NSL Insider - Big Value, Big Contract, Bout Right

Big Value, Big Contract, ‘Bout Right

 

Every offseason we see a bunch of free agents handed oodles of cash (that you and I can only dream about), whether it be from a simple “minimum” (Here, have $1.6million US to play the game you love!), to many times more than we’ll make in our lifetime…This offseason has been no different and as just about every contract has been handed out to our known crew of last year, the returnees, it’s a good time to take a look at the deals that look like value, the deals that leave us thinking WTF, and the middle ground where despite the figure, it’s what you’d expect. I’m obviously not going to go through everyone! Just select out a bunch I’d put in each category for some discussion. Mention any others you want to add!

 

Big Value:

DeMarcus Cousins: $3.5mil / 1 Year – Does it get much better than this? Ok, it could if it was multi-year, but DMC is still after the injury a top flight C for pittance!

Avery Bradley: $4.76mil / 2 years – He’s had some down years, but he’s fresh off a $12mil a year contract and at this price with his elite intangibles and defence, you’re getting a steal.

Enes Kanter: $4.76mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – Kanter is polarizing for sure, and he only plays one end, but at this price coupled with typically stellar 2k production, that’s value.

Willie Cauley-Stein: $2.17mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – Borderline starting C, athletic 2k game, only the barest of costs. This value for one year is elite.

Jonas Valanciunas: $16mil / 3 Years – Finally a big contract. But Val could surely have landed bigger the way he finished the year in NBA Memphis? His lack of outside game probably hurt that opportunity, but guys around him like Whiteside, Vucevic and Horford all on $25+.

Emmanuel Mudiay: $1.62mil / 1 Year – Ok so he’s not a world beater, but a minimum deal for a 2k stud is perfect, even if he’s only a borderline roster-able guy in the NBA.

Jordan Bell: $1.62mil / 1 Year – Bell copped the short end on a Championship run plagued by inconsistency, but he’s shown enough in 2 years to warrant a value tag on a minimum deal. He’ll undoubtedly double that next year.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: $1.62mil / 1 Year – Rondae still can’t shoot, and it hurt his stock. He failed to get an NBA QO, but Brooklyn had bigger plans. On a min deal at 25 years old on a fresh start, it says there’s value.

Wesley Matthews: $2.56mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – He’s old now, but he was still being kicked around as a worthy 2k piece last year on $18mil, and now he’s a minimum guy. Money in the bank.

Austin Rivers: $2.17mil / 1 Year – Rivers struggled last year in the NBA after a decent coming out the year before. He’s now a minimum guy, but his 2k game is still good contributor.

Kevon Looney: $4.62mil / 2 Years (PO 3^rd year) – More talk that he could have got more on the open market, but he took a staying home discount and that makes this a value deal.

DeAndre Jordan: $9.88mil / 4 Years – From $21mil man, to $9mil man. He’s not as valued as he once was in the NBA, but he’s still a 2k beast for sure. You’d pay him $21 easy here.

Derrick Rose: $7.3mil / 2 Years – Everybody’s feel good story, Derrick played like his 2k self in the NBA last year and earned a pay rise for it. The deal is, nice, in the NBA. In 2k, this is gold.

JaVale McGee: $4mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – He was a top 100 guy last year in the NBA, and still only landed a $4mil deal. Let’s be honest, on NBA value that’s probably about right. But JaVale has always excelled in 2k and is rated around 80, on $4mil.

Jabari Parker: $6.5mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – This is make of break for Jabari. He’s taken the Randle deal of last year. He was on $20mil last year and is the same player. Which is arguably his knock too. But, he’s still a 2k guy and can start for you, on a pleasant bench salary.

Nerlens Noel: $2.03mil / 1 Year – His per-minute stats are great in the NBA and he’s rated accordingly. As a starter in 2k he puts up regular double doubles, and he’s a minimum dude. Cash.

Big Contract:

Kelly Oubre: $15.6mil / 2 Years – Ok so Oubre finished the year strong last year, and he’s very young for a 4 year vet, but he still doesn’t have an elite NBA skill, is inconsistent on both ends and often seems more interested in being really, really, really, ridiculously good looking. But he’s being paid as a starter for that, while putting up 5.5 points as a 2k starter.

Tobias Harris: $31.7mil / 5 Years – This one, like a couple of these, will be polarising, but is Tobias a max deal guy? He’s a really good player on both ends, but a max guy? Even on 2k he only put in 20/5/2/1, but is paid as a #1 guy.

