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With September fast approaching, most GMs and team executives will tell you they're happy heading into camp with their current rosters at this point. But that doesn't mean there isn't still one particular area of need that a GM wouldn't mind addressing. A team could be targeting a backup point guard, a three-point shooter, a wing defender, or another kind of specialist.

With that in mind, let's consider teams still in need of a rebounder. Elite rebounders like Marcus Camby, Ersan Ilyasova, and Kris Humphries are no longer available, but there are still a handful of players that could grab boards on the cheap.

Listed below are the top 10 remaining free agents by rebounds per 36 minutes. Their RP36 rate for 2011/12 is listed in parentheses. To qualify, they must have averaged at least 10 minutes per game and appeared in at least 20 contests in 2011/12.

• Chris Andersen (11.0)
• Jamaal Magloire (10.9)
• Louis Amundson (10.6)
• Shelden Williams (9.9)
• Ben Wallace (9.9)
• Josh Harrellson (9.6)
• Ivan Johnson (8.7) (restricted)
• Andray Blatche (8.6)
• Matt Barnes (8.6)
• Tony Battie (8.2)

Honorable mention:

• Dominic McGuire (7.9) barely failed to crack the top 10, but played more games and minutes than many players listed above.
• James Singleton's 11.1 rebounds per 36 minutes would have put him atop this list, but he only played in 12 games for the Wizards.
• Other available options of note: Darko Milicic (7.4), Troy Murphy (7.2), Josh Childress (7.0), Kenyon Martin (6.9), and D.J. White (6.9).

For a good chunk of this summer's free agents, a newly-signed contract not only provided long-term security but also means a huge bump in annual salary. Take Roy Hibbert, for instance — after earning a salary of about $2.59MM in 2011/12, Hibbert will make close to $13.67MM in 2012/13, an increase of over $11MM.

Not every free agent made out nearly as well as Hibbert did though. For a handful of players, this offseason's free agency meant taking a significant pay cut in salary. Some players had no choice in the matter, while others were willing to accept a discount if it meant landing in the right situation. Here are the players whose annual salary will decrease the most from 2011/12 to 2012/13:

Antawn Jamison
11/12: $15,076,715 (Cavaliers)
12/13: $1,352,181 (Lakers)
Difference: $13,724,534

Tim Duncan
11/12: $21,164,619 (Spurs)
12/13: $9,638,554 (Spurs)
Difference: $11,526,065

Kevin Garnett
11/12: $21,247,044 (Celtics)
12/13: $11,550,000 (Celtics)
Difference: $9,697,044

Jason Kidd
11/12: $10,121,000 (Mavericks)
12/13: $3,090,000 (Knicks)
Difference: $7,031,000

Ray Allen
11/12: $10,000,000 (Celtics)
12/13: $3,090,000 (Heat)
Difference: $6,910,000

Marcus Camby
11/12: $11,227,250 (Rockets)
12/13: $4,590,338 (Knicks)
Difference: $6,636,912

Chris Kaman
11/12: $14,030,000 (Hornets)
12/13: $8,000,000 (Mavericks)
Difference: $6,030,000

Additional notes:

• Rashard Lewis' drop from $21,136,631 in 2011/12 to $1,352,181 in 2012/13 would be the largest decrease by far, if not for the buyout he received from the Hornets. Without seeing the specific wording in Lewis' contract(s), we can't know for sure what his exact 2012/13 salary will be, but even if he receives his reported $13,699,551 buyout in full this year, his overall annual salary still took a $6MM+ hit.
• Mehmet Okur and Leandro Barbosa are two more likely candidates to take significant pay cuts. They made $10.89MM and $7.6MM respectively a year ago, and remain unsigned so far this offseason.
• It should probably come as no surprise that every player listed above landed with a contending team. If productive veteran players are going to play for less money, most prefer to do it for contenders in major markets.
• Honorable mentions to Jason Terry, Kirk Hinrich, Carl Landry, Grant Hill, Raymond Felton, Kwame Brown, Hasheem Thabeet, Ronnie Brewer, and Martell Webster, who will all take pay cuts of $3.5MM+, by my calculations.
• Amnestied players are not included here, since they continue to receive pay checks based on their old contracts.

