Taking a look at some of the lottery team free agency news of the past week.
Free Agency started this week, and it took until Thursday for Fake Woj tweets to fool all of Basketball Twitter:
LeBron will meet with Rockets, Suns, Sixers. Rockets are his preferred destination, sources tell Y!
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojiYahooNBA) July 3, 2014
This would have undoubtedly been the biggest free agency news yet, had it not been completely false. What then, was the biggest news of the week? Was it Carmelo Anthony’s Free Agency Tour 2014? Kyle Lowry re-signing with Toronto? Dirk Nowitzki’s completely unsurprising return to Dallas?
Well actually:
Free agent guard Ben Gordon has agreed to a two-year, $9 million deal with the Orlando Magic, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 2, 2014
This, friends, is not a Fake Woj tweet, but an actual agreement between the Orlando Magic and Ben Gordon. Gordon, who played in just 19 games for Charlotte last season, is guaranteed at least $4.5 million (the second year is a team option).
Look, this kind of deal is low risk, but it is mind-numbing to think Ben Gordon was able to secure this kind of money after wearing his welcome out in Charlotte.
“But he’s a good 3-point shooter!”
He shot 26.7 percent from 3 last season.
“But $4.5 million isn’t that much.”
When you’re paying Ben Gordon that much, it is.
I’m not entirely sure what Orlando’s thinking is here. Gordon does share the same agent as Victor Oladipo, but beyond that this is a head scratcher. Gordon is not the player who lit it up in Chicago, and there were only micro moments in Charlotte where he was able to provide an efficient amount of scoring. Orlando may believe Gordon simply needs a change of scenery; the problem is Charlotte thought the same thing.
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Now on to another head scratcher, coming out of Cleveland:
If Cavs make max offer to Gordon Hayward, it would be a four-year, $63m deal starting at $14.8m. He made $3.5m last season.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) July 2, 2014
This. Is. Absurd. Hayward is a good player with the ability to score, but his numbers last season make this rumored offer sheet ridiculous. With Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap gone, Hayward was given more minutes and asked to carry more of the scoring load. The results? His field goal percentage dropped from 43.5 to 41.3 percent while his 3-point shooting plummeted from 41.5 to 30.4 percent.
Here is his shot chart from last season:
Now compare that with the 2012-13 season:
What’s interesting is mid-range shooting actually improved last season (two-point field goal percentage went up to 45.3 percent from 44.4 percent), but the excessive amount of 3-point shooting resulted in the significant drops.
While it is encouraging Hayward did improve one aspect of his shooting, it still doesn’t justify a potential max offer. Gerald Henderson got an $18 million contract to be a mid-range scorer, and at least he provides more on defense. More recent reports suggest Hayward and the Cavaliers met, no offer sheet was made, and Hayward will continue on before making his decision. Hayward is deserving of a solid offer, but this max money talk needs to go away.
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Meanwhile, Detroit has been busy, signing Jodie Meeks to a three-year, $19 million deal. Perspective. I bring up Gerald Henderson again and the $18 million he received last season. Where Henderson is great from mid-range, Meeks is great from 3. Detroit Bad Boys’ Sean Corp explains:
[Jonas] Jerebko hit 42 percent on a paltry 74 attempts last year. Meeks hit 40 percent on 404 attempts last year. And he hit 36 percent (342 attempts), 37 percent (266 attempts) and 40 percent (348 attempts) in his previous three seasons.
Where Charlotte is paying for mid-range shooting and defense, Detroit is paying for 3-point shooting, something they desperately need after finishing 29th last season at 32.1 percent.
As Corp also points out, Meeks has also improved his ability to get to the rim and convert, and while he isn’t known for defense, Van Gundy is the type of basketball mind that could create strong defensive schemes. Detroit overpaid a little for Meeks, but head-scratching is not required. He fills a need, and he’s coming off one of his strongest seasons.
Detroit also signed Cartier Martin to a one-year deal, but more attention is on their rumored interest of Isaiah Thomas, though they may not be the front-runners:
Hearing Isaiah Thomas’ preferred teams (in order): Lakers, Heat, Pistons
— Vincent Goodwill (@vgoodwill) July 3, 2014
Thomas is better than many think, as he averaged 20.3 points, and 6.6 assists shooting 44.5 percent. He played for a bad Kings team, but his numbers pan out particularly well compared to one Kyrie Irving. The Lakers would be able to offer the most money, while he would be a strong upgrade for the Heat at point guard. Detroit makes a bit of sense, but would potentially cloud the future of Brandon Jennings, and I’m not sure where the money would come from unless they let Monroe walk. The point here is no one should sleep on Thomas, who as I point out any chance I get, is one heck of a pizza guy along with being a pretty good basketball player.
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