A look back at some of the free agent signings made by lottery teams last week.
The Charlotte Hornets decided to announce the signing of Jeremy Lin to a two year $4 million deal on Wednesday night and it was a move that made a lot of sense for the Charlotte Hornets as they look to build a team that can make the playoffs in an increasingly deep Eastern conference. The Hornets bench was 22nd in offensive efficiency last year and the addition of an intelligent point guard like Lin will offer a stark contrast with the more gung ho shooting approach that Mo Williams offered them. Lin shot an impressive 37% from downtown last season and this should offer an immediate improvement in terms of perimeter spacing for the Hornets who had the worst three point percentage of any team in the League last season. Charlotte’s bench was the only team that shot below 40% on average, the signing of Lin was much needed. A combination of Frank Kaminsky and Jeremy Lin could be deadly for Steve Clifford’s team, Kaminsky excels in the pick and roll game and Lin has the audacity to finish around the rim as shown by his 55.6% conversion rate in the restricted area. This signing essentially ‘opens up the playbook’ for coach Clifford as Lin is a versatile ball handler who can also shoot and create his own shot. Rich Cho told the Charlotte observer that they have ‘made an effort to improve their offense’, Lin no doubt offers this as shown by his career points per game of 11.7, this was a terrific move by Charlotte and Lin could thrive now that he is out of the spotlight.
Merza Teletovic signed a one year $5.5 million deal with the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night as they are looking for more players to space the floor and continue the up tempo offense that they ran last year. Teletovic is no LaMarcus Aldridge, but he is an extremely useful scorer who can open up plays due to his excellent versatility. As Paul Coro of AZCentral.com explained, ‘Mirza can score spot up shots, pick and pop shots or on Pump fake drives’, and this skill set will help Phoenix create a more expansive offense that can maximize the potential of their young energetic backcourt duo of Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe.
A stretch four naturally creates driving angles for these sorts of guards, but he shoots extremely well also. His shot struggled last year at 32 percent from beyond but he had blood clots which interfered with his performance. Previous to this he was shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc and 49 percent from mid-range which is a very useful number. The mid-range shot is dying in a way, teams are using it less and less but this stat line from Teletovic shows that if a play runs down to a mid-range shot he could finish it effectively. His defence is a slight problem due to him being undersized and slightly lacking strength, but he is an active player which means he won’t be driven past by point guards on pick and rolls easily. Phoenix are shaping a nice roster and ruling them out of a playoff push with their excellent back court and deep bench would be a strange prediction to make.
Gerald Green joined the Miami Heat on a one year deal recently and he will offer something they didn’t have last year and that is speed. Miami ran the third slowest offense in the NBA last season and at times they struggled to create effective shots in the half court. Gerald Green isn’t that useful in the half court unless you run an alley oop, but he is tremendous on the fast break due to his pace, determination and ability to finish in transition. Miami lacked depth in the backcourt last year as Shabazz Napier and Tyler Ennis failed to impress and bench scoring was dismally placed at 28th in the league with only Orlando and Cleveland getting less bench scoring. The Miami starting five is good, but with Wade aging and Deng struggling to produce, a bench scorer is absolutely needed and this is what Green will bring them. Green averaged 11.6 points on 19 minutes last year on a useful 41 percent from the field, it’s not a particularly high percentage but Miami’s more expansive offense will allow him to get good looks from beyond where he is deadly. He shot 36 percent from above the break for Phoenix and he showed he can shoot the corner threes well although the sample sizes are relatively small for this player. He should get the opportunity for more corner threes as Chris Bosh is an excellent outlet passer who often draws double teams at the top of the elbow, Green will thrive off of this. It will be interesting to see how large a role he plays in the rotation for the Heat, but he should be playing around 15 to 20 minutes if Miami want to get the best out of him. He is an entertainer, but in a good offense he can be an excellent sixth man for a lottery team like Miami.
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