duncan228
07-05-2008, 04:11 PM
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9369
By the Numbers: Free Agency
By: Jason Fleming
With the 2008 free agency craze well under way and hundreds of millions of dollars already being committed, it's a good time to look back at past summers and see if spending all that dough really gets you anything. Is spending a boatload a harbinger of good things to come?
HOOPSWORLD takes a look at the free agency classes of 2005, 2006 and 2007 in an effort to see if teams received good returns on investment, see who wasted their cash, and see who actually ended up underpaid (it's all relative).
2005
This summer season was unique. It was the summer of the amnesty clause, where teams could choose one overpriced veteran to take off their team, meaning they still had to pay the contract but the player became a free agent and his salary did not count towards the luxury tax. Very few big names signed with other teams.
Biggest Contracts, Biggest Names: Ray Allen was one of the most pursued players on the market, but he chose to re-sign with the Seattle SuperSonics for five years and $80 million. Joe Johnon was the biggest contract to change teams when he was signed and traded to the Atlanta Hawks from the Phoenix Suns for five years and $70 million, in exchange for Boris Diaw and draft picks. Other bigger deals included Antonio Daniels (Washington, five years, $30 million), Earl Watson (Seattle, five years, $29 million), Raja Bell (Phoenix, five years, $24 million), Kwame Brown (signed and traded to the Lakers for Caron Butler, three years, $25 million), Cuttino Mobley (signed with the Clippers for five years and $42 million), and Antoine Walker (signed and traded to Miami from Boston, six years, $53 million).
Extensions were given to Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas (five years, $55 million), Detroit's Tayshaun Prince (five years, $48 million), Houston's Yao Ming (five years, $80+ million), Golden State's Mike Dunleavy (five years, $45 million), Miami's Udonis Haslem (five years, $30 million), Milwaukee's Dan Gadzuric (six years, $36 million) and Michael Redd (six years, $90 million), Chicago's Tyson Chandler (six years, $64 million) and Eddy Curry (six years, $60 million), Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert (six years, $58 million) and Kyle Korver (six years, $27 million), and Washington's Caron Butler (post-trade, five years, $46 million).
Biggest Busts: Could anyone beat the five years and $60 million the Cleveland Cavaliers gave Washington Wizards guard Larry Hughes? Milwaukee tried, that's for sure. In addition to the $126 million they committed to Gadzuric (a horrible deal) and Redd, they gave Most Improved Player Bobby Simmons five years and $47 million. Those were all bad, but what about the most predictable general manager move in the history of the NBA? After Jerome James stumbled around in Seattle for a couple seasons, he played a fantastic second half and playoffs in 2004-05 in a contract year. New York's Isiah Thomas promptly gave him in a move jokingly speculated upon in the media for weeks before it could even happen five years and $30 million.
Best Deals: Korver's deal turned out to be pretty cheap, especially for the Utah Jazz after this past season's acquisition. The extensions given to Chandler, Haslem, Prince and Yao also have turned out to be solid ways to spend one's money. The best deal has to be Caron Butler's. Full of promise when the Wiz acquired him in the sign-and-trade for former #1 pick bust Kwame Brown, Butler has promptly become an All-Star twice not bad for a guy who is the third-highest paid on his team.
2006
This was the summer of Ben Wallace. At one point it was assumed Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons would do everything in their power to keep Wallace, but they surprisingly weren't all that interested and in retrospect we all know why. Instead, Wallace took the money the Chicago Bulls were throwing around. Outside of Wallace, 2006 was a summer of relative restraint.
Biggest Contracts, Biggest Names: Wallace signed with the Bulls for four years and $60 million. The other biggest movers may be Tim Thomas (from Phoenix to the LA Clippers for four years and $24 million) and Vladimir Radmanovic (from the Clippers to Lakers for five years and $31 million). Other larger deals include Nazr Mohammed (a panic move by Detroit to replace Ben Wallace, five years, $31 million), Al Harrington (four years, $35 million), Portland's Joel Przybilla (five years, $31 million), Seattle's Chris Wilcox (three years, $24 million), Utah's Matt Harpring (four years, $25 million), and Washington's Darius Songaila (five years, $23 million).
