Ranking the best available free agents
At midnight Wednesday, NBA free agents finally could change teams. As you might have noticed, there already has been plenty of action.
Baron Davis stunned us by agreeing to a five-year, $65 million deal with the
Clippers. Then, Elton Brand one-upped his buddy by bolting the
Clippers for a five-year deal with the
Sixers. Then, Corey Maggette bolted the
Clippers for the
Warriors, agreeing to a five-year deal worth about $50 million.
Also, Chris Duhon is leaving the
Bulls for the
Knicks, DeSagana Diop is saying goodbye to New Jersey and returning to Dallas, Mickael Pietrus is jumping from the
Warriors to the
Magic, and James Jones is leaving Portland for Miami.
So much for the sleepy, uneventful free-agency period we predicted. Only a handful of free agents have agreed to re-sign with their teams. Gilbert Arenas agreed to a huge six-year, $111 million deal with the
Wizards. Jose Calderon quickly agreed to re-up with the
Raptors. And Beno Udrih agreed to a five-year, $33 million deal to remain with the
Kings.
It's the restricted free agents who have struggled to get deals done. Though the Hawks' Josh Smith has earned some interest, it's been uncomfortably quiet for a number of restricted free agents, such as Emeka Okafor and Luol Deng.
Teams are hesitant to offer big deals to restricted free agents because once the player signs an offer sheet, his former team has seven days to match -- which thus ties up cap space for a week. However, with all of the top unrestricted free agents off the market, the focus should shift to the restricted free agents.
Now that Brand is leaving the
Clippers, Los Angeles becomes one team flush with cash to spend on free agents. Even with Baron Davis' deal in the books, the
Clippers should have $13.8 million to spend given the new $58.68 million salary cap number.
The
Warriors also have significant room, even after signing Maggette. Assuming the
Warriors keep restricted free agents Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis, the team should have roughly $9 million to $10 million of cap room to spend, depending on Maggette's starting salary.
The
Grizzlies got under the cap by trading away Pau Gasol for expiring contracts at the trade deadline. But Memphis GM Chris Wallace has been sending signals that the team might not spend its estimated $14.5 million in cap room this summer. The
Grizzlies are hinting that they will wait until the summer of 2009, when they'll have more cap room.
Meanwhile, the
Sixers will use virtually all of their cap space on signing Brand.
Here's a look at who's left on the market:
Group I: Restricted free agents
Only six first-round draft picks from the 2004 draft were signed to extensions last fall. That means some serious young talent is available this summer. These players' restricted status makes it likely they'll stay with their current teams, but at least they'll be in play:
Smith1 .Josh Smith, Hawks: Smith has been the hottest restricted free agent, drawing interest from the
Sixers,
Clippers and
Warriors. He's a freakish athlete who can score, rebound and block shots. What holds him back is his questionable attitude.
Right now, only two teams, the
Clippers and
Grizzlies, are far enough under the cap to give Smith an offer sheet big enough to potentially scare the Hawks. Given Atlanta's messy ownership situation, would the Hawks match a huge offer from L.A. or Memphis? That's the big question right now.
2. Andre Iguodala,
Sixers: Iguodala's decision to turn down a $57 million deal last summer is tough to justify. At the time, the
Sixers appeared to be the only team with significant cap room; I'm not sure where he thought his next paycheck would come from. Now that Elton Brand's on board, expect the
Sixers to do everything possible to lock him up.
Okafor3. Emeka Okafor,
Bobcats: Okafor turned down $13 million per season to hit free agency this summer. He's not the best player on this list, but he's the best young center on the market and one of the few guys in the league who's a lock to average a double-double. It sounds as if the
Bobcats are open to a sign-and-trade if the right deal were to come along.
4. Luol Deng,
Bulls: Everyone loves Deng's talent, including the
Bulls. At least they used to. Injuries and a poor season have hurt his value around the league. Still, it's hard to see the
Bulls not matching any offer Deng gets next summer.
He declined a $57.5 million extension in October, so if he makes more than that, he'll come out ahead. It will be interesting to see whether the budget-conscious
Bulls will take advantage of the market conditions and offer him much less.
Biedrins 5.Andris Biedrins,
Warriors: Biedrins didn't get the lucrative contract offer that several others did. He was looking for something in the five-year, $50 million range but got an offer that reportedly was substantially
blog.
