Is the NBA Full? Lots of FAs and draft picks out there

[wildbill2u]

Good article from Draft Express on all the FAs, 2nd Round draft picks, NBDL wannabes and Euros caught in the numbers game this year.

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=2212

Exerpt: "Is the NBA reaching full capacity? According to a slew of unsigned veteran free agents, 2nd round picks, undrafted rookies, and their distressed representation this summer—that seems to be exactly the case. Whereas in most years there are a host of teams with roster spots for an agent to choose from, things appear to be slightly different this time around."

Talks about the prospects of unsigned players like Derrick Byars, Demetris Nichols, RAyshawn Terry and legit NBA veterans or marginal players who are fighting to stay in someone's rotation like Noel Felix and Devin Brown.

It's a buyers market for GMs this year.

[wildbill2u]

While some franchises may not carry a full roster for luxury tax reasons, the Spurs are only one shy. Which, if any, of the FAs or unsigned draftees besides Williams has a chance to sign with the Spurs?

[2centsworth]

there is a lot of talent out there. You have to have mad skills to make it and stick.

[T Park]

Im shocked that Devin Brown hasn't signed for someone's partial MLE.

I mean he had a friggen good year last year.

[remingtonbo2001]

That's odd that Devin hasn't signed yet. Wondering if he's holding out for a certain amount?

[JamStone]

No, the NBA is not full. The free agents that appear to be quality players are not that great to begin with. There have always been quality players that couldn't find work in the NBA throughout the years. The problem is not that the NBA is full or over-saturated. The problem is that first round draft picks end up signing contracts that are guaranteed for at least three years. Then, once GMs find out these first round players suck, they have to stay on the roster for an extra two years. Look at guys like Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Rodney White, Reece Gaines, Dahntay Jones, Kedrick Brown and ask why they were in the league for three years when they should have been done after their first. It's the guaranteed contracts of first round draft picks. Instead of replacing some of those busts with quality players, they take roster spots teams otherwise can't do shit about.

While I understand that players as people want to have as much security as possible for their futures, teams get screwed when players don't live up to their expectations or get injured and yet still force teams to pay them anyway.

[wildbill2u]

Jamstone: What you cite is simply another reason why the League has so many players fighting for a few open slots. The draft is almost always an exercise in futility once you get past the top ten players.

Less than one out of five draftees in the lower numbers of the first round make a team.

[Kori Ellis]

That's odd that Devin hasn't signed yet. Wondering if he's holding out for a certain amount?

I believe he's just looking for a minimum contract.

[Kori Ellis]

No, the NBA is not full. The free agents that appear to be quality players are not that great to begin with. There have always been quality players that couldn't find work in the NBA throughout the years. The problem is not that the NBA is full or over-saturated. The problem is that first round draft picks end up signing contracts that are guaranteed for at least three years. Then, once GMs find out these first round players suck, they have to stay on the roster for an extra two years. Look at guys like Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Rodney White, Reece Gaines, Dahntay Jones, Kedrick Brown and ask why they were in the league for three years when they should have been done after their first. It's the guaranteed contracts of first round draft picks. Instead of replacing some of those busts with quality players, they take roster spots teams otherwise can't do shit about.

While I understand that players as people want to have as much security as possible for their futures, teams get screwed when players don't live up to their expectations or get injured and yet still force teams to pay them anyway.

So you think only the first year should be guaranteed on a rookie deal?

[T Park]

Shoot, give the 15th spot to Devin.

Brown > Williams + Sanikidze.

[barbacoataco]

The comments about the guanteed 3 year deal for 1st round picks make the Spurs FO seem even more intelligent. Even though their 1st round pick is always low, they have avoided signing 3-yr deals to no talent players, by drafting Euro's who will never play. The Spur have done a great job in general not getting stuck with useless players who eat up the payroll. They dumped Nazr and Rasho, and replaced them with Oberto and Elson, at a cheaper, shorter contract.