Deron Williams' $98MM+ contract represented the biggest deal of his summer's free agent period by far, but Williams is the only unrestricted free agent you'll find among the offseason's top five largest contracts. Rounding out the top of the list? Restricted free agents Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, Eric Gordon, and Nicolas Batum.

While Lopez, Hibbert, and Gordon landed max deals, not every restricted free agent made out quite so well. Most players were able to improve at least marginally on the one-year qualifying offers their teams offered, but there were a handful of instances where the player may simply have been better off accepting his QO.

Besides the four restricted FAs listed above, the following players made out very well in free agency, landing big, multiyear deals: JaVale McGee, George Hill, Ryan Anderson, Jason Thompson, Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin, Landry Fields, Danny Green, Darrell Arthur, and Marreese Speights. And while Courtney Lee was made unrestricted by the time he signed, his four-year deal represents a big win as well. Lavoy Allen, Aaron Brooks, and Jeremy Evans also did okay, landing multiple years and modest raises.

Let's take a look at the rest of this summer's restricted free agents to see how they fared:

• Robin Lopez: Lopez's three-year, $15.3MM contract looks nice on paper, but only the first year is guaranteed, for less than $5MM. Still, even that's a slight improvement on the $4MM qualifying offer he had from the Suns.
• Greg Stiemsma: Stiemsma's QO was only worth about $1.05MM, so even though he only earned one guaranteed year from the Timberwolves, the raise to $2.58MM made it worthwhile.
• Brandon Rush: The two-year, $8MM deal Rush signed with the Warriors is solid, but his qualifying offer was actually worth slightly more than his $4MM 2012/13 salary. Rush has a player option in the second year of the deal, which provides a level of security that a one-year deal wouldn't, so even if he opts out next summer, he shouldn't have any regrets about not simply accepting his QO.
• D.J. Augustin: The Bobcats pulled their $4.39MM QO to Augustin right before he signed with the Pacers for one year and $3.5MM. That's not an insignificant amount Augustin gave up by not returning to Charlotte, but given the team's performance last year, maybe the change of scenery was worth it.
• Jerryd Bayless: Bayless' overall guarantee from the Grizzlies (about $6.1MM) is larger than the amount of his QO (about $4MM), but his salary for 2012/13 will be just $3MM. The Raptors withdrew their offer to Bayless fairly early in July, but perhaps the combo guard would do things differently if had a second chance at free agency.
• A.J. Price: The Pacers rescinded their qualifying offer to Price early in the free agent period, and it cost the point guard a little money. He ended up signing with the Wizards for the minimum salary ($885,120) rather than his $1.09MM QO.
• Derrick Brown: The Bobcats pulled their QO to Brown, who remains unsigned. It looks like that $1.09MM offer will be more than Brown lands now.
• Semih Erden / Sonny Weems: We don't know exactly how much Erden signed for in Turkey, but considering he inked a two-year pact with a third-year option, he probably made out just fine. Ditto for Weems, who signed a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow after the Raptors withdrew their qualifying offer.
• Devin Ebanks / Darius Morris / Luke Harangody: These players simply re-signed their qualifying offers to return to their respective teams.
• Patty Mills: Mills also re-signed for the amount of his qualifying offer, but added a second-year option to his new contract. There are conflicting reports on whether it's a team or player option, but a player option would make more sense — otherwise, Mills would've been better off simply accepting the QO.
• Alonzo Gee / Ivan Johnson: The only two remaining unsigned restricted free agents, they still have a few weeks to either accept their qualifying offers or work out new deals.

