Grading FA Day 1

[Joe]

Grading FA Day 1

Ol’ Joey’s back in the swing of things for the 13-14 season. Just did my taxes (right at the buzzer, hold your applause), and my dumbass company underwithheld me so I owe greedy Uncle Sam some money. My first instinct was, of course, to write some SLN content to earn SOMETHING back to offset that stupid payment.

2013 181 Rockets Sign SF Tracy McGrady for $72,000,000 over 4 years.

Grade: B. To answer your question, yes, I do stay up at night thinking about what would have happened if we never traded my first born son. But I'm very glad he's got a second ring with my favorite Western Conference team. TMac lost a tiny bit of a step in his scoring volume and rebounding, but he was still potentially the best player on last year’s title team. Nolan keeps him for less than he offered, and pretty much the minimum you could safely get him for while still beating potential poachers in Year 1. TMac is entering his 17th season (!!!) so could continue to decline (woulda liked to see this be 3 years instead of 4), but he’s a bonafide superstar and the beating heart of this Rockets team, so good on Nolan for keeping him.

2013 181 Cavaliers Sign PG Ricky Rubio for $93,750,000 over 6 years.

Grade: A-. The Raptors will match this one, so good that the Cavs used their cap to get something. Rubio still has development juice in the tank I expect, but if he is already at his peak right now, I’m not sure he’s quite worth a max. Scored 20 ppg on solid splits on a pretty barren Toronto team last year, has a nice stock to TO, but doesn’t shoot a ton of 3s and I have concerns about his volume and positional D.

2013 181 Nuggets Sign SF Carmelo Anthony for $137,812,500 over 6 years.

Grade: A. An inside source tells me that Kipke actually wanted to offer Carmelo even more money, but FBB/NBA rules restricted that, so he was lucky to retain his star SF. Pretty open and shut case over here – Melo reached transcendent superstardom last year even surrounded by 2 other elite bucket-getters, so there’s really no amount of money I wouldn’t pay him at age 29. Should be worth every dollar until maybe the last year of this deal.

2013 181 Suns Sign SF Jamario Moon for $15,000,000 over one year.

Grade: B. Moon’s offense was passable last year and his defense and rebounding excellent as usual – it’s just the typical dice roll with Moon. Will he shoot 42% from the floor? Is his defense going to decline in his year 14 season (blocks were down a hair last year in increased minutes)? Is he going to go into your pants pocket while you’re asleep and steal that extra $5M in Bengay money? Tyler seems optimistic so I’ll be optimistic too – but I’m not sure on Day1 there were a ton of teams getting ready to give Jamario $15M of their cap – probs coulda got him on a slightly smaller (maybe multi-year?) deal.

2013 181 Nets Sign PG Chauncey Billups for $6,106,323 over one year.

Grade: A. Seems like the Nets are headed to switch-flippin-ville with the impending Kemba supercamp, and Chauncey was every bit a stud at age 36 last year. Still getting his 26 pp36 on great splits with manageable turnovers and A- Defense, even if his Rebounding has fallen off a Boban-sized cliff. If Steven wants to continue the tank, there should be plenty of market demand for this grizzled but effective vet on an easily matchable deal.

2013 181 Pacers Sign PG Deron Williams for $47,754,000 over 3 years.

Grade: B-. Decent snag for the Pacers, likely one of the better wing options in a weak FA class, but DWill remains a decidedly imperfect player – he’s electric offensively at the 1, but will cough it up way more than you’d like – he’s got quite a bit less volume and efficiency at the 2, turns it over a little less, but you just know he’s a traffic cone on the defensive end with his low strength and positional D. He’s probably best suited as a microwave bench scorer like Redd, where a little less is asked of him. Is he a bad player? Certainly not. Is he worth $16M AAV on a 3-year deal? Feels like a bit much.

2013 181 Bulls Sign SG Rashad McCants for $144,375,000 over 7 years.

Grade: A. Another easy grade - looks like the Matt Luck is in fine form to start the season. With Manu and Kobe declining, McCants is pretty safely slotted in as the second best SG in the league after Dwade. Zero significant weaknesses, borderline perfect aside from suspect positional D and average rebounding. He may not be worth $26.2M when he’s 35, but he sure is worth keeping around for now at whatever number you need.

2013 181 Heat Sign SF Kevin Garnett for $18,000,000 over one year.

Grade: C. KG was just OK last year, his defense still up to par while his offense and rebounding dipped. If he’s being used as filler in a traded for a superstar, then I’ll change this grade to filler. However, if the Heat are planning to flip the switch this year, there was probably a better use of their ample cap space than on 37-year old KG who likely already has the color of his retirement Ferrari picked out.

