Andrew Bynum's value..

[JamStone]

That much is true, but when you compare $13.8 million to less than $2 million on a rookie scale, it's misleading. Blair won't make $12 million but the difference won't be $10 million plus a year. McGee might actually make around $10 million. Biedrins got $9 million a year. Joakim Noah got $12 million a year. Samuel Dalembert makes $12 million this year. Emeka Okafor makes about $12-13 million a year.

Sorry to inform you, but the going rate for even an average center in the NBA can be anywhere from $8-12 million a year. Bynum is overpaid, yes. But when you look around the league, young centers with legitimate center size make bank. That's just how it is. I wouldn't be surprised if McGee gets a contract worth $9-10 million a year, not at all surprised. , Nene got a contract worth about $11 million a year after he missed basically an entire season.

Blair won't make $12 million. But he's also undersized for both the PF and C positions and he has no ACLs, which carries longterm risk. I still wouldn't be surprised if he got a contract worth $6-7 million a year. Considering his risks, that wouldn't shock me. Blair is a special case though. If Blair was a legitimate 6'10 or taller and had both ACLs, you would be talking about the Spurs potentially paying him $10-12 million a year because you could bet that there would be other teams willing to offer him that much.

Bynum got overpaid. But how overpaid? If he made $10-12 million a year instead of $14-15 million a year, he would pretty much fall in line with the going rate. So the Lakers spent an extra $3-4 million a year on a young kid they had extremely high hopes for. , that happens with pretty much every team in the NBA when it comes to overpaying young kids with potential.

[Cry Havoc]

That much is true, but when you compare $13.8 million to less than $2 million on a rookie scale, it's misleading. Blair won't make $12 million but the difference won't be $10 million plus a year. McGee might actually make around $10 million. Biedrins got $9 million a year. Joakim Noah got $12 million a year. Samuel Dalembert makes $12 million this year. Emeka Okafor makes about $12-13 million a year.

Sorry to inform you, but the going rate for even an average center in the NBA can be anywhere from $8-12 million a year. Bynum is overpaid, yes. But when you look around the league, young centers with legitimate center size make bank. That's just how it is. I wouldn't be surprised if McGee gets a contract worth $9-10 million a year, not at all surprised. , Nene got a contract worth about $11 million a year after he missed basically an entire season.

Blair won't make $12 million. But he's also undersized for both the PF and C positions and he has no ACLs, which carries longterm risk. I still wouldn't be surprised if he got a contract worth $6-7 million a year. Considering his risks, that wouldn't shock me. Blair is a special case though. If Blair was a legitimate 6'10 or taller and had both ACLs, you would be talking about the Spurs potentially paying him $10-12 million a year because you could bet that there would be other teams willing to offer him that much.

Bynum got overpaid. But how overpaid? If he made $10-12 million a year instead of $14-15 million a year, he would pretty much fall in line with the going rate. So the Lakers spent an extra $3-4 million a year on a young kid they had extremely high hopes for. , that happens with pretty much every team in the NBA when it comes to overpaying young kids with potential.

Great post.

You CANNOT blame the Lakers for paying Bynum what they did. You don't take a gamble on a potential A-list center in this day and age, because they've become fairly rare. Had the Spurs taken a shot at Bynum, I would have loved the idea. Mobile 7'2" guys that can score... they just don't come along every draft.

Bynum's contract isn't HORRIFIC, it's just bad.

Now Walton, Artest, and Blake -- THOSE are awful, awful contracts with really no potential rationale, except perhaps Artest. But even with him, they knew it was a huge gamble and they signed him anyway. We've seen teams sign players like this in the past thinking they could change the player. It just doesn't happen 9 times out of 10. If they're willing to pay him that to get a single ring, more power to them. The Lakers might have mortgaged their next 4 years to do it though, because that's a massive contract and it's only going to get worse every game that Artest releases a mixtape after.

[8FOR!3]

Find the odd man out:

Roy Hibbert (IND): 27.5 MPG, 12.9 PPG, 7.8 RPG, $1.6 million

Andrew Bynum (LAL): 25.5 MPG, 11.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, $13.8 million

Javale McGee (WAS): 26.9 MPG, 9.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG, $1.6 million

DeJuan Blair (SAS): 22.3 MPG, 8.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, $1 million

Kwame Brown (CHA): 22.7 MPG, 7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, $1.2 million

I had no idea Kwame Brown was putting up 7 and 7. Meh, still a bust but good for him.

[Cry Havoc]

I had no idea Kwame Brown was putting up 7 and 7. Meh, still a bust but good for him.

He's been pretty solid this year, actually. Makes you wonder if he just needed different coaching to really "get" it. Or perhaps he's applying himself now.

[FkLA]

If Bynum's knees hold up, he can still be a beast in this league. He towers over practically everyone...and has a solid post-game. I dont think he'll ever reach his peak playing alongside Kobe though, he wont allow itt.

[awktalk]

[jjktkk]

[cobbler]

Caracter is slow, foul-prone and undersized. Why are you guys even talking about him? He's not going to do . He's a dumber version of Glen Davis.

Who I want to develop is Ebanks, because Artest probably will have a major meltdown sooner or later.

I am a bit perplexed why PJ isnt giving him some PT as well with Barnes being out and Ron just plain stinking it up.