Extensions were given to Cleveland's Drew Gooden (three years, $23 million) and LeBron James (four years, $63 million), Chicago's Kirk Hinrich (five years, $47 million), Dallas' Josh Howard (four years, $40 million), Dirk Nowitzki (three years, $60 million) and Jason Terry (six years, $57 million), Denver's Carmelo Anthony (five years, $80 million) and Nene (six years, $60 million), Miami's Dwyane Wade (four years, $63 million), New Orleans' David West (five years, $45 million), Phoenix's Leandro Barbosa (five years, $33 million) and Boris Diaw (five years, $45 million), Seattle's Luke Ridnour (three years, $18 million) and Nick Collison (four years, $26 million), Milwaukee's T.J. Ford (four years, $33 million), and Toronto's Chris Bosh (four years, $63 million)
Biggest Busts: Would it be the $25 million the Atlanta Hawks gave Speedy Claxton over four years to be their starting point guard? Or what exactly does Greg Buckner give you for for five years and $29 million? Five years and $21 million for Marcus Banks? Four years and $24 million for Mike James? Five years and $30 million for Jared Jeffries? Not a good year for picking and choosing which supporting players to reward.
Best Deals: Considering how important he was to the Boston Celtics 20008 title run, two years at minimum dollars for Leon Powe is pretty dang good. Ditto the four years and $16 million for Kendrick Perkins. While both of those players were very important to the Celtics, the best deal may be the five year, $23.5 million one John Salmons received from the Sacramento Kings. Salmon effectively replaced the need for Ron Artest when Artest was injured and is a major reason the bigger name is now expendable. Toronto plucking Anthony Parker from Europe for three years and $12 million was a pretty good deal as well. The case could also be made that no matter how much money LeBron James gets paid it's a good deal.
2007
The summer of 2007 was also relatively quiet. The biggest names on the block stayed home for big extensions, players like New Jersey's Vince Carter and Detroit's Chauncey Billups. The only big name who did move ended up being involved in one of the richest contracts in the NBA when Rashard Lewis was part of a sign-and-trade deal between Seattle and Orlando for draft picks.When history looks back on the this summer, the biggest impacts will likely be the smaller names the Boston Celtics signed to put around their star Paul Pierce and the two All-Star trade acquisitions, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Perhaps the most intriguing issue of the 2007 free agent season were the holdouts by Cleveland's Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic. Restricted free agents the Cavs had made clear they would match any offer on, the pair ended up caving in to the Cavs' upper hand very late (Pavlovic just before the season began and Varejao not until December).
Biggest Contracts, Biggest Names: Lewis' contract with Orlando is worth a staggering $118 million over six years, almost $20 million per for a player who is not a first option on offense. Carter's extension was worth $78 million over five years. Billups' deal ended up being fairly pedestrian at five years and $60 million. Charlotte's Gerald Wallace for some reason that makes no sense at all received very little consideration on the open market and re-signed with the Bobcats for six years and $57 million. Other contracts of note include Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse (three years, $21 million), the Lakers' Derek Fisher (three years, $14 million) and Luke Walton (five years, $31 million), Memphis' Darko Milicic (three years, $21 million), Milwaukee's Desmond Mason (two years, $11 million), Charlie Bell (five years, $18 million), and Mo Williams (six years, $51 million), Morris Peterson (New Orleans, four years, $23 million), and Steve Blake (Portland, three years, $12 million).
Extensions were given to Boston's Garnett (three years, $51 million), Charlotte's Matt Carroll (six years, $27 million), Chicago's Andres Nocioni (five years, $37.5 million), Cleveland's Varejao (three years, $17 million) and Pavlovic (three years, $12 million), Detroit's Amir Johnson (three years, $11 million), the Clippers' Chris Kaman (five years, $52 million), Minnesota's Al Jefferson (five years, $65 million), Dallas' Devin Harris (five years, $50 million then traded to New Jersey for Jason Kidd), Orlando's Dwight Howard (five years, $80 million) and Jameer Nelson (five years, $38 million), Portland's Travis Outlaw (three years, $12 million), San Antonio's Tim Duncan (two years, $40 million), and Washington's Andray Blatche (three years, $10 million).
Biggest Busts: That was a lot of money to give Carroll to come off the bench. Lewis will never be a bust; just overpaid there's a difference. Walton signed his deal with the Lakers and promptly was buried on the bench. Milicic is still stuck showing glimpses of what he could become, rather than actually becoming.
Best Deals: One year at minimum money for Eddie House is not bad at all. Neither is the two years and $7 million given to James Posey (he opted out of the second season). The two year minimum deal the Mavericks gave to Brandon Bass paid huge dividends. Still, none of those deals hold a candle to the two-year deal given to Grant Hill by the Phoenix Suns for $3.8 million. Hill stayed relatively healthy and put up fantastic numbers the Magic wish he could have done what he did in the Valley of the Sun for the money they paid out. Although the Sacramento Kings getting Beno Udrih to be their starting point guard for minimum money after Mike Bibby got hurt and then was traded is nothing to sneeze at. And, neither is the two-year minimum deal given to Jamario Moon by the Raptors. 2007 was filled with good deals and relative fiscal responsibility, apparently.
