The Vertical guide to free agency: shooting guards
Bobby Marks of The Vertical By Bobby Marks of The Vertical
7 hours ago
Yahoo Sports
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In the second installment of our position-by-position free-agent rankings, The Vertical Front-Office Insider Bobby Marks breaks down July's market for shooting guards.

Teams in need of a starter: Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, L.A. Lakers, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Toronto and Washington.

Teams in need of a backup: Brooklyn, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Indiana, L.A. Clippers, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington.

1. DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors
FA age: 26 | Salary: $9.5 million
Insider info: Will opt out of his current contract. He’s in the prime of his career. Has full Bird rights and Toronto can sign him to the projected max of $25 million per year. Strong chance he will be in a Raptors uniform next season.

View photo
.Dwyane Wade is still getting it done. (AP)
Dwyane Wade is still getting it done. (AP)
2. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
FA age: 34 | Salary: $20 million
Insider info: He’s still performing at a very high level. Has done a great job managing in-game minutes and continues to be a factor in the fourth quarter. It will be a juggling act this summer in regard to the Heat's cap situation.
3. Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
FA age: 23 | Salary: $5.7 million
Insider info: Beal was the best shooting guard in the East before he missed time due to injury in November. Points per game are up a bit, but improvement in 3-point percentage has been stagnant. Chronic right leg stress reactions are a concern going forward. Washington will have the right to match any offers in July.

4. Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers
FA age: 24 | Salary: $845,000
Insider info: Restricted free agent whom the Lakers will have the right to match. "Arenas" provision protects the Lakers on any offer that comes their way. Tremendous upside. Can play on and off the ball.

5. Kent Bazemore, Atlanta Hawks
FA age: 26 | Salary: $2 million
Insider info: Has picked up the slack after the Hawks lost DeMarre Carroll in free agency. Can play multiple positions. Has found a home in Atlanta and carved out a nice role. Early Bird rights will force Atlanta to use cap space if it wants to bring him back.

6. Allen Crabbe, Portland Trail Blazers
FA age: 24 | Salary: $947,000
Insider info: In the running for Sixth man of the Year Award. Having his most productive season coming off the bench for Portland. Age, size (6-foot-6) and versatility are appealing to teams. Restricted free agent with full Bird rights. Trail Blazers will have the right to match.

7. Evan Fournier, Orlando Magic
FA age: 23 | Salary: $2.3 million
Insider info: Great size (6-foot-7) and upside make Fournier one of the most intriguing free agents. Has really thrived under coach Scott Skiles and has posted career highs in minutes and points per game. Orlando will have the right to match in the off-season because he is restricted.

8. Courtney Lee, Charlotte Hornets
FA age: 30 | Salary: $5.7 million
Insider info: Numbers have dropped off since last season. Versatile veteran who still is above average on defense and a complementary player on offense. Best bet going forward would be as a sixth man for a playoff team.

9. Arron Afflalo, New York Knicks
FA age: 30 | Salary: $8 million
Insider info: Struggled early in the season with a hamstring injury. Has provided New York with a third scoring option this year. Has a player option for next summer that will not be decided until mid-June.

10a. Eric Gordon, New Orleans Pelicans
FA age: 27 | Salary: $15.5 million
Insider info: Healthy up until early January when he suffered a broken right finger. Points are up this year over last, but mostly career lows across the board in other categories. Best suited coming off the bench. Full Bird rights with New Orleans in July.

10b. Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers
FA age: 36 | Salary: $5.7 million
Insider info: Still producing at a high level. One of the better bench players in the league. Instant offense and can anchor a second unit. Not a starter at this point of his career. Full Bird rights with the Clippers.

On deck: Dion Waiters (restricted), Gerald Henderson, Gerald Green, Langston Galloway (restricted), Kevin Martin, Markel Brown (restricted), Austin Rivers (player option), Wayne Ellington

martin wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Considering age and 2 way ability, Bazemore is the guy I think we should make a big offer to.

Yes

What do you guys make of Bazemore mocking Melo saying he would never take more money to play for a 17 win team? Frankly, I think he wouldn't come here.

nixluva wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

martin wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Considering age and 2 way ability, Bazemore is the guy I think we should make a big offer to.

Yes

What do you guys make of Bazemore mocking Melo saying he would never take more money to play for a 17 win team? Frankly, I think he wouldn't come here.

