Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

So this morning I was listening to that Laker show that's on Saturday mornings on ESPN Radio 710. Marcellus for some reason came on for a few minutes. He made an interesting point (not entirely sure he was trying to make it because it was leading into another point), but this new CBA is going to put teams in uncharted territory. Teams are going to give mediocre players massive deals because they will have the money. It's going to be insane. I honestly think this summer is going to cripple some teams for years because they will have a player like Biyombo (who I DO really like) taking up 25% of their cap. Part of me is starting to think that maybe we should sit this year out (obviously unless Durant wants to come here).

I know DD has been a hot topic here, but try to picture this. Let's say we got Aldridge last year; maybe another big free agent at some point. Are we simply on the DD train (that sounds real dirty...my apologies) because we know he has an interest in us and we have a legitimate shot at him? So like, we're in a bar and keep striking out with the gorgeous ladies and then a somewhat attractive girl comes up to us to ask us out. Are we looking at DD fondly because all the hot chicks don't want us and we feel like we have to go home with SOMEONE?

I know the argument that we can't keep sitting on our cash and never sign anyone. I get it. It may very well be right. But while we've been doing this, we have also accumulated Russell, Randle, Nance, Clarkson and possibly Simmons/Ingram. DD is talented, but he ain't a franchise changer. And he's a pretty bad fit for this team. He's probably going to have to play sf (which he never has) and in a system that puts great importance on 3-point shooting (which he can't shoot). We already lack any outside shooting at the 4, so he's not an ideal fit. And how much is DeRozan going to help if there are still rookies and second year players at 3 or 4 of the other starting spots? A DeRozan over Kobe upgrade isn't going to mean much because our kids are all so green.

I think we need to look at this offseason's free agent landscape. How many UFA would get max deals if the cap wasn't going through the roof? Durant...and? DeRozan would get a max deal from Toronto because they have to overpay with the market they are in. Our future rests on Russell, Randle, and maybe Simmons/Ingram. Overpaying for players that may cripple our cap right when the young pups start to become stars is a scary thought. I worry that the whole "This summer is different! People are going to get paid crazy amounts so we need to get in there and spend." is making us think we need to as well. Outside of Durant, there are no franchise altering talents. If we don't sign anyone this offseason, what's the worst that can happen? We miss out on second tier stars? Next offseason teams will have a much better idea of this new salary cap landscape. We aren't winning next year. Maybe this offseason we should let other people jump around and overpay, then when next offseason rolls around we can step in with our more seasoned youth, tons of cap space, and the ability to sign several players which most of the other other teams will not have because they blew their loads this offseason.

Sorry for the long post.

 

I get that the cap jumps next season too, but you need to look at the class of free agents. It's a better class of free agents. And I'm not saying spend no money, but there are going to be people that drop 15 million on Ezeli or 18 million on Biyombo. DD for the max? I mean, is he that much of an upgrade over Clarkson? I feel like we are going to sign a bunch of mediocre players when the real reason we will improve next season is going to rest COMPLETELY on the rookies short of signing Durant or trading the #1 pick for PG13. The cap is not going to jump far enough to where 15 million on a journeyman center like Ezeli (who definitely looks better than he is because of who's around him) is going to make sense.

 

I'm really coming around on the idea of Noah. Our young guns are pretty much our way back. Sign players that will help them learn and build their game. None of the free agents we sign this summer (unless Durant does the unthinkable) will help us win titles. Their contracts will be up before then and we will likely not be able to resign them since our young guns (if they end up coming through) will all be on max deals.

 

Didn't @trodgers already discredit the volume shooting being a negative concept?

I honestly have no idea why we wouldn't pursue DeRozan. Batum isn't coming here, Barnes is restricted. Unless you think Durant or LeBron is walking through that door, then what exactly is the downside to DeRozan? A two-time All-Star capable of putting up 30 points on any given night while playing decent defense. Seems like a fine fit to me.

We cannot keep rolling our money over into the next year expecting that some FA is going to come here for no reason. It's time to spend our money and draw a FA in if we can. Passing on DeRozan means what? Overpaying maybe for Deng? Really? I mean if we're lucky we get a dump candidate SF, but none of them will be better than DeRozan.

I suppose we could keep our cash forever and ever until our young guys eventually need to be paid in 3-5 years and we'll give them max deals while paying journeymen high priced, one or two year deals to bide our time. I'm not really interested in that though. DeRozan will earn his paycheck more than even someone like Batum could.

 

It's a new market. Hard to say what's overpaying right now.

 

That was bound to happen regardless of who we signed. Al Horford has had a usage percentage over 20 for four straight years. We all want Westbrook and Durant and their usage percentages are over 30 each.

The young players are still extraordinarily raw and unless D'Angelo and Julius are both candidates for Most Improved Player next year, we're going to stink again if we sign the bare minimum talent.

I'm not against going the Portland route, but what they did was rare. Their season was supposed to be a rebuilding season anyway where guys like Ed Davis and Mo Harkless and Al Forouq Aminu built trade value where the Blazers could flip them for a better player down the line. I'm okay going that route but it's not going to matter. If Ed Davis were a FA this summer he'd get paid more than 10 million anyway. Saving our money is going to be next to impossible.

We keep coming back to this but there's really only one reason not to like DeRozan and that's his outside shooting. Everything else he does holds great value. The lack of a jumper is important and it's a solid argument against him, but I want him despite that. I have faith in Luke to build an offense that will accommodate anyone we sign. Previous percentage for all our players should decrease anyway because Luke's offense will be about ball movement more than who has the ball.