Ten Of The Worst New Contracts This Offseason
Ronny Turiaf – Minnesota Timberwolves
You know it’s been a frugal summer league-wide when a player who signed for $1.5 million makes a bad contracts list.
It is not to say that Ronny Turiaf cannot equal $1.5 million’s worth of production next season. Surely, that can’t be that hard to do. Rather, it is more to do with the pointlessness of the deal.
As an eight year veteran, Turiaf’s minimum salary this season would have been $1,265,977. Seemingly, Turiaf’s only other significant suitors were the Clippers, who expressed interest in re-signing him, and could have done so with the non-Bird exception that will have paid him $1.52 million next year. Presumably, this is what the Timberwolves were bidding against.
However, in giving a 30 year old third stringer that deal, the Timberwolves have spent their Bi-Annual exception. Management of assets is crucial to team building, and the oft-overlooked Bi-Annual exception has been used over the last two years to sign Marco Belinelli (Chicago), C.J. Watson (Indiana) and Nate Robinson (Denver). These are rotation contributors on good quality playoff teams. Whilst Minnesota just burned theirs on a third string center who is a liability offensively, a poor rebounder, and who has declined for four consecutive seasons.
Turiaf at the minimum is worth it, but Turiaf at anything more than that isn’t. Furthermore, the second player option year, which Turiaf will surely exercise, is unnecessary. The contract is so small it can’t ever be much of a burden, but why need it be any burden at all?
Read full article
You know it’s been a frugal summer league-wide when a player who signed for $1.5 million makes a bad contracts list.
It is not to say that Ronny Turiaf cannot equal $1.5 million’s worth of production next season. Surely, that can’t be that hard to do. Rather, it is more to do with the pointlessness of the deal.
As an eight year veteran, Turiaf’s minimum salary this season would have been $1,265,977. Seemingly, Turiaf’s only other significant suitors were the Clippers, who expressed interest in re-signing him, and could have done so with the non-Bird exception that will have paid him $1.52 million next year. Presumably, this is what the Timberwolves were bidding against.
However, in giving a 30 year old third stringer that deal, the Timberwolves have spent their Bi-Annual exception. Management of assets is crucial to team building, and the oft-overlooked Bi-Annual exception has been used over the last two years to sign Marco Belinelli (Chicago), C.J. Watson (Indiana) and Nate Robinson (Denver). These are rotation contributors on good quality playoff teams. Whilst Minnesota just burned theirs on a third string center who is a liability offensively, a poor rebounder, and who has declined for four consecutive seasons.
Turiaf at the minimum is worth it, but Turiaf at anything more than that isn’t. Furthermore, the second player option year, which Turiaf will surely exercise, is unnecessary. The contract is so small it can’t ever be much of a burden, but why need it be any burden at all?
