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With teams starting to round out their rosters 10 days into NBA free agency, here's my analysis of the latest deals:
Go to: July 1 | July 2 | July 3 | Mon. | Tues. | Wed. | Thur. | Fri.
Atlanta Hawks
1. Signed guard Jarrett Jack to a reported one-year, veteran's minimum deal
Jack's market value was dampened when he tore his ACL the day after New Year's. The Nets subsequently waived Jack, taking advantage of the fact that just $500,000 of his $6.3 million 2016-17 salary was guaranteed and making him an unrestricted free agent. Coming off the injury, Jack had to settle for a make-good deal at the veteran's minimum.
Before the injury, Jack was actually playing fairly well, handing out a career-high 8.3 assists per 36 minutes. It's unlikely Jack will ever be an efficient scorer again, so he'll have to maintain that level of playmaking and hold up defensively to be a useful player.
Given how players tend to struggle after ACL injuries, I'd make Euroleague veteran Malcolm Delaney the favorite to be the backup in Atlanta.
Brooklyn Nets
1. Signed guard Greivis Vasquez to a reported one-year deal
After getting offer sheets to Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson matched, the Nets found themselves with about $35 million in cap space and few great options. Some of that money will go to Vasquez, who signed a one-year deal with terms as yet unreported to be Jeremy Lin's backup.
Having a true point guard with the second unit may help Brooklyn's young players, though I would have preferred to go with someone who could be a long-term part of the team like incumbent Shane Larkin.
Moving forward, I see a few good ideas for the Nets. Taking a shot on Jared Sullinger, who became an unrestricted free agent Sunday when the Boston Celtics rescinded his qualifying offer, would be a natural choice. Terrence Jones is another buy-low option for Brooklyn.
If the Nets want more help on the wing without Crabbe and Johnson, they could go back to the restricted market and make an offer to Crabbe's teammate Maurice Harkless that forces Portland to choose between being the luxury tax and letting Harkless walk.
Miami Heat
1. Signed guard Wayne Ellington to a reported two-year, $12 million deal
2. Signed forward James Johnson to a reported one-year, $4 million deal
3. Signed center Udonis Haslem to a reported one-year, $4 million deal
4. Signed center Willie Reed to a reported two-year deal
Before matching the Brooklyn Nets' offer sheet to Johnson and going over the NBA salary cap, the Heat had to spend about $15 million in cap space to fill out their roster. Miami completed that process with four signings and a trade Sunday.
One-year contracts for Haslem and James Johnson fit the pattern the Heat established with a similar deal for Derrick Williams, who was signed Friday. Such short-term contracts preserve Miami's 2017 cap space, which makes it all the more curious that they signed Ellington to a two-year deal. I wonder if some or all of his 2017-18 salary is non-guaranteed.
While the Heat needed shooting after losing two of their better shooters in Luol Deng and Joe Johnson, and replacing them with non-shooters James Johnson (a 27 percent career 3-point shooter) and Williams (30 percent), I'm not sure that justifies paying so much to Ellington.
Yes, Ellington is a career 37 percent 3-point shooter, but the rest of his game is so limited that he rated worse than replacement level by both ESPN's real plus-minus and my wins above replacement player (WARP) ratings last season. There's a reason Ellington has played for the veteran's minimum each of the past two years.
I'd rather have Troy Daniels, a superior shooter who joined the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday in a sign-and-trade. Daniels got a three-year contract, but for less total money ($10 million) than Ellington will apparently make over two years.
It's hard to justify $4 million for Haslem in basketball terms, given he played just 260 minutes last season. Haslem is part of the Heat family, however, and his contract serves as a reward for his taking less money in past years. With his signing, Miami has a little more than $2 million remaining to spend before matching Johnson's offer sheet.
