NBA Free Agency: Just In Case You Blinked Part II

Andrew Bynum to Cleveland is just one of the many free-agency moves taking place this month. (philly.com)

The month of July has been a storm of news, rumors and changes in the NBA. I did my best to provide a little bit of news and opinion now that the dust has cleared. Anything that took place before July 7th can be found in the first part here.

• Andrew Bynum signed on with the Cleveland Cavaliers in a two year deal worth $24 million. Only $6 million is guaranteed for his first season, the second year is a team option. Bynum must reach a number of health benchmarks in order to earn the other $6 million he's owed in year one. It's a great deal for both sides as the Cavs are getting a supreme center talent, when he's healthy, and Bynum joins a young promising squad destined for a playoff appearance. Winning is good for both parties.

• Chauncey Billups returns to the Detroit Pistons in a two-year deal worth roughly $5 million. Billups returns to different scenery in the Motor City, the place where he became an NBA Champion in 2004. He teams up with Josh Smith who inked his own four-year, $54 million deal with the Pistons. The two join a young roster that includes Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Brandon Knight. All showed signs of brilliance last season. Can the two veterans mesh chemistry together for a run in the powerful east?

• Eric Bledsoe was the main piece in a three-team deal that brought him and Caron Butler to Phoenix as the newest members of the Suns. Jared Dudley heads to Los Angeles and joins the Clippers. Bledsoe becomes the man in Phoenix on a team still rebuilding. The Suns are desperate to move past the Steve Nash era and start a new beginning by releasing new jerseys which feature a new logo this season. This deal gives them their point-guard of the future.

• The Knicks will give Metta World Peace a shot in New York. They bring it in for two seasons, the second equipped with an option, for just over $3 million over both seasons. The idea of Carmello Anthony, JR Smith and World Peace on the floor at the same time makes coach's hair gray, but excites fans like me hoping for chaos in the Garden this season.

• This brings me to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets made Jason Kidd their head coach, brought in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry and continued to pile on the luxury tax. Andre Kirilenko signed with the Nets for a bargain of $3.18 million per year. Kidd will have Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brooke Lopez, KG, Pierce, the Jet and AK47 to play with in his first season at the helm.  Not a bad box of toys to play with.

• I know this, Nets-Knicks games have taken on a whole new meaning and it's only the second season of the rivalry.

• JJ Redick leaves Milwaukee and joins 'Lob-City' (Los Angeles Clippers) who inked Redick to a four-year deal nearing $28 million. The Clippers now have shooters Dudley, Redick, Barnes and Jamal Crawford surrounding Chris Paul and the inside game of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The Clippers also, for now, have retained Lamar Odom. The Clippers are my favorite to win the Western Conference and their ability to score points in bunches should put fear in opponents this season. Darren Collison also joins the party, adding a veteran presence that allows CP3 to take the bench and breathe easy knowing the point-guard responsibilities are in capable hands.

• Help me out on Brandon Jennings, because I have no idea what's going on with him and the Bucks. The offer that was made to Jennings wasn't up to his standards and he remains a FA.

• Monta Ellis hurried out of Milwaukee and singed with the Dallas Mavericks for $25 million over three years. This is a significant pay cut compared to the $36 million offered by the Bucks that Ellis turned down.

Again, feel free to chat and inform me about significant moves I've missed.  I know I didn't get everything.

Friday Mini-Roundtable: Trading the NBA

J.J. Reddick is among the names of possible trades before the Feb. 21 deadline. (brewhoops.com)

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among three of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: With the NBA trade deadline coming up on Feb. 21, what trade is most likely to, or what trade should, happen?

Kyle Davis:
The trade rumor I would keep an eye on is the Clippers and Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe is a valuable draft commodity and with the Clippers already having an elite point guard in Chris Paul and a need for another shooting front court presence to play alongside Blake Griffin, Bledsoe could soon find himself in another city. What makes this trade so interesting is it's a risky move. Paul has battled through his share of injuries and Bledsoe has been a reliable and comforting backup to have step in when needed. But the Clippers seem to feel like the time is now to make a deep run in the playoffs, and seem to feel another post player will prove more valuable this season.

Alex Skov:
Pau Gasol's injury virtually makes him untradeable. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce helped power the Celtics to a 7-0 start after Rajon Rondo's injury, protecting their spots on Boston's roster. Most of the other players on the trading block are there solely because their salaries and production are out of proportion. If one trade happens, it's going to involve J.J. Redick. The Milwaukee Bucks seem to be the suitor most likely to acquire the former Duke guard since the other teams that may make a play for him — namely the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers — are in better situations to survive without Redick's dead-eye shooting abilities. Hypothetically, this means the Bucks would be more willing to send better pieces to Orlando. Indiana is the current No. 3 seed and the Bulls are sitting at fifth in the Eastern Conference. Those are safe spots. Milwaukee, at eighth, can't be quite as comfortable.


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BDD's All-Bench All-Stars

JaVale McGee poses with the All-Bench All-Star mascot. (via JaVale)

NBA All-Star voting concluded last week and, no matter your opinion on the process, the starting line-ups have been decided and announced. The East and West rosters are littered with the usual names. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and so on and so forth.

But what about the little guys? ("Little" being relative to league-wide acknowledgement and not stature, since these are professional athletes and all.) Here at BDD, we try to champion the overlooked and under-appreciated. With that in mind, I dwelled on the following question: what would All-Star rosters look like if they were comprised only of bench players? Maybe more important, though, is which reserves would get their chance to be starters.

