NBA Free Agency Gets Warmed Up: Teams, Agents Can Start Talking Wednesday
by Tom Ziller on Nov 30, 2011 4:35 AM PST
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PrintAs noted in the FanShot below, NBA free agency essentially begins on Wednesday as team executives are allowed to talk to the agents of free agent players. The NBA has banned verbal offers and agreements. That seems wholly impossible to enforce, so long as GMs, agents and players are careful not to be quoted over the next week and change. Deals can be signed and announced beginning on December 9, next Friday.
S--t's going to get real quickly.
For the Sacramento Kings, Marcus Thornton remains the priority, though the team has the luxury to wait for the market to cool off given his restricted FA status. (As a restricted FA, Thornton is able to sign an offer sheet with any team once December 9 hits. But the Kings will have three days to match the offer. If they do so, Thornton's a King under the terms on the offer sheet.)
Sam Amick also said that Samuel Dalembert is a potential returnee, and we all know Geoff Petrie will have a surprise or two in store. Whether that will be a big name (Nene, Tyson Chandler), a big trade or a serious of WTF moves ... we'll see.
Strap it up. Let's go.
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max deal
to Jordan Crawford! BAM!
And BRoy at the 125% of his current contract! Championship!
"Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game." — Michael Jordan
Go Kings!
by Panzerfaust on Nov 30, 2011 4:39 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Or take over Outlaw’s 7mil/year.
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Nov 30, 2011 10:58 AM PST up reply actions
Between Nene and Gasol
I lean towards Nene. I think given his offensive style of his game, it compliments “more” than Gasol’s style of play..
I see Gasol needing more touches to be effective compared to Nene’s off the ball style.
I mean, I would be totally fine with either tbh. These guys would solidify our frontcourt for the next several years.
Rebuilding the Kings.
I like Nene a lot
and I’d love if the Kings would get him, but I’m not sure he’s worth a max contract as it seems to be the only way to get him. He had a lot of health issues and he’s 29 years old, so I fear a max is a lot of money thrown at him
"Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game." — Michael Jordan
Go Kings!
I prefer Gasol
Both are very efficient scorers. Gasol actually has a lower usage rate than Nene, but not significantly different. Ultimately, though, I don’t want the Kings to pay a max contract to Nene, and I believe Memphis will match any offer.
The news of Dalembert possibly returning is a welcome surprise. I think he’s a very solid center, and the team would have a very nice core of big men if he returns.
In most polarizing arguments, the truth is found somewhere in the middle.
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Author of Inside-Out Game
I would be thrilled with Gasol or Nene
But I think both teams will resign their own. I’m not surprised about Dally at all. I’ve been saying since the season ended that Dally is too young to go MLE just yet. He’s definitely in the top five centers available. Next contract, maybe it’s about the ring, direct flights to Haiti, etc. This year, it’s still about the money and a team he likes.
It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide
This is what I have thought as well
Sammy has plenty of time to go ring chasing after getting one more nice contract.
Author of NBA Mashups. Follow me on Twitter here.
I prefer Gasol too
He’s a better defender and he’s 3 years younger. If we are going to overspend, I’d be happier with overspending on Gasol, but I think that Memphis would prefer to part ways with other players than with lil’ Gasol.
I’m not a great fan of Dalembert (he’s a good player, but I’m not very high on him) and I fear Petrie is going to spend an awful lot of money to retain him and take the first 5 years of his over-the-30s career.
I think that this free agency class, which is not great by any means, will ruin many teams down the road and I’d prefer if the Kings went into trades rather than spending all their space on good but not great players…As I’ve been dreaming for years, I think Petrie should look into trading for Josh Smith, who is the perfect guy to play near Cousins.
"Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game." — Michael Jordan
Go Kings!
With J-Smoove,
we could lead the league in ill-advised long 2-pointers.
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Nov 30, 2011 8:27 AM PST up reply actions
Someone is going to overpay for Sammy
I hope it’s not the Kings. I can’t watch the guy without pitting my hands in front of my face. That’s not my definition of a solid center. Playing for Pop or Sloan or Phil, (with a short leash) maybe.
