Obsolete NBA Free Agent Reactions
> Bulls GM John Paxson vowed to match any free agent offer for Andres Nocioni, and then paid him $38 million for 5 years.
Independent of the merits of Nocioni, this, frankly, is part of what gets NBA teams into such terrible trouble on contracts -- the idea that if you don't spent what the market demands for your free agent, you're less than manly or letting the team down.
(As for Andres himself, he looks like the rich man's Victor "Bag of" Khryapa, or the poor man's Luol Deng. It amazes me how many similar player the Bulls stockpile -- it's like they're cloning people.)
Here's a thought -- figure out what the guy is actually worth, percentage-wise, to your team. Then, figure out what happens to your situation if/when you overpay him in a game of who has the bigger nuts.
Frankly, we're thinking that in a year or two, after Ty Thomas emerges as the much less regrettable option in the Noah/Wallace/Thomas logjam for energy defender, and Thabo Sefolosha pulls away in the Duhon/Gordon/Hinrich race of which guard can give up more points than he generates, that Paxson is really going to be wishing he hasn't shelled out so much for Andres.
> Grant Hill signs with the Suns.
Because what Phoenix was clearly missing in that Spurs loss was what... Grant Hill could give them?
Look, I *like* Hill -- 29 surgeries and all, he can play, and he makes his teammates better. And I suppose that, for the salary they got him for, it's fine.
But what does he do that Boris Diaw doesn't do, other than get hurt and be older? How does he help you when Stoudamire and Thomas, the weak points on your team defense and health-wise, break down? Isn't this just the second chapter of the Jalen Rose book that no one wanted to read?
> Jerry Stackhouse signs a 3-year deal to stay with the Mavs.
It's got to be hard to think about leaving the Cube Zone -- the creature comforts, hot and cold running coaches, limited minutes and your summers are more or less free. What's less sensible is why the Mavs were ready to for another three years of a 32-year-old guy and career 41% shooter. (OK, yes, he gets to the line, and last year was better, but 43% isn't exactly write home material.)
However, props to Stack for not moving on to team #5 in a career that was starting to resemble Jalen Rose for a while there. (What can we say, we're soft on Jalen.) The Mavs need to blow that team up something fierce, but at least it looks like Stack will be among the survivors.
> "Sonics' overhaul peaks with Carlesimo hiring" reads the AP headline. Shouldn't we change peaks to ends? This retread gets a lot of love among the white media that covers the NBA for getting the Spree Necklace, but what no one ever mentions is that Latrell's little act of attempted coachicide made PJ famous... famous enough to get another job as a retread. Not exactly the ramp-up situation that Kevin Durant needed here.
> The Pistons resigned Chauncey Billups to a 5 year, $60 million contract, because 31-year-old point guards that get taken apart by rookies in conference finals are clearly worth a long-term commitment.
Once again, we like Chaunce; he's a top 10 PG, and he seemed trustworthy right up until Game 3 of the Cavs series. But we're befuddled by the attraction that NBA GMs have to name brands. And in the big news...
> Orlando signed Rashard Lewis to a max deal (speaking of a guy with an instantly bad contract), which means... THEY ARE OUT OF THE DARKO RACE. Who will step up and get the guy who will never, no matter what people think, be a tenth of the player that Chris Bosh is, but will likely always get ten times the publicity?
This is one of those moments where you learn more about the team... because we're certain that Darko can be an NBA player with the right coach or team, just as we're certain that he's 2 years from being out of the league if the wrong team gets him. (Basically, what is Darko if not Andres Biedrins with better hands?)
For the sake of the legend's millions of ironic fans, here's hoping he chooses well. I'm rooting for him to come back and torture Joe Dumars some more. That's always fun.
5 comments:
When you're wrong, you're really wrong.
Pax didn't overpay for Noc. An average of $7.5M per year for a 27 year old SF who is 6ft.7, gives you 25-28 solid minutes a night and puts up 14 pts/7 reb numbers is over paying?
Do some research - the salary cap is $65M for next year. Noc's salary will only count for 11% of the Bulls cap. That still leaves the Bulls about $10M under the cap to bring in someone else if they want this year and sign their rooks.
The average NBA salary will be $5.5M next year. I think Noc is worth $2M more than that.
Also, PJ Brown's $8.5M salary comes off the books after this season. That leaves the Bulls only committed to about $26M for 2008-09. Plenty of money to resign Deng and Gordon.
I think Pax absolutely did research on what Noc was worth and signed him to a number that was in his range.
Here are some other SFs in the Eastern conference and what their current contracts look like: Q. Richardson 9M/3 yrs, M. Dunleavy 9.5/4yrs, M. Daniels 7M/3 yrs, B. Simmons 10M/3yrs, A. Walker 9.7M/4 yrs, H. Turkolu 7M/3yrs, E. Thomas 7M/3yrs.
Do you even watch basketball or just search for You Tube clips?
Anonymous has some points, and overstates a few others. On the good side:
1) The contract really isn't all that bad. I confess, I was more reacting to the bring 'em on moron quote.
2) Noce is probably worth $2 mil more than an average player. I'd worry about his motivation after signing a deal, but that's true of just about every NBA player.
On the bad side...
1) If you play 25-28 minutes a night (in 2006-07. 26.5), there's a reason. That reason is that you aren't good enough to get more time. Noce ranks 125th in the league in minutes per game.
By the way, that shrunk to 16 minutes a game in the playoff round against the Pistons, after 26 versus the Heat. Very encouraging.
2) 14 and 7? Not even last year, in the contract drive (14.1 and 5.7). Career-wise, it's 11.5 and 5.5.
Now, if you want to argue that the foot injury kept him from greatness, so be it. But let's just say he's pretty under the radar in most fantasy leagues, and leave it at that.
3) Hurrah! Noce costs less than some other guys, many of whom are frankly terrible basketball players with comedic contracts (I'm looking at you, Mike Dunleavy). Feel good about that all you like. He's no Bob Sura.
4) It's great that the Bulls have a good cap situation, and that PJ Brown is going to make that even better. It also has nothing to do with how much you're going to pay someone else, and $10 million left under the cap isn't as helpful as, say, $12. Go down this path, and you start sounding like my mother-in-law.
5) Money to resign Deng and Gordon isn't the problem. It's money to resign Thomas and Thabo, like I mentioned in the post.
But fair points. It's definitely a better contract than, say, Ben Wallace.
I have to agree with anonymous. This was a good signing by Pax at a great price when you look around the league. Noc is a huge part of their defensive effort and is big in the clutch. Shoots close to 50% too. I don't think anybody would say this was an overpayment.
Ahhh long post... Too many words... Brain. Overloading.
Honestly, I haven't watched an entire NBA game in years and don't miss it all (how long ago was it Magic vs. Bird in the Finals?). I'm just glad to see that, after being on vacation all week, I got my very own name posted in this here blog. This is the best thing to happen to my name since I killed that hobo and stole his identity.
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