The criteria for selecting BDD's All-Bench All-Star team starters required players to have been substitutes for at least 50 percent of their respective teams' games. The eyeball test was taken into account and from there, standard and advanced statistics were analyzed to find deserving candidates, though some looked to be obvious selections. Since fan voting did not delineate from the "guard-guard-forward-forward-center" designations under this year's new "back court" and "front court" format, we differentiated each member of the squad by normal position. Sorry if this rocks your world too much, but without further ado, here are the inaugural BDD All-Bench All-Stars, complete with short explanations for their inclusion.

Eastern Conference

PG: Ramon Sessions, Charlotte Bobcats - Sessions is averaging 14.2 points and 4.0 assists per game. He's not being pressed to be a major play-maker with the presence of Kemba Walker, and although his team is not thriving with a 10-30 record, Sessions has found a bit of sanctuary in Charlotte after a rough-and-tumble time with the Los Angeles Lakers last year.

SG: J.R. Smith, New York Knicks - Part of All-Star Weekend's allure is that is offers plenty of opportunities for highlights, and Smith has supplied those in spades this season whether he's hitting buzzer-beaters or making improbable dunks. His resume was solidified by the fact that he's averaging more points (24.8 per game) than any player who has come of the bench for any number of games in 2012-13, aside from John Wall. It didn't hurt that he has highest efficiency rating (15.2) of any eligible player, according to NBA.com's statistics.

SF: Mike Dunleavy, Milwaukee Bucks - For a team with two ball-dominant guards, Dunleavy's presence is an invaluable asset for the Bucks, so much so that he is on two of Milwaukee's three most winningest line-ups. Given ample opportunities to spot-up, Dunleavy is currently shooting the best percentage of his career (.438) from behind the arc. His Win Shares per 48 minutes boosted significantly during his first season with the franchise and he's on pace to top that this year. Dunleavy's success may be due partially to the Bucks' offensive system, but he could find his shots in this hypothetical game playing alongside assist magician a guard like J.R. Smith.

PF: Amir Johnson, Toronto Raptors - Here's something crazy: the Raptors gain a net of 14.4 points per 100 possessions when Johnson steps onto the hardwood. The 6'9" forward is part of 11 of Toronto's top 20 five-man units. Of those units, only three have winning percentages of 50 or below. Without getting into individual stats, that should say something. Loudly. It didn't hurt his chances of selection that he's averaging 12.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per 36 minutes. Maybe head coach Dwane Casey should think about nudging Johnson's 25.1 minutes of nightly play up a bit.

C:  Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons - The Pistons employ Drummond in three line-ups that make opponents avoid the paint, choosing to take more than 70 percent of their shots further from the rim rather than approach the rookie center. Through 40 games, Drummond has logged a blazing .209 WS/48, putting him slightly behind Tony Parker for seventh in the NBA. It's a small sample size, but he could carry on his teammate Greg Monroe's legacy of actually playing defense on the All-Star court.

Western Conference

PG: Eric Bledsoe, Los Angeles Clippers - Golden State's Jarrett Jack could have stolen this spot with better per-game stats, but closer inspection shows that Bledsoe is more productive per 36 minutes. His "Mini-LeBron" nickname and status as heir to the best-blocking-guard-since-Dwyane Wade throne is warranted with 1.3 blocks per 36 and his defensive work extends to 3.0 steals and 5.6 rebounds per 36 (compared to Jack's zero blocks and one steal). Jack's true shooting and effective field goals percentages are better, but prorated to starter's minutes, Bledsoe is better. Add 5.1 assists per 36 and that's a body of work that gets him the nod.

SG: Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers / Kevin Martin, Oklahoma City Thunder - For all the hype around the season Crawford's having in Los Angeles (and make no mistake, he's playing phenomenal ball) and James Harden's leadership that's led him to an All-Star game, Kevin Martin is having his own quietly fantastic season playing in the film surrounding Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook highlights. He's averaging 1.5 points and 0.1 steals less per game than Crawford's 16.5 ppg and 1.1 spg while nabbing more boards and committing fewer turnovers. Martin's .161 WS/48 dwarfs Crawford's above-average .125. Martin is surely benefiting from the attention paid to his team's stars, a la Dunleavy in Milwaukee, and that is allowing him to be efficient from the field (.442 field goal percentage, .431 three-point percentage). The Thunder are +3.8 net points per possession with Martin on the court while the Clippers are +5.0 with Crawford in the line-up. Statistically, Martin deserves this spot, but stylistically, Crawford's crossovers and array of ankle-breaking moves are the things All-Star viewers relish.

SF: Matt Barnes, Los Angeles Clippers - For all the talking Barnes does on the court and as much as that may irk some people, he's putting in the work to back it up this year. He is putting up career numbers in points, blocks and steals while nearly matching his career high for assists per game, as well. Barnes' WS/48 of .184 is nearly double the league average of .100, which leads all but 17 players in the league and second only to Chris Paul on the Clippers.

PF: Ryan Anderson, New Orleans Hornets -Barely sneaking in (and narrowly edging out Golden State's Carl Landry) with 23 games off the bench, Anderson continues to be what everyone knew him to be during his breakout season in Orlando. Shooting a sub-.400 percentage from three isn't exactly what was expected of him, but the threat of leaving Anderson open allows him to assist seven percent of his team's field goals when he's in the game, plus he's putting up 18.9 points per 36 minutes and cleaning the glass (Anderson's grabbing 17.2 percent of available defensive rebounds).

C: JaVale McGee, Denver Nuggets - A) McGee's beginning to capitalize on the potential that made Wizards fans salivate when the franchise drafted him, posting the best WS/48 (.154) mark of his career, due in part to averaging 19 points and 3.6 blocks per 36 minutes. B) He's shooting 100 percent from three-point land this season (1-1, baby! Shout out to Lamar Odom's defense!) C) There's plenty of room for a personality like Pierre's in a lightweight affair like an All-Star game.


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