Marcus Morris: $15mil / 1 Year – The saving grace here is, 1 year. He’s only average on both sides of the ball, he’s late prime, and he’s gone for the flash in the pan 1 year big bucks at a location where he definitely will not get better numbers than last year or get better in 2k, in NSL talk.

Patrick Beverley: $12.3mil / 3 Years – I love Bev, and it’s truly hard to judge intangibles on a guy, but this contract doesn’t scream 2k value. NBA value, sure. He’s on the wrong side of 30 and he’s a role player. He is however the perfect fit next to Lebron where he won’t need to handle.

Darius Miller: $6.85mil / 1 Year (TO 2^nd year) – How did Darius convince someone he wasn’t a minimum guy anymore? 8 points in 25mins last year in the NBA, but now will be behind an extra couple of former Lakers. His 2k game is even worse.

Taj Gibson: $9mil / 2 Years – Taj always gets paid as he’s a locker room guy too, but he’s declining and was poor in 2k even in minutes last season.

Tyus Jones: $9.26mil / 3 Years – Jones showed something down the stretch last year, but even that was more of a role player upside. The contract isn’t ridiculous but it’s still probably a bit on the steep side given he’s also not the most friendly 2k guy.

Danny Green: $14.6mil / 2 Years – This contract is more of a 2k based fail. He’s a great all round guy and player in the NBA and gets paid because of it, but his 2k game continues to fail to live up to this kind of price tag when you remove the real life intangibles.

Cory Joseph: $12mil / 3 Years – He got how much? CoJo is a very serviceable 2 way PG for sure, but does it equate to this pay day? Especially in 2k. maybe he can get a glitch year happening.

Al-Farouq Aminu: $9.26mil / 3 Years – He’s paid as a really nice 3 and D type, except he doesn’t shoot 3s particularly well and he has no defensive badges. What does Aminu actually do to warrant the pretty good salary?

Al Horford: $28mil / 4 Years – There’s no denying who Al Horford is, but at 33 years old, coming off a year where he was just a really nice role player, and into a system where he’ll continue to be a really nice role player, there a darth of value to be had at a whopping $28mil.

JJ Redick: $13.49mil / 2 Years – JJ is now approaching mid 30s, and he’s still elite at what he does, but then Kyle Korver has arguably been more elite at those same things for most of the same period and making $6mil. Korver would rarely go off for 20-30 points though like JJ, but this type of price is starting to become more hard to swallow.

Harrison Barnes: $24.15mil / 4 Years – Oh boy. He came off a deal by declining a PO for $24mil and everyone thought he was nuts…but then got handed $24mil a year for 4 years to be…what? He doesn’t even have the Horford miles in the bank.

Terry Rozier: $19.89mil / 3 Years – Terry had a real nice run in the playoffs the other year, but was legit true starting PG nice? The Celtics, whom he did it for, said no and went out and got Kemba, which seems like a possible indication. Of course, he could also blow up now he’s free and this deal becomes a value deal. Is a break out candidate poor value? Discuss.

Bobby Portis: $15mil / 1 Year (TO 2^nd year) – It’s 1 year, so it’s risk free, and he’s a break out candidate too which further negates the risk, but it’s a pretty hefty price to pay for a role playing type if it doesn’t work out.

Thaddeus Young: $12.9mil / 3 Years – Thad keeps getting these deals now, and I suppose he is now on Team USA (lol) but his 2k self doesn’t do enough to warrant this type of cash anymore.

Khris Middleton: $30.6mil / 4 Years (PO 5^th year) – A bit like Tobias, he’s a very very good player and underrated around the league. Also his NBA situation forced his teams hand. But is he a max deal guy? Especially in 2k.

Dewayne Dedmon: $13.33mil / 2 Years (TO 3^rd year) – Dedmon is a solid role player who has worked his way up from nothing, but this kind of pill is a bit to swallow being a genuine role player, especially in 2k, and the type you’d rather have off the bench.

Ricky Rubio: $16.2mil / 3 Years – Everyone knows I love Ricky, and he’s a star and once again a break out candidate now on a poor team, but the man’s 2k ratings have dwindled and stalled over the years and there’s not a lot of scope for improvement. A so-so defender and sub-par offensive guy, he did really nicely to get this sized contract but it doesn’t sit well.

‘Bout Right:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: $8.1mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – Every year, KCP seems to be a discussion. At least this has come down from the lofty $17.7mil 2 years ago, and $12mil last year, to what now looks like about right for a guy who averaged 11.4 points, and 8.8 in 14mins in NSL.

