Freeagency 2011:

[bajaden]

I thought I would start a thread pertaining to the coming freeagency. I know its a bit early, and may be very early, considering the pending lockout. But since were about to enter the DDOS, its something to discuss. Instead of listing all the unrestricted and restricted freeagents, I've listed the one's that I think could help the Kings in some capacity. Some more than others, and with some being fairly one dimensional in that capacity.

I also tried to eliminate older players that might not have significant impact on the team. So in no particular order, and with no advocation toward any particular player, here's my list, starting with unrestricted freeagents.

Jamal Crawford: 6'5", SG/PG, or combo guard. Age 31. He's been a very valuable player for Atlanta, and I'm sure they want him back, but are up against the cap. Handles the ball well and shoots the ball well, although somewhat streaky. Is a very capable defender.

Joel Przybilla: 7'1", Center, age 31. Solid backup center off the bench. Good defender and rebounder in limited minutes. Good role player..

Caron Butler: 6'7", SF, age 31. Coming off injury, but should make full recovery. Solid defender, but erratic outside shooter. Played great defense on LeBron during the year.

Tayshaun Prince: 6'9", SF, age 31. Solid defender, with good size for the position. Handles the ball well.

Shane Battier: 6'8", Sf, age 32. Great defender, and capable of hitting the spot up three. Very smart player, who doesn't need the ball to be effective.

Ray Allen: 6'5", SG, age 35. If he wants to play for us for a reasonable price, I'll certainly listen. Not going to happen. Added just for fun.

Andrei Kirilenko: 6'9", SF, age 30. Solid defender who can hit the spot up shot, but is somewhat inconsistent. Can play some PF on occasion.

Jason Richardson: 6'6", SG, age 30. Good all around player. Good shooter and defender, while not being great in either capacity. If cheap, would be great player off the bench.

David West: 6'9", PF, age 30. Very solid player that is an underrated defender. Good rebounder, and can score inside or away from the basket. Questions about knee injury need to be answered first.

Jason Kapono: 6'8", SF, age 30. Great outside shooter. Shot 43.7% from the three last season. Would help spread the floor.

Mickael Pietrus: 6'6", SG/SF, age 29. Very good defender, and decent outside shooter. Solid guy off the bench.

Tyson Chandler: 7'1", Center, age 28. Very good defender, and rebounder. Will give you 12 pts a night on garbage alone. Good shotblocker. Cuban will sell first born to keep him.

Nene Hilario: 6'11", C/PF, age 28. Solid all around player. He can defend, rebound, and score. But not great at any one thing. Just a very solid player.

Leandro Barbosa: 6'3", SG, age 28. Good defender with long arms that plays taller than he is. Decent shooter, but irratic. Shot as high as 44% and as low as 32% from the three. Solid role player

Glen Davis: 6'8", PF, age 25. Not as high on him as others might be. Poor rebounder, and thinks of himself as a star. Not sure he would be a good fit. Post scorer.

Josh McRoberts: 6'10", PF/C, age 24. Still has potential. Could be solid backup off the bench. Think Scott Pollard.

Jose Jaun Barea: 5'11", PG, age 26. Poster child for an undrafted player. Almost singlehandedly dismantled the Lakers in a couple of games. Steve Nash light! Would be a solid player that can impact the game. Another first born gone for Cuban. He has a hard freeagency period coming up. I'd love to have Barea......


My restricted freeagent list is much shorter, and I'll keep my comments shorter.

Arron Afflalo: 6'5", SG, age 25. Solid defender.

Wilson Chandler: 6'8", SF, age 24. Still coming into his own. Good potential.

Jonas Jerebko: 6'10", PF, age 24. Great potential. Probably resigns with his team.

DeAndre Jordan: 6'11", C, age 22. Great potential. I'd make Sterling miserable by throwing a big number at him. Could be better than Dalembert.

Marc Gasol: 7'1", C, age 26. Have to include him, but Memphis will do anything to keep him.

Jason Smith: 7'0", C/PF, age 25. Very athletic player. Might be available if offered enough. Health might be an issue.

