WOJ Live: Free Agency Show

[Monster]

Derrick Williams on a 1year deal to the heat. Not a bad move for him and the heat. I'm looking forward to seeing if Spolstra can continue to develop some young players. There were some good signs last year. I really think it's possible he is one of the elite coaches in the league he is going to get a chance to show what he can do with a less than stacked roster.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I wonder what the price is for McLemore. Rush is a 1 year deal so Ben could take that spot moving forward. I'd totally give them a second round pick or Payne to get him. Let him ride the bench for a year, re-sign him for next to nothing and hope he develops into a 3&D wing we need off the bench.

[bleedspeed]

Top Ten Remaining Free Agents ESPN Insider
http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/16641910/nba-free-agent-rankings-kevin-pelton-lebron-james-dwyane-wade-best-available-players

1. LeBron James


Cleveland Cavaliers
Forward
Age: 31
Unrestricted

After leading the Cavaliers to a championship, LeBron isn't going anywhere. But he technically remains a free agent after opting out of his contract to get a raise with the cap going up -- albeit not to anywhere near his true value -- so he leads this list.

2. J.R. Smith


Cleveland Cavaliers
Guard
Age: 30
Unrestricted

Strangely, there has been little buzz about Smith so far in free agency. Is he still celebrating the championship? Does he need a shirt on to take meetings? Is he running for president?

With most of the teams that could have bid handsomely for his services out of cap space, Smith is likely going back to the Cavaliers for far more money than last year's bargain $5 million salary.

3. Maurice Harkless


Portland Trail Blazers
Forward
Age: 23
Restricted

Of the Blazers' three restricted free agents heading into the summer, there was the most buzz around Allen Crabbe. I'd prefer Harkless over the next three years because I think he has more room to grow as a player -- if he can become a consistent 3-point threat.

Because of his defense and activity, Harkless was already a capable starter at age 22 despite shooting 28 percent from 3-point range. If he can hit even 35 percent from beyond the arc on a regular basis, Harkless could become a league-average starting combo forward.

4. Jared Sullinger


Boston Celtics
Forward
Age: 24
Restricted

Sullinger ranks second among the players left from my top 25 projected free agents, based on ESPN's real plus-minus and my wins above replacement player stat. Although defensive limitations push him down the list a little, he's still an outstanding rebounder who at least notionally stretches the floor offensively.

With the Celtics adding Al Horford and preserving 2017 cap space, I'd bet against them matching any reasonable offer to Sullinger.

5. Donatas Motiejunas


Houston Rockets
Center
Age: 25
Restricted

Aside from teammate Terrence Jones, Motiejunas had about the worst contract year imaginable. Back surgery in April 2015 kept him off the court at the start of the season, and a setback sidelined Motiejunas through the trade deadline. The injury caused the Detroit Pistons to void a deal for Motiejunas at the deadline, sending him back to Houston, where he shot just 22.5 percent on 3s the rest of the season.

When healthy, Motiejunas is a capable post scorer who can also stretch the floor, so there's a place for him in a rotation somewhere.

The Rockets still have the ability to match any offer to Motiejunas, but they've added Nene at center to go with Clint Capela, and they might not view Motiejunas as a power forward in coach Mike D'Antoni's system.

6. Meyers Leonard


Portland Trail Blazers
Forward
Age: 24
Restricted

By passing on a possible preseason extension, Leonard bet on himself and probably lost. Although his season wasn't quite as nightmarish as the one Motiejunas had, Leonard did see his shooting percentages fall sharply from his admittedly fluky 2014-15 in a larger role.

A 50/40/90 shooter in limited attempts that season, Leonard hit 52.7 percent of his 2s and 37.7 percent of his 3s in 2015-16 before a recurrence of a shoulder dislocation forced him to undergo season-ending surgery in mid-March.

More problematic long term was how much Leonard struggled to defend quicker power forwards. Despite not offering much rim protection, Leonard is probably better as a center.

7. Tim Frazier


New Orleans Pelicans
Guard
Age: 25
Restricted

This list is conspicuously lacking in point guards. There are some veteran options out there, including Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson as a reclamation projection and Mario Chalmers coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon.

I'd rather pass on them and give a shot to Frazier, a D-League standout the past two seasons who averaged 16.1 points and 9.2 assists per 36 minutes after signing with the Pelicans late in the season. Although that success might not entirely translate in another system, Frazier has far more upside than the veteran point guards on the market.

