Market Adjustment: Good NBA big men are bargains right now
August 27th, 2018
It took nearly a month of free agency to do it, but the last big free agency name was eventually taken off the board at the end of July. The Houston Rockets finally agreed to re-sign free agent centre Clint Capela to a deal reported to cost them only five years and $90 million, of which only five years and $80 million is guaranteed. My use of the world “only” there was very deliberate. That is not a lot of money for a player of some calibre, and who is a roughly ideal fit for what the Rockets are doing with their team. It is considerably less than the maximum salary of five years and $147,710,050 (or four years and $109,509,175 with another team) that he could have signed for, and it is a lot less than Houston probably expected they could get him for when headed into free agency. In a tough free agency period in which they lost Trevor Ariza to the Phoenix Suns and Luc Richard Mbah A Moute to the L.A. Clippers, and given a maximum contract to Chris Paul that will be of questionable value in the back end, the Rockets needed to win on this one, and they have done. In large part, this was due to their patience. Taking this full month allowed the relative impatience of the competition to take effect, and as the other cap space teams spent their money up, Capela quickly ran out of bidders. The Rockets have been significantly aided in this quest, though, not only by Capela’s restricted free agency, but also by a flat overall market for ‘big men’. Positional distinctions are increasingly hard to do these days. Still, with that disclaimer in mind, here is a list of all the new contracts given out to veteran ‘big men’ in […]
2013 Summer League rosters, Orlando Summer Pro League – Detroit
July 8th, 2013
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Cuttino Mobley. Just putting it out there. And if he can’t shoot like Cuttino Mobley yet, that’s OK, because nor could Cuttino Mobley at that age. Andre Drummond We won’t know until it’s over quite whether or not Drummond’s career is a reminder of why mental make-up tests shouldn’t be too overvalued in light of a player’s actual abilities and impact, but the indications from his rookie season suggest that it will be. Kim English To stick in this league, English will have to not just be a catch-and-shoot player, but also as a shooter off of screens and occasionally off of the bounce. He showed in college that he could potentially do this if he could develop the extra range required, but he has yet to show this has happened. Due to having had no opportunity to do so. Ryan Evans Evans is a wing man with a famously poor outside jump shot, so it’s probably a slight contradiction that last year, he started to take jump shots for free throws. If he could shoot, he’d be a great prospect, an above average defensive player (who can defend inside and out) and very good rebounder from the swingman positions with length, athleticism, transition finishes and some off-the-dribble game. But the lack of a jumper submarines it all, and it seems it’s trending backwards. JaJuan Johnson Johnson’s pro career has thus far been a jarring disappointment. Last year he played for three different D-League teams, this after being picked first overall in the draft. He was traded twice, once for Luke Harangody and once for Kyle Weaver, and his averages declined at each gig. By the end of the year, Johnson found himself averaging only 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game for the Idaho Stampede. […]
