2021 NBA Free Agency Musical Chairs

[arnie]

Wow... talk about contract mistakes.

Denis Schroeder turned down an 4-year, $84 million extension from the Lakers. He was sure he could get more as a free agent. Well, all he has gotten so far is a 1-year, $5.9 mil offer from the Celtics to be their backup PG. Meanwhile, the Lakers have moved on and now have Westbrook. Schroeder is supposedly pushing Boston for more like $10 mil/season and to make it a 2 year deal... the Celtics don't appear to be willing to do that and, well, there just isn't much of a market out there for Schroeder at this point.

Ouch... Schroeder is supposedly crying himself to sleep at night.

-Jason "if anyone wants to pay me $20+ mil per year to do... well... just about anything, I ain't turning it down " Evans

OTOH:

1) He will be making $5.8+ mill more than the average American.
2) He signed a 1-yr contract. He’s young and if he’s truly exceptional and works hard, maybe he gets an even better contact in a year than Lakers originally offered. Just needs to stay positive.
3)I could be dead wrong on #2😀

[JasonEvans]

OTOH:

1) He will be making $5.8+ mill more than the average American.
2) He signed a 1-yr contract. He’s young and if he’s truly exceptional and works hard, maybe he gets an even better contact in a year than Lakers originally offered. Just needs to stay positive.
3) I could be dead wrong on #2😀

I think the problem with #2 is how much of a chance he gets to show off in Boston. He might be the starter, but there is also a scenario where Smart starts at PG and Schoeder leads the second unit. Ain't no NBA team gonna be willing to pay $10+ mil to a second unit guy who is pushing 30.

I'm no Boston expert but I suspect a lot depends on whether they go with Horford and Robert Williams on the front line -- moving Tatum to SF, Brown to 2G, and Smart to PG -- or if they play a little bit smaller with Tatum at the 4, which would move everyone down a slot and put Smart in the 2G role with Schroeder at PG. There could also be a scenario where Josh Richardson gets the nod at 2G with Smart as the PG and Schroeder on the 2nd team.

All that said, I think you are largely correct that Schroeder should be able to parlay this one year into a more lucrative contract next summer... but if the Celtics offer him a nice extension at $15+ mil per season at some point, I suspect he won't be so quick to say no to it.

[awhom111]

No details yet on the contract but it is not impossible that he got a little bit more than the NBA minimum after a really strong season in which he was grossly underpaid as a two-way player. Given his 4 years in the league, the minimum is worth like $1.8 mil per season, but I would not be shocked if Detroit, a team that is nowhere near the luxury tax, might have given Frank a little bit more (maybe like $2 mil and $2.5 mil in the second season).

Anyone wanna guess the highest paid player on the Pistons this coming year? Dude is gonna make close to $30 mil from the team, $10 mil more than anyone else.

Reports are that Frank's deal is 3 million guaranteed for the first season and then 3.15 million team option for the second season.

Wow... talk about contract mistakes.

Denis Schroeder turned down an 4-year, $84 million extension from the Lakers. He was sure he could get more as a free agent. Well, all he has gotten so far is a 1-year, $5.9 mil offer from the Celtics to be their backup PG. Meanwhile, the Lakers have moved on and now have Westbrook. Schroeder is supposedly pushing Boston for more like $10 mil/season and to make it a 2 year deal... the Celtics don't appear to be willing to do that and, well, there just isn't much of a market out there for Schroeder at this point.

Ouch... Schroeder is supposedly crying himself to sleep at night.

-Jason "if anyone wants to pay me $20+ mil per year to do... well... just about anything, I ain't turning it down " Evans

I am still not sure if it was worse that they offered that or worse that he declined.

What if Michael Jordan offers to pay you that much to replace your signature quotes with pro-UNC messages?

[JasonEvans]

Reports are that Frank's deal is 3 million guaranteed for the first season and then 3.15 million team option for the second season.