2013 181 Jazz Sign C Darko Milicic for $52,500,000 over 3 years.

Grade: C+. Darko is pretty much Kwame Brown, with a little less stealing and rebounding but that same pesky TO issue. As a Kwame owner, I can confirm it was pretty annoying paying him the kind of money I’d pay a superstar backcourt player while he was an admittedly imperfect Big Butt. Now, Darko had an awesome year last year and is a positive force, but the Jazz are stuck up against the cap with 9 guys on the roster, and there are a lot of guys floating around the league that do 75% of what Darko does for a quarter of the cost. It’s much harder finding effective wings at such a discount, so paying a big butt max money makes it really hard to fill out a deep roster with the rest of your space.

2013 181 Pacers Sign SG Brandon Roy for $31,500,000 over 2 years.

Grade: D+. Brandon Roy is coasting pretty hard off of being named Brandon Roy. If this guy’s name was Tim Johnson, there’s no way he’d be commanding $15.8 AAV. He’s at best an average true shooter at the 2 (below average last year), turns it over a bit, and the knee injuries have sapped his volume considerably if you take a look down his player page. And he could always just get another knee injury at any time and get worse, so having him on a multi-year large number is scary! He’s still a good rebounder at the 2 and his offense doesn’t hurt you, I’m just not seeing where he’s worth all this money.

2013 181 Spurs Sign SG Caron Butler for $37,187,500 over 2 years.

Grade: B. One thing about Butler is he’s absurdly consistent – his statline and ratings have barely changed at all since he was 25, so you know what you’re going to get. I don’t think the Spurs had a ton of other people to spend money on and get up near the HC number as they look to flip the switch, and Butler is a solid scorer, rebounder and defender, so I don’t hate this deal…I just probably would have kept it at 1 year for a bit less money (no one was going to offer Butler anywhere close to 17.5M) and then filled in the gaps with other FAs.

2013 181 Magic Sign SG CJ Miles for $9,000,000 over one year.

Grade: B+. Based on the rest of the Magic’s moves, I expect Miles is not long for Orlando, and this deal is pretty liquid. Miles is a solid 4th or 5th starter type guy, with no exceptional weaknesses or strengths. He’s honestly a lot like Brandon Roy with better handles, and he’s a on a deal that feels much more appropriate.

2013 181 Celtics Sign SF Ryan Gomes for $7,000,000 over one year.

Grade: B+. Gomes was excellent offensively for us last year (49% from the floor) and does a good job with defense and rebounding. He’s got a bit of a turnover issue and isn’t the highest volume guy, so he’s likely good bench material, and $7M for a guy like that feel about right, maybe a hair high. If camps go fine he should remain valuable, and is a nice tradeable expiring number to keep on the books.

2013 181 Cavaliers Sign C Tim Duncan for $8,000,000 over one year.

Grade: A-. A top 25 big butt who actually scored reasonably efficiently last year! Still blocks shots and rebounds, all while getting those AARP discounts at Costco. So many discounts, in fact, that he was willing to pass the savings along to Mantypas, who now has a pretty valuable trade asset. For the first time since his rookie deal in Washington, Timmy no longer takes up a HOF-sized spot on your cap sheet, so he can be treated and paid as the role player he now is.

2013 181 Suns Sign SG Ray Allen for $11,000,000 over one year.

Grade: B+. Guessing this one is going to end up being filler, but if it’s not, Jesus Shuttlesworth should still help Phoenix win games. Incredible per 36 numbers across the board despite his waning positional D, Allen continues to stack points onto his record career scoring total. As long as Dirk is in the league and threatening to take that mantle from him, I expect Ray sticks around as a sharpshooting mercenary for whoever will pay him.

2013 181 Clippers Sign SG Von Wafer for $19,860,000 over 3 years.

Grade: B-. Vondelbread’s scoring efficiency has taken a dip in recent years but he still sports a solid stock to TO. $6.5M a year won’t break the bank and the Clippers need depth at wing, so probably good to keep him around.

2013 181 Spurs Sign PG Patrick Beverley for $9,775,000 over 2 years.

Grade: B-. Pat Bev had a pretty alarming camp last year, going -3 or -4 while the rest of the Spurs roster violently sucked out all of his potential like Krall in the third Star Trek movie. With the starting job apparently in IT’s hands, there was reason to believe Beverly had been a flash in the pan. Jordo clearly still has hopes that Bev will turn it around, though, signing him to a multi-year deal, and $5M a year for a decent backup point guard isn’t terrible, and will look pretty good if he gains those ratings back in camps this year.