Terrence Ross: $12.5mil / 4 Years – He’s not the sexy name, but he came to the party last year in both leagues filling a consistent role with consistent shooting and the price tag is probably about right for what he is and does.

Trevor Ariza: $12.2mil / 2 Years – He’s paid, paid a lot, but he continues to perform well enough in both leagues to say, yeah, that’s about right. He lacks the defensive badges you’d expect from a defensive specialist, but hey.

Thomas Bryant: $8mil / 3 Years – You’ve got guys like Dedmon landing $13mil and here’s Thomas filling the quintessential new age big man role, and young, getting a solid bench salary while he’s got starter upside.

Ivica Zubac: $6.48mil / 3 Years (TO 4^th year) – See Bryant above, but with a little less certainty and less flexibility. This sized deal doesn’t hurt anyone when there’s upside involved.

Kristaps Porzingis: $27.3mil / 4 Years (PO 5^th year) – This is a tough call coming off a major injury on a body that looks like it was made to get injured with that mis of athleticism. But what else can you do with the Unicorn?

Kyrie Irving: $31.7mil / 3 Years – Just what everyone expected, coming to fruition.

Bojan Bogdanovic: $17mil / 4 Years – Boj really showed his worth last year once Dipo went down and with elite shooting and his ever present scoring instincts, this sort of deal felt inevitable.

Jeremy Lamb: $10.5mil / 3 Years – He’s been maligned, and maybe he won’t ever be more than he is, but this deal sits about right in the same vein as the TRoss deal.

Markieff Morris: $3.2mil / 1 Year – Kieff has fallen over the years, but he still has all the skillset of a typical new age big man and the price is right.

Kemba Walker: $32.7mil / 4 Years – Would you expect anything else for Kemba?

Malcolm Brogdon: $20mil / 4 Years – With elite efficiency across the board, and only an injury red flag starting to loom to darken this deal, $20mil would seem to be right in the right range.

Kawhi Leonard: $32.7mil / 2 years (PO 3^rd year) – You could argue on one hand that this deal is value, being the consensus best player in the league and not a super-max. Or you could argue it’s a risky play on an injury risk, that is short so he can sign bigger in 2 years. So, lets take the middle.

Brook Lopez: $12.1mil / 4 Years – Brook has done his time in the doghouse and he’s earned his way back to big bucks with fixes to his game and returning to relevance. About right.

Nikola Vucevic: $28mil / 4 Years – Man he was good last year and has really developed himself in a contract year into an elite big man. That, and the reducing deal over time makes for an about right grade.

Kevin Durant: $38.2mil / 3 Years – Maybe it might prove to be a dud depending how he returns, but otherwise it’s all anyone would expect for KD.

Boban Marjanovic: $3.5mil / 2 Years – Boban was on double this, and he’s a per36 star, but he’s proven over a few years now that he can’t handle big minutes. Just right.

George Hill: $9.13mil / 3 Years – He’s been tossed around after signing huge, but at $9mil you’re probably getting solid value that’s about right for his role.

Reggie Bullock: $4mil / 2 Years – There was talk of a bloated $10.5mil a year deal…but his medical derailed that and $4mil always felt more right.

Trey Lyles: $5.5mil / 2 Years – It’s about right for a guy who had a really down year after showing some promise earlier in his career. A good landing spot might make this a value deal.

Julius Randle: $18mil / 3 Years – He bet on himself, and won. No way he was getting less than this.

Tomas Satoransky: $10mil / 3 Years – It’s on the high side, sure, but he’s a multi-positional versatile reserve and he’s really matured into a well rounded player.

Maxi Kleber: $8mil / 4 Years – Who? Maxi! It’s probably borderline high for a role player, but he’s a versatile experienced big man on both ends of the court.

Robin Lopez: $4.76mil / 1 Year (PO 2^nd year) – Robin did the opposite Brook, from big cash to small. But that’s right where he needs to be as a energy role playing big.

DeAngelo Russell: $27.28mil / 4 Years – His season and playoff run projected him into the upper stratosphere rightly or wrongly, and he was always getting this or close to.

Rudy Gay: $14.5mil / 2 Years – Gay has proven he’s back to healthy and able, and being a 2k stud really helps this deal sit right with borderline value added.

Jimmy Butler: $32.7mil / 3 Years (PO 4^th year) – No surprises here!

 

So this is my take on a whole bunch of freshly resigned/signed free agents and their respective worth to their deal. Everyone will have different ideas, so throw them out here! Lets get some discussion going!