In what might have been the most compelling offseason in NBA history, the Heat's power trio got all the attention. But how did the rest of the league do in choosing among the free agents in the class of 2010? Insider contributor Tom Haberstroh spotlights the summer's biggest winners and losers by position.
POINT GUARD
Steal -- Raymond Felton
New York Knicks, two years, $15.8 million (unguaranteed third year)
Felton
The Knicks signed the premier point guard on the market for two guaranteed years, and seven inferior point guards have signed elsewhere for longer deals. That's a big win for New York, which has positioned itself in the Chris Paul sweepstakes should he stick it out in New Orleans until he hits free agency in 2012. The contract is small enough that a buyout wouldn't hinder the Knicks from netting Paul in a trade before then.
Felton hasn't been able to step on the gas since leaving Chapel Hill, but he'll have plenty of freedom to push the ball in Mike D'Antoni's offense. Just 26 years old, Felton still has time to bloom as a player (he ranks merely average as a pick-and-roll ball handler according to Synergy Sports Technology). A career year might be in store, especially if Felton can maintain his torrid 3-point shooting from last season.
Overpay -- Luke Ridnour
Minnesota Timberwolves, four years, $16 million
Ridnour
Paying Ridnour $4 million a year to start? Not a bad idea. Paying Ridnour $4 million to back up a backup? Horrible idea. And that's before we bring Ricky Rubio into the picture. Minnesota GM David Kahn signing Ridnour for $16 million is as superfluous as any deal this summer.
As it stands, the former Oregon standout will spar with Ramon Sessions for minutes behind Jonny Flynn, who curiously started every single game of his rookie season. Sessions has proved to be a more capable show runner in the triangle offense than shot-hungry Flynn but looks to be the odd one out. There's almost no chance Ridnour will repeat his .570 TSP (true shooting percentage) from last season, seeing as his previous high was .509 in 2006-07.
SHOOTING GUARD
Steal -- Anthony Morrow
New Jersey Nets, three years, $12 million
Morrow
Did the Nets just sign the best shooter in the game for about half the price of J.J. Redick? It's certainly possible. The 6-foot-5 24-year-old from Georgia Tech just wrapped up a prolific shooting campaign from behind the arc last season (.456 3FG%), but the Golden State Warriors surprisingly resisted the option of retaining his rights for just $4 million per year.
It's tough to imagine why the Warriors have no interest in retaining a cheap, young commodity such as Morrow, but then again, we are talking about the Warriors. In New Jersey, Morrow joins a crowded perimeter with Courtney Lee and Terrence Williams on the wing, but it would make a lot of sense for the Nets to deal Williams to a team willing to stomach his erratic play.
Overpay -- Joe Johnson
Atlanta Hawks, six years, $123.7 million
Johnson
The biggest contract of the 2010 free-agent extravaganza didn't go to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh.
No, that crown belongs to Johnson, an oversized shooting guard who just received his first and only MVP vote of his career -- and it was for fifth place.
This isn't to say Johnson didn't deserve a big payday; he is coming off five straight seasons of averaging at least 20 points per game. But the magnitude and length of the contract is egregious for a 29-year-old who hasn't been to an NBA Finals and doesn't have the chops to lead a team there down the road. He'll make about $25 million in 2015-16, but the Hawks should be elated if he earns 10 percent of that salary as a 34-year-old.
SMALL FORWARD
Steal -- Quentin Richardson
Orlando Magic, three years, $7.5 million
Richardson
LeBron's sub-max contract is a no-brainer for this slot, but the two-time MVP was slated to be the best deal of the summer even before free agency began, given the league's restrictions on player salary.
Instead, it's worth pointing out that the Magic just signed Richardson, a perfect fit for their four-out system, for less than $3 million annually. In a seller's market in which Wesley Matthews, an undrafted rookie, received a $34 million deal, it's a veritable bargain. The 30-year-old drilled 142 3-pointers at a 39.7 percent clip last season in Miami, and he should help alleviate the void left by Matt Barnes, who is expected to leave Orlando this summer. It's a low-risk, solid-reward move that goes largely unnoticed in this free-agency climate. It's also the type of signing championship contenders need to make.
