Big men in the NBA are hard to find, especially good ones like Noah and are typically overpaid. I mean, we paid 5 million a year to Miller, who is clearly past his prime, while some guards who are helleva lot more talented make about the same. I'd love to have Noah on this team for 12 mill a year.
What you say holds true only for superstars... hence why OKC gave Durant the max before they had to, even though their management is run Morey-esque. But I can't see that for Noah, who's not a star and certainly doesn't have the potential to be more than a limited player(although an excellent one at that). In the end, I think it's just a high-risk gamble by the Bulls, who hope he develops rather than stagnates ala Luol Deng following the big payday. Morey's method is more or less force players to resign or leave for their market value. It cuts dead money to a minimum. But it does allow for cost uncertainty if a player blows up in his contract year. Like you, I think Morey's work much better in the long term, because it prevents dead capspace that's always the bane of all GMs.
Noah is essentially a one way player. 12 mil a year is ludicrous. He plays defense and gets rebounds, you can get someone who does a marginally worse job for substantially less money.
Like who? Like I said before, there only so many big men in the NBA, especially decent ones. I'd put Noah in top 8 centers in NBA. 1. Howard 2. Yao 3. Gasol 4. Bogut 5. Horford 6. Noah 7. Perkins 8. Kaman
Brook Lopez, Tim Duncan, David Lee, Bynum (when healthy), etc. I would compare this contract to someone Emeka Okafor. A guy that essentially provides the same stuff with a giant contract that nobody wants right now. Noah is in the category of Marcus Camby, Anderson Verajao, Emeka Okafor.
Big risk by the Bulls, but if they hope to contend, signing Noah was probably necessary. If he slacks off, oh brother.
Boozer's offense can carry a team and is well suited for the playoffs. Noah's offense can not. Noah brings other things to the table, but I just do not see valuing him higher than Boozer.
Joakim Noah has Plantar Fasciitis. There is a good web site explaining what is Plantar fasciitis: http://www.plantar-fasciitis-elrofeet.com
Nice to see organizations stepping up and protecting their investments. They might have had to pay even more if he came onto the open market. DD
