NBA News: Offseason

[O_Gardino]

Dwight Howard signs with Atlanta for $70.5 million over three years.

That's almost the 24/yr he wanted.

Amare made 23 and change two years ago. With all of the free agents cleaning up this summer, how far has Howard's reputation fallen?

[Shabazz]

https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/748973070241574912 4/52 for Solomon Hill in my home town.

The pacers not picking up his $2.3 million made very little sense.

[Shabazz]

I know this has been said, but Knight and Chandler's contracts do look like bargains now. They've probably established a fair amount of trade value in the last 24 hours.

[carey]

Amare made 23 and change two years ago. With all of the free agents cleaning up this summer, how far has Howard's reputation fallen?

That was on the back end of a contract he signed when he was healthy(ish.) To your point though, it's not his reputation it's his health and his production. He missed half the season two years ago and there were rumblings of microfracture, then he bounced back to play in 71 this season. I think $23M/yr is a massive overpay for 14 & 12, but then again, I have no idea what's going on with these deals. Mozgov and Noah just got insane contracts. I just don't understand why you wouldn't rather have Horford. You could probably get him for a little bit less and he actually hits his FTs so you can play him in the 4th Q. Maybe Horford already told ATL he was out of there? I'm enjoying all the free agency randomness though.*

*Just as long as the Suns don't do anything freakin' stupid.

[carey]

So the lowdown on Dudley is that he has an offer from the nets for 2/$18M. He's holding out for more $$ and/or years from the Suns or Jazz. I still think we should pass unless we are moving PJ Tucker. Considering we just picked up his option it's highly unlikely.
https://twitter.com/DJJazzyJody/status/749009621122113536

[Superbone]

IDK. I'd love having him back. We have to spend SOME money.

[TOO]

IDK. I'd love having him back. We have to spend SOME money.

Bah.

[The Bobster]

There will be teams looking to unload contracts for cheap to make cap space, and some of those players will have value on the court, so I say be patient.

[Shabazz]

There will be teams looking to unload contracts for cheap to make cap space, and some of those players will have value on the court, so I say be patient.

Yup.

I'm keeping my eye on Amir Johnson. If Boston wants Horford, they may have to unload Johnson. Ainge's good pal McDonough should be there to assist.

[carey]

There will be teams looking to unload contracts for cheap to make cap space, and some of those players will have value on the court, so I say be patient.

This logic isn't really going to hold up. KD, Horford, Barnes, and Bazemore are basically the only big ticket FAs left, with maybe a couple teams that would need to shed salary in order to sign them. Then you have almost every other team in the league with cap space available to absorb contracts. There's not going to be much value in taking on salary for another team this Summer since those teams will have plenty of options.

[carey]

I'm keeping my eye on Amir Johnson. If Boston wants Horford, they may have to unload Johnson. Ainge's good pal McDonough should be there to assist.

Johnson signed a 1+1 last Summer with the 2nd year a team option. They don't need to unload him they can just decline the option.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/boston_celtics/

[INFORMER]

Agreed on Derozen. It's not like he blew up in the post-season either. Derozen is king of the contested long two pointer.

DeRozan is great at drawing fouls, and he sets the tone for the whole team. He was third in the league at free throw attempts, and he shot a higher fg% than Harden. I agree that he didn't have great shot selection, especially in the post season. I agree that he isn't one of the transcendent players of this generation. But he is a perennial all-star, and Toronto isn't getting a better player than him.

He is to them what KJ was to us.

I'm not being a Suns homer, but KJ is twice the player DeRozan is. DeRozan is maybe the third best player on a championship. The Raptors are essentially waiving the white flag in terms of ever being a real contender. They are essentially content being a mediocre team and hope that the rest of the Eastern Conference continues in mediocrity (outside of Cleveland).

[INFORMER]

It's easy for us to sit here and write about Knight just coming off the bench. He also has to, ya know, be OK with and buy into playing off the bench.

Brandon Knight would be a nice player to have on a team like OKC or Cleveland, where he can play off of superstars that overshadow his weaknesses. He really doesn't have any value on the court in Phoenix. He'll give you empty stats, but you're not going to win anything with him. I also think he gets in the way of developing guys like Booker and Warren.

[INFORMER]

It's ridiculous. I totally get Drummond at 5 years 130mil but not Batum at 5 years 120. That's where the scale gets messed up.

Batum gets that contract because Charlotte has been awful and they just made the playoffs. Making the playoffs for Charlotte is like winning 5 championships in a row. Charlotte is desperate and a bad franchise. Bad franchises give Nicolas Batum $24 mil/yr.

[INFORMER]

Other than the Suns need to make sure they are at the salary floor

They don't need to make sure they are at the salary floor.

[INFORMER]

Meh. Batum's a 3rd option.

This. At least Derozen is a 1st option.

He really isn't though.

[TOO]

Just because you take the most shots doesn't mean you're the best option. *shrugs*

[INFORMER]

Evan Turner is getting 4/70 from Portland, Parsons a 4/94 deal from Memphis, and Fournier is getting 5/85 from Orlando.

Turner ok, Parsons ugly, Fournier good to great.

Turner's deal is awful.

[Shabazz]

I'm keeping my eye on Amir Johnson. If Boston wants Horford, they may have to unload Johnson. Ainge's good pal McDonough should be there to assist.

Johnson signed a 1+1 last Summer with the 2nd year a team option. They don't need to unload him they can just decline the option.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/boston_celtics/

They only have until the 7th to make that decision. He's also got a ton of trade value on a $12M deal, so they're likely to pick it up.

[Gladiator]

There will be teams looking to unload contracts for cheap to make cap space, and some of those players will have value on the court, so I say be patient.

This. Just be patient and don't do anything rash. So far, so good.