The deals that have been consummated over the past ten days or so are now being announced officially as teams are holding press conferences to tout their new acquisitions. Those without shiny new players continue to shore up their rosters with free-agent table scraps.
The last of the juicier available players, Monta Ellis inked a new three year deal. Ellis opted out of his contract with Milwaukee in search of a multi-year deal. Ellis got off to a slow start as the contract offers were not coming in. Then the Dallas Mavericks swooped in with a three year deal for $30 million.
The Mavericks had a need at point-guard as they rescinded the three year deal they offered Devin Harris. Harris had his $9 million yanked off the table due to a toe injury that was going to require surgery. If it were me, and clearly I’m not in a position to make such a decision, but for $9 million you can chop my big toe off. Harris shouldn’t have any problems finding employment as he is a very serviceable backup and there will always be a need for such a player.
An injury to the Mavericks 18th overall draft pick, Shane Larkin, also necessitated a signing as Larkin is likely to be out for at least two months. For those keeping score at home, the Mavericks now have seven point guards under contract. While such a plethora of point guards makes for some fun scrimmages; it is highly impractical for an NBA squad. The two biggest acquisitions for the Mavericks both play the same position and while Ellis is likely to move over to the two guard spot; this pairing of Ellis and Jose Calderon will be very undersized defensively.
It would seem that after all the hype surrounding the big men signings, it has been the guards dominating the headlines of late. Keeping with the theme du jour, the Atlanta Hawks officially announced that they would be matching the offer sheet made to Jeff Teague. The Milwaukee Bucks made a four-year $32 million offer to the restricted free-agent and despite Teague’s wishes, the Hawks matched the contract thus procuring Teague’s services.
This was a smart move for Danny Ferry and the Hawks. Teague is an up-and-coming floor leader and so long as Teague continues to improve; this deal could prove to be a bargain. Teague is coming off a season where he averaged a cool 14.6 ppg, 7.2 apg and 2.3 rpg; even if these stats remain constant for the next four years the Hawks still have themselves one heck of a point-guard under contract.
Now that Atlanta has stepped in, Milwaukee is without a point-guard. Technically Brandon Jennings is a restricted free-agent so a team can make an offer. Unless that offer is ridiculous, which no one will offer, the Bucks will almost have to match. The Bucks might be further ahead to negotiate with Jennings and his camp now pre-emptively in an attempt to sign him and keep him happy. With Ellis out of the picture, Jennings might be more interested in staying in Milwaukee. If Milwaukee lets Jennings go, they must commit to being terrible in hopes of obtaining a top-three pick in the 2014 entry draft.
On the amnesty front, the newest candidate for amnesty appears to be Orlando’s Al Harrington. Harrington was a prime candidate for amnesty as he played a whopping ten games last year and made zero impact at that. Harrington will likely find a suitor for his services as he could sign a deal for any amount that comes his way as Orlando will still be paying him close to $8 million.