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JULY 7, 10:18am: The Magic have formally announced Biyombo’s signing (via Twitter).
JULY 2, 2:45pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical tweets that the pact will be worth $72MM over four years.
2:27pm: The contract is estimated at four-years and approximately $70MM, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
2:15pm: The Magic and unrestricted free agent Bismack Biyombo have come to terms on a deal, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press reports (on Twitter). The agreement is for four years, but the amount of the pact has yet to been reported.
Biyombo’s stock rose dramatically during the Eastern Conference playoffs, when his playing time spiked after Jonas Valanciunas was injured. He averaged 5.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while appearing in every regular-season game, then bumped those averages to 6.2/9.4/1.4 in 20 playoff games. He opted out of his deal and the $2.9MM he was set to earn next season and all but assuredly secured himself a hefty raise as a result.
Toronto reportedly wanted to retain Biyombo, but only held his Non-Bird rights, which meant it would have to use cap room to re-sign him. A number of roster moves designed to free cap space would have been needed to make that a possibility. Moves that the team was either unwilling or unable to make.
The addition of Biyombo, coupled with the trade acquisition of former Thunder forward Serge Ibaka certainly gives Orlando and imposing frontcourt defensively. It remains to be seen if these additions will prompt the team to shop center Nikola Vucevic, whose salary of $12,250,000 is looking more and more like a bargain every day.
Wow. Didn’t see that coming.
Didn’t see this coming at all. Would’ve much rather the Lakers pay this guy 70 than pay Mozgov 64
Exactly what I was thinking, I would have rather them sign Biyombo or traded for a young center like Valanciunas that would’ve fit with their young core, than a fringe 30 plus year old dude.
I agree completely
What would they have traded for Valanciunas? I assume Russell and Ingram/#2 pick would’ve been off the table. Valanciunas > Randle/Nance, so the only deal that might’ve made sense would be if Clarkson was thrown in, but with DeRozan, Lowry, Joseph, Powell…there really wouldn’t have been a spot.
You stupid if you think this guy is better than mozgov
I’m stupid? Lol. Get out of here with your insults. You’re telling me Mozgov who is will be 30 soon, who isn’t very mobile and has had knee problems before is better than a 24 more athletic Biyombo? You’re kidding me right?
You are and idiot now, this guy been playing for years now, no offense and his rebounding sucks. Mozgov is experienced and his a champion you idiot
His rebounding sucks? Ok that’s the best thing he could do. He’s gonna be pulling down double digit rebounds the whole year.
You probably watch the highlights, this guy acreages 6.5 rebounds a game lol
Averages*
Biyombo the backup is now being paid more than Vucevic the starter
pretty sure Ibaka is the starter. I was expecting Vucevic to be put into a similar role as Whiteside was off the bench last year. Now he is probably traded
This guy just had couple of playoff games, ain’t worth that money and I am so happy lakers passed on this guy. No offense game what so ever
He’s paid the money to rebound and play defense. Not to score. It’s not all about offense buddy.
Tarik black could the same with given opportunity, this guy is not worth a penny
Considering they traded for Ibaka, didn’t think they would be interested. Although I think this helps justifies the Mozgov price now (although the Lakers easily could have waited to sign him rather than signing just minutes after midnight). I mean Mozgov did barely anything last season (which does raise concerns over how he got paid so much) but the Lakers are essentially paying him for his play in the postseason two years ago…similar to how the Magic are paying Biyombo for his play in this postseason. While Biyombo is a great rebounder, rim protector, and hustle guy…Mozgov essentially gives you the same thing but with a slightly better offensive game.
with that said, as others have mentioned, Biyombo is also 6 years younger than Mozgov, which likely plays into why he got a little more on this deal. Added bonus for Biyombo is the no state income tax in comparison to the 13% in California
Oh yeah, without a doubt Biyombo got a little more because he’s younger and his “career postseason” came more recently. I’m personally not a huge fan of the deal but I can respect it since Biyombo played his tail off in the playoffs. My comment was more just to justify Mozgov’s deal.
The lakers have enough young guys too. I like bringing in a vet to mentor the youth. They might have drafted their center of the future in the second round. A guy that can develop with the core.
So Vucevic is obviously a trade candidate now. Crazy that Biyombo gets the same amount as Deng to come off the bench, but its about what has been expected for him, and what we’ve seen elsewhere…A little confused by this, but now they have Biyombo as a backup rim protector for Ibaka at the 5, and that was an area of need for them for a couple of years.
hearing that Orlando ios planning on playing some weird 3 big man lineups with all of them. Looking to move Aaron Gordon…what? guess they’re taking a page from Scott Brooks. Good job by Orlando in the last few months of messing it all up, if this is true.
Did Vucevic die or something? They get Ibaka to play the 4. Why is a career backup Center worth 72M to a team with Vuce and Ibaka??
I see a Vucevic trade in the not so distant future with a point or two guard… or maybe Biyombo slots into a nice three man rotation playing starters minutes off the bench?
maybe not. he’s the best interior offensive player by a landslide amongst their front court depth.
I’m not so sure. Ibaka-Gordon-Vuc-Biyombo is nice rotation depth with a diverse skill set and some positional versatility. Plus Ibaka’s only got 1 year left on his deal, so they’re hedging a bit.
Biyombo-Gordon certainly can’t play next to each other unless they’re trying to play for a Tie….but Bismack is a nice bench player. It seemed inevitable a team would pay at the pinnacle of Bismack’s value, I’m just glad it’s not my team.
Now that the smoke has settled a bit I think we all gotta face the fact that the Mozgov deal isn’t really that bad at all. 1st off, everyone is making big money under the new economics of the NBA. 2nd, we can argue which center we like more personally, but by the numbers Mozgov has been far better than Biyombo throughout their careers. Mozgov played really well 2 seasons ago and averaged 15 & 10 in the playoffs. His reduced minutes had mostly to do with coming back to soon from an knee injury and the new small ball style of play of the NBA. No doubt Biyombo is the better defender and is younger, but the guy is heavy turnover prone and, other than putbacks, has no offensive skills at all….doesn’t even display any offensive upside whatsoever! I think everyone’s overreacting (myself included) over the Mozgov deal.
What a terrible contract for a guy that can’t shoot but most of these contracts are laughable. My team, New Orleans signed Jones and Moore for a combined $20 million a year. Not money well spent. There will be a lockout!