Free Agency Watch #6: Ronald "Flip" Murray As we wind down to the playoffs, Sir Quotes-A-Lot and I will be going through each prospective free agent this offseason on the roster, and getting everyone's thoughts on them. This is in terms of value to the team, likelihood that they'll be a Sonic next season and where else they could end up. Ronald Murray will be an unrestricted free agent. Strengths: Flip is probably the only person on the Sonics roster besides Ray Allen who can create offense off the dribble. When he has gotten extended minutes, he has shown a physicality that Ray lacks, especially on defense. He seems to be willing to do whatever it takes to win, and he's supremely confident in his abilities. Flip's probably a better shooter than what he's shown this year, but there's no real way to tell at this point. While he's no Ray Allen, he should be able to knock down open jumpers the majority of the time. He can also post up other guards, as he's hella buff. Weaknesses: Even though he's good at creating offense, his handle is very shaky. He tends to dribble high while going to the hoop, and loses the ball for no reason far too much. Unfortunately, with his lack of height, he needs to play point guard for stretches and hasn't shown the ability to control a game at the 1. He's much better suited to be a shooting guard, but sometimes height matters. During the end of the year, he was playing uninspired basketball off the bench, and looked like he had given up on the Sonics. This calls into question his attitude, even though not many would blame him after sitting on the bench for a year in his position. He stopped going to the hoop and jacked up a lot of threes, which he's never been real good at. The defensive effort wasn't there, either. Was that the real Flip or just a shell of the player he can be? Importance to the team: Next to nothing. Flip was basically insurance for Ray or Antonio going down the entire season, and he never got consistent minutes in the rotation. The Sonics didn't seem to feel the need to give him minutes despite his scoring talents, so they learned to win without him. Chances he'll be back: Next to nothing. He knows he can start, we know he can start, and everybody else in the league knows he can start. It's just a matter of who forks over the money and minutes. He wasn't exactly happy in Seattle, especially coming off the bench, so it's hard to forsee a situation in which he returns. The only possible way that would happen is if the Sonics let Ray go and gave Flip the starting job, which is a long shot now that they've made the playoffs this year with Ray and without Flip. Possible Interest: The Bobcats might show some interest if they don't pick Chris Paul and Flip doesn't demand too much money. Milwaukee might try to bring him back if Redd leaves. The Cavs are a long shot after the Dejuan Wagner Disaster. Utah might try to pick him up cheap. Those are all teams with cap room, though. If Flip only gets a MLE contract, he's going to have his pick of a lot of teams willing to pay that price. Prediction: After flirting with offers from a whole bunch of teams, Flip will narrow down his choices to the Clippers, Bobcats, and...are you ready for this?...the Phoenix Suns. If the Bobcats draft Paul, I don't think they'll want another undersized scorer in Flip and he'll head to La La Land. Otherwise, I can see him sacrificing wins for playing time and partnering with Emeka Okafor (and Marvin Williams?) to become one of the better young cores in the NBA.
Gone gone gone. Won't get the money we probably thought he'd demand after last season, but there will be plenty of teams willing to pay him a small salary for instance offense, whether that be as a starter or in the 6th man role.
Everyone knows that Flip isn't coming back next season. That was established the moment he started getting DNP CD's. I question the fact that in your analysis Cas you said that he may have had an attitude problem. Just b/c a player isn't playing well doesn't mean that he has given up on the team. That is only speculation on your part. In two and a half seasons everything I've heard suggests that he is the ultimate team player. Not once has he complained about anything. I think that Flip wants to be a part of a winning team and that he would be reluctant to go to a team that is going no where. Although he has college ties to both North Carolina and New Orleans, I don't think that he would be interested in playing for those teams. I think that his best options would be in his hometown of Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, or Portland. Flip remains the league's best kept secret and when he gets into an opportunity where a coach wants him to succeed, he is going to make the Sonics look awfully foolish for not using him properly.
I'm one of the bigger flip fans but honestly I doubt many teams will show interest. He's undersized, turnover prone, has bad shot selection for stretches, and is a volume scorer. Not a good combination for a SG, even coming off the bench.. I feel that Seattle was/is the best situation for him; I just think it's a shame that when he did get minutes for stretches this year, he didn't capitalize. That is probably enough to turn management off on resigning him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">That is only speculation on your part. </div> That's why I never explicitly said he had an attitude problem, I said his attitude was in question.
