Sports
The Three Best Remaining NBA Free Agents – Forbes
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 27: Hamidou Diallo #6 of the Detroit Pistons defends a shot by … [+]
All sports are different in how the free agency period transpires. It’s not uncommon to find quality NFL players shake loose and sign fair deals that are commensurate with their talent. In Major League Baseball free agents might sign a $300 million deal a month before the season starts.
In the NBA it’s customary for the major deals to be taken care of in July. Occasionally a restricted free agent will linger for a couple of months, but typically the players that will make an impact during the upcoming season have already found a home.
There are a couple of players still remaining on the market that have had some impressive roles in the past. It could be an indication of the deep talent pool in the league or an anomaly in how much cap space was available for teams to use. Regardless, here’s a list of the top remaining players remaining in the unrestricted free agency pool:
The veteran has put up the production that would seemingly make him an attractive piece for most teams. He averaged over 16 points per game last season while reeling in 7.3 rebounds. He’s a forward that was able to uncork 4.2 3-pointers a game last season while drilling 37.6 percent of the looks. That skill set is valuable in helping space the floor out, especially on a team with centers that need to stay in the dunker’s spot.
His defensive metrics have a couple of encouraging signs. Last season his block percentage was well above league average for big men, which shows that he has some talent to be a deterrent at the rim. The problem is that there are plenty of other numbers that don’t depict as rosy of a picture. The defense allowed 2.8 points per 100 possessions more while he was on the floor, which confirms the eye test from evaluators on his ability on that end of the floor. His defensive RAPTOR was ranked 59th for power forwards in the NBA last season.
Ideally, he would rehabilitate his value on a team where he can come off the bench and focus on scoring. His defense would, ideally, fit next to a defensive first big that could help cover up for his deficiencies. The contract he signed a few years ago likely won’t be able to be met this year, but if he’s able to showcase high scoring efficiency with some adequate defense he could find himself back in that same market next year.
Oubre has a lot of similarities to Wood. They’re the same age and are coming off of contracts in which they made about $12-13 million per year. The difference is with their position.
Being a small forward gives Oubre a leg up because of how premium of a position it has become throughout the NBA. In theory you would think that the former Jayhawk would be a bit more valued because it is not often that you’re able to sign a player that averaged over 20 points per game last season while rarely turning the ball over.
The manner in which those points were scored matters, though. The Charlotte Hornets were an offensively inept team that relied on players like Oubre to carry the burden, which isn’t necessarily his strong suit. For that reason his true shooting percentage was one of the lowest of his career, even though one of the most attractive parts of his game is his ability to create and hit shots.
Oubre doesn’t move the ball much and he generally carries a pretty high usage rating. He only played 48 games last year due to injury, but has generally been pretty healthy throughout his career. The likelihood is he really doesn’t measure up to being a player that’s worth more than the mid-level exception, but his track record indicates a bench scorer that can help boost up a secondary lineup.
There are a lot of contenders for this spot, but Diallo deserves the recognition. The 25-year-old has a lot of elements that should make him attractive to teams: he’s a wing that has some range on defense and showed some signs of life on offense. Last season he had the 2nd best defensive RAPTOR for small forwards in the entire NBA. That level of defensive effectiveness is generally valued around the NBA, especially at the wing position. His block rate has been above average throughout his NBA career and his steal rate over the past two years has been well above 2 percent, which is considered elite for a wing. He had the 7th best deflections per 36 minutes for players that logged at least 900 minutes during the regular season.
The offense is where he has generally struggled, but last year he showed some signs of improvement. He is a massive liability from 3-point range, but he constantly attacks the rim. He was in the 99th percentile in taking shots at the rim for wings and was still able to hit 72 percent of those looks. An added bonus is that he’s an elite rebounder that helps demonstrate his willingness to hustle. Even with the poor outside shooting he should be a player that teams take a chance on. This is a player that makes the most sense on a contending team looking to fill another spot in the rotation.