Rafer Alston- Toronto Raptors- 6 years for $29 million Last year, as a starter off and on, he averaged 10/4.5. Worthy of a contract like that? Probably. But he did that in nearly 32 minutes a game. With Alvin Williams ahead of him, the playing time for Alston will be limited. Is it worth investing that much into a backup PG? Debateable. Hedo Turkoglu- Orlando Magic- 6 years for $39 million Hedo is a good outside shooter, and plays solid defense. But is he worth that much? Again, its close. With that kind of deal, one would think he would be a starter. His natural position is the 3. Orlando needed a center though. I only question this move because they ignored a pressing need. Mehmet Okur- Utah Jazz- 6 years for reportedly $42-48 million Had a nice regular season, but didn't really stand out in the finals. A little bit of a risky move by Utah. Clearly, they think he is a capable starter. I tend to agree. But this could come back to haunt them if they find out Okur isn't really a good starter, but a better role player. Steve Nash - Phoenix Suns- 6 years for $66 million Is Steve Nash a good PG? Yes. But is he going to be worth the $12-$14 million he will be making when he is 35/36? Doubtful. Nash got paid, and paid well. But the Suns might have made a mistake in locking him up for this long. Especially if his body continues to wear down. He has been showing some signs of wear and tear the past few seasons. I think Dallas did the right thing and not matching the offer. Marcus Camby - Denver Nuggets- 6 years for $60 million What the hell? Now this is great news.....Locking up an oft-injured player for 6 years and $60 million. And here's the best part...Last season, he played the most games in a season, with 72 games. To top it off, he averaged 8.6/10.1 a game. Is that worthy of $60 million? He averages playing in 53 games a year over his 8 year career. Looking at these signings.....especially the Camby one, I cannot help but think Kenyon Martin(thats right....the only reason I made this thread was to furthur prove that Martin is going to get paid........) will get get paid max or near max money.
Also add: Adonal Foyle - Golden State Warriors - 5 years, $41.6 million Arroyo - Utah Jazz - 4 years, $16 million
Okur, Nash, and Camby to me are just outrageous. Firstly, Okur. Now, I realize that good big men may be hard to come around these days, but, this guy hasn't done anything to render that much money. He's not worth that much currently. Cause, really, what has he done. Last year, he got benched when Sheed came and he didn't do much for them after that point. Plus, he's not a big man that will get far in the West. He's very much so a finnesse player. He's not as strong as people the likes of Shaq and Duncan. However, the fact that he can step out and hit a jumper is good. But, I still don't get it. He hasn't proven himself worthy of that amount of cash. Onto Nash. I understand that he is a phenomenal point guard and was good with the Mavs. But, he's 30 years old now. He's slowly losing it due to the Mavs style of offense. I don't think he's going to be able to contribute more than 32 quality minutes because of the fact that his body took a beating in Dallas. He hardly missed a game, and, with that offense, and if you don't ever take a day off, that's gonna hurt you in the long run. I don't think his body is the same as it was a few years ago. Constantly running up and down the court at such a fast pace will take its toll. Than we have Marcus. Camby played a lot last season for really the first time in his career. In fact, he played in a career high amount of games. His numbers were also pretty good for a person who was most times the 4th or 5th option offensively on the Denver offense. But, even though he played the most games ever in a season, I don't think he deserved such a large contract. I personally don't think his numbers were good enough to get it. The 10.1 rebounds is good, but, th8 8.7 ppg isn't what I would call great. Plus, by doing this, you're really taking a risk. Just because he was healthy one year doesn't mean he's always gonna be healthy. This is a large risk soley by his past health problems. Well, these are my thoughts on this. And yes, with all these strange deals, it looks more and more likely Martin will get the max.
Quentin Richardson signed a 50 million offer sheet with the Suns said to be a 6 year contract. When Steve Nash first agreed to sign with Phoenix I thought It was a bad move to overpay him so much but the way these average players are getting huge contracts I fail to see the problem. Phoenix may be overpaying but at least they will be getting a top 5 point guard. People say that by age 34 Nash will be on the way down and usless, that will not happen. He knows how to pace himself, he will never lose the abilty of running an offense or hit down open shots. By the time he is in his last year of his contract which would be around age 35 he wil be getting paid alot but who's to say Phoenix won't be title contenders at this time, with the two very talented back-up point guards they will have? The Suns needed to make a move to put them back into the playoffs and this certainly does that.