For the money we could offer him, Bazemore would come. In the end these players get talked into it by their Agents who are prepared to convince players by showing them all the numbers and the realities of life after ball. It puts a lot of things in perspective for a young player. If he was an old guy that had made tons of money I could see Baze staying with ATL. Knicks should go hard after a kid like him IMO.
I also like Fournier tho I suspect he may be harder to get from the Magic.

Plus we aren't a 17 win team..... We might reach 34.

Also his early bird rights make him the easiest RFA to "steal" whose potential means he might earn that contract.

mreinman wrote:Allen Crabbe for the right price.

Yes, Please. If you going on one year production then go for the younger guy that can grow up with KP and has size.

The bad thing is it will take more than the right price.

• Jerryd Bayless - having a good year shooting the ball. Has always had an excellent skill level. I'm not saying he's elite but he's a talented younger vet who's capable of running his own team. HUGE improvement over Calderon in the lead guard role. I think if we penciled this guy in as the starting PG and gave him 30+ mins and enough shots he'd average 15+ ppg and run the team efficiently. I think he's a guy who could bust out with a career year if we leaned on him and gave him the keys to the bus. The one guy I might chose to overpay (but just by a little). I'd hope offering 30+ mins. and a starting role would help to hook him. Not sure anyone would offer that to him--the perception around the league might be that he's nothing more than a backup--this could help keep the price down.
• PJ Hairston - 6'6" 230, young (could be a big component of the new young nucleus I'm hoping we eventually create to go along with KP), quality shooter, shouldn't be too expensive.
• Solomon Hill - he's a 3 but has enough athleticism and quickness to play the 2 as well. Effective in the halfcourt as well as in the open court. Could be very productive with increased usage. I like him taking over the Lance Thomas role, he's a better player than Cleanthony Early and could be a good substitute for D-Will if Williams winds up leaving. Better value than Evan Turner too imo. Real good value FA--should be one of our top targets imo.
• Tony Wroten - looks like he'll be on the team next year. Great flier to take.
• Terrico White - 6'5" 215, athletic/strong, much improved jumper, he takes care of the ball and he's got the transition game. He's got a pro 2G's game 100%. Awesome value considering he'd come for peanuts. Would be a great depth piece that I could see challenging guys ahead of him for PT.
• E'Twaun Moore - 6'4" combo guard with good all-around skills. I like him better than Galloway. Another guy who would be good value for the money.
• Jabari Brown - nice scorer. Recently resurfaced in the DL after a productive stint in China. Would be a huge upgrade over Vujacic but who wouldn't be? A lot of bang for the buck. Sean Kilpatrick's having some nice success wit the Nets; no reason Brown couldn't have similar success. He's already shown he could play in the NBA with the Lakers.
• Thanasis Antetokounmpo - the Knicks appear lukewarm on him at best but I still like him a lot. Hasn't put up great numbers but it's more than number with this guy. Great defender and his offensive skills are better than what most think. Reminds me of Gerald Wilkins every time I see him play. Down on my list but he's on it.

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Jerian Grant to me is a trade chip. I'd explore the following options to trade Grant (in order):

• Grant/cash/rights to Louis Labeyrie/future 2nd rounder to get into the 1st round (16-22 range) to get Demetrius Jackson. Probably a pipe dream but this is trade proposal #1 for me. I'd like to see Grant get plenty of PT the rest of the way--hopefully he could build up his value with a breakout game or two.
• Grant/cash for a lower 1st rounder (25 to 30) to get Yogi Ferrell. Probably a little bit of a reach for Ferrell there but if you like something you make sure you get it. Wouldn't want to leave it up to chance that Ferrell will be there in the 2nd round or that he'll make it all the way through undrafted. To me Ferrell > Grant so I don't mind reaching a little here. Better than average chance Ferrell becomes the next Kyle Lowry provided he commits to picking up his defense.
• Grant to Detroit for Spencer Dinwiddie. Shaun Livingston's playing a big role for GS. Here's our version of Livingston right here. Also has some Alexey Shved to him.
• Grant to Portland for Pat Connaughton.

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Corey Walden is a talented 6'2" PG from the DL that's flying under the radar. I'd love to bring this guy in for summer league to get a good look at him up close. Remember the name. Does a little bit of everything and he does it all well. Dude has NBA talent imo. I bet he makes an NBA roster next year.