That's only on offense though
I’m curious to see how he would do with our team this year. We are already worried about enough touches for the other 4 starters. I don’t think he will be put in as many awkward situations of offense now.
Not for nothing,
but once Dalembert got healthy he played pretty well. In fact, he played his best ball down the stretch, especially after both Evans and Thornton were playing. In fact in fact, he finished a whole lot stronger than DeAndre Jordan, who is getting a certain level of free agent love around here. All things considered, I would probably rather have Dalembert back than Jordan.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
by section214 on Nov 30, 2011 8:58 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Looking at his statistics
DeAndre Jordan is well on his way to becoming the next Dalembert, except as a much worse shooter and better finisher. Conversely, Dalembert thinks he’s a much better shooter than he actually is, which hurts his efficiency. But we’re not getting Sammy for his offense anyways.
I like Sammy, I think he’s a good locker room presence and he’s essentially a walking double-double with a couple blocks thrown in.
Author of NBA Mashups. Follow me on Twitter here.
Plus
he did a nice job on man defense the latter part of the season – at least you could tell that he was enthusiastic about playing defense.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Yep
And I think he could go a long way toward teaching Whiteside.
It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide
I also think there's something to be gained from having such a solid defensive presence
to play with/against in practices.
Author of NBA Mashups. Follow me on Twitter here.
I thought Westphal's lineup decisions early in the season caused some of his ineffective defense
Once the rotation was a bit more stabilized, he really shined defensively. And was surprisingly ok offensively.
"If you can’t make a profit, you should sell your team." - Michael Jordan (Owner, Charlotte Bobcats)
Quite a bit of his lineup decisions early on were partially based on everyone except JT showing up to training camp out of shape.
"First we get jobs, then we get the khakis, then we get the chicks."
by Wonderchild on Nov 30, 2011 11:47 AM PST up reply actions
I think that's giving PW a huge benefit of the doubt
"If you can’t make a profit, you should sell your team." - Michael Jordan (Owner, Charlotte Bobcats)
Dalembert was also hurt at the beginning of the season and missed almost all of training camp.
Didn’t start to gel with teammates till back half of season.
Author of NBA Mashups. Follow me on Twitter here.
There's a bit of revisionist history going on here, I think
Sure he had some injury issues, but look at his consecutive game minutes in mid to late-December, early-January:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dalemsa01/gamelog/2011/
Look at that stretch of minutes per-game: 25, 9, 18, 4, 19, 8, 31, 29, 24, 7, 3, 17, 16, 9, 15, 17, 29.
I see a guy who was fully strapped into the Westphal roller coaster. And I remember being awfully confused at the time as to why that was.
"If you can’t make a profit, you should sell your team." - Michael Jordan (Owner, Charlotte Bobcats)
What I like about Nene/Dalembert..
….is that with Salmons you could argue that’s the best defensive front line in basketball. Thornton and Evans are not terrible defensively (not sieves basically) with room for improvement at least with Evans. I doubt Thornton gets much better but that’s okay.
It’s worth noting that the Kings were 20th in DRtg last year and 25th in ORtg. Just by virtue of getting a lot better on defense, and having a middle quality offense next year (or gasp better!), you are talking playoffs.
The thing I like about Dalembert is that you can anchor a defense around him sorta like the way the Magic do without the skill of Dwight Howard obviously. Yet, the Kings also have better defensive players than the Magic do at other positions. I happen to think this is pretty important. The Kings offense could improve by the defense improving to a high level so that a lot easier buckets are had and it puts a lot less stress on the defensive end then we’ve seen in recent years so often.
No mistakes in the tango, Donna. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Maybe Nene could teach Cousins a course on shot selection.
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Nov 30, 2011 8:26 AM PST up reply actions
Nash and Jordan!
How fun would it be to watch Kings games if they trade for Steve Nash and sign DeAndre Jordan?
Seriously...
A series of WTF moves will piss me off. Our young core is solid, so come in with an explanation point!
