NBA Free Agency

Welcome to my inaugural blog post. I am Brandon aka SportsSpeak73 and this is how I view this years NBA Free Agent Market.

While it is inarguable that this years class is the most diverse and talented class in the history of NBA free agency, it is not with out possible pitfalls.

NBA executives, just as executives in every sport, are always chomping at the bit to sign the league's best players and this year is no exception. In my opinion, there are only two players in the class worth the max contract frequently being mentioned during this free agent period, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. I consider there to be five tool players in basketball just like baseball. I consider those tools to be shooting, defense, creative ability (assists), rebounding, and leadership. James and Wade have shown repeatedly that they possess these abilities and thereby are qualified to receive max contracts should they desire them. On the other hand, there are numerous other players who are being considered for these contracts who in my opinion do not qualify.

Over the course of free agency, there have always been instances where organizations miss out on the proverbial big fish and feel the need to overpay second tier players for no other reasons than desperation and having the money required to do so. In this year's class I foresee Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudamire, and Chris Bosh to be those second tier players who could very well reenact those occurrences.

Joe Johnson is clearly a top level shooter and has proven to be thus throughout his career. However, Johnson does not excel at any of the other "tools" that makes a player truly elite. While being 6' 7" and adequately athletic, Johnson is a below average defender who at times seems to resemble a bullfighter's "OLE" tactics. He is also fairly inadequate in regard to his rebounding, distribution, and leadership. He's virtually disappeared in the Hawks elimination games in recent seasons which is not the behavior one would expect from the highest paid player on any team, therefore I do not consider Johnson a viable option for a max contract.

Stoudemire on the other hand is a bucket filling scorer, who rebounds well, has made an NBA All-Defensive team, and has the intensity necessary to be an adequate leader. However, those facts can be misleading. I happen to think there are only two or three teams Amare could leave for where his level of play will remain unchanged. Those teams are New Orleans, Utah, and wherever Lebron ends up. While Amare is a high quantity scorer, the majority of his points are assisted. He gets the bulk of his points via lobs or inside passes from Steve Nash as opposed to post-ups, or via a face-up isolation. Without a distributor to get him the ball in the manner Nash does currently, Stoudemire's level of production will decrease significantly and Stoudemire is the type of player who will allow his lack of scoring to stifle the level at which he contributes in other areas. In my opinion Stoudamire is the classic "buyer beware" of this class.

Chris Bosh on the other hand is a toss up. He scores well from the high post, he can read double teams and find the open teammate, and he's good for double digit rebounds every night. However, Bosh isn't the defender you'd expect from a athletic 6'10" post player. I like to refer to Bosh as a Kevin Garnett clone offensively which is fine. Unfortunately, he doesn't display Garnett's competence on the defensive end. There's no viable explanation for Bosh's impotence at the defensive end of the floor other than...frankly, he doesn't want to be good at it. Without the Raptors being in the playoffs we can't really judge whether or not he's a competent leader in crunch time so leadership is debatable. Discounting leadership, Bosh has 3 of the 4 remaining tools which is why his status as max contract worthy is somewhat arguable.

There are other players in this class who would be great supplemental pieces to a star player. Rudy Gay (resigned with Grizzlies today), Mike Miller, Carlos Boozer (when healthy), but the best option may be Dirk Nowitski. Dirk is a MVP candidate who can score in a multitude of ways and rebounds adequately. His lack of defensive prowess and playoff shortcomings discredit him from max contract consideration, but a team of Lebron and Dirk or Wade and Dirk would automatically be considered a front runner to reach the NBA finals.

Thank you for visiting my inaugural blog. I hope you found it entertaining as well as informative. I'll try to get at least two of these out a week so stop by for some SportsSpeak.