#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

How I am going to set up this article will be a little different. Because these RFA matches, declines, or Sign and trades are coming in sporadically over the next day, I am going to have an entry per RFA. This initial post is just to set up the article.

On players returning to the same team, I am doing a simple evaluation of the value of the player for the price of the contract. On players going to a new team, I am doing an evaluation of the value of the player for the price of the contract for the new team, while also, doing an evaluation of the loss of the player for the old team.

All ratings are going to be out of 5 total points. 0 being the worst and 5 being the highest.

Michael Finley – Supermax – Raptors

With strides in training camp to his PRD and JPS, Michael Finley should develop from B/P to P/P. He is the type of talent that a franchise builds around, and deserves this type of money at such a young age. This contract will be a steal in the later end. With role players aleady established at other positions, look for Finley to be the man in Toronto.

Rating: 5/5

Kevin Garnett – Supermax – Lakers

As the best big man in the RFA class, Kevin Garnett was receiving a max deal one way or the other. Had the Lakers chosen not to supermax him, they would have been matching on a max with one less year. By supermaxing Garnett, the Lakers have guaranteed a top PF over the next five years that I believe will develop to purple by that point.

Rating: 5/5

Eric Williams – minimum 3 years team option – Hawks

This one is a headscratcher for me. It starts with the initial excising of his option didn’t make sense. Then offering him a three year deal with a team option on the third year makes no sense. Why not offer him a two year with a team option (if that is even legal). This team currently has 5 players on roster at the SF position. 2 that are already better than Williams and 2 with potential to be better than him. The only reason this transaction is going to get any stars is because I think it will bring up a potential issue with RFA. Can the Hawks cut him immediately with no penalty since he is signed to the minimum and the RFA rules only state that a player cannot be traded for a year following RFA?

Rating: 0.5/5

Jerry Stackhouse – Max 10% 4 years player option – Magic (match)

The Orlando Magic decided to match a maximimum offer for Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse has been an integral part of this team over the past few years. Averaging right around 20 ppg, Stackhouse is on the ideal team to maximize his output. Although he is a high scorer, the rest of his game is rather lacking having a D rating in rebounding and defensive related. The other worry of mine is his player option means that he may only be with the team for 3 years.

Rating: 4/5

Damon Staudamire - $5,530327 10% 4 year – Spurs (match)

Damon is a well rounded PG with B potential in so many categories (JPS, HND, PAS,DRB). He most likely won’t develop into an all star caliber PG, but he sets up a team around Ray Allen that will allow for an outside focused team to thrive. I am sure the Spurs were hoping for something about 1 million cheaper per year, but the value is definitely above average.

Rating: 3/5

Rasheed Wallace – $4,800,000 10% 4 year team option – Hornets (S&T)

Hornets: Rasheed Wallace is going to be the post presence of the future for this team. With Jayson Williams (aging big on decline) and Laphonso Ellis (G/G big hitting 30 years of age) going to UFA next year, Rasheed Wallace can take their place. Focusing on resigning Erick Dampier in next years RFA, the power forward and center position can now be solidified for at least the next 3 years. Losing Tyron Lou is less of a hit considering he is basically an undersized and underdeveloped Allan Houston as far as potentials go. The unprotected 2002 first round pick should most probably be outside of the lottery since this team will have a developed Ron Artest rounding out the small forward position at that point.

Rating: 4/5

Spurs: The Spurs obviously decided this contract was too much for Rasheed Wallace. Although they would basically getting a more than likely starter for the foreseeable future for about half of the max deal, they decided to go in a different direction. If they can bring in a starting center, a developed Shareef Abul-Raheem makes a lot more sense for this team at PF than Wallace does. The issue I have is what they are getting in return. A cheap deal for Wallace brought over Tyronn Lou and a first round draft pick. Although that doesn’t seem like a bad trade, the resigning of Damon Staudamire puts it at a confusing one. Staudamire and Ray Allen are clearly going to be the starters at the guard position playing a large portion of the available minutes at those positions. The pick, I anticipate, will be a non lottery pick. I see getting rid of Wallace for a backup and a non lottery draft pick.