Greg Oden: 7'0", C, age 23. Could be unresticted if Portland doesn't pick up option. High risk, high reward. Would depend on the price.

Nick Young: 6'7", SF/SG, age 25. Is explosive at times, and will put up a bunch of points in a hurry. Has upside left. Decent defender at this point. Probably not a good fit though.

Those are my picks. Feel free to add anyone you want. While none are superstars, or for that matter, even stars, anyone one of them would help the team. I wonder what Donald Sterling would do if the Kings threw a big number at Jordan. He'd only have seven days to respond. At least under the old rules. Jordan is a young center thats just starting to scratch the surface of his potential, and is already a good shotblocker.

Under the new CBA, Cuban may not be able to keep both Chandler and Barea. Maybe neither. Barea is still young, and is a pass first type PG, who is outstanding at breaking down defenses. And despite his diminutive size, he's a very pesky defender at the other end of the floor. I'd be interested in either or both guys. Of course in Chandlers case, it would depend on what happens with Dalembert.

 

[Dreadnought]

I like Shane Battier and DeAndre Jordan. I feel like Shane Battier would be a really vocal veteran presence that would be exactly what this team needs. I feel like a 3 year, 15 million contract wouldn't be too bad to offer him. I like that he defends well and can shoot at SF. Isn't that exactly what we need?

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

DeAndre Jordan will start massive bidding wars over him. Hyperathletic 7 foot centers are hard to come by. And to be honest with you, he's good, but he might just be reacting to a contract year...the year before he was incredibly raw and was blocking shots and was routinely out of position defensively (of course the Clippers have a terrible coach, but still). And Dalembert is similar, to me has a better track record of defensive discipline, and while he's nearing his 30s and his game is based on athleticism should still be cheaper.

Pass on Crawford. He was an overrated sixth man the season before, and he's their weak link on defense. JRich--Getting progressively overrated. I think Nash made him better. Seriously. Glen Davis--Really overrated. Put him in the Timberwolves and you'll see the results. McBobs--Interesting. Fits our youth and athletic, but somewhat similar to Donte. Przybilla--Injury machine. Turnover machine. Has had value in the past and might be good for something less than $2mil, but there's bigger fish. Butler, Allen, Nene, D West, Barea--no chance. Prince--Wrong team. He deserves to go to a playoff team. No way he'll choose us. Battier--Ditto, like Prince. Kirilenko--I liked him years before, but it seems like he's been operating at 20% REM relative to talent level. Injury concerns. Again, at that age, probably like to stick with a playoff team, and we're not going to shell out dough for someone of his work ethic/injury history. Pietrus--Like the guy. Threes+D, even if sometimes the dumb leap off your feet D. Still an athlete. Young--Kevin Martin redux, except way less talented. Super 1-D for the win. Has a loser's style of game. Kapono--We do need a shooter. Only for vet minimum. For a sharpshooter, he sure loves those mid-range J's. Jerebko--Really underrated defender/intangibles guy. Super young. Fits right in. Detroit probably keeps him though.

The only ones I'm interested in and see as feasible while fitting our construct is Pietrus. Maybe Jerebko and McBobs. Kapono and Przybilla are really tertiary and beyond type priorities.

 

[kingsboi]

Before we acquired Marcus I was really hoping to go after Nick Young. Since we have our scorer now we have no use for him. There are too many old FA's and I'm not willing to overpay for the likes of a Kirilenko, Battier, Prince. I'd rather just get a SF in the draft and be fine with it if that's what it comes down to. I like Afflalo but I don't see him getting minutes cause Reke/Thornton play the majority of the SG minutes. Chandler/Barrea are more than likely resigning and if not they will get overpaid so pass. Nene has no use here unless Dalembert is gone and plus him and Cousins = bad fit. So it's tough to say who to go after, this isn't the most impressive FA class but I'm sure we can get a productive player or two out of the bunch regardless.

 

[Fear the Putin]

we dearly need a vocal veteran presence in the locker room.

Battier fits that mold. Sure he may be past his prime, but he still can play great defense and provide the intangibles that this team sorely needs.

