Poll: Best Non-LeBron Signing
The 2014 free agency period is winding down with most of the top free agents now off the board. Out of the top ten players in Hoops Rumors’ 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, only Eric Bledsoe and Greg Monroe, both restricted free agents, have yet to find a home for next season.
The biggest news this offseason was of course when LeBron James elected to return his talents to Cleveland–a move not many saw coming. The other big name, Carmelo Anthony, also surprised a few experts when he elected to re-sign in New York, and not leave for Chicago or the Lakers. Those two players were the undisputed prizes of this year’s free agent class.
But which player who changed teams, not named LeBron, was the best signing so far? I’m only including the deals where the player signed with the team outright, which means players involved in sign-and-trade deals aren’t being included in this poll. I also left off Chandler Parsons‘ signing since his average annual value was much higher than the other non sign-and-trade contracts. Here’s the rundown of the main choices:
- Luol Deng: Deng went from the Cavaliers, where he was replaced at small forward by LeBron, to the Heat where he in turn replaces James. Deng signed a two-year, $20MM deal that included a player option for the second year. Deng’s career numbers are 16.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.5 APG over ten NBA seasons. His career slash lines are .457/.329/.773. Deng will bring defense and tenacity to a Heat team that will have to adjust to life after LeBron.
- Lance Stephenson: During the first half of the 2013/14 season, Stephenson looked like a lock to return to Indiana. It was during the second half, after the trade that sent Danny Granger to the Sixers for Evan Turner where the wheels began to come off. There were reports of a practice altercation between he and Turner, and Stephenson’s on court production fell off as well. This was then followed by numerous playoff incidents, including the infamous “ear blowing” incident with James. After turning down a five-year, $44MM offer the Pacers made, Stephenson eventually landed with the Hornets, where he signed a three-year, $27.5MM deal. Stephenson had a career year last season when he averaged 13.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 4.6 APG.
- Paul Pierce: Pierce was signed by the Wizards after the sign-and-trade deal with the Rockets for Trevor Ariza was completed. Pierce will bring his experience to a young and talented Washington squad that is looking to go deeper into the playoffs next season. Pierce signed a two-year deal worth roughly $11MM. The veteran out of Kansas has averaged 21.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 3.8 APG for his career. His lifetime shooting numbers are .447/.370/.807.
- Pau Gasol: There was some heavy competition for the former Laker’s services with the Knicks, Spurs, Thunder, and Heat all angling to sign the seven-footer. But in the end, Gasol opted for the Bulls, and the opportunity to play for a playoff contender in the much weaker Eastern Conference. Gasol signed a three-year, $22MM+ deal with Chicago, where they hope his offensive skills can help improve the team’s woeful scoring and lead to a deeper run in next year’s playoffs. In 13 seasons, Gasol has averaged 18.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 3.3 APG. His career slash line is .515/.247/.750.
- Spencer Hawes: The signing of Hawes gives the Clippers some needed frontcourt depth and his ability to stretch opposing defenses with his jump shot will add to an already formidable offensive team. Hawes was also being pursued by the Suns and the Trail Blazers, but decided that the Clippers offered him the best opportunity. His deal is for four years, $23MM. Hawes’ career averages are 9.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.1 BPG. His career shooting numbers are .465/.361/.703.
Who Was The Best Non-LeBron Free Agent Signing So Far?
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Pau Gasol 38% (1,050)
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Lance Stephenson 33% (898)
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Luol Deng 12% (334)
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Paul Pierce 9% (256)
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Spencer Hawes 7% (197)
Total votes: 2,735
Raptors Release Diante Garrett
The Raptors have requested waivers on Diante Garrett with intention of releasing him from their roster, the team announced via Twitter. Garrett, the 25 year-old point guard out of Iowa State was acquired by the Raptors in the trade that sent Steve Novak and a second-round pick to the Jazz back on July 10th. Toronto had made the trade with the intent to waive Garrett and his non-guaranteed 2014/15 salary of $915,243 after the moratorium on trades and signings was lifted and the Novak deal became official. Garrett’s deal would have become fully guaranteed if he had remained on the roster past January 7th, 2015.
Toronto had also decided to release Dwight Buycks earlier today rather than have his salary of $816,482 become fully guaranteed for the 2014/15 season, which would have occurred if Buycks was still on the roster come July 22nd.
In 71 games for the Jazz last season, Garrett averaged 3.5 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.7 APG while logging 14.8 minutes per game. His slash line was .381/.375/.833.
Raptors Release Dwight Buycks
5:46pm: The Raptors have confirmed that they have placed Buycks on waivers via the team’s Twitter account.
4:01pm: Buycks tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com that he’s Europe bound if he’s eventually waived by Toronto (Twitter link).
10:44am: The Raptors have decided to release Dwight Buycks, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The team will make the move before July 22nd, when his fully non-guaranteed $816,482 salary would have become fully guaranteed for 2014/15. The move has been expected since Toronto signed James Johnson on Thursday.
