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Splashy, big-ticket free agent signings make headlines, but subtle pickups often make the difference between winning and losing. Players who can be had at bargain prices may be much more valuable than their contracts indicate. Two ways of evaluating that value are PER and win shares per 48 minutes, a pair of metrics designed to go beyond box score stats and evaluate a player's efficiency and contribution to the team.

Using the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Tracker, I've taken the average annual salary that each free agent signed for this summer and compared it to their PERs and win shares per 48 minutes from 2011/12. I divided the average salaries, listed here in millions, by the PERs and ranked the dividends from largest (most valuable) to smallest. For the second chart, I divided salaries by win shares per 48 minutes and ranked the results from smallest (most valuable) to largest.  

Not surprisingly, many of these guys are minimum-salary players. The minimum salary goes up for each year of experience a player has, but teams aren't on the hook for any amount beyond the minimum for a player with two years of experience, which is set at $854K this year. The league provides the rest of the money for the players. The salaries that have been adjusted down to the two-year veteran's minimum appear in yellow in the charts below. In cases where a signee didn't play last season, or appeared in fewer than 10 games, I substituted the PER or win shares per 48 minutes from the last NBA season in which he played at least 10 games, and those stats are shown here in gray. 

First, the PER chart:

Now, the win shares chart:

Some observations:

• Eight players appear on both 10-man lists: Patrick Mills, C.J. Watson, Daniel Orton, Nate Robinson, Chris Wilcox, Ronnie Brewer, Ronny Turiaf and Cartier Martin.
• The only teams to have multiple players on these lists are the Nets and Bulls. There's been criticism of the Bulls for their overhaul of the team's bench this offseason, but the numbers Robinson and Radmanovich put up last season suggest they can provide roughly the same value as departing reserves Watson and Brewer.
• P.J. Tucker's appearance on the PER chart might be something of a red herring, since it's based on a 17-game sample from back in 2006-07 with the Raptors, his only NBA experience. Though he played only 83 total minutes, he made the most of them, averaging 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per 36 minutes. He's the only player on either top 10 to make less than the two-year veteran's minimum, since he has only one season of experience, but if we took him off the list, the player to replace him would be Roger Mason of the Hornets. Mason's 2011/12 PER of 12.1 divided by his $854K veteran's minimum salary for next year results in a score of 14.169. 

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On this week in 1920, legendary Knicks coach Red Holzman was born in Brooklyn, New York.  At the tail end of his playing career, Holzman took the role of player-coach with the Milwaukee Hawks before transitioning to the club's head coach.  Following that, he returned to his native New York to join the Knicks' assistant coaching staff for a ten year stretch before taking over as head coach in the 1967 season.  Of course, Holzman would go on to coach the team to their only two NBA titles in 1970 and 1973.

If you have a great blog piece that you think we should feature in Hoops Links, then send it to me at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.  Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..

• Hardwood Paroxysm compares the Dwight Howard saga to classic theater.
• Blazer's Edge broke down Nicolas Batum's last Olympic outing.
• CelticsBlog wonders where the C's rank in the East.
• SLC Dunk looks at the Howard trade from all angles.
• The Basketball Post looks at Regal FC Barcelona.
• Bright Side Of The Sun doesn't see Steve Nash and Howard as a perfect fit.
• A Wolf Among Wolves mourns the passing of Tim Allen.
• Project Spurs wonders if San Antonio can hang with the new look Lakers.
• Fear The Sword laments the Howard deal passing the Cavs by.
• RealGM knows that this is the last go 'round for this generation of Olympic stars.
• NIU BBall sees the silver lining in China missing out on London.
• Red94 has a plan of attack for the Rockets going forward.
• Magic Basketball sees Jacque Vaughn as a low-risk, high-reward hire.
• Basketbawful brings us a special Olympic edition of the worst of the best.
• Brew Hoop examines Monta Ellis' best game in Milwaukee.
• Queen City Hoops wants the Bobcats to improve their frontcourt.
• Nets Are Scorching goes 3-on-3 to look at the fallout of the Howard deal.
• Cowbell Kingdom caught up with Isaiah Thomas.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached here.

Only two players averaged more than 10 assists per game last season, and there's no convenient numerical threshold to assess the salaries for elite passing talent as we've done for the dozen players who averaged 20 or more points last season and the eight who collected 10 or more rebounds per game. So, we've simply taken a look at the top 10 guys on the assist leaderboard from last season. On average, they're paid less than their scoring and rebounding counterparts, and thanks to paycuts for Steve Nash and Andre Miller that aren't completely offset by raises for the others on the list, they'll make even less in 2012/13 than they did last season.

Here are the top 10 assist producers from 2011/12, along with their salaries for the past and coming seasons and what they make for each assist on their nightly average.

