Paul Millsap 2 years/$19 million with the Atlanta Hawks
- A Mugging on the street. Maybe they took your phone, or your wallet. You'll live.
This is the a really good, and really overlooked signing in this summer's free agency period. Utah let their two best players, Millsap and Al Jefferson walk away for nothing, obviously tanking for next year's draft. Millsap wasn't a hot name going into free agency despite his stellar play over the years and the Hawks got him for a great price. Al Horford still has to play center, something he is vocally opposed to, when he plays with Millsap, who is an undersized power forward at 6"8' but they've had relative success with it before, so if it ain't broke, dont fix it. The Hawks also picked up Elton Brand at a good price but he too is an undersized big, so Horford will again have to play center all season; except he won't get the defensive help he's always had in Josh Smith anymore. Not ideal, but any smart GM would have taken this deal. It doesn't exactly give Millsap the long-term security he deserves, but will give him a chance to possibly snag a better contract while he's still in his prime in two tears. I'm confident in saying that the Hawks will experience little to no drop off on offence from Smith to Millsap (Smith is more talented, but Millsap will play within his strengths more), and somewhat of a drop-off on D. But considering the extra flexibility, this was a HUGE win for ATL.
Nate Robinson 2 years/$4 million with the Denver Nuggets
- A convenience store stick-up. Maybe a 7-11? All that they wanted was the cash in the till, and a slurpee.
This contract is all about value. I dont care if you are starting Chris Paul, with Rajon Rondo coming off the bench behind him, anytime you can lock up a player like Nate for about $2 million per year, you do it. Like Millsap, Robinson isn't being brought it for his defence - its the scoring that Denver are looking for. Some people may say that Robinson isn't a great fit in Denver given their starting PG (Ty Lawson) and reserve PG (Andre Miller) spots are filled, but given Miller's size, Nate can actually play in the backcourt with Andre. This will help the Nuggets play at their breakneck speed to fully utilise their homecourt advantage (the thin air in Denver makes it harder for opposing players to run as they are not used to it). But even if he didn't fit in too well, anytime you get to sign a player as young as Nate (29), with his scoring ability (over 18pts/36mins) for as little as $2 millions dollars per year, you have to take that opportunity. Even if he plays 15 minutes max in Denver, the Nuggets now have a nice little trade chip, that cost them nothing. I'm sure a contender come February 2014 or 2015 would love to pick up a cheap 3rd guard with Robinson's playoff pedigree (we all saw him single-handedly win games for Chicago this year) if he's not too effective on the Nuggets. Great signing from a team that otherwise had an underwhelming summer.
Francisco Garcia 2 years/Veterans' minimum with the Houston Rockets
- The guy in front of you dropped a dollar from his pocket, and didn't notice. You pick it up and don't tell him.
Okay so this one isn't a huge steal. A somewhat washed up NBA veteran signs a deal for less than their market value with a title contender. It happens multiple times every year - (Chris Andersen, Shane Battier, etc.) I'm not really going to elaborate on this signing, because its not huge, and probably wont be the difference between winning any playoff series or not. What it will do, is allow Houston to keep Harden and Parsons fresh during the regular season, and maybe earn a higher seed (I predict 4th), so that the big boys can do some damage come playoff time. But more importantly than any of the above, is that 'Cisco for some reason is "Kevin Durant's Nemesis". Insider sources claim he is looking to legally change his name... No but seriously, this guy came from nowhere to play starters minutes in the playoffs last year, and while no one can shutdown KD, Garcia did a great job of playing D and hitting threes. Which is exactly what I expect from him next year.
- A Mugging on the street. Maybe they took your phone, or your wallet. You'll live.
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| ^^ What do you mean, you put the ^^ wrong ex-Jazz bigman in here?! |
This is the a really good, and really overlooked signing in this summer's free agency period. Utah let their two best players, Millsap and Al Jefferson walk away for nothing, obviously tanking for next year's draft. Millsap wasn't a hot name going into free agency despite his stellar play over the years and the Hawks got him for a great price. Al Horford still has to play center, something he is vocally opposed to, when he plays with Millsap, who is an undersized power forward at 6"8' but they've had relative success with it before, so if it ain't broke, dont fix it. The Hawks also picked up Elton Brand at a good price but he too is an undersized big, so Horford will again have to play center all season; except he won't get the defensive help he's always had in Josh Smith anymore. Not ideal, but any smart GM would have taken this deal. It doesn't exactly give Millsap the long-term security he deserves, but will give him a chance to possibly snag a better contract while he's still in his prime in two tears. I'm confident in saying that the Hawks will experience little to no drop off on offence from Smith to Millsap (Smith is more talented, but Millsap will play within his strengths more), and somewhat of a drop-off on D. But considering the extra flexibility, this was a HUGE win for ATL.
