All Value Team, Under $2 Million Edition

The past couple of days there has been a rather spirited discussion regarding Francisco Garcia. What's his worth, value, and is he good to his mother?

I was a little startled and amazed to find that there even was an anti-Garcia camp, considering that he has been very productive (and hit some big shots) for very little money. Now I like Cisco, so I thought there was a chance that my opinion of him might be skewed.

I set forth to compare Francisco Garcia to other players in the league in his price range, as one of the first factors in determining value is knowing the cost factor. So the first criteria is that the player must be making less than $2 million a year (El Flaco will earn $1.2 million this year).

Next, the player must score at least 10 points a game or grab at least 5 boards a game or hand out at least 4 assists a game. This eliminates a couple of reasonably decent players like Hakim Warrick, Jarrett Jack and Jordan Farmar.

Also, I did not figure per 40 as I was interested in their actual contributions. My post, my rules.

I wound up finding 17 players. Here are 11-17 with their high points (in no particular order):

Jason Maxiell ($1.1M, 5.3 reb., 1.2 blk.), Linas Kleiza ($1.0M, 11.7 pt.), Josh Boone ($1.1M, 6.9 reb.), Sean Williams ($1.4M, 5.4 reb., 1.9 blk.), Al Thornton ($1.7M, 10.9 pt.), Rashad McCants ($1.8M, 14.5 pt.) and Paul Millsap ($700K, 5.8 reb.).

And now the top 10:

10 - Ronnie Brewer  Brewer averages 11.8 pts. and adds 1.9 steals for $1.7M.

9 - Francisco Garcia  12.6 pts. and 1.1 stls. for only $1.2M.

8 - Jameer Nelson  11.2 pts. and 5.6 asts., barely squeaking into the field at $1.961M.

7 - Beno Udrih  12.1 pts and 1 stl. for $760K.

6 - Grant Hill  Grant has already made his millions, so he signed with a contender for only $1.8M and contributes 14.8 pts. He is also at 4.9 reb., 3.2 ast., .9 stl., .8 blk.

5 - David Lee  10.3 pts. and 8.3 rebs. for the ridiculously low price of $1M. That's why we love him and that's why we can't have him.

4 - Rajon Rondo  Castigated early in the season as the reason Boston would falter, Rondo has responded with 10.7 pts., 4.7 asts. and 1.7 stls. per game, more than earning his $1.4M paycheck.

3 - Danny Granger  Maybe the most unheralded of the young up and comers, Granger has quietly put together 18 pts., 5.7 rebs., 1.9 stls. and 1.1 blks. He will make $1.5M this year.

2 - Kevin Martin  Yes, he has his payday, which kicks in next year. But look what you're getting this year for $1.8M. 23.1 pts., 1.2 stls. The 4.6 boards? Not bad for a 2 guard. Does he need to improve in some areas to earn the jing next year? Yes. But for 2007-08 he is a feakin' cash register.

1 - Monta Ellis  This does not mean that I like Ellis better than Martin. But Monta is giving the Warriors 18.9 pts. and 1.3 stls. His rebs. are close to Martin and his assists better, but the main difference is the salary - $700,000!!! He won't be this kind of value next year, but right now he is the reigning champ of value in the NBA.

The frightening result of this exercise? Not only is Garcia a great value, so are Udrih and Martin. I'm sure that if you ran value for $7-9M players that Artest would rate high, too. How can a team with this much value not make the playoffs? The answer lies at cower forward, where we have almost $21 million (that's Tim Duncan or KG money!) tied up in The Landlord (S.Williams), The Landfill (K9(woof!)), The Landlocked ('Reef), The Land With No Hands (VdM), The Land Swap (Lo.Wright), and the Land-Ho's (the late great 3-Wil and Daryl Watkins). Never have so many been paid so much to do so little.