Toronto has three experienced point guards on the roster ahead of Buycks in Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez, and Lou Williams. Buycks joins Nando De Colo and Diante Garrett as backcourt players to be moving on from Toronto this summer. Several teams are expected to pursue Buycks as a free agent, the RealGM scribe writes.
The point guard appeared in 24 games with the Raptors last season, his only time spent in the NBA. The Relativity Sports client struggled with his shot as a rookie, turning in a slash line of .313/.294/.889 in 10.4 MPG. Buycks has averaged 15.2 PPG and 2.8 APG in parts of two seasons in the D-League.
Atlantic Links: Nets, Lin, Williams, Celtics
Here’s this Saturday’s quick overview of all the latest chatter coming out of the NBA’s Atlantic Division:
- Daniel O’Leary of the New York Daily News thinks the Nets missed a perfect opportunity to strike a deal for the now-LA bound Jeremy Lin. O’Leary suggests it would have been keen of Brooklyn to craft a deal for Lin that would have dumped Deron Williams‘ lengthy and expensive contract in favor of Lin’s expiring pact.
- Lou Williams is excited to get a fresh start with the Raptors after an injury-riddled stint with the Hawks, as he tells Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Thanks to an ACL-tear, Williams played in just 99 games for Atlanta over the course of two seasons,
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com tracks all of the pieces from last year’s Celtics/Nets trade that send Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in exchange for assets. Forsberg opines that although it’s been just one season since the deal, it isn’t too early to declare Boston the winner of the trade.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Mavericks Sign Rashard Lewis
SATURDAY, 3:35pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
TUESDAY, 9:50pm: Rashard Lewis has agreed to a one-year deal with the Mavericks, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Colin Bryant, Lewis’ agent, confirmed the news. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas, the deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum (Twitter link).
In 60 games last season, Lewis averaged 4.5 PPG in 16.2 MPG while shooting 41.5% from the field and 34.3% from long distance. In 18 playoff games, the 34-year-old forward scored 5.3 PPG and raised his three point accuracy to 37.3%.
With Lewis on board, the Mavericks have found a capable veteran backup for Dirk Nowitzki who can spread the floor with his ability to knock down shots from the perimeter. Although his overall shooting percentages from the field over the last two seasons seem far from ideal, Lewis displayed noticeable proficiency as a catch-and-shoot player in this year’s playoffs, as he knocked down 40.0% of his 3.1 three-point attempts on those type of shots.
Wizards Acquire Kris Humphries From Celtics
3:07pm: The protected second-round pick going to the Celtics is for the 2015 draft, the Wizards announced. It’ll be Washington’s own second-rounder, since that’s the only one the Wizards had.
SATURDAY, 12:42pm: The sign-and-trade trade has been officially executed, per a team release from the Celtics.
6:08pm: Michael passes along (via Twitter) that the year in which the Wizards will send that protected second-round pick to the Celtics is yet to be determined.
5:14pm: Boston is receiving a future protected second-round pick in the deal, Wojnarowski reports. It’s so heavily protected that the Wizards are unlikely to ever have to convey it to the Celtics, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
4:25pm: The Celtics and Wizards have reached agreement on the sign-and-trade arrangement, Michael reports. It’s still unclear what Boston is receiving, however.
4:10pm: The first-year salary for Humphries will be $4.3MM, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, so assuming there are no other players involved, that’s the amount of the trade exception the Celtics will receive.
2:14pm: Boston has had only preliminary discussion with the Wizards about a sign-and-trade involving Humphries, but the Celtics nonetheless appear willing to take part, Wojnarowski reports (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 1:30pm: Kris Humphries has agreed to join the Wizards on a three-year, $13MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The Celtics and Wizards are working to make it a sign-and-trade that would allow the capped-out Wizards, who’ve already used their mid-level exception on Paul Pierce, to give Humphries a deal that large, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter links). Washington would use a trade exception from its deal to send Trevor Ariza to the Rockets to accommodate the trade for Humphries, as Zwerling explains. The final season of Humphries’ contract will be a team option, according to Wojnarowski, though it’s possible that it will simply be non-guaranteed.
Houston’s sign-and-trade for Ariza has yet to become finalized, but it’ll allow Washington to create a trade exception worth approximately $8.5MM, depending on the value of the salary in the first year of Ariza’s new deal. That’s more than enough room for Humphries, who’ll replace Trevor Booker after he agreed to join the Jazz earlier today.
It’s unclear what the Celtics would receive in the deal, though it appears they’ll net a trade exception of their own. Humphries recently reiterated his openness to a deal that would keep him in Boston, a stance he took for much of the second half of the season after rumors earlier in the year that he wanted out. The Celtics had interest, as did the Heat, Hornets, Clippers, Mavs and Timberwolves at various points this month, but ultimately Washington won out.
The Arn Tellem client averaged 8.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game for the Celtics this past season, but he’s only two seasons removed from back-to-back double-digit averages in scoring and rebounding for the Nets. Zach Links of Hoops Rumors pointed to Humphries’ track record in predicting that he would end up with a tidy payday, and while he won’t sock away $12MM as he did last season, he still remains well above the minimum salary.
