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 […]
2009 NBA Summer League round-up: San Antonio Spurs
July 25th, 2009
– Antonio Anderson: Anderson was Tyreke Evans’s ill-fitting backcourt team mate last season. Like Evans, Anderson is 6’6, athletic, and a good passer and playmaker for that height. Like Evans, he’s not ideally suited for guarding the point and has no significant jump shot. But unlike Evans, Anderson is not carving up defences off the dribble. And unlike Evans, Anderson is 24. The dribbling and shooting flaws haven’t gone away yet, and time is running out for it to happen. – Romel Beck: Beck is a 27-year-old former UNLV grad whose four-year professional career has included his native Mexico, the CBA, the D-League, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Italy and Croatia. Last year in 16 games for the Dakota Wizards, Beck scored a blindingly efficient 15.9 points in 27 minutes per game, on percentages of 50.9%/49.2%/90.2%. Beck pretty much only scores; he doesn’t much rebound, make plays for others, or play much defence. But even though he’s thin, he’s very tall for a shooting guard. And he’s definitely got the scoring talent. Here’s a video of him crossing over Kobe Bryant before making a step-back four-oint play; (Note: that really is him. His full name is Romel Roberto Beck Castro.) – DeJuan Blair: Should be a Bull. Dammit. – Eric Dawson: Dawson is a 25-year-old big man who’s only had one season of note. He attended Midwestern State, a Division II school that you’ve probably never heard of, and since leaving has spent two years with the Austin Toros of the D-League. Last year he averaged 10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 fouls in 24 minutes per game. They’re not bad numbers, certainly, but in the D-League, but he’s also 25, which limits his upside. Still, he’s come far. – Nando De Colo: I’m not going to pretend […]