Though terms have not yet been announced, Reed is almost certain to be the best value since he's either making the minimum or part of the $2.9 million room exception. He averaged 15.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per 36 minutes while shooting 57.1 percent from the field in limited minutes last season with the Brooklyn Nets, consistent with his D-League track record. He should be a quality, low-cost backup for Hassan Whiteside.
Though Miami might still have its room exception available, these moves just about complete the 2016-17 Heat roster -- and I'm not sure it looks like a playoff team.
Goran Dragic should benefit from having the ball in his hands with Dwyane Wade's departure and running more pick-and-rolls with Hassan Whiteside. At the same time, those players require more space than the Heat's shooting is likely to offer. And with Justise Winslow and possibly Josh Richardson headed to the starting lineup, Miami's bench figures to be thin.
New Orleans Pelicans
1. Re-signed guard Tim Frazier to a reported two-year, $4 million deal
Frazier cracked my list of the top 10 remaining free agents by virtue of his impressive finish to 2015-16 in New Orleans; he averaged 16.1 points and 9.2 assists per 36 minutes. That's consistent with Frazier's track record in the D-League, in which he won both rookie of the year and MVP in 2014-15.
Nonetheless, Frazier couldn't scare up much interest in free agency, presumably because of his small stature (a listed 6-foot-1).
It looks as if the Pelicans will bring back Frazier using their room exception, which allows them to rescind Frazier's qualifying offer and renounce him. That gives New Orleans enough cap space to sign previously reported deals with guards Langston Galloway and E'Twaun Moore and forward Solomon Hill, as well as signing second-round pick Cheick Diallo to a deal longer than two years.
Having added Galloway and Moore, as well as lottery pick Buddy Hield, the Pelicans now have one of the league's deepest backcourts and one that should be more effective in Alvin Gentry's system than last year's group.
Portland Trail Blazers
1. Re-signed forward Meyers Leonard to a reported four-year, $41 million deal
2. Matched the Brooklyn Nets' four-year, $75 million offer sheet for guard Allen Crabbe
During the preseason, Leonard reportedly turned down a four-year extension offer worth $40 million, and it looked as if he might struggle to beat that offer in restricted free agency after shoulder surgery ended his 2015-16 campaign. Ultimately, Leonard ended up getting almost exactly the same deal from the Blazers on Sunday, getting an extra million dollars for his trouble.
About $10 million a year is a reasonable price for Leonard. It pays him less than the starting big men on the market this summer; they generally received at least $16 million a year.
There's a chance Leonard could develop into a starter at some point during his four-year contract, though his defensive limitations make that unlikely. Leonard isn't a good enough rim protector to play center -- though he's surprisingly good against post-up centers -- and is too slow to defend perimeter-oriented power forwards.
All things considered, I think Leonard is better at center, in which his 3-point shooting (38.5 percent career) is a rarer skill. Alas, it doesn't look as if there's much playing time, if any, for Leonard at center in Portland this season with the Blazers adding Festus Ezeli to incumbents Ed Davis and Mason Plumlee.
With Al-Farouq Aminu likely to play power forward on a regular basis this season, coach Terry Stotts is going to have some tough decisions on frontcourt playing time with those four options plus third-year power forward Noah Vonleh.
Shortly thereafter, Portland officially matched Crabbe's offer sheet from the Nets. I discussed that deal when it was signed on Thursday, and I think the Blazers will ultimately regret paying so much money to a limited player.
At the same time, Portland losing its best shooter besides starting guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum was an unpalatable option in its own right, so this is certainly better for the Blazers in the short term.
With both Leonard and Crabbe on the books, Portland can afford to pay about $9 million to Maurice Harkless (the last of their three key restricted free agents) while staying under the tax line.
The bigger financial implications for Portland will probably come in 2016-17, when they no longer have the ability to create appreciable cap space without trading a player under contract. The luxury tax will be a major concern that season if the Blazers extend the contracts of both Plumlee and McCollum, but matching the Crabbe offer probably won't cost them in terms of financial flexibility.