WAKE UP SACRAMENTO AND BUILD A NEW ARENA!!!!! - Me
Yeah...since we have $18m to spend in order to reach the salary floor...let's be positive.
by Sactown_Loyalty19 on Nov 30, 2011 8:09 AM PST up reply actions
I have been wondering
Can we sign Sammy to a heavily front-loaded contract. For example, if his is going to get like $40M over 4 years, could we offer him something like $20M the first year and spread the remaining $20M over the last three years?
That would get us up to the floor this year, and really up his trade value while the youngsters are maturing.
Nope
See TZ’s front page answer to this regarding MT. You can do a large bonus, but salary can only drop like 8% per year. And bonus doesn’t count toward cap space.
It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide
It's like magic
I think stuff, and then the answer appears on the front page of the site.
by markdog333 on Nov 30, 2011 9:40 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
What's the max a bonus can be?
And why don’t teams use that option, I wonder?
"We're like Tim Duncan and David Robinson. But a younger version. I really feel that." - Charlie Villanueva about himself and Chris Bosh.
Definitely prefer Nene...
love Gasol too but Nene, IMO, is more versatile and a better player. Love his athleticism and his efficiency. Gasol is just as efficient too but Nene seems like a guy that can slide to PF better than Gasol. Gasol seems more of a true C to me.
by Sactown_Loyalty19 on Nov 30, 2011 8:11 AM PST reply actions
I'm going to get blasted for this
but I wouldn’t mind if the Kings tried to take Oden (without spending too much).
Basically, if he gets injured again his career is probably over, and we could go the Shareef way. If not, he could easily be a better defender than both Gasol and Nene for less money.
He had more than a season now to regain health in his knees (if it’s possible)
"Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game." — Michael Jordan
Go Kings!
And with our front-court depth, we could afford to bring him along slowly. I mean, the dude hasn’t played basketball in almost 2 years.
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Nov 30, 2011 8:29 AM PST up reply actions
I'm not too opposed to grabbing Oden for the right price.
I think his personality would fit well with the Goon Squad, also he may be a great player to put next to Hassan Whiteside to compete with one another for playing time and to develop with one another.
But again, for the right price.
by The Guy on the Couch on Nov 30, 2011 8:45 AM PST up reply actions
Problem is the right price is going to be too high
It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide
This sentence almost made my brain es-plode.
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Nov 30, 2011 11:00 AM PST up reply actions
Fancy professional writer talk is what it was!!!
"If you can’t make a profit, you should sell your team." - Michael Jordan (Owner, Charlotte Bobcats)
Don't know
if the Blazers will be able to/willing to spend much more than the qualifying offer for Oden, and if we move fast while the other teams are looking for Nene, Gasol & co. we could steal him from the market and run away (hoping that he can run with us without limping)
"Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game." — Michael Jordan
Go Kings!
by Panzerfaust on Nov 30, 2011 11:26 AM PST up reply actions
Strap it up. Let’s go.
twss
"We're not talking about me and Darko in the same sentence." - Chris Webber vs KAHN!
by caseycheesecake on Nov 30, 2011 8:25 AM PST reply actions
Nene has repeatedly said he wants to go to a contender.
Don’t know about Gasol. No Dalembert please.
Honest question
If you’re about to sign a five year deal, who is the bigger contender over the life of that contract: aging but currently viable teams like Boston and San Antonio, or young re-building teams like Sacramento?
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Good point
I agree with you there. Haven’t seen anything about King’s being on Nene’s radar.
No,
I think that Denver might actually make more sense to him than Sacramento, and with all of those Nugs tied up in China they may have the money to re-sign him.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Should have said "No, I have not seen anything regarding Sacramento, either"
More coffee, please.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
No that makes sense
But I wish Nene would employ that long-range thinking you just alluded to, that’d be great.
What is
The over/under on players announcing on twitter that they have agreed to a deal with a team before Dec 9? I’d say 2.
by wildcard530 on Nov 30, 2011 8:59 AM PST via mobile reply actions
I don't know the over/under
but I can’t wait to read “Looking like the [insert team name]. How U” from Mason
"Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game." — Michael Jordan
Go Kings!
by Panzerfaust on Nov 30, 2011 11:24 AM PST up reply actions
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