Rating: 2/5

Joe Smith - $1,500,000 0% 4 years

As a player that is going to be a backup with Juwon Howard on the team, I wonder if this was still too much money for Joe Smith. Is four year too long? Is there someone better out there that you can get for cheaper? Ultimately, this player is important to the Wizards. He was a big part of their run to the finals a few years ago. When given minutes, he averaged over 15 PPG, but will he see enough minutes to make an impact? For the price, I see it as a middle of the line deal.

Rating: 2.5/5

Antonio McDyess – $8,723,835; 10%; 4 year; player option

This was probably the most anticipated signing of the entire bunch. The Hawks have been saying that McDyess is untouchable for years now. Seeing as Ben Wallace has seemingly moved to the Center position, Antonio solidifies the four spot for Atlanta. McDyess is a 20+ point scorer and, with a little more training, can become a defensive and rebounding force. Pair him next to Ben Wallace and that is a scary combination. I am actually a little surprised that he didn’t receive the supermax, but that is just securing him for one more year. The biggest problem with this signing is that player option on the fourth year. Could that come back to make the Hawks pay him even more in the future. We shall see.

Rating: 4.5/5

Awarded 4 points toward your 1999-2000 media cap.

Thanks for your contribution!

Arvydas Sabonis - $7,800,001; 0%; 2 year; player option – Warriors (S&T)

Warriors: This sign and trade is a steal for the Warriors. Undoubtedly bringing back Kemp, this team only guaranteed one year of this unknown center going forward. Sabonis is in the strange situation of being a 34 year old 4th year player. With no one on the books but Cedric Ceballos, locking up a center for at least one year but possibly two is ideal for this team. All they had to give up was 10 points of their 243 current points.

Rating: 5/5

Bulls: Unfortunately for the bulls, a team with only one player on their roster won this bid. The only real options for this sign and trade were either points or draft picks. And the draft pick wouldn’t have been lottery anyway. I believe the team would have been better off matching this offer, because it is only for one season definitely, but at most two. Sabonis, Brad Miller, and Ervin Johnson could run a three man rotation for the power forward and center spots. The Bulls would still have approximately $14 million for free agents at the other positions.

Rating: 1/5

Eric Snow - $5,200,001; 10%; 4 years; player option – Warriors (S&T)

Warriors: Golden State is building a power house to put around Shawn Kemp. With the acquisition of Snow, the Warriors currently include a top league center and small forward to pair with a high caliber point guard. All three are probably as developed as they will be. By resigning Kemp, this deal is a good deal. The problem, however, is the fact that before even signing Shawn, the team is more than halfway done with the allowable cap this year.

Rating: 3.5/5

Hawks: Quite simply, this price tag was just too high. With the hawks currently over the allowed salary cap, and two young talented (undeveloped) point guards already on the team, they had no reason to match this deal. Unfortunately, they were having to match the warriors who have little to know assets to be attained. The Hawks were able to scrounge up a bottom of the first round pick in 2000.

Rating: 2/5

Theo Ratliff - $8,723,835; 0%; 4 years – Grizzlies (declined)

Grizzlies: The grizzlies are building a strong young undeveloped team around Vince Carter. I anticipate them moving Ratliff to Power Forward in order to have a scary defensive post game. The price tag was a bit high for such an undeveloped talent. The true value of this deal will be seen in years 3 and 4 of the contract.

Rating: 3/5

Jazz: Everything about this player says to match his contract. Yes, he might not be deserving of a max contract at this point in his career, but the Jazz had the opportunity to pair one of the best defensive/rebounding centers going forward next to a prolific all around player and scorer in Tim Duncan. Theo complements Duncan so much. The only reason why this is not getting an extremely low vote is because of the pricetage.

Rating: 2/5

Awesome write up I enjoyed reading it

Same here. Really fun ongoing recap of the RFA week.

Good Article. Really wish the points wouldnt be posted till it was complete.

Logan - Awarded 1 extra point toward your 10pt media cap. Thank you for your contribution!

Scott - Minus 1 point from your next article for bitching prematurely.