The 2013 NBA Free Agency Thread

[Rafael122]

I'd pass on Nate Robinson. As much as he willed the Bulls in the playoffs, he's just the type of player you'd get mad at and would want to throw the remote at the TV.

I wouldn't bring Martell back. I would bring back AJ Price. Price is good in spurts, 5-10 minutes per game type. He was asked to do a lot because of Wall's injury but as a guy to spell Wall, he's fine. Use the bi-annual exception, which is supposedly at $2 million even for the upcoming season.

At this point the roster is:

PG - Wall/Price
SG - Beal/Rice Jr.
SF - Ariza/Porter
PF - Nene/Singleton/Booker/Vesely
C - Okafor/Seraphin

I would split the mid-level exception into getting 2 or 3 players. I was thinking Devin Harris but if we're gonna pay him $2.5 mil and pay AJ Price $2 million, that's a lot of money being spent on back ups.

My choices are Francisco Garcia, Chase Budinger and Chris Copeland. I'd offer Copeland a 3 or 4 year contract, starting at around $3.5 million, which is over what the Knicks can match.

I'd use the remaining on a guy like Garcia. Not sure if he'd accept it or not, but Budinger and Garcia can both shoot it from outside. And Garcia especially still has something left in the tank when it comes to playing defense.

I'd seek packaging Booker w/Singleton and dump it on a team that needs to get to the salary floor.

[penbeast0]

Never got an answer to whether the board would like Billups here as backup PG. On the good side, he's got good size, can play the 2, and can hit the 3 as well as anyone in the league. On the bad side, he's 35, coming off injury, and wants 2 years (for that matter also wants to play for the Heat -- ring chasers might not be happy here).

[Upper Decker]

I'd hate Billups on this roster. He's toast. Completely finished. His defense is terrible, he can't create at all, he can't push the ball, he can't get to the cup, he's worthless as a basketball player. LAC fans were clamoring for Willie Green when Billups was in the games.

I thing the Wiz will have to target a LLE type player for the back up PG. I'd take a shot at Will Bynum for the back up PG. He's very much like Nate Robinson in that he's very strong at penetrating the defense and can get his own. Basically a poor man's Wall so the design of the offense doesn't drastically change when Price comes in.

[nate33]

Chris Duhon was waived. I suppose he's a backup option for a backup PG.

Is he an upgrade over AJ Price? No.

He'd be a good pickup as a vet 3rd pg on a min deal. Would be nice to have if Wall or Price get injured at some point.

I'd easily take Garrett Temple over Chris Duhon.

[hands11]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-o ... h-position

Here is a nice layout of the PG out there.

[jeffsays]

I posted this in the martell Webster thread. Thought it would go well here too.

http://instagram.com/p/bMKAbihHiM/

Martell's instagram.

[Rafael122]

Completely forgot about Delfino. And apparently we have rumored interest in Nate Robinson. Gonna be an interesting couple of weeks.

[jivelikenice]

Got to get Nate if you can. This team is getting better and has a more professional attitude. A guy like Nate will help them take the next step with his confidence, toughness, and will. He also fills a need as a third guard who can share the court with Wall or Beal and be instant offense off the bench.

[miller31time]

Personally, I think Jarrett Jack would be the perfect compliment to this team. A combo guard who does the best things from each position.

I just don't think he's interested in a 6th man role anymore nor will the MLE be enough to get him.

[closg00]

I posted this in the martell Webster thread. Thought it would go well here too.

http://instagram.com/p/bMKAbihHiM/

Martell's instagram.

Nice find, he still lives in Portland. If we sign him, Ariza better keep his suitcase packed.

[Deeptu McPullup]

Mike Lee's sources are saying we're interested in Maynor, Udrih and John Lucas III.

It's over on the Wizards insider (I'm not posting slink from the tablet in bed, sorry).

[jivelikenice]

Personally, I think Jarrett Jack would be the perfect compliment to this team. A combo guard who does the best things from each position.

I just don't think he's interested in a 6th man role anymore nor will the MLE be enough to get him.

Ariza and a future pick protected for him?

[TheKingOfVa360]

Personally, I think Jarrett Jack would be the perfect compliment to this team. A combo guard who does the best things from each position.