By the Numbers: Free Agency
By: Jason Fleming
With the 2008 free agency craze well under way and hundreds of millions of dollars already being committed, it's a good time to look back at past summers and see if spending all that dough really gets you anything. Is spending a boatload a harbinger of good things to come?
HOOPSWORLD takes a look at the free agency classes of 2005, 2006 and 2007 in an effort to see if teams received good returns on investment, see who wasted their cash, and see who actually ended up underpaid (it's all relative).
2005
This summer season was unique. It was the summer of the amnesty clause, where teams could choose one overpriced veteran to take off their team, meaning they still had to pay the contract but the player became a free agent and his salary did not count towards the luxury tax. Very few big names signed with other teams.
Biggest Contracts, Biggest Names: Ray Allen was one of the most pursued players on the market, but he chose to re-sign with the Seattle SuperSonics for five years and $80 million. Joe Johnon was the biggest contract to change teams when he was signed and traded to the Atlanta Hawks from the Phoenix Suns for five years and $70 million, in exchange for Boris Diaw and draft picks. Other bigger deals included Antonio Daniels (Washington, five years, $30 million), Earl Watson (Seattle, five years, $29 million), Raja Bell (Phoenix, five years, $24 million), Kwame Brown (signed and traded to the Lakers for Caron Butler, three years, $25 million), Cuttino Mobley (signed with the Clippers for five years and $42 million), and Antoine Walker (signed and traded to Miami from Boston, six years, $53 million).
Extensions were given to Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas (five years, $55 million), Detroit's Tayshaun Prince (five years, $48 million), Houston's Yao Ming (five years, $80+ million), Golden State's Mike Dunleavy (five years, $45 million), Miami's Udonis Haslem (five years, $30 million), Milwaukee's Dan Gadzuric (six years, $36 million) and Michael Redd (six years, $90 million), Chicago's Tyson Chandler (six years, $64 million) and Eddy Curry (six years, $60 million), Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert (six years, $58 million) and Kyle Korver (six years, $27 million), and Washington's Caron Butler (post-trade, five years, $46 million).
Biggest Busts: Could anyone beat the five years and $60 million the Cleveland Cavaliers gave Washington Wizards guard Larry Hughes? Milwaukee tried, that's for sure. In addition to the $126 million they committed to Gadzuric (a horrible deal) and Redd, they gave Most Improved Player Bobby Simmons five years and $47 million. Those were all bad, but what about the most predictable general manager move in the history of the NBA? After Jerome James stumbled around in Seattle for a couple seasons, he played a fantastic second half and playoffs in 2004-05 in a contract year. New York's Isiah Thomas promptly gave him in a move jokingly speculated upon in the media for weeks before it could even happen five years and $30 million.
Best Deals: Korver's deal turned out to be pretty cheap, especially for the Utah Jazz after this past season's acquisition. The extensions given to Chandler, Haslem, Prince and Yao also have turned out to be solid ways to spend one's money. The best deal has to be Caron Butler's. Full of promise when the Wiz acquired him in the sign-and-trade for former #1 pick bust Kwame Brown, Butler has promptly become an All-Star twice not bad for a guy who is the third-highest paid on his team.
2006
This was the summer of Ben Wallace. At one point it was assumed Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons would do everything in their power to keep Wallace, but they surprisingly weren't all that interested and in retrospect we all know why. Instead, Wallace took the money the Chicago Bulls were throwing around. Outside of Wallace, 2006 was a summer of relative restraint.
Biggest Contracts, Biggest Names: Wallace signed with the Bulls for four years and $60 million. The other biggest movers may be Tim Thomas (from Phoenix to the LA Clippers for four years and $24 million) and Vladimir Radmanovic (from the Clippers to Lakers for five years and $31 million). Other larger deals include Nazr Mohammed (a panic move by Detroit to replace Ben Wallace, five years, $31 million), Al Harrington (four years, $35 million), Portland's Joel Przybilla (five years, $31 million), Seattle's Chris Wilcox (three years, $24 million), Utah's Matt Harpring (four years, $25 million), and Washington's Darius Songaila (five years, $23 million).
