Zombie Summer of 2016 NBA Free Agency

Man I would love to nab a guy like Milsap.

 

If they blow it up what do you think we'd have to give for him?

 

For my top pick, I'd definitely have to be Hassan Whiteside. The dudes 7'0 265lbs of muscle. 26 years old while only being 3 years pro. So very little wear and tear. Hes an estalished big whos a monster on D. Would easily average double-double's nightly for the blazers. Happens to be the best shot blocking player in the league. He's an unrestricted free agent after this season. Heat couldn't match his offer if he signs elsewhere and they happen to be one of the top teams for being so far over the cap. So for the Heat, throwing/offering him a max would be very problematic; even if Wade is a free agent this summer, he'll for sure be getting another final/last long term deal from the heat since hes their face of the franchise/main attraction for selling home seats.

Whiteside for the Blazers, would give them a true defensive anchor, and really a legit anchor on both sides of the court. Averaging 28.5 minutes a game, he averages 13 pts, 11.5 rebounds, 0.6 steals and 3.9 blocks with a PER of 24.60. Hes already established himself as one of the best defensive bigs and hes only officially started a season and half. So clearly, hes still developing and has room to further improve. Another pivotal thing to point out is his high level of potential on offense. Against the Timberwolves, 22 pts, 14 rebs, 10 blocks. Against the Wizards, 25 pts, 23 rebounds. Against mavs, 25 pts, 19 rebounds. Hes great at scoring/crashing the boards via second chance points. Has a nasty and consistent hook shot and when very close to the rim, undoubtedly becomes one of the harder players to stop from muscling his way to the rim. With Chris Bosh there, Hassan offensive opportunities are limited vs the Blazers where he'd realistically be their 1st option down low. Only concerns with Whiteside, is he seems to be a little immature; though, nothing on Cousins level. I believe with Lillard and CJ being the voice/leader for the Blazers I'd work out, doesn't help help there all near the same age. So with that, it could help provide a context of where in this together.

 

I don't think Barnes is necessarily a lock; though, I'm not saying the Warriors don't resign him. Currently Klay, Dreymond-Green and Curry are all signed to max deals. However, curry only has one year left on his contract after this year at $12 million and after that's up, his annual average jumps up to $25 million. So they also have to prepare for the future salary as well. Realistically the Warriors the could trade away iggy($11 million) or Bogut($12 million) contract to ensure enough cap space for Barnes. But I question if it's worth it for them vs a team like the blazers where giving a max out to him is more worth the money since they lack the collective starters the warriors have.

Surprised no one's really mentioned Hassan Whiteside, hes unrestricted this year and is realistically imo, one of the best players the Blazers have a real chance on signing. Shabazz Muhammad is a player available via a trade that they are currently interested in. At 6'6 225lbs SF, hes shown promising signs of possibly becoming a quality starter. High energy, high hustle, type of player who possess offensive abilities. Just another thought.

 

The Heat are better with Whiteside off the floor. He's a block chaser, not a rim protector. He's a rebound stealer as well. It's like the dude realized that chasing these stats would make him appear like a good big man and would help him stay in the league. He only has 22 assists compared to 850 shot attempts, and that would be a bad fit in Stotts offense that thrives off ball movement. He's also a bad presence in the locker room and will likely be maxed out by a team that doesn't do their homework. Hopefully that team isn't us.

And Welcome to the Board.

 

Muhammeds a terrible defender, and when our starting backcourt doesn't have the greatest defenders to begin with, we can't stand to have a sieve at SF, who will open up and let teams drive at will, resulting in our bigs getting in foul trouble trying to cover his back, causing them to be less aggressive protecting the rim.
This is also why I say "Hell no!" to Chandler Parsons. Some have suggested him, but he's the same way and can't stay healthy. And we don't need another player who can run the pick n' roll. We could use another natural scorer, but Parsons isn't that.

 

Welcome to the board.

I wouldn't give Whiteside more than one guaranteed year. I'd pay him the max; just want to be able to get out of that contract as I could see him becoming a lazy malcontent once he is paid. If that means another team gets him instead so be it.

Yeah Curry will eventually earn more; but the cap will go up another $20million and Iggy/Bogut deals expire by then so it won't effect the Warriors ability to pay Barnes any time soon. They could always trade him years from now. No reason to lose Barnes for nothing now.

We're in an odd place with free agency because we add any of these types of starters it basically cuts major minutes from two of our current key players. Plumlee and Ed have been our third and fourth best players; we can't keep them with Whiteside. Hendo Crabbe Aminu have been a hell of an energetic group but they can't all get minutes with Barnes here. I wonder if we'd just be best resigning our own guys to cheaper contracts and continuing to run 10 deep.

 

Plumlee > Whiteside in our offense.

 

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, The Magic are the biggest threat to steal Chandler Parsons this summer.

Florida does have no State Income Tax (either does TX of course) and he did go to College there.

 

If he still maintains his residence in Florida, then the state income tax thing is a stupid argument.

Just because he would play in Portland, does not mean he would be taxed on all his earnings in Portland. Only the games that are played in the moda center. So it's much more negligable than people think.

 

I just saw that article as well. Either way, I think it's a legitimate concern for the Mavs that he'll leave. If I'm a guy who is just entering my prime, why would I stay on a team with a bunch of aging vets? Dallas is just barely good enough to tread water in the bottom half of the top 8. They aren't going to win a championship. They need to rebuild. Dirk isn't a guy who can carry the team anymore.

 

That is a VERY small piece of the decision. More like a tiebreaker.

The bigger point is he went to school there and from all indications loved his time there. It is FL or TX imo. Not that we shouldn't try for him...I just going to keep my expectations in check.

 

If we somehow sign Parsons, one of Aminu/Harkless is in a different uniform next year, no? My bet is Harklesss. As much as I like him, I wouldn't be surprised if he signs a contract somewhere this summer that's richer than the one we have Aminu on.

 

We have his RFA status. Unless it's crazy money, I imagine we match. If we were to sign Parsons, I think someone is traded.

 

Correct. I don't believe we match though if he's offered 8 a year if we happen to nab Parsons. I guess we could always sign and trade him though.

If the organization thinks he has the potential to be an average 3 point shooter, maybe they opt to trade aminu, but can't imagine we keep all three.

 

At this point, I would rather keep Harkless and let Leonard walk.

 

Why do y'all want Parsons? The dude can't defend!!!

 

I'm sure the team could land another Aminu/Davis type role player to replace Vonleh/Leonard/Harkless.....but that is hardly a needle-mover. What they need is another impact player - and there aren't a lot of those available.