http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&id=2129498

Free money: Sixers, Knicks get played by market
By John Hollinger
ESPN Insider

We've seen it two summers in a row now: Too much money chasing too few good players.

The giddy free-agent market of 2004 wasn't supposed to repeat itself in 2005, but if anything, it got worse. With several teams hoarding cash for a free-agent market that didn't contain a single superstar, the conditions were ripe for panic-stricken general managers to grossly overpay second-tier performers. They didn't disappoint us.

Out of all the millions committed to players with modest career accomplishments, it was my job to find the 10 most abominable contracts of the 2005 offseason.

So, starting at No. 10, here are the worst of the worst. Next to each, I've listed the player's contract dollars, stats per 40 minutes for 2004-05, and Player Efficiency Rating (PER, my rating of a player's per-minute statistical production). The league average PER is 15, but nine of these 10 players were below that mark last season.


10. Keyon Dooling, Orlando Magic (three years, $10 million; 12.9 pts, 4.5 ast, 10.04 PER)
Sometimes I wonder whether general managers watch any games during the regular season. Yes, Dooling played very well in the playoffs, but didn't anyone look at his four regular seasons? Orlando wants somebody to play the point next so Steve Francis can move to the two, but Dooling is even less qualified to play point than Francis. His assist numbers are terrible (only 4.5 per 40 minutes last year) and he can't shoot. This would rank higher if there were more money involved, but Orlando at least avoided breaking the bank for Dooling. Which is good, because they still vastly overpaid.

9. Raja Bell, Phoenix Suns (five years, $24 million; 17.3 pts, 4.5 reb, 12.14 PER)
Bell is this year's Kevin Ollie -- a dependable role player in his late 20s who inexplicably got a multiyear deal because a GM took a shine to him. Bell isn't a bad player … he's just not somebody you give $24 million to. Moreover, by the last year of the deal he'll be 33, and role players who aren't great outside shooters tend to sink like a stone once they hit 30.

8. Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ers (six years, $58 million; 13.2 pts, 12.1 reb, 14.37 PER)
Unlike some of the other guys on this list, Dalembert can really play. I just doubt he's worth $10 million a year, especially if he stays hell-bent on goaltending every third shot. He's not going to provide post scoring, so the Sixers get their money's worth only if Dalembert defends and rebounds like crazy. He's done it in spurts, but that's it.

7. Cuttino Mobley, Los Angeles Clippers (five years, $42 million; 19.0 pts, 3.8 ast, 14.98 PER)
I guess that extra $5 million to keep Bobby Simmons was too much of a stretch, huh? Only the Clippers would go years as the NBA's biggest tightwads and then, when they finally commit money to a free agent, end up overpaying. Mobley is an average player even now, and by the end of the deal he'll be 34 and making more than $9 million a year.

6. Mark Madsen, Minnesota Timberwolves (five years, terms undisclosed; 5.9 pts, 8.5 reb, 6.76 PER)
I don't care what the terms are. A five-year deal for Mark Madsen? C'mon. He's barely worth the minimum based on his recent performance. Madsen's inability to score is well known, but some may not realize he's also a terrible rebounder. Last year he pulled down only 8.5 rebounds per 40 minutes, well below the norm for an NBA frontcourt player. Coming from the same club that gave Wally Szczerbiak $66 million, Troy Hudson $35 million and Trenton Hassell $26 million, this is further proof that the Timberwolves are far too in love with their own free agents.

5. Willie Green, 76ers (six years, $20 million; 16.4 pts, 36.6 FG%, 9.54 PER)
Speaking of teams that overspend to keep their own free agents: This one would rank higher except the Sixers might back out of the deal now that Green hurt his knee in a pickup game. It's hard to put into words what an abominable decision this was. Green's numbers last season suggested he'd have trouble staying in the NBA for one year, let alone six, and the Sixers already seem to have met their quota of shooting guards in point guard bodies. Besides, better players can easily be had for the league minimum.

4. Kyle Korver, 76ers (six years, $27 million; 14.1 pts, 5.7 reb, 12.84 PER)
Yes, the Sixers again. My colleague Bill Simmons was killing Billy King the other day for all the ludicrous contracts he's signed as Sixers GM, but these three might take the cake. In Korver's case, he's a great shooter, but he's not much of a basketball player. Between his defensive shortcomings and his near total inability to convert a field goal, he's well below average for a starting small forward and would be playing 10 minutes off the bench for most teams. Unfortunately, King's other moves included trading Keith Van Horn for Glenn Robinson and letting Matt Harpring walk as a free agent, so the Sixers are stuck with Korver as their starter at the three.

3. Brian Scalabrine, Boston Celtics (five years, $15 million, 11.6 pts, 8.4 reb, 11.01 PER)
Here's what I don't get about Danny Ainge's "brain-typing" craze: Didn't Scalabrine have the same brain last year? And hasn't he shot 39.3 percent for his career with that brain? If his brain type allowed him to become a good player, shouldn't it have happened by now? Thus far, Scalabrine's most enduring contribution has been as the league's best Michael Rapaport look-alike.

2. Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks (five years, $70 million, 17.3 pts, 5.2 reb, 15.18 PER)
Assuming this deal happens, it was bad enough for the Hawks to offer to pay Johnson roughly double what he's worth by giving him $14 million a year. It was bad enough that Atlanta's "plan" involves Johnson playing the point full-time, even though he gets into the paint about as often as Shawn Kemp gets into a leotard. But the real kicker for me is that the Hawks are now willing to fork out two No. 1 picks to Phoenix for the right to overpay Johnson so badly. Johnson's numbers have been inflated by all the minutes he's played, but on a per-minute basis he's a pretty ordinary player.