I just don't think he's interested in a 6th man role anymore nor will the MLE be enough to get him.

The MLE should be enough to get Jack. The only teams I can see offering more than the MLE are the Bucks, Dallas, and maybe Atlanta.

[Upper Decker]

Mike Lee's sources are saying we're interested in Maynor, Udrih and John Lucas III.

It's over on the Wizards insider (I'm not posting slink from the tablet in bed, sorry).

Out of this list the only player I'm remotely interested in is Udrih. Last season he got traded to Orlando and ended up starting 9 games for the magic. In those games he posted 14/8. Last year he shot .396 from 3. Heaven forbid John gets injured again, Udrih could actually be a competent starting lead guard and keep the team afloat until Walls return.

Maynor is trash, what little athletic ability he had before his injury has been zapped completely. Next year will likely be his last in the NBA. John Lucas is even worse trash. He simply can't run an offense. Price is a better alternative than both Maynor and Lucas.

[hands11]

Personally, I think Jarrett Jack would be the perfect compliment to this team. A combo guard who does the best things from each position.

I just don't think he's interested in a 6th man role anymore nor will the MLE be enough to get him.

I think lots of us like him, but he is staying where he is.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... proaching/

When looking at this list, Beno stood out to me, but can they afford him ?
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-o ... h-position

Seems pretty clear Martel will be back and Price is a fall back plan in case they can't find an upgrade. They want a better back up PG option. I expect Temple back as well.

[dlts20]

why do people want Nate or anyone that is going to want to play big minutes? Guys like Nate are good on teams that dont have stars at the 1 & 2 spots already. If you have a star at both spots like we do then you dont want a guy like Nate. I like the names on the Insider list alot better.

Not only that but if we are going to resign Webster then that means we have a ton of SF's in which one will definitely be the backup SG. I think we will play big in the backcourt more often with ether someone like Ariza playing the 2 more often while Porter or Webster are at the 3

[hands11]

why do people want Nate or anyone that is going to want to play big minutes? Guys like Nate are good on teams that dont have stars at the 1 & 2 spots already. If you have a star at both spots like we do then you dont want a guy like Nate. I like the names on the Insider list alot better.

Not only that but if we are going to resign Webster then that means we have a ton of SF's in which one will definitely be the backup SG. I think we will play big in the backcourt more often with ether someone like Ariza playing the 2 more often while Porter or Webster are at the 3

I posted something like this in the line ups thread.

I think the opposite. Well, kind of. They do have big guards but I think they are going to play smaller like SA does. Well smaller up front. Kind of.

They are going after the model of... just get players.

Wall is you PG, clearly.
Beal your SG, same.

After that, for starters at PF and back up SF and SG, I think they are going to go smaller at PF and spread the floor like Wall wanted.

Beal 6-5 - SG who played some SF in college. If his handles improve, he wants to play some PG. Some SF even.
Temple 6-6 PG/SG and can defend 3 positions.
Glen Rice Jr 6-6 is a SG in the NBA but played some SF
Webster 6-7 SF that plays some SG. Hell, that article even said they could play him some at PF.
Trevor A 6-8 SF that can play some PF or SG because he knows how to run around .
Otto 6-8 or 6-9 - same as above

Then you also have Ves 6-11 245, Kevin S 6-9 275 and Booker 6-8 240.

Nene and Okafor can play PF and Center for more traditional line ups against the Indy type teams, but if both get most their minutes at center, you can play SA style small ball with all those names above. Trevor A and Otto could get plenty of minutes at PF and that opens things up for Webster at SF where he shinned.

Another pure PG type vet would round out the roster pretty well. Gotta be someone that can run the offense.

[hands11]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... onal-Space

Carlos Delfino,
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/nam ... on-rockets

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/i ... os-delfino

[rockymac52]

It appears Webster is coming back. Good. Very happy about that. I can't wait 'til it's official and to find out what the exact terms of the contract are. Absolute worst case scenario it could be is probably 4 years, all guaranteed, at $5 million per year. I don't see that happening. Personally I think it's more in line with Danny Green's contract last season - 3 years, $11 million total ($3.3/$3.7/$4). I'd be happy with that. You never know, but there's also the chance that it's even better than that, with some team options or non-guaranteed years, or possibly for less money. Wouldn't shock me at all to see Webster sign a very team/cap-friendly deal, as long as it's for 3-4 years, guaranteed, and we promise him consistent minutes. He's loyal and sees the bigger picture.