 

[ElRey]

I want Prince, then Battier, then Kirilinko.

 

[bajaden]

Before we acquired Marcus I was really hoping to go after Nick Young. Since we have our scorer now we have no use for him. There are too many old FA's and I'm not willing to overpay for the likes of a Kirilenko, Battier, Prince. I'd rather just get a SF in the draft and be fine with it if that's what it comes down to. I like Afflalo but I don't see him getting minutes cause Reke/Thornton play the majority of the SG minutes. Chandler/Barrea are more than likely resigning and if not they will get overpaid so pass. Nene has no use here unless Dalembert is gone and plus him and Cousins = bad fit. So it's tough to say who to go after, this isn't the most impressive FA class but I'm sure we can get a productive player or two out of the bunch regardless.

Think of this in terms of role players. Forget about how many minutes someone may or may not get. Take a peek at Dallas in the playoffs. They have guys that come in and give you 6 minutes, and guys that sometimes give you 25 minutes. Take Przybilla for instance. If he could be had cheaply enough, then he's the perfect guy to give you somewhere between 7 to 15 minutes a game depending on the circumstance. All he has to do is come in and hold down the fort for a while. With limited minutes he'll have a better chance of staying healthy, and I'm not going to worry about the occasional turnover in the small amount of time he'll handle the ball.

I'm looking at the team as a playoff team filling in pieces, and not as a rebuilding team. So from that prospective, experience is one of the things I'm looking for. A Battier may demand more money than a younger version, but he'll also bring more to the table in the short term. In the Dallas newspapers, there seems to be a lot of doubt whether they can retain both Chandler and Barea. Barea, is entering his prime, and has turned into a very good player, that looks to set others up. He runs the pick and role as good as any PG in the league. He made 1.8 million last season, and by comparison, he's worth as much as Beno makes. Not saying he'll get that, but he might. But he's a guy that would impact the team. Some around here were high on Arron Brooks. I'd rather have Barea.

Its easy to say that the Mav's are going to resign both because of Cuban. But we don't know what the new CBA is going to be. Right now the Mav's are sitting at 60 mil in payroll next season without Chandler, Butler and Barea's salaries being included. They also have Peja and Stevenson as freeagents. So its not as cut and dry as one might think.

 

[bajaden]

we dearly need a vocal veteran presence in the locker room.

Battier fits that mold. Sure he may be past his prime, but he still can play great defense and provide the intangibles that this team sorely needs.

I like Battier the best as well. If you can sign Battier, and then also draft a Singleton, Hamilton, or Leonard, then he becomes the mentor, and by the time he's ready to move on, or hang them up, hopefully the man in waiting is ready to step in.

 

[gunks]

DeAndre Jordan would be amazing if we lose Dally, but I think he's staying with the Clips...

...Sigh. I was clamoring to trade for him this past offseason, before he blew up this year, based on some of his late season performances. If only Petrie listened to me

Funny fact: I know the girl he was dating (this was last year, so dunno if they're still together), and she is only about 4' 11'' tall, if that. Curvy as heck though!


....Other FAs Id like to see GP go after would be the aforementioned Battier and AK47. Both those guys would be great starting at the 3 for us. If we get Battier though, than we'd probably need a legit SF prospect to take over for him in a season or two. And by legit I dont mean Greene or Omri (although I'm not as down on Casspi as others around here).

IF he can stay healthy, Przy could be worth taking a flier on. Yes, I'm that pessimistic about us retaining the services of Dally.

There are a lot of other guys on that list I'm interested in, but I dont think we have a chance at (Nene, Tyson Chandler, Jerebko).

 

[SacKings7]

DeAndre Jordan would be amazing if we lose Dally, but I think he's staying with the Clips...

...Sigh. I was clamoring to trade for him this past offseason, before he blew up this year, based on some of his late season performances. If only Petrie listened to me

Funny fact: I know the girl he was dating (this was last year, so dunno if they're still together), and she is only about 4' 11'' tall, if that. Curvy as heck though!


