<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Washington Wizards have talked to free agent Luol Deng, but still determined to re-sign Trevor Ariza, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.</p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/487018952707416064">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It all makes sense. Morey doesn't know what LeBron is going to do. Which means he doesn't know what Bosh is going to do. And he knew about Parsons being offered that big contract. If LeBron stays and Bosh doesn't sign, Morey might let Parsons walk. And he's gonna replace him with Deng. Similar player for less money. That's why he contacted Deng's people.
Cyber, if I remember correctly, you said Chicago was NOT matching Asik before it became public.... We need you again, man!!!! Is Morey going to match Parsons?
You make it sound like that was a big prediction. That **** wasn't going to be matched the second he signed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources: Paul Pierce to sign a 2 year 16 million dollar deal with the Houston Rockets</p>— NetsDaiIy.com (@NetsDaiIy) <a href="https://twitter.com/NetsDaiIy/statuses/487017144589508608">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Deng is solid and he can make a good third guy on the team especially if he doesn't come too expensive.
According to Box Score stats, Chandler Parsons has much better shooting statistics (by a wide margin) than Luol Deng: Parsons FG%, eFG%, TS%, and 3ptFG% are 47.2%, 53.8, 56.5%, and 37.0%, respectively, compared to Deng’s 43.1%, 46.5%, 51.7%, and 30.2%, respectively. Deng and Parsons are comparable via PPG, RPG, and WAR, but that's too isolated. Chandler clearly has a much bigger impact on the outcome of games. For example, his Net Rating (Offense + Defense) is +6.3, meaning that the Rox are +6.3 pts better with him on the floor (Luol Deng’s Net Rating is much worse, -0.5, meaning Cavs were actually worse by -0.5 pts with him on the floor); Chandler per game +/- is +4.4 (Luol Deng’s +/- is only +0.1 which is not very good); and Chandler Parsons’ Total WS = 7.6 games compared to Luol Deng’s +2.2 games. Replacing Parsons with Deng would cost us about 5.4 games. The RPM and xRAPM numbers are in conflict. Luol Deng has an overall RPM of +2.94 compared to Chandler Parson’s +1.95, but, Parsons Overall x-RAPM of +2.14 is better than Luol Deng’s +1.79, so I don’t know what to make of that. One thing is clear though: Luol Deng is the better defender; with higher DRPM and x-RAPM (Def) numbers. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions but, based on these statistics, replacing Parsons with Deng does more harm than good. Luol Deng (per game): PPG = 16.0 (on 13.7 FGA); FG% = 43.1; 3pt FG% = 30.2; RPG = 5.7; Blks = 0.1; Stl = 1.0; +/- = +0.1; TOV = 1.8; AST = 2.9; eFG = 46.5; TS% = 51.7; OffRtg = 101.8; Def Rtg = 102.3; Net Rtg = -0.5 (the team is worse by -0.5 pt with him on the floor); WAR = +6.96 (9th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 47th among the 450 players in the league); PER = 15.22; WS (Off) = +1.3; WS (Def) = +0.9; Total WS = +2.2 games; ORPM = +1.13 (ranking 14th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 82nd among the 450 players in the league); DRPM = +1.81 (12th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 75th among the 450 players in the league)); Overall RPM = +2.94 (7th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, also 47th among the 450 players in the league); xRAPM (Off) = +1.31; xRAPM (Def) = +0.48; Overall xRAPM = +1.79; Minutes = 35.1; Age = 29; Salary (Cap Hit) = $19.18M (subject to change). Chandler Parsons (per game): PPG = 16.6 (on 13.3 FGA); FG% 47.2; 3ptFG% = 37.0; RPG = 5.5; Blks = 0.4; Stl = 1.2; +/- = +4.4; TOV = 1.9; AST = 4.0; eFG = 53.8; TS% = 56.5; OffRtg = 110.2; Def Rtg = 104.0; Net Rtg = +6.3 (the team is better by 6.3pts with him on the floor); WAR = +7.57 (8th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 38th among the 450 players in the league); PER = 15.90; WS (Off) = +5.1; WS (Def) = +2.5; Total WS = +7.6 games; ORPM = +1.37 (11th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 71st among the 450 players in the league); DRPM = +0.58 (25th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 148th among the 450 players in the league); Overall RPM = +1.95 (13th among the 78 SFs in the league, and, 78th among the 450 players in the league); xRAPM (Off) = +1.99; xRAPM (Def) = +0.15; Overall xRAPM = +2.14; Minutes = 37.6; Age = 25; Salary (Cap Hit) = $964,750 (subject to change). Conclusion: You should make your own conclusions, if you trust the stats (I do), but if you believe Parsons (with better statistics than Deng last season) is not worth $15M, then Deng certainly is not. I'm not a GM so don't need to concern myself with money but the statistics say: Keep Parsons. Match the Offer. ORPM, DRPM. RPM, WAR, and PER from: http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm x-RAPM (Off), x-RAPM (Def), and Overall x-RAPM from http://stats-for-the-nba.appspot.com/ WS (Off), WS (Def), and Total WS, and salaries from http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2014.html#all_advanced Basic Box Score Stats from: http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerGe...columnOrder=&MeasureType=Base&PerMode=PerGame Advanced Box Score Stats: http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerGe...mnOrder=&MeasureType=Advanced&PerMode=PerGame
Guys. No way is Deng being signed (if ever) to replace Chandler. He would be the contingency plan to not signing Bosh and then we match Chandler's offer sheet. We still have three days, from TOMORROW to match. Relax.