These contracts are ridiculous, but I guess that's what happens when you don't have much talent available. Alston and Turkoglu have at least proven something and didn't get mammoth contracts, but what has Foyle done to deserve his money? I think Okur will be a nice player, but no way is he worth the kind of money he got. Nash is a great PG and his money is OK, but 6 years? At least half these contracts are going to strangle teams in the future from getting the players they really want.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Quentin Richardson signed a 50 million offer sheet with the Suns said to be a 6 year contract. When Steve Nash first agreed to sign with Phoenix I thought It was a bad move to overpay him so much but the way these average players are getting huge contracts I fail to see the problem. Phoenix may be overpaying but at least they will be getting a top 5 point guard. People say that by age 34 Nash will be on the way down and usless, that will not happen. He knows how to pace himself, he will never lose the abilty of running an offense or hit down open shots. By the time he is in his last year of his contract which would be around age 35 he wil be getting paid alot but who's to say Phoenix won't be title contenders at this time, with the two very talented back-up point guards they will have? The Suns needed to make a move to put them back into the playoffs and this certainly does that.</div> I wouldn't say that this move puts them in the playoffs quite yet. But, if they do end up getting QRich to go along with Nash, they will be closer. Heck, even without QRich, they're still gonna be close. The team they have right now, including Nash, is good, I will say that. The only problem on it is the lack of experience. By bringing in Nash, they bring in a veteran point guard who knows how to run a team. Leandro Barbosa, nice player and all, but, he wasn't the point guard they needed. That's why they went and got Nash. So, currently, with a line up consisting of Nash, Johnson, Marion, and Stoudemire, I'd think they're primed to make a playoff run. But, this is assuming that the team works well together. I think they'll be good personally. And, just a thought, if they do get QRich, where are they going to put him? Would they bench Johnson? Or would they just go ungodly small? I doubt they go ungodly small which is why I'm asking this question.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't say that this move puts them in the playoffs quite yet. But, if they do end up getting QRich to go along with Nash, they will be closer. Heck, even without QRich, they're still gonna be close. The team they have right now, including Nash, is good, I will say that. The only problem on it is the lack of experience. By bringing in Nash, they bring in a veteran point guard who knows how to run a team. Leandro Barbosa, nice player and all, but, he wasn't the point guard they needed. That's why they went and got Nash. So, currently, with a line up consisting of Nash, Johnson, Marion, and Stoudemire, I'd think they're primed to make a playoff run. But, this is assuming that the team works well together. I think they'll be good personally. And, just a thought, if they do get QRich, where are they going to put him? Would they bench Johnson? Or would they just go ungodly small? I doubt they go ungodly small which is why I'm asking this question.</div> Even If they don't get Richardson In my mind they are a playoff team. I doubt experience will be any problem, they may be very young but their starting 5 do have playoff experience. The series against the Spurs last year brought alot out of them. They had a poor season this year but that was down to many different factors between injuries, chemistry and the rest of the west improving. Chemistry is a big thing in the NBA, if the Suns don't play as a team then yes they will struggle and miss out on a playoff spot. However I truely expect their team to run much more smoothly with Nash running their offense. I would imagine If Phoenix get Q then JJ would be moved for a center, Erick Dampier's name has come up quite abit lately in terms of a possible sign and trade. Shawn Marion is also another option. About Steve Nash's contract, It was reported today by ESPN that the deal is a 6 year, 60 million contract and not a 5 year, 65 million deal. Just thought I would mention that.
At this rate, it would seem that Kobe, Wallace and KMart will all eventually get MAX contracts (is that about $16M?): Kobe will be worth it (although he's overrated), Wallace might not be worth it (he doesn't always try), Martin will be worth it if he stays healthy but it is a huge risk. The Dampier will get $12M based on is relative value compared to the other signings (in my opinion, and also very risky). San Antonio will have to handle up big time to keep Ginnobli. But when will the money dry up? With Phoenix, Utah, Denver filling up their free space, will the market drop? What's the smart move, grab the big names fast for top dollar, or wait until the options dry up and the agents start getting a little more desperate?