....Other FAs Id like to see GP go after would be the aforementioned Battier and AK47. Both those guys would be great starting at the 3 for us. If we get Battier though, than we'd probably need a legit SF prospect to take over for him in a season or two. And by legit I dont mean Greene or Omri (although I'm not as down on Casspi as others around here).

IF he can stay healthy, Przy could be worth taking a flier on. Yes, I'm that pessimistic about us retaining the services of Dally.

There are a lot of other guys on that list I'm interested in, but I dont think we have a chance at (Nene, Tyson Chandler, Jerebko).

I kinda agree but it may not be the case necessarily. Athletic ability and foot speed are usually the 2 things that decrease the most when a player nears the end of his career. Shane was never really that quick of a player.He's a good defender mostly because he's smart. I think he has a few good years in him yet

 

[LPKingsFan]

I'm rooting for Dallas to win and Chandler to seek more green elsewhere. He'd be perfect if Dalembert walks. Then again, I've been advocating for getting Chandler on this board for years to no avail

Edit to add: Kirilenko's my top choice among the SFs. Chandler's interesting but I wonder what it would take to get him. Denver has space, but Afflalo and Nene are free agents as well. I'd maybe sign BOTH Afflalo and Chandler to offer sheets and see if Denver actually matches both.

 

[ElRey]

Hey guys when are you allowed to talk to free agents? Is it before or after the draft?

 

[Boogie-havoc]

If the price is right - Wilson Chandler.

 

[ElRey]

Caron Butler might be available for a decent price, esp if Dallas wins a championship without him

 

[SacKings7]

Hey guys when are you allowed to talk to free agents? Is it before or after the draft?

July 1st is usually when we can "discuss" contracts with free agents. Contracts usually can't be signed until around the 14th(?) I think. However, the lockout is scheduled for July 1st, so who knows

 

[ElRey]

July 1st is usually when we can "discuss" contracts with free agents. Contracts usually can't be signed until around the 14th(?) I think. However, the lockout is scheduled for July 1st, so who knows

With the lockout looming, that makes it hard to plan out your draft. In addition you don't know what's going to happen with the CBA.

 

[bajaden]

With the lockout looming, that makes it hard to plan out your draft. In addition you don't know what's going to happen with the CBA.

The date of freeagent signing changes every year, and in some cases its extended if they haven't figured out the new BRI. Last year the date was july 7th if memory serves. In the way of signing, nothing can happen between now and whenever the lockout is lifted, if there is a lockout. However, trades can be made between now and july 1st, by any team that has finished its current season. So, a possible trade for Iggy could be done as long as it doesn't involve any signing of contracts. Such as a sign an trade. I do believe that this years draftpicks fall under the old CBA, and are therefore locked into set salaries that are ready predetermined. That applies only to 1st round picks.

 

[ElRey]

The date of freeagent signing changes every year, and in some cases its extended if they haven't figured out the new BRI. Last year the date was july 7th if memory serves. In the way of signing, nothing can happen between now and whenever the lockout is lifted, if there is a lockout. However, trades can be made between now and july 1st, by any team that has finished its current season. So, a possible trade for Iggy could be done as long as it doesn't involve any signing of contracts. Such as a sign an trade. I do believe that this years draftpicks fall under the old CBA, and are therefore locked into set salaries that are ready predetermined. That applies only to 1st round picks.

I think this year might be a very very BORING offseason, since teams will probably wait for the new CBA before making any moves. sigh...

 

[Section 101]

I also tried to eliminate older players that might not have significant impact on the team. So in no particular order, and with no advocation toward any particular player, here's my list, starting with unrestricted freeagents.

10 of your 17 FA are 30+. Didn't do a good job of eliminating the older players !!! While some are good they are this is the poison area where you really risk getting only 2 years at the contract level and the rest is poison.

 

[bajaden]

DeAndre Jordan would be amazing if we lose Dally, but I think he's staying with the Clips...

