Al Jefferson, Hornets
2015-16 salary: $13.8 million | Last contract: 3-years, $41 million
Charlotte is staring down a crossroads with Jefferson, who put together a 21.8/10.8 season in 2013–14 before taking a step back last year due to injuries. Entering his 12th season at age 30, Jefferson remains one of the league’s craftiest low-post scorers, but the Hornets have struggled to build a competent offense around him. The league’s burgeoning obsession with pace-and-space doesn’t bode all that well for full-bodied big men with lower-body health concerns.
How the Hornets decide to handle Jefferson’s free agency will say a lot about their big-picture philosophy. GM Rich Cho has assembled a striking number of stretchy bigs, and that may or may not mean a long-term shift to a less rigid approach to positions is coming. For now, it’s best not to prematurely write off Jefferson, given that he’s only one year removed from being one of the league’s most productive centers and that he reportedly dropped significant weight by swearing off fried chicken this summer.
A return to form could net Jefferson something in the range of Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez ($63 million over three years), given their comparable offensive skill level. Jefferson had to smile when he saw the deal signed by Oklahoma City’s Enes Kanter ($70 million over four years), too. Even if Jefferson can’t get back to his 2013–14 levels, Phoenix’s Tyson Chandler ($52 million over four years) looks like a good basement as long as he stays reasonably healthy, given that Chandler is three years his senior.
Nicolas Batum, Hornets
2015-16 salary: $11.9 million | Last contract: 4-years, $46 million
Batum finds himself in an unusual situation: he’s on track to hold all the leverage next summer despite the fact that he’s coming off his worst season since his 2008–09 rookie campaign. There are a few reasons for that.
First, the Hornets parted with Noah Vonleh, a promising 2014 lottery pick who is still a teenager, to acquire Batum in a trade with the Blazers this summer. Failing to re-sign Batum next summer, almost regardless of how he plays this season, would amount to a major black eye for a franchise that’s struggled to gain credibility. Second, Batum’s skillset—when things are going well, he can knock down threes, playmake a little for others, and bring defensive versatility on the wing—are all in short supply in Charlotte, especially now that perimeter stopper Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been lost to injury for six months. Third, the 26-year-old Batum is in the career arc sweet spot: he’s old enough to have accumulated playoff experience and held down a starting role on a high-functioning offense, but he’s still young enough that his next contract won’t take him much past his 30th birthday. Fourth, Hornets owner Michael Jordan is about as impatient as they come, and if his choices are losing Batum or overpaying him, the latter seems more likely.
Back in 2012, Batum found himself in a memorably sloppy restricted free agency saga. Hopefully his 2016 summer will be less dramatic. If the Frenchman can rediscover his shooting stroke and add some zest to a clunky Hornets offense, he could be headed for DeMarre Carroll money ($58 million over four years from Toronto).
http://www.si.com/nba/2015/10/15/nba-preview-roy-hibbert-demar-derozan-al-jefferson-mike-conley-contracts.
Do you want to resign one of them? both of them? what kind of contract do you see them getting?
