here. I've said it in the past, it's not all about the ring for some of these people.

The same was said a few years ago probably, when we signed Arenas and look at what happened after that. All it takes is one good signing to get the ball rolling.

Chris Bosh: Hey Obama, I really want to help out DC and plyay next to the White House

Obama: Go to Chicago!

[Hoopalotta]

Lee's never been on a team that's won more than 33 games or so, and those squads had more talent than we will next year. He well might try and get $66 milllion.

That's a bad ratio of wins to dollars.

Just be bad next year and get another early lottery pick in 2011. We don't need to build a mirage.

[Notorious_1]

What about David Lee? Didn't he only re-sign with NY on a 1 yr deal and becomes unrestricted this year?

Yes, David Lee is an unrestricted free agent. I think he'll end up being overpaid. I'd don't think he's worth much more than $7M per year, but he'll get $10M. I wouldn't go after him, except with a lowball offer.

I don't know. I don't think $10M is overpaying for his production. He's averaging 20.1pts and 11.5rebs and 3.5asts a game. On top of that he's shooting 55% from the field. Plus, the last two years he's played in 81 games a piece. And he's only 26...turns 27 in April.

Besides isn't that what we were paying the 33 year old, oft-injured Jamison?

[yungal07]

What about David Lee? Didn't he only re-sign with NY on a 1 yr deal and becomes unrestricted this year?

Yes, David Lee is an unrestricted free agent. I think he'll end up being overpaid. I'd don't think he's worth much more than $7M per year, but he'll get $10M. I wouldn't go after him, except with a lowball offer.

I don't know. I don't think $10M is overpaying for his production. He's averaging 20.1pts and 11.5rebs and 3.5asts a game. On top of that he's shooting 55% from the field. Plus, the last two years he's played in 81 games a piece. And he's only 26...turns 27 in April.

Besides isn't that what we were paying the 33 year old, oft-injured Jamison?

Don't assume that his production is transferable. Be very weary of players coming from a D'Antoni or Nellie coached team. More than likely, their stats are inflated because of the system. Lee is a perfect example of that. He is Zach Randolf without the attitude problems.

[mhd]

I'd rather have Blatche for 3 million a year then Lee for 7-10