Five perfect free-agent fits Andrew Bynum to Phoenix? How about Josh Smith to Houston?

Smith
Last October, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey was finally rewarded for years of patience and asset hoarding with the gift of James Harden, who has proved to be one of the most dynamic and, perhaps more important, efficient offensive players in the NBA. Although Houston has been stellar offensively this season, the Rockets' defensive efficiency is still below average (106.1 points allowed per 100 possessions, 17th in NBA), despite the efforts of defensive stalwart Omer Asik. The Rockets lack a long, versatile defender who can guard out on the perimeter as well as protect the rim, and have lacked consistent production from the power forward position since the departure of Patrick Patterson at the trade deadline.

Smith's abilities on both ends of the court fit perfectly with the Rockets' needs. He's a high-wire athlete who would excel in Houston's up-tempo attack. He is versatile enough to play as a stretch PF who can face up and take bigger defenders off the dribble and who can guard multiple positions, particularly on the wing where the Rockets struggle to contain dribble penetration. Ultimately, Smith would benefit from Houston's stats-driven offensive strategy, which would help him become a much more efficient player from shot selection alone.

The Rockets' cap number is projected to be about $52.4 million, but if they decline the team option on Francisco Garcia ($6.4 million) and waive a nonguaranteed deal like Greg Smith ($884,000) or James Anderson ($916,000), they'll have enough space to offer Josh Smith a deal starting at $13.1 million with 4.5 percent raises every year.

Andrew Bynum | C | New team: Phoenix Suns
Suggested contract: $40 million over 3 years (AAV: $13.3 million/year); 2013-14: $12.8 million; 2014-15: $13.3 million; 2015-16: $13.9 million; prior injury exception language in contract; player option on last year


Bynum
The Suns are a franchise in the midst of a massive overhaul, with a stable of players who, at best, would be complementary pieces on a good team. With no potential star waiting in the wings and no identifiable playing style or identity, Phoenix needs a franchise-caliber player not only to build around, but also to rally waning fan support (bottom 10 in attendance and percentage of capacity).

Bynum, when healthy, has proved to be an elite player in the NBA. Of course, Bynum's main flaw is the "when healthy" caveat attached to any compliments to his game. Here's where a move to Phoenix makes the most sense: he would not only benefit from being the Suns' franchise player, he would also have the opportunity to work with one of the league's best training staffs. The list of players who have found basketball life in Phoenix after everyone has written their careers off is endless (Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Antonio McDyess, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal to name a few). If Bynum is to show the league that he's capable of being relied upon, Phoenix is the place to do it.

Contractually, a three-year deal worth $40 million with language protecting against injury (basically, second- and third-year guarantees kick in based on games played in prior seasons) would protect the Suns against an albatross deal should Bynum truly be beyond repair. A player option would allow Bynum to tear up his deal and sign one closer to his "true" value should he prove to be healthy. The Suns would need to renounce their free agents (Wes Johnson, Jermaine O'Neal) and Hamed Haddadi ($100,000 2013-14 guarantee) and Shannon Brown ($1.75 million 2013-14 guarantee) to have the cap space to offer Bynum a starting salary of about $12.8 million.

Al Jefferson | C/PF | New team: San Antonio Spurs
Suggested contract: $40 million over 4 years (AAV: $10.0 million/year); 2013-14: $9.4 million; 2014-15: $9.8 million; 2015-16: $10.2 million; 2016-17: $10.6 million


Jefferson
The Spurs are at a peculiar crossroads: on the one hand, they have the best record in the Western Conference -- and probably would have the best record in the league if it weren't for Miami -- and figure to be one of the favorites to win the title this season. On the other hand, they have yet to determine the future stars of the team outside of Tony Parker and, to a much lesser extent, Kawhi Leonard. Further adding to the matter, they have a number of key players due to become free agents: Manu Ginobili, Stephen Jackson, Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair and Gary Neal. But the key at this point is how to maximize the last few years of Tim Duncan's career.

Jefferson is an accomplished low-post scorer with the ability to step out and knock down the midrange jumper, but he's a negative on the defensive end. The opportunity to play alongside Duncan and for an accomplished coach like Gregg Popovich would be about the only thing that can save him defensively. Meanwhile, his ability to provide a second offensive workhorse to Parker gives the Spurs an opportunity to stretch the title window.