With the summer's premier free agents off the market and 2012's top trade candidate (Dwight Howard) having been moved, we've entered something of a dead zone in the NBA calendar, as players and teams wait for training camps to begin. Still, despite the relative lack of activity these days, there are a number of dates and deadlines to keep an eye out for before the NBA regular season begins. Here are a few of them, courtesy of Larry Coon's CBA FAQ:

August 31: Next Friday is the last day teams can waive players and apply the stretch provision to this season. That means if a player with one year and $3MM left on his contract is released before August 31st, the remaining $3MM will be "stretched," with the team paying $1MM for each of the next three years. If the same player is released after September 1st, the current season would be paid per the normal payment schedule. Because this provision only applies to contracts signed under the new CBA, it's unlikely we'll see it taken advantage of much this year, but it could become more important in future seasons.

September 6: Second-round picks become free agents if not given a required tender. Many of this year's second-rounders have already signed with their respective teams, or decided to play overseas. Those that remain unsigned will likely be locked up in the near future.

October 1: This is the last day for a restricted free agent to accept a qualifying offer, unless the team extends the deadline, which is rare. As our dwindling list of restricted free agents shows, it appears there are only two players left with outstanding qualifying offers — the Hawks' Ivan Johnson and Alonzo Gee of the Cavs.

October 31: Halloween is the last day teams can extend players entering the final year of rookie scale contracts, like the Thunder recently did with Serge Ibaka. It's also the last day teams can exercise 2013/14 options on rookie scale deals. For instance, at some point before this deadline, the Celtics will pick up their 2013/14 team option on Avery Bradley.

Pay does not always match up with performance, as the NBA continually demonstrates. The best player on a team is not always its highest paid, and sometimes a club receives little in return for its most prolific investment.

We've listed each team and its highest paid player below. All it takes is a glance to notice a few names and dollar figures that look out of kilter. John Salmons has been a serviceable NBA player, but after a season in which he averaged 7.5 points and put up a PER of 9.0, well below the 15.0 mark of an average NBA player, he's hardly the kind of guy you'd expect to be a top money-earner. Derrick Rose's name seems much more fitting on the list, but he won't be giving the Bulls any production for their money for at least a significant chunk of the upcoming season as he recovers from knee surgery. Chris Bosh, while an All-Star caliber player, isn't on par with three-time MVP LeBron James on the court, but they signed identical contracts back in 2010.

Perhaps most remarkable, though, is how much turnover there is. Eleven of the 30 players on this list joined their teams within the last 12 months. Three of them were involved in the four-team trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, though Howard himself isn't on the list, as Kobe Bryant's $27.849MM salary will be the highest in the league this coming season. 

Here's the complete list, by division:

Atlantic Division
Celtics: Paul Pierce, $16.790MM
Knicks: Carmelo Anthony, $20.463MM 
Nets: Joe Johnson, $19.753MM
Raptors: Jose Calderon, $10.562MM
Sixers: Andrew Bynum, $16.889MM

Southeast Division
Bobcats: Ben Gordon, $12.4MM 
Hawks: Josh Smith, $13.2MM
Heat: LeBron James and Chris Bosh, $17.545MM (tie)
Magic: Hedo Turkoglu, $11.816MM 
Wizards: Emeka Okafor, $13.49MM 

Central Division
Bulls: Derrick Rose, $16.403MM
Bucks: Monta Ellis, $11MM
Cavaliers: Anderson Varejao, $8.368MM
Pacers: Roy Hibbert, $13.669MM
Pistons: Corey Maggette, $10.924MM 

Southwest Division
Grizzlies: Zach Randolph, $16.5MM
Hornets: Eric Gordon, $13.669MM
Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki, $20.907MM
Rockets: Kevin Martin, $12.44MM
Spurs: Manu Ginobili, $14.107MM 

Northwest Division
Jazz: Al Jefferson, $15MM
Nuggets: Andre Iguodala, $14.968MM 
Timberwolves: Kevin Love, $12.922MM
Thunder: Kevin Durant, $16.67MM 
Trail Blazers: LaMarcus Aldridge: $13.5MM 

Pacific Division
Clippers: Chris Paul, $17.779MM
Lakers: Kobe Bryant, $27.849MM
Kings: John Salmons, $8.083MM
Suns: Goran Dragic, $7.5MM
Warriors: Andrew Bogut, $13MM

Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.

