Bargain Hunting 2014: SLN's best values

[jwoo]

Need to make more content so I can afford to scout all 40 of these B potential guys in the draft, today we are going to look at the players who are (by no mathematical formula at all) delivering the best bang for their buck on cheapo deals this season. I'm not gonna count rookie contract guys just because there are many of them and some are obvious. So honing in on guys who are playing decent minutes and are relatively inexpensive (and on competing teams), vet guys who were good snags for their teams one way or another.

PERIMETER PLAYERS

Rudy Fernandez ($4.94m) - Mavs

Rudy is maybe the biggest surprise breakout of this season, and if he doesn't offer to re-sign, it feels like someone is throwing this man a big ol' bag in free agency. It feels pretty legit, but is it legit enough to throw him a near-max number? Can Hoff afford to max both Rudy and Whiteside if it comes down to it? Interesting free agent subplot - Rudy did re-sign cheap last time, I believe, but he was not quite as nasty as he was now. Get that money, jefe.

Hedo Turkoglu ($4.95m) - Pistons

While I do not think ancient Turkey Glue was worth the hefty FRP price that was paid for him, he's playing pretty damn good fake basketball - his last four seasons have all been pretty excellent after being notoriously hard to predict prior to this stretch. Whatever he did to fix himself, it worked. I don't think he's defending anyone, but that's not what you're paying him for - a Flat A outside guy like this who can be a scoring option is pretty nice to have at this price point.

Nic Batum ($4.95m) - Bulls

Look at that, Batum is pretty good now - he's pretty efficient for a guy with B+ outside, plays some defense, takes decent care of the ball, and looks kind of similar to IRL Batum. Again this underscores that I don't think Hedo was a full FRP better than Batum, that was good work by Chicago to get that much value.

Jason Richardson ($5.5m) and Vince Carter ($1m) - Bullets

J-Rich and VC are putting up mighty nice slash lines for their respective ages, two players who were at one point each thought to be cooked delivering excellent value for the Bullets. Richardson could help most teams (though he doesn't have birds). VC isn't playing as many minutes but he's still a flat A shooter. Nice job by Weston overall finding cheapo guys to fill out his roster, although it seems like Gerald Wallace won't get moved at the deadline.

Julian Wright (2.85m) - Rockets

Wright is a sick piece for Houston because he's probably only this useful on balanced/inside teams due to the fact he can't really shoot. He isn't having a great offensive season but the steals, lack of turnovers, rebounding and what not are just so nice to have around. If he ever doesn't re-sign, wonder if someone would poach him on a midlevel

Josh Howard ($2.64m) - Hornets

I don't think Josh Howard has ever NOT re-signed for cheap. Maybe this will be the year. He's not the scorer he used to be, but man is he useful. Amazing ball security, solid efficiency, some stocks and rebounds, and a whole lot of ganja in the locker room.

BIGS

Elton Brand ($8m) - Pacers

I thought the Hornets maybe should have taken a better crack at keeping Elton - he's efficient, blocks a lot of shots, rebounds well and is generally a very underappreciated vet who hasn't shown any signs of decline. He's been on a string of one-year deals and hopping to new playoff teams every season sans bird rights, but my guess is Tonger tries to find a way to keep this man around. Still an good starter in his 15th (!) season.

Fabricio Oberto ($4.5m) - Bucks

Old Berto has aged into an even better player somehow - he never turns it over, he blocks a ton of shots and rebounds acceptably. One of the crazier player development arcs we have seen. He's 38! This is *probably* his last ride? But maybe he'll just do this forever like the FBB Julio Franco. Who knows.

Joakim Noah ($3m) - Hawks

I'm biased a tad because of my love for IRL Joakim, but this guy is pretty great for FBB, no turnovers, solid stocks, never shoots, just isn't as great a rebounder or generally as well-rated as you'd expect relative to the name. Still, about as good as you can get for that number.

Leon Powe ($1.9m) - Blazers

I wasn't just pawning off trash when I tried to shop him seasons ago, this guy gets nine rebounds in 25 minutes a game now! He's also Sam Quady's childhood hero. One of the better bargains around IMO if you can live with his butterfingers.

[Merv]

Something about this article lacks magic

[Jesse]

Jason Thompson on LLE no love!

[jwoo]

Jason Thompson on LLE no love!

Good call, that was an oversight

[jwoo]

Something about this article lacks magic

Hmmm

[Kipke]

275 RP