Well, that's even more than I had speculated. Great news for Frank. We just need to see how much of a chance the Pistons give him to play. With Cade Cunningham coming in, that is going to steal some of the backcourt minutes. If Frank plays, he has shown he can score... but how much he plays is an open question. Still, $3 mil is his biggest payday yet in the NBA and a big step up from the less than $500k he made a year ago as a 2-way player.

What if Michael Jordan offers to pay you that much to replace your signature quotes with pro-UNC messages?

I'd gladly take Mr. Jordan's $20 mil and say all kinds of kind things in my silly little sigs... and I would then use some of the money to buy a series of billboards and TV ads excoriating the Heels for their years of cheating. Oh, I would sleep quite nicely at night in that situation.

-Jason "I'd probably hire some down on his luck Tarheel to be my 'roast cheating Carolina' spokesman... perhaps Ademola Okulaja or maybe Larry Drew II" Evans

[luvdahops]

I think the problem with #2 is how much of a chance he gets to show off in Boston. He might be the starter, but there is also a scenario where Smart starts at PG and Schoeder leads the second unit. Ain't no NBA team gonna be willing to pay $10+ mil to a second unit guy who is pushing 30.

I'm no Boston expert but I suspect a lot depends on whether they go with Horford and Robert Williams on the front line -- moving Tatum to SF, Brown to 2G, and Smart to PG -- or if they play a little bit smaller with Tatum at the 4, which would move everyone down a slot and put Smart in the 2G role with Schroeder at PG. There could also be a scenario where Josh Richardson gets the nod at 2G with Smart as the PG and Schroeder on the 2nd team.

All that said, I think you are largely correct that Schroeder should be able to parlay this one year into a more lucrative contract next summer... but if the Celtics offer him a nice extension at $15+ mil per season at some point, I suspect he won't be so quick to say no to it.

I think Schroeder has shown that he is much more productive as a 3rd guard, either providing a different look with starters or leading a second unit, than he is as a starting PG. Will be interesting to see how the Celtics utilize him, but I can’t imagine the market for Schroeder as a starting point guard is very deep at this stage of his career.

[JasonEvans]

I think Schroeder has shown that he is much more productive as a 3rd guard, either providing a different look with starters or leading a second unit, than he is as a starting PG. Will be interesting to see how the Celtics utilize him, but I can’t imagine the market for Schroeder as a starting point guard is very deep at this stage of his career.

100% agreed... and that is why turning down $84 mil was three shades of stupid.

[budwom]

100% agreed... and that is why turning down $84 mil was three shades of stupid.

he clearly misoverestimated his value.

[Owen Meany]

The Pacers pulled their qualifying offer from Cassius Stanley and he's now a free agent. I saw this very early this morning, and now can only find a pay link that I can't see, but I think it said the the offer was for 1.6 million. Hopefully this works out well for him.

[arnie]

The Pacers pulled their qualifying offer from Cassius Stanley and he's now a free agent. I saw this very early this morning, and now can only find a pay link that I can't see, but I think it said the the offer was for 1.6 million. Hopefully this works out well for him.

I think I remember Cassius - he played at Duke for a full year, right? Maybe a photo embedded in the post would help.😕

[cspan37421]

I think I remember Cassius - he played at Duke for a full year, right? Maybe a photo embedded in the post would help.😕

Just like "denial" ain't just a river in Egypt, brevity isn't just a poster on DBR.

[Alan_Wilson]

The Pacers pulled their qualifying offer from Cassius Stanley and he's now a free agent. I saw this very early this morning, and now can only find a pay link that I can't see, but I think it said the the offer was for 1.6 million. Hopefully this works out well for him.

Come on down to the Pelicans, Cassius. He would actually fit a need.

[JasonEvans]

The Pacers pulled their qualifying offer from Cassius Stanley and he's now a free agent. I saw this very early this morning, and now can only find a pay link that I can't see, but I think it said the the offer was for 1.6 million. Hopefully this works out well for him.