...Sigh. I was clamoring to trade for him this past offseason, before he blew up this year, based on some of his late season performances. If only Petrie listened to me

Funny fact: I know the girl he was dating (this was last year, so dunno if they're still together), and she is only about 4' 11'' tall, if that. Curvy as heck though!


....Other FAs Id like to see GP go after would be the aforementioned Battier and AK47. Both those guys would be great starting at the 3 for us. If we get Battier though, than we'd probably need a legit SF prospect to take over for him in a season or two. And by legit I dont mean Greene or Omri (although I'm not as down on Casspi as others around here).

IF he can stay healthy, Przy could be worth taking a flier on. Yes, I'm that pessimistic about us retaining the services of Dally.

There are a lot of other guys on that list I'm interested in, but I dont think we have a chance at (Nene, Tyson Chandler, Jerebko).

I know its easy to assume that Jordan will resign with the Clips. But remember, were dealing with Donald Sterling here. At the very least, we could make him pay more for Jordan than he wants to. He'd have to match our offer. With Jordan, what a team can offer is limited by the early bird rule, or the Gilbert Arenas rule. Thats because Jordan was a second round pick with 2 years experience. It will be the same with any team trying to steal Thornton from us.

Its fairly confusing, and I'll probably get it wrong. The one advantage we'd have is the fact that were way under the cap. The most that can be offered in the first year of the contract would be whatever the max league average is. That average is usually the same as whatever the MLE is for that year. The second year would be an 8% increase over the first year.

So esentially, if we were to offer Jordan a two year contract, they could use the MLE to match the offer, whether they're under the cap or not. But here's where it gets interesting. If we wanted to offer Jordan a 5 year contract, you can make a substantial jump in the third year, depending on the total five years amount. The way it works is, if a team is 11 million under the cap, and wants to offer that amount, to lets say Jordan. Then the total contract for five years would have to be 55 million, because you have to average 11 mil a year for the length of the contract. So if your restricted in the first two years to the 5 mil and then the 8% raise, your left about 44 million to spread out over the next 3 years. So his third year would be around 13 mil, and then 14.5 mil, etc.

Now the Clips would still be allowed to match the offer, despite it possibly taking them over the cap in the third year. But would they? Would Sterling pony up, expecially with Gordon's contract coming up the very next offseason. I'm not saying that we offer that much to Jordan. I'm just saying that its not a slam dunk that Sterling would bite the bullet.

 

[rainmaker]

Baja, Jordan has 3 years experience. So I'm not sure all that still applies. I'm pretty sure he's only a RFA, and the RFA rules are the only which apply.

 

[Return To Glory]

Do you guys think we could (somehow) outbid Memphis for Marc Gasol's services? I'm fascinated by his skillset. I think he could be something like Vlade Divac for our current team. What do you guys think?

 

[Sac.1989]

Jason Kapono would be right up our alley i feel

 

[Aenadin]

i don't know if this guy was added back i didnt back read enough.. what about Joe alexander in the free agency.. 24-25 years old athletic been doing well in the D-league.. once lottery talent still has potential. might be good to bring him in for a cheap contract.. making either of our wings movable for a trade...

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Do you guys think we could (somehow) outbid Memphis for Marc Gasol's services? I'm fascinated by his skillset. I think he could be something like Vlade Divac for our current team. What do you guys think?

No...plus we wouldn't be looking for a guy like him unless we can't re-sign Dalembert.

 

[bajaden]

10 of your 17 FA are 30+. Didn't do a good job of eliminating the older players !!! While some are good they are this is the poison area where you really risk getting only 2 years at the contract level and the rest is poison.

I believe I said I removed older players that I didn't think would have a significant impact. The one's I listed are those I think could impact the team. We may disagree on that, but its subjective. I happen to think an a good experienced player will help this team. But of course it would depend on the money and the length of contract. This is after all, just my opinion..

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Best Case Option #1: Throw a boatload of $$$ and get AK47
Best Case Option #2: Tayshaun Prince
Best Case Option #3: Shane Battier

After signing one of those guys, I like the McRoberts idea...add him, plus another shooter like Kapono off the bench and I believe we would be in store for an exciting season...given that we re-sign Dalembert and Thornton. If we can't make one of the above options work, then I think is where you pull the trigger on a package deal for Iguodala...or something of the sort. I just can't WAIT until this damn season is over and we can start this thing! Draft day...then July 1 Free Agent day, and go from there. Fun!!!