Overpay -- Travis Outlaw
New Jersey Nets, five years, $35 million
Outlaw
Paying $35 million for a veteran bench player won't cripple a franchise's cap flexibility, but the length and dollars could be particularly dangerous for the rebuilding Nets organization. Outlaw's main contributions will come on the defensive end, but this is a team starving for scorers on the wing. It's hard to justify shelling out a fully guaranteed five-year deal to a player that has started 32 games in his seven-year career.
Outlaw will be poised to start at the 3 alongside whoever New Jersey decides to make its starting power forward (Kris Humphries?), so he'll get his share of scoring responsibility. The 25-year-old has scored 12.5 points per game as a starter in his career, but he doesn't score efficiently enough for us to expect that number to climb with a bigger scoring burden.
POWER FORWARD
Steal -- Udonis Haslem
Miami Heat, five years, $20 million
Haslem
Haslem turned down far more lucrative midlevel exceptions from Dallas and Denver to help win his second championship in Miami, even though he probably won't expect much in the last two years of this deal. But at his bargain price tag, that lack of production at the tail end won't matter.
Haslem might be only 6-8, but he's a menace on the boards, averaging a double-double per 36 minutes of playing time last season. He complements his tenacity underneath with a sweet midrange jumper, which he used to hit 45.3 percent of his 315 shots just inside the arc, according to Hoopdata.com. Plenty of teams could use Haslem in their starting rotation, but he'll be a fantastic spark plug behind Bosh.
Overpay -- David Lee
Golden State Warriors, six years, $80 million
Lee
This isn't a flat-out waste of money; the price tag is just the least palatable among the premier power forward free-agent lot of Bosh, Carlos Boozer and Stoudemire. Despite Lee's massive liabilities on the defensive end, shelling out $80 million on a 20-and-10 player isn't the worst idea in the world. Giving up Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike, as well? That's overpaying.
We'll never know against whom or what the Warriors were bidding, but it's clear the Knicks made out brilliantly in this deal. Instead of letting Lee leave for nothing, the Knicks got the Warriors to throw in three young, serviceable rotation players who are signed to cap-friendly deals. Turiaf and Randolph represented Golden State's only hopes to stop opponents in the paint, but that's all lost with Lee anchoring the middle. By signing Lee to a bloated contract and giving up promising assets, Golden State took two steps back for its one step forward.
CENTER
Steal -- Tiago Splitter
San Antonio Spurs, three years, $10.9 million
Splitter
The Spurs have done it again. Not only did San Antonio just reel in the best big man playing overseas but it signed the 7-footer for Ryan Gomes money. Actually, even that doesn't do this deal justice; Gomes signed for $1.1 million more than Splitter. While most front offices are still gauging how to mine international talent, general manager R.C. Buford and his team have it down to a science.
The Spurs signed the 25-year-old Brazilian for three years with the midlevel exception after reserving his rights with the 28th pick in the 2007 draft. They have about $2.4 million left on their exception to nab more talent this offseason. In one fell swoop, the Spurs got better and younger as they begin their transition out of the Tim Duncan era.
According to DraftExpress.com, Splitter has maintained a PER well over 20 for each of his past three years between the Euroleague and the Spanish League. He won't contribute at quite that level this coming season, but he won't need to alongside Duncan. Splitter would be a legitimate center on most NBA squads and is a fantastic pick-and-roll option to tandem with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. At $10.9 million, this is a heist.
Overpay -- Darko Milicic
Minnesota Timberwolves, four years, $20 million
Milicic
Quite a juxtaposition having Milicic follow Splitter here at the center slot. They're both 25-year-old, 7-foot European imports -- but the similarities end there. As far as we can tell, Milicic has no discernible skills as an NBA big man. He can't score, rebound or defend at all for his size, and his 96 career offensive rating, which calculates how many points a player scores every 100 possessions, ranks him on par with Brian Scalabrine among the league's worst veterans. Apparently, that subterranean production is worth $20 million to Timberwolves general manager David Kahn.
7/22/2010 1:33 PM
yeah I did it for you in your first post.