Well, they'd rather have Gordon Hayward, but these are nice veterans on reasonable deals (feels like they just raided the Euro super league for these adds). All three can play some D and score some points, Utah's bench just got a lot deeper.
Cavs: Cedi Osman (3yr/$8.5m)
A low cost move to build some depth for the Cavs. He's an intriguing Euro prospect but I can't help thinking the Cavs are not a good place for him: they're so concerned with the future of Lebron, hard to feel like they're in development mode (though they probably ought to be).
Hawks: Ersan Ilyasova (1yr/$6m)
Nice affordable vet contract. Cheap enough to make him a trade chip if he plays well (wouldn't be surprised to see him with Celtics, Cavs or Wizards by year's end).
Grizzlies: Rade Zagorac (3yr/$3m)
Don't know him, does he have grit and/or grind?
Wizards: Otto Porter (4yr/$106m)
Took a step forward last year, not sure it was a $25m/per kind of step but the Wizards couldn't afford to let him go. If he continues to advance, then this deal will be worth it (if not....).
Thunder: Nick Collison (1yr/min)
I expect this will be Collison's last year as a player and that next year he'll be wearing a suit on OKC's bench.
Magic: Jonathon Simmons (3yr/$20m)
Spurs couldn't come up with 3yr/$21m for this guy? Hmmmm....clearly Simmons and the Spurs organization didn't mesh off the court but he looked pretty good for them on the court last year, sure though they could use him going forward. The Magic have collected a nice pile of players, up to Coach Vogel to mold them into something, I'm guessing Simmons will be the key to the Magic's season.
Rockets: Luc Mbah a Moute (unknown), Tarik Black (1yr/$3.2m), Troy Williams (3yr/unknown)These are cost-effective ways to thicken the bench. Luc is a well-liked veteran, Black is a useful big man off the bench and I don't know Williams but he turned heads in Summer League.
Spurs: Manu Ginobli (1yr/unknown), Pau Gasol (3yr/Unknown)
Bringing back the old legs for another run. I expect this to be Manu's last year and Pau to retire as a Spur soon enough.
Bulls: David Nwaba (unknown)
I don't know him.
Pelicans: Rajon Rondo (1yr/$3.2m)
Rondo is plenty talented enough to help the new-look Pelicans and this deal is certainly team friendly. That said, I can't help thinking he is exactly the wrong guy for that offense. Maybe they'll be scoring so much down low that a PG that can't score to save his life will fit just fine, but I suspect they'll need perimeter scoring and guards that attack the basket and get to the FT line, all of which are things that Rondo doesn't do.
Clippers: Willie Reed (1yr/$1.5m)
The new-look Clippers will need all the bench depth (re: injury minutes) they can get. Reed is a good pickup for them.
Heat: Udonis Haslem (1yr/min)
Haslem is still around? I advocated moving him to the coaching staff when Lebron was there.
No comments:
Post a Comment