Much has been made of Paul George‘s approaching free agency, but the Pacers star won’t be eligible to hit the open market until 2018. Another key Indiana player – Jeff Teague – will see his contract expire this summer, and if Teague leaves the Pacers as a free agent, that probably increases the likelihood of a George departure as well, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
One league source who spoke to Deveney predicted that Teague will seek a contract close to the max, pointing to Mike Conley‘s five-year, $150MM+ deal with the Grizzlies as one that Teague’s camp will probably bring up in contract negotiations. However, Deveney notes that Teague grew up in Indianapolis and would like to stay with the Pacers, which means a hometown discount isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA related to current free agents or players whose contracts will be up this summer:
- In a video for The Vertical, Bobby Marks and Chris Mannix identify Knicks point guard Derrick Rose and Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk as two free agents whose value is very hard to pin down. Mannix suggests he wouldn’t commit to Rose for more than one or two years, while the duo agrees that Olynyk will likely command an annual salary worth at least $10MM, a substantial price to pay for a player whose production has been inconsistent.
- It has been a tale of two seasons for Dion Waiters, who is enjoying perhaps his best year as a pro in Miami, but has also been slowed by various injuries, including the ankle sprain that currently sidelines him. Still, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel doesn’t expect those injuries to give the Heat much additional leverage in contract talks this summer with Waiters, since they’re not serious, long-term ailments.
- Former NBA players Solomon Jones and Jarnell Stokes are currently NBA free agents, but both players have signed D-League contracts, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter links). Stokes’ D-League rights are held by Sioux Falls, so last year’s NBADL will return to the Skyforce. The club waived former NBA center Johan Petro in a corresponding move.
If Teague wants $30 million a year, the Pacers should just let him walk. He’s not nearly worth that much.
He wouldn’t ask for $30mil he know he’s not worth anything near that.
hes supposed to say he wants the max, if he started the bidding at the number he is looking for he would get less than he wants… its negotiations.
Hard to say with Olynyk because I think he’s actually one of the better bench players on the Celtics. I do agree he is so inconsistent though. Some games he looks like a second option only behind Thomas and other games he looks like he belongs in D-League.
Personally, I hope to see Olynyk back in green. I feel like overall he has done well enough to have the Cs match an offer for him unless it is outlandish.
I like Olynyk, but only for 8 or 9 million per year. Double digits is too much to pay. I see him going to Brooklyn for 4/42 or so. Boston won’t match anything over 10 mil. I think that would prevent them from taking a max player. I see them going after Blake Griffin if the Clips blow up their core. Frankly, local guys seem unsure enough of their willingness to max out Isiah, I wouldn’t be shocked if they flip Isiah for someone else from the following FA class like Paul George, and then draft Fultz or Ball.
They won’t flip Isaiah. Not while the team is this close to the 1 spot. They’ll take their chances with him moving forward.
As for Olynyk, there isn’t too much of a difference between 9 and 10 million plus in today’s NBA, that just seems to be the price. He’s not an all-star by any means, but he is an extremely key piece for the Celtics. I’d go for someone like Griffin first, but Olynyk has to be second on the list, especially with a weak FA class down low.
Just because the Celtics have money this offseason doesn’t mean they should spend it on a role player like Olynyk. With Yabusele and Zizic coming over they won’t have much need for him. Plus their cap situation is going to be out of control in 2018 with IT, Bradley and Smart all up for new deals. They’re gonna have to move on from someone and paying IT 30% of the cap is probably not a great long term move
The way I see it, Celtics have Johnson, Jerebko, Olynyk, and Zeller all leaving via free agency. Zizic is the only one for sure coming over next season (I assume Guerschon is too but nothing is set in stone). Mickey is a bit up in the air too with how he has looked at the NBA level. That’s a TON of front court depth to lose if none of them come back.
This is why I advocate signing Olynyk because he fills a giant void and with how much depth the Cs have the potential to lose in the front court, they are going to have to fill it. Aside from Griffin and maybe Ibaka, there isn’t a lot to love in the front court in free agency this year. As I said, KO isn’t an all-star, but he is incredibly important for what the Celtics do.
If they add another piece like Griffin, they can just fill out the roster by adding rotation bigs for the minimum, room exception, etc. and still have decent guys. Also, if Kelly doesn’t immediately sign an offer sheet, Boston can go over the cap to match it later on, which would be ideal. They can just say, hey look, we want to keep you, but if you want to play with Blake Griffin just wait 5 days and we’ll give you 3/30 or whatever. And as much as I like Isiah, I’m not entirely sold on him being a 30% of the cap guy yet. What he’s done here is incredible, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a great long term move. If he’d go for like 25 million, that would be something I’d probably be open to, but they can’t pay Horford and Thomas over 30 million each for 2 years together and Thomas for 2 or 3 more after. Even with Horford now they’re still a piece away plus a couple good rotation players. Honestly, if they sign Blake Griffin, keep the main pieces together, add some cheap bigs like Terrence Jones and David West to fill out the bench, trade out of the top 2 and draft Josh Jackson, and extend Smart early, that would be a perfect offseason for me.
Better watch out for Brooklyn.