Some observations:

• Deron Williams was the only player to finish in the top 10 in assists and scoring average last year, but thanks to the timing of his contract and the new CBA, he won't get the highest raise among players on this list. That distinction belongs to Chris Paul, who was making just as much as Williams did last season and will get slightly more in 2012/13.
• Andre Miller makes more money and was a slightly more prolific assist maker last season, but Nuggets teammate Ty Lawson is the starter and saw more minutes per game in 2011/12.
• Lawson will probably soon make more than Miller when his rookie deal runs out after this season. Lawson, John Wall and Ricky Rubio all made this list on their rookie scale contracts, representing bargains for their teams. Rubio was the only first-year player last season to be either a top 10 assist producer, 20+ PPG scorer or 10+ RPG rebounder.
• The Lakers, Clippers, Nets and Wolves all have a player on this list as well as the scoring and rebounding lists.

Storytellers Contracts and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.

Last night we took a look at what players who averaged 20 or more points per game last season are making, so let's shift the focus to rebounding, another sought-after skill. While rebounding doesn't have quite the same cachet as scoring, you can't score if you don't have the ball, and rebounding is one of the primary ways to take and keep possession. Only eight players grabbed 10 or more rebounds per game last season, and though they possess an elite skill, only three of them made more than $8MM. That changes thanks to Kevin Love's four-year maximum-salary extension, which kicks in this year, and Kris Humphries' new contract, but the top rebounders are still paid less than their scoring counterparts. In 2012/13, returning 20+ PPG scorers will make an average of $15,952,250, while players coming off 10+ RPG seasons will pull in an average of $12,339,276. 

Here's the list, with the players, teams, rebounds per game from 2011/12, their salaries for last year and this year. The last two columns tell you what they made and what they will make for each rebound on their averages.

Some observations:

• Kevin Love and Blake Griffin were the only players to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game last season, and both did so on their rookie deals.
• DeMarcus Cousins, for all his supposed petulance and immaturity, is a tremendous on-court value to the Kings. After this coming season, he'll have one more year on his rookie deal, at $4,916,974 in 2013/14, so Sacramento has a bargain for a while.
• Pau Gasol, at age 32, is the only player on the list older than 30. Only two of the 12 20+ PPG scorers are older than 30, suggesting that even though many of today's players are experiencing extended primes, elite performance is still reserved for the young.

Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.

There were only a dozen players who averaged at least 20 points per game in 2011/12, making them among the most valuable commodities in the league. There's a lot more than scoring when it comes to determining a player's value, but point production often wins the hearts of fans, coaches and general managers alike. In short, top scorers usually command top salaries, and scoring ability will weigh heavily in the decisions on players eligible for extensions this summer. 

Below we've listed the 20+ PPG scorers from 2011/12, their salaries for last year and this coming season, and what they made last year for each point of their scoring average. The final column is a measure of what they're getting paid this year for each point of their 2011/12 scoring average. 

Some observations:

• The best values are, of course, young players on their rookie contracts. Next year, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook won't be the bargains they were this past season. The Clippers get one more season of Griffin at seven figures before he gets a significant raise when his maximum extension kicks in for 2013/14.
• Since the CBA allows escalating salaries based on years in the league, it makes sense that Kobe Bryant, who's consistently played an elite level for 16 seasons, is by far the most expensive player on the list. He and Dirk Nowitzki are the only 20+ PPG players older than 30.
• There's a dropoff, it seems, for the last two players on the list. Monta Ellis and David Lee are both making salaries significantly below the other players who aren't on rookie contracts. It might be easy to dismiss this as an inflation of their scoring averages based on their time with the up-tempo Warriors, especially since Ellis averaged only 17.6 PPG after his midseason trade to the Bucks. Yet the Warriors finished tied for 11th in team scoring average this past season under new coach Mark Jackson, suggesting Ellis and Lee came by their points without significant help from a high-octane offense.

Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.

It's tempting to look away from the NBA this month, with the Olympics in full swing and most of the key free agent signed. Still, there have been several August transactions that have made an impact the past few offseasons. Last year there weren't any because of the lockout, but in 2010 and 2009, teams made some moves that had an impact on the coming season, and some of their effects are still being felt today. Here's a rundown of the trades and signings that have made August headlines in the past:

2010

• August 10th, 2010: Keith Bogans signs with the Bulls for two years, $3.328MM — Bogans started all 82 regular season and 16 playoff games for Chicago in 2010/11, which compiled the league’s best record and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. Bogans shot 38.0% from three-point range in the regular season, upping that mark to 42.4% in the playoffs. 
• August 11th, 2010: Trevor Ariza traded from the Rockets to the Hornets, Darren Collison traded from the Hornets to the Pacers, Courtney Lee traded from the Nets to the Rockets among other players in a four-team swap — Ariza plugged into the starting small forward role for New Orleans and averaged 10.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game the past two seasons. Collison spent most of 2010/11 and 2011/12 as a starter for Indiana, averaging 11.9 PPG and 5.0 APG. Lee used 40.4% shooting the past two seasons with Houston to net a four-year, $21.35MM contract with the Celtics this summer.
• August 11th, 2010: Marco Belinelli traded from the Raptors to the Hornets — Belinelli was the starter at shooting guard most of the past two seasons in New Orleans, averaging 11.1 PPG and 39.6% three-point shooting, not a bad return for Julian Wright.
• August 23rd, 2010: Nikola Pekovic signs with the Timberwolves for three years, $11,858,400 — The value of this signing wasn’t realized until this past season, when Pekovic averaged 15.4 PPG and 8.5 RPG on 54.7% shooting in 35 games as a starter. 
• August 24th, 2010: Landry Fields signs with the Knicks on a two-year, minimum-salary deal — Fields, the 39th overall pick in the 2010 draft, started all but five regular season games the past two years, and now takes a career rate of 6.5 rebounds per 36 minutes to the Raptors on a three-year, $18.7MM deal.

2009

• August 6th, 2009:Brandon Roy signs a maximum five-year, $82.3MM extension with the Blazers — Portland got only 112 games out of Roy before knee injuries forced him to retire, and the team elected to waive him with the amnesty clause. Roy is coming back with the Wolves next season, costing the Blazers $17MM in insurance money that would have helped offset the full amount of the contract Portland will still wind up paying him.
• August 7th, 2009:Marvin Williams re-signs with the Hawks for five years, $37.5MM — In the three seasons before Williams re-signed, he took 11.0 shots in 34.3 minutes per game, averaging 14.0 PPG. In the three seasons since, he’s taken 8.2 shots in 28.7 MPG and averaged 10.2 PPG. The Hawks traded him to the Jazz this summer for Devin Harris.
• August 7th, 2009:Jonas Jerebko signs with the Pistons on a two-year, minimum salary deal — Like Fields, drafted in the same position the next year, the 2009 39th overall pick made an impact in his rookie season, averaging 9.3 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 80 games, 73 of them starts. He missed all of 2010/11 with injury and has yet to regain his starting position.
• August 10th, 2009:Glen Davis re-signs with the Celtics for two years, $5MM — Most of Davis’ impact came in year two of this deal, when he averaged 11.7 PPG, 5.4 RPG in 29.5 MPG as a key reserve for Boston.
• August 18th, 2009:Carlos Delfino traded from the Raptors to the Bucks — The most prominent name in the four-player swap, Delfino became a starter and double-digit scorer for the first time in Milwaukee, averaging 10.6 PPG and 36.6% three-point shooting the past three seasons for the Bucks. He’s poised to make news again this August as one of the noteworthy remaining free agents.

RealGM.com and Storytellers Contracts were used in the creation of this post.

A little over a month into free agency, a number of teams have already made use of their mid-level or bi-annual exceptions, and only have minimum-salary deals left to offer. Amidst the flurry of July signings, it can be hard to track which teams have cap space, which are using exceptions, and how they're signing particular players.

So let's take this opportunity to look back on how teams have spent their mid-level exceptions to date. A refresher: Teams over the cap are permitted to use the full $5MM mid-level exception. However, if they use more than $3.09MM, the amount of the taxpayer mid-level, their team salary must not pass the luxury tax apron of about $74.3MM at any point during the season. Meanwhile, teams that dip below the cap receive a mini mid-level or "room" exception worth $2.575MM. Here's the breakdown of the MLE activity to date:

Teams with full $5MM mid-level exceptions:

• Atlanta Hawks: Used. Signed Lou Williams to a $5MM first-year salary.
• Boston Celtics: Used. Signed Jason Terry to a $5MM first-year salary.
• Chicago Bulls: $1,059,000 remaining. Signed Kirk Hinrich to a $3,941,000 first-year salary.
• Denver Nuggets: $3,325,359 remaining. Signed Anthony Randolph to a $1,674,641 first-year salary.
• Detroit Pistons: $2.5MM remaining. Signed Vyacheslav Kravtsov to a $1.5MM first-year salary. Signed Kyle Singler to a $1MM first-year salary.
• Golden State Warriors: Unconfirmed. The Warriors likely used most of their mid-level to sign Carl Landry and Draymond Green. First-year salaries for those two players are still unknown, but it appears the Warriors will have well under $1MM remaining on their mid-level.
• Los Angeles Clippers: Used. Signed Jamal Crawford to a $5MM first-year salary.
• Milwaukee Bucks: $4.35MM remaining. Signed Doron Lamb to a $650K first-year salary.
• Oklahoma City Thunder: $3,326,396 remaining. Signed Hasheem Thabeet to a $1.2MM first-year salary. Signed Hollis Thompson to a $473,604 first-year salary.
• Orlando Magic: $5MM remaining.
• San Antonio Spurs: $500K remaining. Signed Boris Diaw to a $4.5MM first-year salary.
• Utah Jazz: $2.5MM remaining. Signed Randy Foye to a $2.5MM first-year salary.
• Washington Wizards: $5MM remaining.