The Lakers' deals for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard coupled with the Heat's acquisition of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, among other moves this offseason, have lent fuel to the sentiment that the NBA's high-dollar marquee franchises can more or less spend at will to bring in talent. 

By and large, though, there's little correlation between teams that were successful last year and those that spent heavily this summer, nor is there a strong connection between those that carried high payrolls last year and those that continued to spend in the offseason. The 10 teams that committed the most money to free agents this offseason, per the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Tracker, averaged just 34.3 wins during last year's lockout-shortened 66-game schedule. The top 5 teams in that category averaged 32.4 wins, for a winning percentage just below .500. 

The story is much the same if we look at team salaries as they were calculated for luxury tax purposes last season. Just three out of the top 10 teams on that list are also among the top 10 spenders this summer, and only the Celtics appear among the top five teams on both lists.

The primary reason for this appears to be the salary cap. Though the NBA operates under a "soft" cap, with exceptions that allow teams to go over it for a variety of reasons, it more or less keeps spending in line throughout the league. Teams are also obligated to spend a certain amount each year, so there isn't too much disparity among payrolls from top to bottom. 

While the Lakers and Heat had two of the top three payrolls from last season, they were just 13th and 24th, respectively, among spenders this offseason. The Lakers acquired Nash via sign-and-trade using the trade exception they acquired when they shipped Lamar Odom to Dallas, and they got Howard in a straight-up four-way swap. The Heat were successful in convincing Allen and Lewis to accept below-market contracts, just as the Lakers did with Antawn Jamison. L.A. and Miami were shrewd, but they weren't spendthrifts.

For a broader look, here are all 30 teams ranked first by wins, then 2011/12 payroll, and finally by their spending this offseason: 

Read more

Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren't the only updates you'll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you'll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here's a rundown of a few of them:

• Our Free Agent Tracker features up-to-date details on this summer's free agent signings, with data sortable by team, position, contract years, and contract amount.
• We also have free agent lists for both this summer and next summer in text form, which will continue to be modified as players are signed or released.
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• Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere every Saturday in his weekly Hoops Links feature.
• Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we examined free agent spending by division and looked into which teams still have their mid-level exceptions available.

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If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Kenyon Martin as he navigates free agency, you can visit this page. If you're interested in whether Jose Calderon might be traded from the Raptors to your favorite team, all Calderon-related updates are located here.

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Last week, we took a look at each of the NBA's six divisions, recapping 2012 free agent spending around the league. The upshot? The five Atlantic teams combined to spend way more than any other division, while the Southeast squads spent significantly less than any other division. The results provided a number of other items of note though, so let's take a look at some of our findings.

Because these figures are based solely on free agent spending, our numbers don't take into account money committed to draft picks or salary exchanged in trades. Additionally, these totals are based on the potential earnings for every free agent if he plays out his whole contract, so option years and nonguaranteed years are included in our calculations. Here are this summer's top five spenders in free agency:

• Brooklyn Nets: $243.053MM
• Boston Celtics: $133.606MM
• Indiana Pacers: $128.366MM
• New Orleans Hornets: $108.948MM
• Denver Nuggets: $63.875MM

Bottom five spenders:

• Washington Wizards: $1.801MM
• Detroit Pistons: $4.875MM
• Oklahoma City Thunder: $7.598MM
• Cleveland Cavaliers: $7.682MM
• Utah Jazz: $8.000MM

And each division's total commitments:

• Atlantic: $498.269MM
• Southwest: 262.169MM
• Central: 196.083MM
• Pacific: $189.221MM
• Northwest: 179.711MM
• Southeast: $71.836MM

For more information on the offseason's free agent spending, check out our posts for the individual division (linked above) or peruse Hoops Rumors' free agent tracker.

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