Value: Who’s Really Worth It?

This free agency gave us a lot of insights on what value GM’s place on players, and what value players place on themselves. Let’s take a look at the best and worst value contracts from 2019 free agency.

Good Value: Kelly Oubre Jr.: 2yrs/$30 Million

The Suns actually made a competent move. Kelly Oubre Jr is a very promising forward who can do a little bit of everything. Since departing from the Wizards he has really come into his own and is proving his worth. The Sun’s saw this and rewarded him with a $15 million salary. This is a very solid contract that should look even better in its second year. Oubre averaged 17-5-1 last season along with being the cutest player in the NBA.

Bad Value: Ricky Rubio: 3yrs/$51 Million

Ahhhhh Phoenix, it just was too good to be true, you couldn’t go a day without doing something stupid. You gave Rubio $17 million a year, which if we are being real, is not the end of the world. Rubio will finally fill the role of starting point guard that you guys have needed for a while, but will ultimately not be a season or game-changer. This acquisition will maybe amount to five more wins, and could ultimately hamstring you in its final year.

 

Good Value: Jonas Valanciunas: 3yrs/$45 Million

The former Raptor exploded in Memphis, jumping from 12 to 19 points per game and proving that he can be used as an excellent pick-and-roll center. JV will continue to be a solid centerpiece on this young Memphis team and will fit right in with the fast-paced offense Ja Morant will surely employ. Good contract.

 

Bad Value: Tyus Jones: 3yrs/$26 Million

For every one good contract, there is always a bad one. The Grizzlies keep this trend alive by signing Tyus Jones to a deal that is just not good. Jones is a decent point guard who averaged 7-2-5 last year on 40/30/80 shooting percentages. He works hard and can be a decent defender but is definitely not worth $7.5 million a year. Maybe he comes into his own but for now, I don’t like this contract.

 

Good Value: Rodney Hood: 2yrs/$16 Million

This is an example of a win-win contract. No one was going to offer hood $8 million per in the open market and the Blazers knew that, so they didn’t feel they had to overextend themselves and offer too much. Smart move. Hood knew this as well, and was smart to take the deal and continue to roll with the surging Blazers. Hood was having a breakout season in 2017-18 with Utah before being shipped to Cleveland where he really never got a chance to settle in. Upon arriving in Portland after being traded away, he showed he still had what it took to be a reliable scorer off the bench, averaging 11-2-2 on 43/35/88 shooting. Hood played well in the playoffs as well. This is a great value deal that is beneficial to both sides.

Bad Value: Cory Joseph: 3yrs/$37 Million

Oh Sacramento, first you give Harrison Barnes $88 million and now this? We all thought you were moving past the stupidity era, we all thought it was time to turn a corner with this franchise, but instead of taking it slow you gunned it around the corner and rolled over. But, it might not be all your fault. Sacramento has never been a free agent destination, and you haven’t been good in a long, long time, so you HAD to pay Barnes, you HAD to pay Joseph, you HAVE to pay everyone more than the Knicks or Lakers would because it’s Sacramento. Moving on, this Cory Joseph contract is still wayyy too much for a guy like him. Joseph is an undersized bench point guard who averaged 7-3-4 on 41/32/69 shooting last season which is, really underwhelming and definitely not deserving of $12,600,000 million per year.

 

Good Value: Bojan Bogdanovic: 4yrs/$73 million

Utah has transformed themselves into one of the best teams in the NBA, and we should all recognize that. Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jeff Green, and Rudy Gobert will likely be the starting lineup. That’s pretty freakin’ good. Bogdanovic adds a reliable 3-and-D with a lot of size and experience. He is a great catch and shoot guy who can get hot from three very quickly. He’s a very underrated player with a very underrated contract on a very underrated team.

At the end of the day, the NBA will always have bad contracts and will always have bad players to go along with them. Unfortunately for this free agency class, there seemed just be a lot of them. Enjoy your $12 million, Cory.