The Pacers let him go not because they were disappointed in his play but because they have to bring in a 3rd PG and they just do not have room for Cassius on a full contract. I am betting they would have happily kept him around on a 2-way, but he already told them he was not going to do that again and so they filled their 2-way slots. I would suspect that Cassius will get a 2-way or perhaps a minimum deal with some other team.

[tommy]

The Pacers let him go not because they were disappointed in his play but because they have to bring in a 3rd PG and they just do not have room for Cassius on a full contract. I am betting they would have happily kept him around on a 2-way, but he already told them he was not going to do that again and so they filled their 2-way slots. I would suspect that Cassius will get a 2-way or perhaps a minimum deal with some other team.

Yeah and Cassius has played well in Summer League, proving that he’s better and a more mature player than a lot of other guys he’s competing with for a contract. Somebody’s gonna offer him something decent.

[brevity]

This is a weird decision by the Pacers. The Indianapolis Star reporter tweets that Cassius Stanley is still invited to the Pacers training camp.

Stanley, the 54th pick in the 2020 NBA draft, remains with the Pacers' Las Vegas summer league team as an unrestricted free agent who can be signed by any other team.

The Pacers have extended Stanley a training camp invite, another league source told IndyStar early Saturday. He could choose to accept it, decline it and attend another team's camp on an invite or even find a deal with partial or full guarantees.

Pacers draft pick Chris Duarte has played well in Summer League so far. By my calculations, he is averaging 18 ppg while shooting 45% from the field and 44% from 3-point range. Fun fact, though: the rookie is actually 2 years older than Cassius Stanley.

Come on down to the Pelicans, Cassius. He would actually fit a need.

Oh, man. New Orleans would become Dunk City with Zion and Cassius together. It's a smart, exciting, inexpensive decision that makes sense for Pelicans management. So of course it won't happen.

Just like "denial" ain't just a river in Egypt, brevity isn't just a poster on DBR.

On the contrary, I pretty much don't exist outside of DBR.

[sagegrouse]

This is a weird decision by the Pacers. The Indianapolis Star reporter tweets that Cassius Stanley is still invited to the Pacers training camp.

On the contrary, I pretty much don't exist outside of DBR.

While "Brevity is the soul of wit," "Prolixity is the engine of public relations."

[cato]

Per the article from the front page re JJ’s plans in free-agency, he is going to bide his time, let the season start and then see what options are available, the main goal being signing on with a team that wins the championship. That being the case, I assume fit and situation are the overriding factors and that salary is not going to be the prime consideration.

I don’t know enough about the potential contenders to get a sense of where Redick might fit. What is the likelihood that it would be the Nets?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Per the article from the front page re JJ’s plans in free-agency, he is going to bide his time, let the season start and then see what options are available, the main goal being signing on with a team that wins the championship. That being the case, I assume fit and situation are the overriding factors and that salary is not going to be the prime consideration.

I don’t know enough about the potential contenders to get a sense of where Redick might fit. What is the likelihood that it would be the Nets?

I assume the Nets would be on the shortlist for JJ for several reasons. The only question is what sort of needs the Nets may have midseason.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I assume the Nets would be on the shortlist for JJ for several reasons. The only question is what sort of needs the Nets may have midseason.

Easy. Nets need warm bodies cus you know Kyrie, Durant, and/or Harden will be injured.

[cato]

I assume the Nets would be on the shortlist for JJ for several reasons. The only question is what sort of needs the Nets may have midseason.

Easy. Nets need warm bodies cus you know Kyrie, Durant, and/or Harden will be injured.

This is my facile-NBA-watching-read of JJ’s comments. “Hey, Brooklyn. I’m available and I know you think you’re all set with three point shooting, but you also know that your Big 3 are not going to play an entire season or even close to it, so why don’t we work out a deal?”

Again, from my facile-NBA-watching, it sure seems like the Bucks and the Lakers need fire power from outside the arc more than Brooklyn.

[Daddylawman]

Unpopular opinion - a second 5 of Lou Williams, Dino Gallinari, Deandre Hunter, Okongwu and JJ would be pretty damn formidable for the Hawks