NBA Free Agency '09

The free agents of 2009 were free to begin negotiations with any NBA team on July 1st. Although free agents can’t actually sign with any team until July 8th, several free agents have agreed to sign with a particular team, once that date rolls around. The big names that have already signed are Ron Artest with the Lakers (3-year), Hedo Turkoglu with the Raptors, Trevor Ariza with the Rockets (5-year), Charlie Villanueva with the Pistons (5-year), Ben Gordon with the Pistons (5-year), and yesterday’s reports are that Rasheed Wallace is heading to Boston for a two-year contract.

Before I talk about this deal for the Celts, I’d like remind y’all that there is a salary cap in the NBA. However, unlike the “hard” cap of the NFL and NHL, the NBA features a “loose” cap. Whereas in the NFL teams can exceed the cap in only the rarest of circumstances, the NBA offers a variety of exceptions by which teams can exceeds the salary cap. One exception that you have probably heard mentioned this offseason is the mid-level exception (MLE). It allows a team already over the cap to sign a player with a single year’s pay that is equal to the league’s average salary. Another common exception is the Larry Bird exception (named because the Celtics were the first team to implement this rule when they re-signed Larry Bird), which allows a team to resign their own free agent for the league’s maximum salary if the so-called “Bird free agent” has played for one team for at least three years in a row, without being waived.*

Rasheed Wallace, who can play both forward and center, will make Boston one of the most experienced teams in the NBA. He is a great two-way threat with plenty of experience, and will make a great addition to the Celtics lineup. Between Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Wallace, the Celtics have an unprecedented 53 years of NBA experience. With the addition of Shaq, Boston’s Eastern Conference rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers projected starting five will have a combined 38 years of experience. Last year, ‘Sheed had his lowest PPG since his rookie year with the Washington Bullets, scoring only 12.0 points a game; yet his 7.4 rebounds per game was 2.6 above the league average and higher than his own career average. Since his career is on the decline at age 34, Wallace will probably come off the bench for the Celtics, serving as a backup for Kevin Garnett. His willingness to accept a two-year contract worth over $1 million less than his 2008-2009 single-year salary, in addition to his readiness to play fewer minutes is a testament to Rasheed’s desire to win his second championship ring.

Another rumor that has been circulating throughout the media is that Boston is actively pursuing Suns’ free agent Grant Hill, instead of Glen Big Baby Davis, who could be headed to the Spurs. Grant Hill is even older than Sheed, and at age 36, this will be his 15th season in the NBA. While Hill is undoubtedly more proven than Davis, we saw Big Baby’s potential in this year’s playoffs, where he scored 15.8 points and averaged 5.6 rebounds per game while filling in for KG; who knows when he’ll come into his own? 2008-2009 was only his second year in the NBA, and Ainge could probably sign Davis for a less costly contract than he will be forced to pay 7-time All Star Grant Hill.

Looking at Boston’s projected starting lineup, Boston has some of the most proven stars in all of the NBA. Here are some stats between Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, and Grant Hill:
• Pierce was selected 10th in the 1998 NBA Draft, the lowest out of any of the five players (Allen: 5th, Garnett: 5th, Wallace: 4th, Hill: 3rd
• Together, they have appeared in 40 NBA All Star games
• 5-player averages: 19.50 PPG, 7.06 RPG, 3.72 APG
• Combined 4,606 reg. season games (56 82-game seasons), 402 playoff games
And don’t forget, Boston still has Rajon Rondo prepared to play his 4th season with the Celtics. In this year’s playoffs, he was .3 rebounds and .2 assists short of averaging a triple-double.

Other free agents that have yet to commit to a team include: Dikembe Mutombo, Lamar Odom, Nate Robinson, Marcin Gortat, Andre Miller, Ime Udoka, Mike Bibby, and Shawn Marion, as well as the Celtics’ Leon Powe, Mikki Moore, Stephon Marbury.

*The MLB’s version of a salary cap is the called a “payroll threshold”. Instead of being penalized with the loss of draft picks or millions of dollars (as in the NBA), teams that exceed the salary cap pay a small “luxury tax” that goes to baseball’s “industry-growth fund”. Although the luxury is sometimes called the “competitive balance tax”, the tax money does not redistribute the money to poorer teams. Instead, the MLB uses this fund to promote baseball around the world and for player benefits.