Extensions were given to Cleveland's Drew Gooden (three years, $23 million) and LeBron James (four years, $63 million), Chicago's Kirk Hinrich (five years, $47 million), Dallas' Josh Howard (four years, $40 million), Dirk Nowitzki (three years, $60 million) and Jason Terry (six years, $57 million), Denver's Carmelo Anthony (five years, $80 million) and Nene (six years, $60 million), Miami's Dwyane Wade (four years, $63 million), New Orleans' David West (five years, $45 million), Phoenix's Leandro Barbosa (five years, $33 million) and Boris Diaw (five years, $45 million), Seattle's Luke Ridnour (three years, $18 million) and Nick Collison (four years, $26 million), Milwaukee's T.J. Ford (four years, $33 million), and Toronto's Chris Bosh (four years, $63 million)
Biggest Busts: Would it be the $25 million the Atlanta Hawks gave Speedy Claxton over four years to be their starting point guard? Or what exactly does Greg Buckner give you for for five years and $29 million? Five years and $21 million for Marcus Banks? Four years and $24 million for Mike James? Five years and $30 million for Jared Jeffries? Not a good year for picking and choosing which supporting players to reward.
Best Deals: Considering how important he was to the Boston Celtics 20008 title run, two years at minimum dollars for Leon Powe is pretty dang good. Ditto the four years and $16 million for Kendrick Perkins. While both of those players were very important to the Celtics, the best deal may be the five year, $23.5 million one John Salmons received from the Sacramento Kings. Salmon effectively replaced the need for Ron Artest when Artest was injured and is a major reason the bigger name is now expendable. Toronto plucking Anthony Parker from Europe for three years and $12 million was a pretty good deal as well. The case could also be made that no matter how much money LeBron James gets paid it's a good deal.
2007
The summer of 2007 was also relatively quiet. The biggest names on the block stayed home for big extensions, players like New Jersey's Vince Carter and Detroit's Chauncey Billups. The only big name who did move ended up being involved in one of the richest contracts in the NBA when Rashard Lewis was part of a sign-and-trade deal between Seattle and Orlando for draft picks.When history looks back on the this summer, the biggest impacts will likely be the smaller names the Boston Celtics signed to put around their star Paul Pierce and the two All-Star trade acquisitions, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Perhaps the most intriguing issue of the 2007 free agent season were the holdouts by Cleveland's Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic. Restricted free agents the Cavs had made clear they would match any offer on, the pair ended up caving in to the Cavs' upper hand very late (Pavlovic just before the season began and Varejao not until December).
Biggest Contracts, Biggest Names: Lewis' contract with Orlando is worth a staggering $118 million over six years, almost $20 million per for a player who is not a first option on offense. Carter's extension was worth $78 million over five years. Billups' deal ended up being fairly pedestrian at five years and $60 million. Charlotte's Gerald Wallace for some reason that makes no sense at all received very little consideration on the open market and re-signed with the Bobcats for six years and $57 million. Other contracts of note include Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse (three years, $21 million), the Lakers' Derek Fisher (three years, $14 million) and Luke Walton (five years, $31 million), Memphis' Darko Milicic (three years, $21 million), Milwaukee's Desmond Mason (two years, $11 million), Charlie Bell (five years, $18 million), and Mo Williams (six years, $51 million), Morris Peterson (New Orleans, four years, $23 million), and Steve Blake (Portland, three years, $12 million).
Extensions were given to Boston's Garnett (three years, $51 million), Charlotte's Matt Carroll (six years, $27 million), Chicago's Andres Nocioni (five years, $37.5 million), Cleveland's Varejao (three years, $17 million) and Pavlovic (three years, $12 million), Detroit's Amir Johnson (three years, $11 million), the Clippers' Chris Kaman (five years, $52 million), Minnesota's Al Jefferson (five years, $65 million), Dallas' Devin Harris (five years, $50 million then traded to New Jersey for Jason Kidd), Orlando's Dwight Howard (five years, $80 million) and Jameer Nelson (five years, $38 million), Portland's Travis Outlaw (three years, $12 million), San Antonio's Tim Duncan (two years, $40 million), and Washington's Andray Blatche (three years, $10 million).
Biggest Busts: That was a lot of money to give Carroll to come off the bench. Lewis will never be a bust; just overpaid there's a difference. Walton signed his deal with the Lakers and promptly was buried on the bench. Milicic is still stuck showing glimpses of what he could become, rather than actually becoming.
Best Deals: One year at minimum money for Eddie House is not bad at all. Neither is the two years and $7 million given to James Posey (he opted out of the second season). The two year minimum deal the Mavericks gave to Brandon Bass paid huge dividends. Still, none of those deals hold a candle to the two-year deal given to Grant Hill by the Phoenix Suns for $3.8 million. Hill stayed relatively healthy and put up fantastic numbers the Magic wish he could have done what he did in the Valley of the Sun for the money they paid out. Although the Sacramento Kings getting Beno Udrih to be their starting point guard for minimum money after Mike Bibby got hurt and then was traded is nothing to sneeze at. And, neither is the two-year minimum deal given to Jamario Moon by the Raptors. 2007 was filled with good deals and relative fiscal responsibility, apparently.