Post by the original michael on May 17, 2020 15:15:41 GMT -8
Free Agency Review 2001
The San Antonio Spurs signed Guard, Manu Ginobili to a 6 year, $90,000,000 contract.
Manu Ginobili is the true prize of this off-season's free agent class and decided to sign with John and the San Antonio Spurs. He instantly becomes the face of the franchise. Ginobili returns to his roots in San Antonio and will help form a decent young core with Lamar Odom and Zach Randolph. The Spurs got themselves a do it all type of guard on the offensive end. Manu can score inside and out. He's not the worst best defender but should be tolerable there. His rebounds are decent for a 2 guard as well. His solid percentages and super low turnovers, mixed with the fact that he can still be camped, make Manu's future look extremely bright in San Antonio.
Pre TC Grade: A+
Post TC Grade: A+
The Utah Jazz sign Guard, Sarunas Jasikevicius to a 4 year, $21,550,625 contract.
This was an interesting move. Entering Free Agency, we had no idea how Sarunas would sim, however, JR and the Utah Jazz took a chance on him and it looks like it may pay dividends quickly. Sarunas averaged 8PPG on excellent shooting percentages and low turnovers for the Jazz in just 19 minutes during the pre-season. At worst, he'll be an outstanding backup point guard to Bobby Jackson, with a chance at becoming something more with camps.
Pre TC Grade: B
Post TC Grade: B+
The Los Angeles Lakers sign Forward Andrei Kirilenko to a 6 year, $90,000,00 contract.
Kirilenko was the 1A prize ahead of Manu entering free agency and likely received upwards of 10 max contract offers. After a poor training camp, that large contract now looks very questionable. Kirilenko likely should have been moved to small forward before training camp, but that move might not have saved him. Kirilenko will likely sim a little better at small forward and the move to the wing makes sense with the addition of Elton Brand. Kirilenko and the Lakers did not see a huge improvement there and he only averaged roughly 7 points per game, 7 rebounds per game, and did not show an ability to rebound or the block. His shooting percentages are on the low end too. There still is hope for AK47 as he might still have high potential, but with the Lakers going all in, they may want to look into trading Kirilenko for a proven player.
Pre TC Grade: A+
Post TC Grade: C
The Miami Heat sign Wing Dejan Bodiroga to a 6 year, $36,000,000 contract.
This move was interesting to me. Dejan is clearly the 3rd best free agent and the Heat are a piece or two away. I love the AAV of $6 million that the Heat got Dejan for. The years? Not a fan of giving a 29 year old 6 years. The last few years of that deal should be rough, but the Heat need him now to compete for a championship. If Dejan had signed with a team who is not active and does not camp their players, I'd probably give his a lower grade, but we know kobe is active and we know he'll pump both ACs and RCs unto Dejan. During pre-season, he averaged 9 points per game in 20 minutes and low low turnovers, on amazing shooting percentages. I expect Dejan to be a 20 point per game guy and an outstanding 3rd option on a potential championship roster. Great signing by the Miami Heat.
Pre TC Grade: C+
Post TC Grade: A-
The Miami Heat sign Guard Tony Delk to a 2 year, $12,000,00 contract.
Kobe is on this mission to make it known how good Delk is on the message board. Is Tony Delk a solid player? Yes. Is he anything more? No. Making a little more than the Mid Level Exception and only for 2 years, it's not a bad deal. The former Kentucky Wildcat was solid for the Miami Heat last season, averaging 10 points per game in 20 minutes a game off the bench for the Heat. He didn't improve in training camp and looks like he'll be a solid 6th or 7th piece of the bench and will be a hell of a backup point guard. If he could start at point guard, he'd be juicy as fuck.
Pre TC Grade: C+
Post TC Grade: C+
The Boston Celtics sign Center Aaron Williams to a 2 year, $10,800,000 contract.