Central Notes: Harris, Gasol, Mirotic, Pacers
Cavs second-rounder Joe Harris has been impressing Cleveland team officials during summer league play, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. The team can envision signing Harris and using him as a sharpshooter off the bench in a similar role that Mike Miller and James Jones will likely possess, says Pluto. More from the Central..
- Pau Gasol‘s contract the Bulls will pay him $22,346,280 over three years, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His first year salary is set at $7,128,000, but it’ll increase to $7,448,760 and $7,769,520 in his second and third seasons, respectively.
- Both Gasol’s new deal and Nikola Mirotic‘s recent pact for the Bulls will carry a 15% trade kicker, relays Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- In addition to their escalating talks with free agent Aaron Brooks, the Bulls are also eyeing John Lucas III, reports Stein (on Twitter). Lucas has previously spent time in Chicago, having appeared in 51 games over parts of two seasons.
- Pacers VP of Basketball Operations Peter Dinwiddle was considered a top candidate to land the Grizzlies’ GM job, but he’s opted to retain his current position in Indiana rather than move forward with Memphis, reveals Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
And-Ones: Wiggins, Allen, Brooks
Kobe Bryant told reporters including Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that he was happy with the Lakers offseason efforts, even though they didn’t yield a star addition like Carmelo Anthony (Twitter links). “I think [GM Mitch Kupchak] has responded quite efficiently [from missing on ‘Melo and Pau Gasol] by picking up some of the pieces he has,” said Bryant, who was not as supportive of the front office’s tactics earlier this year. Here’s more from around the league:
- Andrew Wiggins tells Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk that he’s unfazed by the rumors swirling around his name and a potential Kevin Love trade (Twitter links). “I let my agent and my support system handle [rumors]; I just love playing the game of basketball and I know the NBA is a business,” said the Cavs No. 1 pick. “I just play basketball, man, wherever I go.”
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (video link) speculates that the Cavs will ultimately wind up landing Kevin Love. Stein believes Cleveland is currently debating whether or not to sign Wiggins before a deal, since his salary would help even the trade, but would delay the process for trading him another 30 days.
- Ray Allen isn’t in a rush to make a decision on retiring or returning for another year, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Knicks are considering offering Metta World Peace a training camp invite on a non-guaranteed deal to give the veteran a chance at making the team this year, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. World Peace is eager to reunite with Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher in New York after being coached and playing alongside the duo during his time in Los Angeles.
- The Bulls have renounced Kirk Hinrich in a maneuver to help provide wiggle room for Chicago’s influx of signings, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com. Hinrich’s agreement to re-sign with the team will be unaffected by the move.
- Free agent MarShon Brooks has hired a new agent, Wallace Prather, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The shooting guard was formerly represented by Seth Cohen of the Original Creative Representation agency.
- Brooks tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that he’s trying to prove he’s an NBA player this summer, after earning a reputation as an undisciplined offense-only talent over his first three years in the league.
Bulls Close To Signing Aaron Brooks
12:47pm: The deal would indeed be for the minimum, league sources tell K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
12:00pm: The Bulls are close to finalizing a deal with free agent point guard Aaron Brooks, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Mutual interest was reported between Chicago and the veteran yesterday, so the talks have apparently moved swiftly. The framework for the deal is unknown, but Chicago is likely unable to offer more than the veteran’s minimum for Brooks considering their other cap commitments.
Brooks would be joining his fifth team for his seventh season in the NBA by joining Chicago. He would be a natural replacement for D.J. Augustin, who signed with the Pistons after a surprisingly solid run at the point following the re-injury of Derrick Rose last year.
At 6′, Brooks has always utilized his speed and quickness to score at a high rate. He started every game for the Rockets in 2009/10, pouring in 19.6 points a contest. While the CAA client will have to prove his ability to perform up to coach Tom Thibodeau‘s defensive expectations, he joins a bunch of Bulls newcomers that are being brought in to lift Chicago’s offensive output for next season. Stein describes Brooks’ projected role with Chicago as a scorer off the bench.
Heat Re-Sign Chris Andersen
JULY 19TH, 12:38pm: The Heat have announced that the signing is official.
“Chris Andersen has had two great seasons with us and without him, we would not have been able to win the 2013 NBA Championship,” said president Pat Riley. “I’m happy he decided to come back and we’re looking forward to a great season from him in the power rotation.”
10:13pm: Andersen’s deal is a two-year pact in the neighborhood of $10MM, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
JULY 13TH, 7:46pm: The Heat have reached agreement with Chris Andersen on a multi-year deal, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Exact terms of the deal are not yet known.
The Cavs and Mavericks were among the teams known to have interest in Andersen. Andersen likely had interest in a reunion with LeBron, but he’ll stay put with a Heat squad that is expected to feature Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, and Mario Chalmers. Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post (on Twitter) adds that the Knicks made a late run at the big man.
Andersen, 36, scored 6.6 points per game this past season, the second-highest total of his 12-year career. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per contest with an 18.5 PER as Miami’s first big man off the bench.