1. Jerome James, New York Knicks (five years, $28 million, 11.8 pts, 7.2 reb, 9.83 PER)
Of all the bad deals over the summer, this one takes the cake. It's one thing to overpay for a player who can play a little, like Johnson or Mobley. But what if you commit your full midlevel exception to a guy who can't play at all? That's what the Knicks did with James, rewarding him for the five good games he played in the Sacramento series and pretending the previous 82 games never happened. Between the inconsistent effort and the constant swooning over his alleged potential, James has become the new Michael Olowokandi, except that he's a worse player and even more egregiously overpaid.

This guy must have been asleep during the playoffs last year. You can't say James can't play if you watched the playoffs last year. You could say that we have no idea what we'll get out of James and paying him what the average NBA player receives (i.e., the MLE) was a gamble, but that's not what this author is saying.

James has become the new Michael Olowokandi, except that he's a worse player and even more egregiously overpaid

Kandi will make more than James this year; his contract simply ends before James' ends.

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 08/09/2005 18:19:58]

Two words in talking about Isiah's offseason:

Larry Brown.

Next topic.

JJ is a very small piece to what Larry Brown will be putting together. One cog. To sit around and talk about Jerome James' signing as a major downer is stupid.

Two words:

Larry Brown.

Hate it or love it, he's one of the best in the biz.

If I'm the Lakers, why talk about the possibility of Kwame Brown being a player or flopping when they signed Jax? If Kwame contributes, fine. If not Jax will find a way to get some things done without him. Same goes for JJ. If he doesn't perform...he sits. Simple as that. Who cares? It all comes back to the new discipline of the team...which again brings me back to Isiah's fortune this offseason.

1. Jerome James, New York Knicks (five years, $28 million, 11.8 pts, 7.2 reb, 9.83 PER)
Of all the bad deals over the summer, this one takes the cake. It's one thing to overpay for a player who can play a little, like Johnson or Mobley. But what if you commit your full midlevel exception to a guy who can't play at all? That's what the Knicks did with James, rewarding him for the five good games he played in the Sacramento series and pretending the previous 82 games never happened. Between the inconsistent effort and the constant swooning over his alleged potential, James has become the new Michael Olowokandi, except that he's a worse player and even more egregiously overpaid.

The analysis is right on. Isiah is taking a big chance signing James to that contract.

No way, James is worth 5 mil a year--he can play, his numbers in the limited minutes he was given testify to that, his problem was foul trouble and I'm sure he can be helped in that department.

James is getting MLE money, not Shandon Anderson money.

You want to talk about a bad deal, go back and look at what Dampier is getting.

James is an underachieving stiff.

He is our only 7fter and is big enough that he would be pushed around.

James is getting less money over five years than we're going to pay out to Penny in the 2 1/2 that we've had him.

$5m is exactly what, 5% of our annual salary? that is 1 /20th. that is a bargain on this team.

And to call Scalabrine a bad signing? I'd take him for $15 and 5 years. Its sad to have no choice but to read these horrid articles.

Posted by martin:

Posted by TheloniusMonk:

relax little dudes....my computer went crazy for a sec. relax.

lame? lol haven't heard that in a while.

all fixed.

thanx martin. i thought i was crazy. then some lame dude called ME a lame. lol now that's low.

Posted by Knight:

These analysts can write anything they want and if they turn out to be completely wrong they just shrug it off or write about how they were wrong in order to self-congratulate themselves for admitting their mistakes... They don't really have any accountability.

Noone really has any accountability.

You should always take everything you read with a grain of salt. This is a spin world we now live in. That's just the way it is.

But one good thing abou it, you alos have the same freedom of speech.

I 100% agree with the article. This guy has been a bad player every year he's been in the league. Every year he misses a significant number of games. Every year he's started the year in bad shape w/ weight issues. Every year he has been totally unable to stay on the floor because of foul trouble. These are facts. Now he's 30 and we are looking for something to happen thats never happened before.

Passing on the 300+ games he's played only looking at 5 playoff games and saying "he can play" based on that is new levels of dumb.

This is a bad gamble for us, ESPECIALLY when you look at the mid level players that signed for other teams.

I hope it works out but I'm not holding my breath on this one.

Just so I know how long do we get to give Isiah a pass on bad trades or signings becuase he got Larry Brown?

Posted by fishmike:

I 100% agree with the article. This guy has been a bad player every year he's been in the league. Every year he misses a significant number of games. Every year he's started the year in bad shape w/ weight issues. Every year he has been totally unable to stay on the floor because of foul trouble. These are facts. Now he's 30 and we are looking for something to happen thats never happened before.

Passing on the 300+ games he's played only looking at 5 playoff games and saying "he can play" based on that is new levels of dumb.

This is a bad gamble for us, ESPECIALLY when you look at the mid level players that signed for other teams.

I hope it works out but I'm not holding my breath on this one.

Just so I know how long do we get to give Isiah a pass on bad trades or signings becuase he got Larry Brown?

OK Fishmike, which of those guys could be our starting Center? Its simple. WE NEEDED A CENTER! He doesn't have to be Shaq, he just needs to at least be equal to Nazr in Scoring & Rebounding, but better in terms of Defense. I don't think it will be that hard for him to do. Remember Nazr hadn't done a thing until he came here either. A center will feed off of all the things our other players do just as Nazr did. Thing is Nazr really didn't play good D. We know James can do that.

I don't care so much about what a player does on another team. I only care about how they'll play on this team. QRich is another example of that. I don't expect him to play exactly as he did in PHX. We won't ask him to play that way.

The reason that we put so much faith in the playoff run that James had is because it was the 1st time that they actually made the game plan with him involved more than just setting picks for their jump shooters. You have to understand that Isaiah is not a fool and does his homework. He's seen the stats on what this guy does when given the opportunity. All he has to do is remain on the floor and he'll get numbers.