Yah. So...brian is a great guy and I like him. I just don't understand this move. Aaron Williams is a leftover free agent and he received a 2 year contract at over $5 million a year. Yikes. He can't block at a high rate, is an average rebounder, and can't score. Not sure what he was thinking with this move as he really needs to compete considering he does not have his draft pick. Last season he averaged a block and a half in 30 minutes, but he looks like he got worse in training camp across the board. The good news for the Celtics? They still have Allen Iverson and this contract is only 2 years.
Pre TC Grade: D+
Post TC Grade: F
The Cleveland Cavaliers sign Forward Michael Stewart to a 3 year, $5,674,500 contract.
Stewart is an under the radar signing for the Cavaliers. He put up a block a game in 18 minutes last season and could rebound at a decent rate. I understand the move for the Cavs as they hoped to camp up his rebounds and blocks and have a youngish, cheap, locked up big. The grade on this move is based on if the Cavs camp Bradley and make him into the 3rd big. Decent signing here.
Pre TC Grade: B
Post TC Grade: B-
The Detroit Pistons sign Center Keon Clark to a 1 year, $4,500,000 contract.
I love this move. I wish it were for multi years. Keon is the prototypical big who can block and do nothing else. If the Pistons are able to invest some RCs and ACs into him, while re-upping him next season, this move could help the franchise big time. Keon Clark did average 1.3 blocks per game in just 11.6 minutes per game. He's easily a high 2, low 3 block per game guy in starting minutes.
Pre TC Grade: B+
Post TC Grade: B+
The Sacramento Kings sign Center Tony Battie to a 3 year, $16,000,000 contract.
Battie is in the same mold as Keon Clark, he just can't block as efficiently as Clark. If ashes and the Sacramento Kings can invest in his rebounding and blocking, they'll have a decent big to board the few misses that Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant throw up. Battie is just a super solid player, not sexy at all, but he'll get the job done.
Pre TC Grade: B
Post TC Grade: B-
The Utah Jazz sign Guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf to a 1 year, $4,500,000 contract
Chris Jackson returns to the defending champions. It makes a lot a sense as MAR is a microwave scorer and can be that first guard off the bench and give you a quick 15 points. He's a somewhat low turnover guy as well and a great veteran leader on a championship caliber team!
Pre TC Grade: B+
Post TC Grade: B+
The Orlando Magic sign Guard Isaiah Rider to a 1 year, $8,000.00 contract
The Magic were rebuilding around Antoine Walker, Joe Johnson, and Eddie Griffin - then go out and sign Isaiah Rider to a $8,000,000 deal. However, they quickly traded him to the Denver Nuggets, but the deal was the void as there was some miscommunication. Rider looks like a decent scorer with B- B scoring and could help a contender. The Magic need to be shopping this guy now, if they aren't already.
Pre TC Grade: C+
Post TC Grade: B
The Atlanta Hawks sign Wing Shandon Anderson to a 2 year, $14,700,000 contract.
This move was the move for the Atlanta Hawks. Shandon Anderson was a nobody last season for the New York Knicks and averaged 6 points per game on very pedestrian numbers and percentages. The Hawks took a chance and it looks like it payed off. Anderson looks the part with near straight Bs and that juicy A- defense. In pre-season, he averaged nearly 18 points per game for the Hawks, which was good for 2nd on the team in scoring. This was a risky move that definitely paid off for the Atlanta Hawks.
Pre TC Grade: C
Post TC Grade: A-
The Milwaukee Bucks sign Guard, Speedy Claxton to a 3 year, $15,226,000 contract.
Ok, Yikes. Like the Celtics GM, I like chipper and think he's a great GM and a good GM. He took a risk in signing Claxton and it just did not pay off. I see the logic prior to training camp in signing a young guard with decent ratings to a 3 year deal. I do. He was a former Warrior after all. Apparently that means something here. However, he did not improve and the deal looks like of shitty now. Can he be saved with camps? Absolutely? Should he be? Probably not. The Bucks have a boatload of other young prospects that need camping attention before Claxton gets his.
Pre TC Grade: C+
Post TC Grade: F
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