Preparing the 2006 Free Agency Menu

Categorized as: Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Draft Guide 2005, Free Agency, NBA Basketball
Posted on: August 26th, 2005

I found the article referenced below, and it inspired me finally get around to writing about something I’ve been meaning to do for a while…

FREE AGENCY

Free agency is something you definitely need to take into account when drafting players. It’s not the end-all-be-all by any means, since a lot of times someone will be playing in a contract year and still play like they’ve already got an Amnesty Clause size contract. But, it’s often the case that when a player is dialing for dollars, they’ll work harder than they otherwise might.

So, the following is my list of candidates for the Most Greedy Player awards of 2005-06. Remember, this is not a guarantee that they’ll play well, nor that they won’t get injured… but it’s something that fantasy hedz like to pretend has an impact. So, if you want to be cool in fantasy hoopz circles, you should at least familiarize yourself with the list.*

Ben Wallace, Unrestricted – Big Ben will be 32 next summer, but he’s shown absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I’m a little surprised that Joe Dumars hasn’t worked out a contract extension with Wallace yet, but he’s reportedly more concerned with locking up Tayshaun Prince long-term. If the Pistons let Big Ben hit the market, it could be a sign that they’re willing to let him walk. Why would they do that? They have some kid on their bench who they have placed a lot of stock into— Darko Milicic. This is yet another reason why this season is so crucial for Darko and the Pistons. So why in the hell did they go out and sign Dale Davis, possibly pushing Darko back on the depth chart once again?!

Peja Stojakovic, Player Option – For all his faults (defense, injury-prone, certainly not a clutch player), he’s still arguably the league’s top shooter and one of its best scorers. Given that Peja can certainly earn more money by opting out (he’s due to earn about $8.1 million in 2006-07) and that he doesn’t appear to be in love with Sacramento (remember when he asked to be traded?), look for Stojakovic to hit the market next year demanding big bucks somewhere in the Larry Hughes/Michael Redd range. A team like Utah would love to have him and may be willing to fork over the dough.

Joel Przybilla, Unrestricted – Somebody must have lied to Przybilla and told him he was a free agent after last season, just check out his numbers in the last 2 months— 9.0 PPG, 55.0 FG%, 10.3 RPG, 3.6 BPG. There probably wasn’t a single player in the league who saw his stock rise as dramatically as Przybilla’s, but he’s going to have to replicate those numbers if he wants to reel in the big bucks (and we could be talking BIG BUCKS if he does)— young centers who can run the floor and defend are very tough to find.

Jason Terry, Unrestricted – Terry struggled in the early stages of last season, but really picked up his play once he was granted immunity as the Mavericks starting point guard. He was superb in the Playoffs (17.5 PPG, 49.1 3PT%, 4.2 RPG— up from 12.4 PPG, 42.0 3PT%, 2.4 RPG in the regular season), leading many to believe that last year’s lottery pick Devin Harris is now expendable. With next summer’s crop of free agent point guards being so thin, Terry could receive numerous tempting offers. It’s important that Dallas finds out whether Harris is able to inherit the reigns next year if Terry’s asking price is more than they’re willing to shell out.

Al Harrington, Unrestricted – Harrington’s stock took a mild hit this season in Atlanta after he failed to assume a starring role for a team that started Jason Collier and Obinna Ekezie at center for the better part of the year. He’s still going to incur a lot of interest next year simply because of his raw talent and experience in Indiana, which is actually why he’s a likely candidate to be moved to a contender before the trade deadline.

Lorenzen Wright, Unrestricted – Lo’s dealt with his share of injuries over the years, but he’ll only be 30 when he hits free agency next summer. Considering there’s been a slew of interest in Wright via the trade market recently, you can expect the same when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Bonzi Wells, Unrestricted – Bonzi’s one of the best post-up guards in the league and a lot of teams would love to add that to their repertoire. Unfortunately some of those teams won’t give him the time of day because of his attitude. It’s truly a make-or-break year for Bonzi in Sacto.

Sam Cassell, Unrestricted – Cassell has proven in each of the last two years that he’s incapable of staying healthy for the duration of the year. Considering he’ll be 36 next summer and have even more mileage tacked onto his odometer, nobody will show him serious money.

Michael Olowokandi, Unrestricted – If Olowokandi put as much heart into his game as he does in the love letters he writes to female fans from the bench, then he might have been able to live up to half of the potential he boasted when the Clips selected him #1 overall. But oh wait, he’s over 7 feet so he’ll get paid.

Here’s the whole Hoops Vibe article on Free Agency for 2006.

* Please bear in mind that this level of knowledge may make it impossible to have a normal social interaction with another human being should the topic of basketball be broached. Since starting this weblog, the amount of information I’ve absorbed on the subject has many times nearly precluded me from actually being able to coherently communicate an opinion of a team/player.

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