[JamStone]

So you think only the first year should be guaranteed on a rookie deal?

I'm not saying guaranteeing three years is necessarily a wrong thing. I'm just saying it's part of the problem. Another problem in a similar vein is the GM mindset of many teams that are trying to find the next Dirk Nowitzki or Yao Ming and drafting or acquiring international players based mostly on hunches and sparse scouting is another problem. Heck, the Milwaukee Bucks front office even admitted that they didn't even see Yi Jianlian play when they drafted him. Players like Igor Rackocevic and Arvydas Macijauskas should probably never have been on NBA rosters. Mengke Bateer ... why did he even play in the league?

I don't think they necessarily need to change it first round guaranteed contracts. But, on the other hand, should players like Marcus Fizer and Trajan Langdon and Marcus Haislip have had NBA careers longer than one or two years?

I'm just explaining my opinion as to why it's not that the league is full or over-saturated. I'm merely saying that the league has its share of players that probably don't belong on rosters ahead of some more talented free agents, but because of guaranteed contracts and cap restrictions, many teams can't afford to just waive some players and throw away money.

[wildbill2u]

Jamstone:"I'm merely saying that the league has its share of players that probably don't belong on rosters ahead of some more talented free agents."

Picking talent isn't easy, is it? And giving long term contracts, even to players with talent, sometimes doesn't work out (E Griffin).

The Spurs don't often give out long term contracts or high paying contracts to players whose talents--and ability to work within the team's concept-- aren't quickly proved through their play.

The Spurs FO is sometimes criticized for its apparently ruthless judgements about players such as James White and Butler, but on the whole, I think they make those judgements on talent and not on contracts.

[SequSpur]

teams are scared of devin brown cuz he will come in and take minutes from their cream puffs... same reason why the spurs won't get him.... poor manu and finley may have to give up minutes to a solid player..

[JamStone]

Jamstone:"I'm merely saying that the league has its share of players that probably don't belong on rosters ahead of some more talented free agents."

Picking talent isn't easy, is it? And giving long term contracts, even to players with talent, sometimes doesn't work out (E Griffin).

The Spurs don't often give out long term contracts or high paying contracts to players whose talents--and ability to work within the team's concept-- aren't quickly proved through their play.

The Spurs FO is sometimes criticized for its apparently ruthless judgements about players such as James White and Butler, but on the whole, I think they make those judgements on talent and not on contracts.


Agree very much. Look, the topic was about a guy stating the league is full. I'm just saying it's not full. I'm saying the way it's structured, some players that deserve to be in the league won't be in it on any given year. Some of it's due to the guaranteed contracts of first round draft picks. There will be 10-15 players on NBA rosters that are first round picks that just shouldn't be in the league. Those spots could be replaced by these talented (some undrafted) free agents. Some might be (like I mentioned in Arvydas Macijauskas' case) an international player a team took a flyer on.

The league is not over-saturated with talent. Why? Because there are still plenty of teams that suck. Not just suck, but are beyond horrible for a professional basketball team. And, similarly, there are some players in the league that just shouldn't be. Look at some of the contracts in the league. Sebastian Telfair is still in the league getting paid. Who the hell is Damir Markota? Did you know who Esteban Batista is? Did you know he took up an NBA roster spot for TWO seasons? Pavel Podkolzin got three years of guaranteed money from Mark Cuban because he's 7-foot-5. Did he ever play in those three years? Does he have a contract anymore? And, then look at other deals like Brian Cardinal has three more years on his contract. So does Jerome James.

The league isn't full or over-saturated player talent. The league is full of stupid GMs who are throwing away money on 19 year old kids based on some guessing game and international prospects they know very little about. That's why there are quality free agents that are not in the league. Not because the league is full.

[ChumpDumper]

I believe there are almost 30 restricted free agents out there whose situations have not been resolved. Most of them suck and should've taken the qualifying offer as soon as it came over the fax, but they and/or their agents think they can get a multiyear deal out of teams that don't want to give them.