I took the BORD$ values from a post by @J.R. and added them to the top 5 players at each position as listed by spotrac. While people may disagree with any of their rankings, I found their PG ranking to be really weird. Patrick Beverley at #4!? And he was followed by Westbrook and Gabe Vincent and some other terrible players that I (and hopefully everyone else) have no interest in. Tre Jones was #9, so I just jumped to him for this list's #5 since BORD$ actually had a value for him. Grant Williams was the last player on the list at just over $15M. Anyone ranked by spotrac that did not have a valuation got a >$15M designation. Center 1. Brook Lopez, C, 35, Milwaukee: $16,241,034 2. Nikola Vucevic, C, 32, Chicago: >$15,000,000 3. Jakob Poeltl, C, 27, Toronto: $25,260,040 4. Christian Wood, C, 27, Dallas: $17,289,331 5. Mason Plumlee, C, 33, LAC: >$15,000,000 Power Forward 1. Draymond Green, PF, 33, Golden State (player option): $23,789,491 2. Jerami Grant, PF, 29, Portland: $18,560,550 3. Harrison Barnes, PF, 31, Sacramento: $17,473,621 4. P.J. Washington, PF, 24, Charlotte (restricted): $19,054,564 5. Grant Williams, PF, 24, Boston (restricted): $15,159,221 Small Forward 1. Khris Middleton, SF, 31, Milwaukee (player option): $26,822,042 2. Kyle Kuzma, SF, 27, Washington: >$15,000,000 3. Cam Johnson, SF, 27, Brooklyn (restricted): $26,368,306 4. Dillon Brooks, SF, 27, Memphis: $17,746,207 5. Jae Crowder, SF, 32, Milwaukee: >$15,000,000 Shooting Guard 1. James Harden, SG, 33, Philadelphia (player option): $47,075,783 2. Bruce Brown, SG, 26, Denver: $17,764,642 3. Jordan Clarkson, SG, 31, Utah (player option): $19,712,238 4. Josh Hart, SG, 28, New York (player option): $28,607,658 5. Austin Reaves, SG, 25, L.A. Lakers (restricted): $22,865,329 Point Guard 1. Kyrie Irving, PG, 31, Dallas: $50,555,884 2. Fred VanVleet, PG, 29, Toronto: $46,873,792 3. D’Angelo Russell, PG, 27, L.A. Lakers: $26,867,883 4. Patrick Beverley, PG, 34, Chicago: >$15,000,000 5. Tre Jones, PG, 23, San Antonio (restricted): $20,909,844 Personally, what I would like to come out of free agency with is a starting PG, Starting SF and a backup center. FVV (though not at that salary), Tre Jones, and Cam Johnson would be my main targets. I would go $30M apiece for FVV and Cam. I think there is a little incentive to overpay for Cam. We want to weaken the Nets. Losing him would help us in pick value, so there is some incentive. And offering a high salary that they are forced to match will help handcuff them in other areas. I think what this really helps illustrate is that if we want to get an impact player, we will probably need to trade for them.
welp we gotta spend 48M to make the BASEMENT salary... so im fine overpaying Van Fleet for 2 years... add Vucevic to help Sengun... maybe add a shooter... and lets rock n roll!
EDIT: rules have been changed, there's a small penalty and the money is given to the NBA. Do you guys understand that if we don’t make the salary floor it doesn’t matter? All that happens is the money gets proportionately distributed among the current players. It’s not an excuse to overpay someone. You can also just give some random person a big one year deal to make up the gap. Just spend wisely and surgically. It does matter. Don’t spend on guys who have to take a step up to be worth it, we’re not desperate like that. We might not make the playoffs this season regardless.
This is my order of importance for us this summer: Vet PG (who is still on the younger side) to come in and run the team with Amen and TyTy as backups. Vet SF shooter/scorer. I think Cam Johnson would be a really good fit for us. New Cam can learn behind him. (Trade KMJ/Tate) Vet back up C. Rim protector and rebounder. B Lopez with his added shooting would be great. I feel if we can get these things done before camp starts and let the squad develop under Ime and his staff we will be playoff contenders.
Cam Johnson has to be a top priority... but Kuzma would also be a sneaky nice add. Maybe he can play some Small ball 4 with Jabari at the 5?
I really think that's just the way it's going to be going forward. A lot of the better players will re-sign with their teams and then request a trade. The NBA tried to incentivize staying with your team instead of having guys bounce around. This is ultimately the result.
I got Conley, DeWiddie, Tyus Jones, and any other expiring contract there is on my list of wanted point guards I’ve been on the Cam Johnson train but now kinda open for trading for Paul George if we strike out on other names and have the money Brook Lopez is my other high priority. Wouldn’t mind Vuvenic Just please don’t give a contract to FVV. Between Amen, Green, KPJ, and Sengun we shouldn’t need to be paying 25mil+ to a 30 year old FVV. After next year. Go get a expiring
https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2023/06/21/nba-boston-celtics-gw-half-dozen-sign-and-trade/ Grant, just you remember
I know the Wizards said re-signing him was a priority, but that was before the Beal trade. Not sure interest for either side will be the same now. It doesn't appear Kuzma's value is going to be much more than the MLE, so I'm sure there will be a contending team with the MLE that he might prefer to sign up with. Now that the Wizards have Tyus Jones, I'm sure it won't be hard to get Monte Morris from them. Maybe Tate and a second?
In free agency I'm looking at Jevon Carter and Brook Lopez out if Milwaukee and Grant Williams from Boston. No more than 2 years guaranteed for any of them, even if we have to $weeten those 2 years. Each of those guys has played under a Pop disciple so they should hit the ground running. I'd also target TJ McConnell from Indiana using KJ Martin. I know another pg isn't necessarily a need but I'm getting KPJ off the ball and refuse to put Amen into any position he's not likely to see success in so I need 48 minutes of veteran options at the 1.
Kuzma would be kinda a good personality to add to the locker room considering his socialite status...but he does have championship experience. hilarious that Kuzma would be the wiley vet to the locker room but I think it would be a great fit.
I have been all for Cam Johnson but it doesn't sound like he's a big target for the Rockets. And, I didn't initially get it but I think I do now. After bringing in Udoka the organization wants a big culture reset. The goal is to have our young guys lead the team after building good habits. We aren't necessarily trying to just bring in the best talent or best players that are free agents. They want vets that can help teach our team the right way to play. So, Brook Lopez, while a little old, is a champion who became a rim protector and shooter. Sengun can learn a lot from him. Even offensively, Sengun can improve by facing Lopez in practice all the time. And, FVV may not be as good as Harden but he plays hard on both ends of the floor. He show Amen, Jalen, and the others how to get everyone involved and compete. Cam Johnson could be great but he's not necessarily making the other young guys better. He won't help mold them. If this team becomes a contender it won't be because a guy like Cam Johnson is leading us it will be because of Amen/Jalen/Jabari/Sengun. So, the goal is to help them reach their potential.
A bench name that is probably more interested in ring chasing would be Joe Ingles. I like the idea of his shooting, passing, and toughness on this squad. He seems like a guy who would be liked by Udoka.