After agreeing to sign Langston Galloway on Wednesday, New Orleans is unlikely to bring Frazier back.

8. Terrence Jones


Houston Rockets
Forward
Age: 24
Unrestricted

When it comes to bad contract years, nobody can beat Jones. A starter when healthy much of the previous two seasons, Jones suffered a series of injuries and fell entirely out of the Houston rotation by the postseason, when he saw no action whatsoever.


Jones has always been a bit of a space cadet on the floor, but he did average 16 points and nine rebounds per 36 minutes with good shooting percentages in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and has shown occasional 3-point range, so he's a good buy-low option.

9. Dion Waiters


Oklahoma City Thunder
Guard
Age: 24
Restricted

Waiters made progress toward being a useful NBA role player last season. Let's not overstate the case, though. Waiters still posted a sub-.500 true shooting percentage during the regular season, and even in the playoffs his true shooting (.520) was still worse than league average.

As a 3-and-D role player, Waiters is only OK in both categories. He's a career 33.4 percent 3-point shooter and, though he's become more diligent as an individual defender, Waiters' focus tends to wander off the ball. Still, he's capable of improving at 24, and there's a place for Waiters in the league somewhere.

10. Tyler Zeller


Boston Celtics
Center
Age: 26
Restricted

Zeller started 59 games for the Celtics in 2014-15, but the addition of Amir Johnson pushed him out of the rotation last season. Zeller played just 710 minutes and has gotten lost in a deep center market.

At 26, Zeller is what he is, and that's a reasonable backup center. He's a good finisher and rim runner in transition who shot 55 percent in 2014-15 before slipping to 48 percent last year. Zeller is more limited defensively, where he's not a shot blocking threat. He rejected just 22 shots all last season.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

That's the power of restricted free agency. Teams just don't want to offer those guys what they are actually worth because it will get matched and none of them are worth the overpay while hoping they get better. They need a clause like if you're restricted for 30 days without an offer you become unrestricted or something like that to force their teams to either pay them what they're worth or let them go elsewhere because the downside of restricted free agency is GM's using it to get a team friendly deal because other GM's aren't gonna put out offers they know will just get matched for the heck of getting guys signed.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

Sign Terrance Jones and call it a day.

[bleedspeed]

That's the power of restricted free agency. Teams just don't want to offer those guys what they are actually worth because it will get matched and none of them are worth the overpay while hoping they get better. They need a clause like if you're restricted for 30 days without an offer you become unrestricted or something like that to force their teams to either pay them what they're worth or let them go elsewhere because the downside of restricted free agency is GM's using it to get a team friendly deal because other GM's aren't gonna put out offers they know will just get matched for the heck of getting guys signed.

I think if you want to use cap space for a short deal on a RFA it makes sense. Why not got 2 year deal with all your cap space for the right RFA for a 2 year with second year as a team option.

[Monster]

Sign Terrance Jones and call it a day.

FWIW Wolfson said in his last podcast that there are some things he knows about Terrance Jones that...well I don't remember how he said it but he suggested they weren't positive. He said that if he knows what he knows about him the Wolves will likely stay far away and that probably another reason why Houston made him an unrestricted FA.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

Sign Terrance Jones and call it a day.

FWIW Wolfson said in his last podcast that there are some things he knows about Terrance Jones that...well I don't remember how he said it but he suggested they weren't positive. He said that if he knows what he knows about him the Wolves will likely stay far away and that probably another reason why Houston made him an unrestricted FA.

Well I obviously am not privy to that sort of information. Good to know.

[60WinTim]

We've sort of fallen behind on tracking the FA signings. But here is one taking someone off the market that I thought the Wolves might have interest in.

Adrian Wojnarowski ?@WojVerticalNBA 43m43 minutes ago
Meyers Leonard has agreed to a 4-year, $41M deal to stay with Portland, league sources tell @TheVertical.

[Coolbreeze44]

Sign Terrance Jones and call it a day.

FWIW Wolfson said in his last podcast that there are some things he knows about Terrance Jones that...well I don't remember how he said it but he suggested they weren't positive. He said that if he knows what he knows about him the Wolves will likely stay far away and that probably another reason why Houston made him an unrestricted FA.

I told you about his character issues during the summer he was drafted. Didn't change anybody's opinion of him though.