2013 181 Bucks Sign C Fabricio Oberto for $4,500,000 over one year.

Grade: B+. Aging excellent big butt on the MLE. A tale as old as time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

2013 181 Magic Sign SG Gerald Henderson for $5,000,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler I think? Henderson may move in another deal but pretty sure Merv wants to spend time making him good so that he can rub it in Woo’s face.

2013 181 Magic Sign PF Pops Mensah-Bonsu for $5,300,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. Traded to the Celtics as part of the Kwame deal.

2013 181 Pistons Sign C DeSagana Diop for $48,730,500 over 4 years.

Grade: A-. If you’re going to pay a big butt an 8-figure salary, make sure he’s one of the best butts of all time and get that salary as close to $10M as you can. While perhaps 1 year too long on this deal, still a great move by the Pistons to keep Lasagna Plop around at a manageable number.

2013 181 Knicks Sign C Johan Petro for $24,000,000 over 4 years.

Grade: A-. Grade is for the Celtics (that’s me!) who acquired Petro in a S&T. A bit more than the MLE for a 28 year old butt who did 3:1 stock to TO with excellent per-36 rebounding and basically zero shot attempts. Feels like a solid bargain for a starting-caliber player.

2013 181 Magic Sign C Chris Andersen for $2,100,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. Included with Pops in the Kwame deal.

2013 181 Timberwolves Sign SF Jared Dudley for $12,500,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. At least I hope so.

2013 181 Celtics Sign C Andrew Bynum for $4,700,000 over one year.

Grade: B-. We like butts in Boston. Wasn’t sure if I was going to get both Petro and Bynum, but they both play similar roles and I’m happy that they both signed. Bynum’s a better rim protector but worse rebounder, so he may get relegated to the third string depending on how Petro and Biedrins do. Basically MLE money for a playable butt. Keepin’ it simple.

2013 181 Grizzlies Sign C Hasheem Thabeet for $4,500,000 over one year.

Grade: B. Exactly MLE money for a playable butt. Rebounding leaves something to be desired, though that may change if he has a decent camp at Center.

2013 181 Bullets Sign C Nazr Mohammed for $1,100,000 over one year.

Grade: A-. Nearly as cheap a deal as you can find for a guy who was just shy of 3:1 stock to TO last year. No risk to Weston if he declines in performance at this number.

2013 181 Hawks Sign C Nikola Pekovic for $12,500,000 over one year.

Grade: Filler. Probably filler? Not sure what the Pekovic market is these days. It probably looks something like Boston Market – extra mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, and gravy. Hold the veggies. I’M SAYING HE’S FAT

2013 181 Cavaliers Sign SG Garrett Temple for $2,000,000 over one year.

Grade: D+. Temple is pretty terrible, Mantypas just has a nostalgia boner for him. Guess he’s good for the tank?

[jwoo]

Rubio has only had one TC, pretty sure he is not at his peak, lol

(but I was hoping to not have to give him the full max)

[Merv]

This guy hates the Pacers offseason! Boooooooo

[Jordo]

Now I have a 2 year window to see if IT, Hill or Pat Bev can be a guy.

And not coming close to the HC this season so figured I would guarantee beyond a doubt that butler could come back during that window. Could be a tradable contract in year 2 for a PG if the aforementioned 3 are complete duds.

[GrundleSauce]

Yeah. Didn't feel great offering Darko that deal, but I know that there was at least one offer out there for six years $120M, so yeah!

[Tyler]

Fair grades for the Suns... tbh I was pretty buttered when I submitted my bids Saturday night

The only problem with a multiyear deal for Moon is his stip hits if he is on your books before FA, so 1 year deals are a bit more predictable

[Joe]

This guy hates the Pacers offseason! Boooooooo

Don't hate the pacers offseason!! I love that they're making moves. I also don't hate either of these players either, just feels like a lot of money for them in a vacuum. That said, there weren't a ton of super high quality FAs and the Pacers have all the money in the world to play with, so they can afford that kind of stuff in ways that other teams probably can't

[mantypas/CavsCzar]

I promised Garrett Temple's virtual family I'd take care of them, and I am not going to turn back from that promise

[heimer]

Pekovic is not fat, he just has dense bones

[tonger]

This guy hates the Pacers offseason! Boooooooo

Don't hate the pacers offseason!! I love that they're making moves. I also don't hate either of these players either, just feels like a lot of money for them in a vacuum. That said, there weren't a ton of super high quality FAs and the Pacers have all the money in the world to play with, so they can afford that kind of stuff in ways that other teams probably can't

Something REAL going on in INDIANA