 

[bajaden]

Baja, Jordan has 3 years experience. So I'm not sure all that still applies. I'm pretty sure he's only a RFA, and the RFA rules are the only which apply.

Yep, I originally went to Yahoo sports players, and they had him listed as a two year player. I should have checked futher. So your right, he is a three year player, which means the Larry Bird rule would probably apply to him. Important, since there are no cap restrictions on the Clippers. Thats of course if the Bird rule still exists after the new CBA. However, everything I stated is true where Thornton is concerned. Anyway, I'm not suggesting we offer Jordan some ridiculous offer, based purely on one decent year.

All I was trying to say, is that before just discarding a player as untouchable because you assume his team will definitely resign him. First take a good look at his team and where they are salary cap wise, and who they have to resign to remain competitive. Some of these teams will have to make some hard choices.

 

[Kingster]

I know its easy to assume that Jordan will resign with the Clips. But remember, were dealing with Donald Sterling here. At the very least, we could make him pay more for Jordan than he wants to. He'd have to match our offer. With Jordan, what a team can offer is limited by the early bird rule, or the Gilbert Arenas rule. Thats because Jordan was a second round pick with 2 years experience. It will be the same with any team trying to steal Thornton from us.

Its fairly confusing, and I'll probably get it wrong. The one advantage we'd have is the fact that were way under the cap. The most that can be offered in the first year of the contract would be whatever the max league average is. That average is usually the same as whatever the MLE is for that year. The second year would be an 8% increase over the first year.

So esentially, if we were to offer Jordan a two year contract, they could use the MLE to match the offer, whether they're under the cap or not. But here's where it gets interesting. If we wanted to offer Jordan a 5 year contract, you can make a substantial jump in the third year, depending on the total five years amount. The way it works is, if a team is 11 million under the cap, and wants to offer that amount, to lets say Jordan. Then the total contract for five years would have to be 55 million, because you have to average 11 mil a year for the length of the contract. So if your restricted in the first two years to the 5 mil and then the 8% raise, your left about 44 million to spread out over the next 3 years. So his third year would be around 13 mil, and then 14.5 mil, etc.

Now the Clips would still be allowed to match the offer, despite it possibly taking them over the cap in the third year. But would they? Would Sterling pony up, expecially with Gordon's contract coming up the very next offseason. I'm not saying that we offer that much to Jordan. I'm just saying that its not a slam dunk that Sterling would bite the bullet.

I like this. For whatever reason (great minds..?) I've been thinking about Jordan as a nice fit for the Kings. Didn't know about his contract status though (RFA). Based on Sterling's track record it might be worth the shot to go after him. Jordan would be an excellent complement to Cousins over many years.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Do you guys think we could (somehow) outbid Memphis for Marc Gasol's services? I'm fascinated by his skillset. I think he could be something like Vlade Divac for our current team. What do you guys think?

I know a lot of people like Marc Gasol, and for good reason. I like him too! but I wouldnt go after him too hard.

Even if we lose out on Dalembert, Gasol still isnt a great fit. Its not as easy as just replacing big man with big man (lose Dalembert, Bring in Gasol). Dalembert is doing something that no other defensive center can do; play with another center. Looking at some of the other defensive centers out there .. Perkins, Chandler, Haywood .. those guys dont have the speed and length Dalembert does that allows him to cover faster power forwards. Jordan MIGHT be able to do it, but I still think Dally's longer, which allows him to recover on defense when someone uses speed to get past him. Dwight Howard is the only true center that I think could play with Cousins as well as Dalembert has been able to do.

To put it simply, Gasol is a starter. Cousins is a starter. Those guys should never play with each other. What you gain in offense with Gasol is not worth what you lose in fit and defense with Dalembert. I'll take Dalembert on this team over Gasol any day of the week.