Because of the number of impending free agents they have, San Antonio will have to exercise some creative bookkeeping and deft timing in closing deals. In order to fit Jefferson at a starting salary of $9.4 million, they'd have to renounce the rights to Jackson and Blair, waive Matt Bonner (only $1 million guaranteed), then come to terms fairly quickly with Ginobili and Splitter on favorable deals (using the valuations I came up with in my Monday piece, they'd start at $5.3 and $6.5 million, respectively).

Jeff Teague | PG | New team: Utah Jazz
Suggested contract: $30 million over 4 years (AAV: $7.5 million/year); 2013-14: $7.75 million; 2014-15: $7.75 million; 2015-16: $7.75 million; 2016-17: $6.75 million; player option on last year; 10 percent signing bonus applied


Teague
Watching Utah this season, the most glaring need has been at point guard, where they have shuffled in and out a motley crew of players. It should not be lost on us that the guy who has done the best job at the position technically isn't even a point guard (Alec Burks). And although the Jazz have an exciting collection of young talent (Burks, Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward), they need a dynamic young orchestrator to create offense for others. That player must also be a guardable threat on the court.

Teague's ability to penetrate and get to the rim forces defenses to collapse, which would open up playmaking opportunities for dump-offs to bigs like Favors and Kanter. His ability to shoot from the perimeter would also make him a nice fit in the Jazz flex offense.

As Larry Coon pointed out, the Jazz figure to have the second-most cap space heading into the offseason, with potentially more than $30 million in room. This gives Utah a lot of flexibility in structuring Teague's offer sheet to make it as unpalatable as possible for Atlanta to match. Other than offering a descending scale contract, they can give Teague a 10 percent signing bonus, which would apply itself equally to all non-option years of the deal. Furthermore, they can arrange to have the cash-out payment schedule (i.e., the actual checks that go out) to pay 50 percent of the salary before the start of the season.

J.J. Redick | SG | New team: Portland Trail Blazers
Suggested contract: $26 million over 4 years (AAV: $6.5 million/year); 2013-14: $6.1 million; 2014-15: $6.4 million; 2015-16: $6.6 million; 2016-17: $6.9 million


Redick
Like the Suns, the Blazers also hit the reset button this season. Unlike the Suns, the Blazers actually have several assets to be excited about, starting with presumed Rookie of the Year point guard Damian Lillard, All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, and do-it-all wing Nic Batum. What the Blazers desperately lacked this season was depth; they had one of the league's worst bench production and were forced to play a lot of relatively inexperienced players like Luke Babbitt and Will Barton on the wings. They also lacked perimeter shooting, ranking 19th in the league in 3-point percentage this season, with only one player shooting better than 38 percent from 3-point range (Wes Matthews, 40 percent).

Redick has established himself not only as one of the premier 3-point shooters in the league (career 39.0 percentage), but also as a versatile contributor as a pick-and-roll ballhandling option and as an underrated defensive player. He'd add veteran leadership to an extremely young team, and he'd fill in those on-court needs and bring depth to the backcourt, either as a reserve or as a starter (sending Matthews to the bench).

Cap-wise, Portland would have to waive Jared Jeffries and Sasha Pavlovic (both fully unguaranteed deals) and renounce free agents Babbitt, Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams (highly likely since their team options were all declined before the start of the season). They'd also have to come to terms fairly quickly with free agent Eric Maynor to reduce his cap hold to a more manageable number (my suggested contract for him was two years, $5 million for an AAV of $2.5 million). Taking those steps would allow them to sign Redick to a deal starting at $6.1 million, while still giving them the flexibility to make a decision on J.J. Hickson without having to renounce his rights.

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Amin Elhassan
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Video coordinator, college scout, Phoenix Suns
Assistant director of basketball operations, Phoenix Suns
MBA from Arizona State University

 

It cut off the first part...


Josh Smith | PF/SF | New team: Houston Rockets
Suggested contract: $56 million over 4 years (AAV: $14.0 million/year); 2013-14: $13.1 million; 2014-15: $13.7 million; 2015-16: $14.3 million; 2016-17: $14.9 million; player option on last year

 

Espn insider....