The other "big" signing I expect will be our backup PG (duh). Unless Webster signs for $2 million a year or less (highly doubtful) or he signs with another team, we're not going to be able to afford anyone upwards of $2-3 million a year. Therefore, we're not really looking at an impact player, just hopefully a veteran PG who can handle 10-15 MPG backing up Wall.

I expect us to bring back Price on another 1 year deal for $2 million at most, very possibly the minimum again. I don't see Price getting much attention on the open market, even though he improved last year. I think he appreciated getting another opportunity here last year, and he enjoyed his time and role. So the only way we wouldn't sign Price is if another team surprisingly offers him more than $2 million a year (no way in hell) or significantly more minutes (highly unlikely), OR if we can convince a better PG to sign for $2 million a year or less.

Based on Michael Lee's article, and other sources, here's who we might be looking at in addition to Price:

Beno Udrih
Eric Maynor
John Lucas III
Will Bynum
DJ Augustin
Aaron Brooks
CJ Watson

Maynor and Lucas are clearly inferior to Price, so I don't see that happening. The rest of the guys are pretty similar to AJ Price, some might be slightly better, and some slightly worse. They're all in the same basic tier. As a result, I think we stick with Price, for continuity's sake. Leonsis has recently stressed the importance of continuity, specifically mentioning how we want our players to be able to focus on improving during training camp, instead of focusing on learning the system we run. That applies to every position, but definitely applies most to our PG. Price's 1 year of experience in this system and with the players on this team give him the edge there. And furthermore, I suspect that Price will be cheaper than several of the alternative options.

Personally I'd rank Augustin and Watson above Price talent-wise at this point, with Udrih slightly behind, and Brooks and Bynum a little bit more behind. I'm not sure we'll be able to sign Augustin or Watson though, since they might be looking for slightly more money and/or minutes, which we probably can't afford assuming Webster gets paid $3 million a year or more. And even though I might like those two players slightly more than Price, I think his familiarity with the system and team might make him a better option regardless.

I also get the feeling that Temple will be brought back on a minimum deal, but I don't think it will be to be our primary backup PG, because he's simply not skilled enough as a PG, and would be a disaster if Wall was injured and he had to become the starting PG. I personally don't think Temple is very good at basketball, even on defense where he's supposed to be very good. But considering his low cost and good attitude, I'd be fine with bringing him back and sitting on the end of the bench as injury insurance. No harm done there.

Personally I think it'd be great if we could acquire another big man for what's left of the MLE or the BAE or the minimum, to be a possible upgrade as our backup PF or C, or to at least compete with Booker and Seraphin for that role, but that's a luxury, and I get the feeling that the Wizards do not intend to go this route. I'm not even sure what big men we'd be able to acquire for that small of a salary. Wishful thinking says we could get DeJuan Blair, Brandan Wright, or Greg Smith, but I suspect we wouldn't actually be able to sign them, whether it's because they cost slightly more than we'd have available, or because they want to re-sign with their previous team, or because they want to sign with a team where they have a bigger role.

So I feel pretty confident that the rest of our offseason will consist of signing Webster, Price, Rice, Jr., and maybe Temple. Then I think we'll leave the 15th roster spot open to start the season for the sake of flexibility in trades and a possible FA signing/D-League call up in the event of a big injury (specifically at PG to Wall or Price, since we'd need another capable backup PG). Nothing flashy at all. Some may dislike it, but I think that's a pretty great strategy in all honesty. Maybe there's an Ariza trade for a similarly talented big man or backup PG, but I doubt it.

[GhostsOfGil]

Looks like Wiz are targeting Maynor and Beno. Seems like the offseason priorities are:

1 Webster
2 Backup point guard

And guessing on 3, but looking to trade Ariza for a backup big.

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/6/30 ... ih-wizards