Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

These are the Bigs who stand out:

Whiteside +12
Gasol +11
Horford +10
Howard +8

Whiteside +12
Three Year Trend
Scoring: 6.07, 6.09
Passing: 0.71, 1.14
Hustle: 4.26, 4.28
Efficiency: 96, 100

Whiteside will be 27. He’s mobile, he defends, he rebounds, and he can score inside. He doesn’t have the shooting ability to stretch the floor, but that’s not the only thing that stretches the floor. Passing can, too. Alas, he doesn’t really do that (but he improved dramatically from last year to this year). He’s the youngest and the most promising in terms of expected returns. I think that if you are going to max out a big, it should be Whiteside, no questions.

Gasol +11
You know Gasol. He's an older version of the guy who left LA a few seasons back. Worth the max based on last season, but no way would I pay him max for more than two seasons. And that second year scares me.

Horford +10
Three Year Trend
Scoring: 6.24, 5.93, 5.83
Passing: 2.63, 3.03, 2.96
Hustle: 3.36, 3.24, 3.23
Efficiency: 93, 88, 86

Horford will be 30 this season. He already looks to be on the decline, but he does the things you want from a big in what is likely to be LA’s system: he defends, he passes, and he can shoot. He is not an elite rebounder, but that might not be the biggest problem for LA; Randle can hit the glass hard. He is showing some injury concerns; after missing almost no games in his first four seasons, he has missed two of the past five seasons. That said, he has gone two straight seasons almost all the way through. He’s worth a max salary, but is he worth max years?

Howard +8
Three Year Trend
Scoring: 6.36, 6.26, 5.82
Passing: 2.19, 1.90, 1.96
Hustle: 3.57, 3.39, 3.69
Efficiency: 96, 88, 89

Howard is older than Horford, entering his age 31 season. He’s still a solid defender and rebounder. He’s still a good scorer. He is, however, obviously hit by injuries and age. He is a far greater injury risk than Horford, and he has burned all bridges back to LA.

 

Unless we have some crazy unexpected chance for a big name, center is 1st and foremost where we need to focus our max offers.

I'm good with Whiteside, Noah, or Horford for our first acquisition this off season. Every one else comes second at this point.

 

Well if that's our only competition (which I doubt it is) then I like our chances a lot.

 

This.

Pau would be a killer addition and I don't see why it couldn't happen as long as Pau is willing to take less money for another ring.

 

Gasol would bring some inside scoring for Golden State plus his deft passing would fit benefit them too. Then there's the other side of the coin. Gasol is still slow to help on the perimeter and it will be a lay-up line in the paint if the outside defenders get beat.

 

Mostly because it's widely assumed he'd go to San Antonio to compete in their system where he'd also be terrific.

Another rumor is he's now going to go to NY to team up with Rose, Porzingy, and Carmelo although I'm not sure why.

 

I understand your sentiments but I would like to see us to fill a position of need at this juncture. Our young core could make some noise this upcoming season. So far, other than Paul George there really isn't that attainable "star" that I would like. Center is right now the glaring place to upgrade.

Funny that you touched on it but Williams was mentioned by some free agent mock site as a potential Laker signee... Biyombo was the other.

 

What does Marvin Williams do for us?

 

Do not want. Or need. No minutes at the 4, and we are about to draft a SF.