Teams with taxpayer $3.09MM mid-level exceptions:

• Brooklyn Nets: Used. Signed Mirza Teletovic to a $3.09MM first-year salary.
• Los Angeles Lakers: $3.09MM remaining.
• Memphis Grizzlies: $90K remaining. Signed Jerryd Bayless to a $3MM first-year salary.
• Miami Heat: Used. Signed Ray Allen to a $3.09MM first-year salary.
• New York Knicks: Used. Signed Jason Kidd to a $3.09MM first-year salary.

Teams with $2.575MM room exceptions:

• Charlotte Bobcats: $2.575MM remaining.
• Cleveland Cavaliers: $2.575MM remaining.
• Dallas Mavericks: $1,974,509 remaining. Signed Jae Crowder to a $600,491 first-year salary.
• Houston Rockets: $2.575MM remaining.
• Indiana Pacers: $2.575MM remaining.
• Minnesota Timberwolves: Used. Signed Greg Stiemsma to a $2.575MM first-year salary.
• New Orleans Hornets: $2.575MM remaining.
• Philadelphia 76ers: $2.575MM remaining.
• Phoenix Suns: $2.575MM remaining.
• Portland Trail Blazers: $2.575MM remaining.
• Sacramento Kings: $2.575MM remaining.
• Toronto Raptors: Used. Signed Aaron Gray to a $2.575MM first-year salary.

Storyteller's Contracts and HoopsWorld were used in the creation of this post.

Typically, the bigger names on the free agent market sign early, tying up teams' cap space and exceptions, leaving little more than minimum-salary contracts for the players that sign later in the offseason. As such, we can likely expect plenty more players to sign for the veteran's minimum before the season begins.

Already though, a number of players have signed minimum-salary deals, whether it's veterans taking a presumed discount to play for a contender (Antawn Jamison, Ronnie Brewer) or young players on partial guarantees, just hoping to earn a roster spot (Maalik Wayns, Kent Bazemore).

With the help of Hoops Rumors' Free Agent Tracker, here are the players that have signed minimum-salary deals so far this summer, as best we can tell:

Rashard Lewis (Heat): Two years, $2,751,688
Hollis Thompson (Thunder): Three years, $2,177,719
C.J. Watson (Nets): Two years, $2,099,621
P.J. Tucker (Suns): Two years, $1,646,488
Jason Collins (Celtics): One year, $1,352,181
Keyon Dooling (Celtics): One year, $1,352,181
Antawn Jamison (Lakers): One year, $1,352,181
Nazr Mohammed (Bulls): One year, $1,352,181
Vladimir Radmanovic (Bulls): One year, $1,352,181
Jerry Stackhouse (Nets): One year, $1,352,181
Chris Wilcox (Celtics): One year, $1,352,181
Kent Bazemore (Warriors): Two years, $1,262,476
Keith Bogans (Nets): One year, $1,229,255
Royal Ivey (Sixers): One year, $1,223,166
Ronnie Price (Trail Blazers): One year, $1,146,337
Nate Robinson (Bulls): One year, $1,146,337
Ronny Turiaf (Clippers): One year, $1,146,337
Ronnie Brewer (Knicks): One year, $1,069,509
Ryan Hollins (Clippers): One year, $1,069,509
Cartier Martin (Wizards): One year, $915,852
A.J. Price (Wizards): One year, $885,120
James White (Knicks): One year, $854,389
Pablo Prigioni (Knicks): One year, $473,604
Maalik Wayns (Sixers): One year, $473,604

Additional notes:

• Lewis' and Watson's deals with the Heat and Nets respectively include second-year player options.
• Because Thompson's contract with the Thunder is for three years rather than one or two, the team used part of its mid-level exception for the signing, rather than the minimum salary exception.
• The deals for Thompson, Tucker, Bazemore, and Wayns are not fully guaranteed.
• A handful of other players are presumed to have signed partially guaranteed minimum-salary deals, though terms of their contracts haven't been confirmed. That list includes Jamar Smith (Celtics), Dionte Christmas (Celtics), Chris Smith (Knicks), and Chris Copeland (Knicks).