Nate Robinson 2 years/$4 million with the Denver Nuggets
- A convenience store stick-up. Maybe a 7-11? All that they wanted was the cash in the till, and a slurpee.
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| ^^How can you not want a guy who looks the ^^ same as when he was 9 years old?! |
Francisco Garcia 2 years/Veterans' minimum with the Houston Rockets
- The guy in front of you dropped a dollar from his pocket, and didn't notice. You pick it up and don't tell him.
Okay so this one isn't a huge steal. A somewhat washed up NBA veteran signs a deal for less than their market value with a title contender. It happens multiple times every year - (Chris Andersen, Shane Battier, etc.) I'm not really going to elaborate on this signing, because its not huge, and probably wont be the difference between winning any playoff series or not. What it will do, is allow Houston to keep Harden and Parsons fresh during the regular season, and maybe earn a higher seed (I predict 4th), so that the big boys can do some damage come playoff time. But more importantly than any of the above, is that 'Cisco for some reason is "Kevin Durant's Nemesis". Insider sources claim he is looking to legally change his name... No but seriously, this guy came from nowhere to play starters minutes in the playoffs last year, and while no one can shutdown KD, Garcia did a great job of playing D and hitting threes. Which is exactly what I expect from him next year.
Andrei Kirilenko 2 years/$6.3 million plus 2% of Mikhail Prokhorov's $'s with then Brooklyn Nets
- This is some Ocean's 11 sh*t. Bank robbery, art thefts, jewellery heists, you name it. If you can think of it, it probably happened here.
In case you missed this season's biggest legal contract controversy, heres what happened.
-Kirilenko declines player option of $10mil from Minnesota to become free agent. Conventional wisdom is that he wants a longer term contract for slightly less annual value after he showed how healthy and effective he was this year. Very reasonable.
-No offers come in, until Atlanta show interest. Hawks decide to eventually go with Kyle Korver instead. Rumour has it, Andrei wanted too many years on his contract, and ATL not interested.
-Brooklyn Nets sign Kirilenko for $3.1 million this year, with a player option for next year.
In short, Kirilenko took a pay-cut of $7 million (!!!) to play for a team who is owned by fellow countryman, and owner of his former team, Mikhail Prokhorov. Everyone knows that Prokhorov probably amassed his fortune through some sketchy (to say the least) dealings, and it would not surprise me to hear that there was some "bungs" being payed here - that is to say, Kirilenko may be receiving slightly more money than his cap hit. All the analysis really necessary here would be that $10 million is probably not overpaying for someone with Kirilenko's ability, especially on a short-term contract, so just over 3 million is UNREAL. Only 3 other players average more than 1 block, 1 steal, and .5 three-pointer per game - Kevin Durant, Nicolas Batum, and Josh Smith. All of those players are getting paid over 3 times as much as AK, even though he outperformed them all in steals, and all but KD in FG%. Finally, his fit in with Brooklyn is perfect as he is used to coming off the bench, having played the 6th man role in Utah previously. Brooklyn have a formidable starting line-up, but an ageing one given Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett being the wrong side of 35. If either of them go down with any sort of injury, the Nets should also feel comfortable with Kirilenko slotting in either of their starting spots, and not giving up too much production at all.
- This is some Ocean's 11 sh*t. Bank robbery, art thefts, jewellery heists, you name it. If you can think of it, it probably happened here.
In case you missed this season's biggest legal contract controversy, heres what happened.
-Kirilenko declines player option of $10mil from Minnesota to become free agent. Conventional wisdom is that he wants a longer term contract for slightly less annual value after he showed how healthy and effective he was this year. Very reasonable.
-No offers come in, until Atlanta show interest. Hawks decide to eventually go with Kyle Korver instead. Rumour has it, Andrei wanted too many years on his contract, and ATL not interested.
-Brooklyn Nets sign Kirilenko for $3.1 million this year, with a player option for next year.
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| ^^ The only Downside to AK47: ^^ The worst tattoo in the NBA |
Rhys T-J
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