Since this is the weekend of frivolity for the NBA, I figured we could handle a frivolous exercise here as well. These are the rules, all players keep their current contracts, but suddenly have no team. You have to put together a 12-man roster, but remain under the cap for this season.
Use
this site to find player salaries, the cap is $58,600,000. Those are the rules, come up with your roster and let's see if you can do better than mine below.
Explanations after the jump.
I started with LBJ, which really shouldn't need further explanation. Chris Paul is just too much of a bargain to pass up, obviously. At that point I went looking for a stud PF with a low post game, if possible. My first choice was Chris Bosh, but he was too expensive and you can't win without a bench, so I made a decision to use the PF and C spots for two purposes, blocked shots and rebounding. Camby was a no-brainer, and when I went looking for a PF who fit the bill I found that bigs are not cheap in this league. Okafor seemed like a perfect fit at a decent price. Brandon Roy was a value for the SG position, so my starting lineup was set and I had roughly $17M to build a bench.
I tried to build a bench that could come in as a unit and contend. The biggest cap hit was James Posey, but I wanted a tough perimeter defender who could shoot the three and no one fits the bill better than him. The rest of the second unit is made up of extreme values, Sessions worries me a little at the point, but I figure he's got plenty of offensive firepower around him, especially down low in Bynum and Millsap.
Rounding out the bench are Roger Mason Jr. and Theo Ratliff. One guy to come in and spread the floor, the other to provide some depth for the bigs.
There's my logic, and my made-up team, add your own in the comments.
Joe had a great rule to add in the comments. No rookie contracts allowed. This makes it a much, much tougher exercise. Here are the two rosters I came up with following the new rules, check the comments for Joe's as well.
Here I stuck with the core starters of LeBron and Camby. Around them, I put Derek Fisher at the point (too good of a value to pass up, can defend, knock down the three and run the team), Posey as the starting SG, defense, range and toughness. Joining LeBron and Camby in the front court is Okur. Big who can play on the outside and hit big shots.
Coming off the bench, we have Hedo at SF, Grant Hill out of position at the 2, Ivey running the point, Scola and Ratliff down low. I like the interior defense, the scoring from Hedo and Hill. Intangibles from Scola. The bench is filled out by Bird Man and Morrow, two minimum guys who can bring something when called upon.
In this one I went with the same base, but looked for what I thought was the best value contract. Caron Butler fit the bill for me. I kept Fisher as the point, and brought Devin Harris in to play the two, sliding Posey back to the bench to anchor that unit. This team would need LeBron to really play like a power forward, especially on the boards, but it would have more offensive punch than the other no rookie contracts team.
Use either set of rules for your roster in the comments.
You should have made a "no rookie contract" rule. Makes it harder.
Here is my no rookie contract team.
PG: Calderon - 7.4
SG: Manu Ginobli - 9.9
SF: Lebron - 14.4
PF: Bonner - 3.0
C: Howard - 13.8
Total: 48.5
Ivey - 0.9
Posey - 5.6
Chris Andersen - .9
Chris Quinn - 1.0
Anthony Morrow - 0.4
Adonal Foyle/Paul Millsap - 0.8/0.7
Malik Hairston - 0.4
I just did this to 1 decimal point, but my total is 58.4, so I think it is under.
I don't think Paul Millsap qualifies since he is under his rookie contract and was drafted. That sucks, I didn't feel like looking too much for a 3rd center so I picked Marcin Gortat, but then saw he was drafted, so I just picked Foyle from his team as a body. I'll play Lebron at the 4 about half the time so my frontcourt depth isn't too bad.
I like Calderon because his contract is such a joke, so I think that is a good start. Ideally my starting lineup is
At this point, I am extremely happy with my team. I am hoping to find a discount stud PF at like 8 million a year or something... there are none though. If Millsap were undrafted I'd go there. I'm not in love with Al Jefferson or Boozer, who are the best deals I see. Not a big enough Okafer fan. Then I see Howard's deal, so I go over the deep end. I'm gonna have to finish the last 8 spots with 13 million. Oh well.
Now I need a cheap PF, preferably with range. Matt Bonner is playing fantastic basketball and starting for the best coach in the NBA currently. Anyway, if he is good enough for Pop, he is good enough for me with that 48% 3 point shooting. All he will do is camp in the corner pretty much.
So, 10 million for the last 7 players. You only really need to go 9 deep at most. I want a real beast bench player, so I'm going with the best... Posey. He will bring some toughness out there amongst some of my softies. I like Chris Andersen's game a lot, so he is the first Center off the bench. Foyle is there for foul trouble reasons.
Ivey and Quinn will be my points off the bench. I like Quinn's ability to not shoot or turn it over. His inability to defend worries me, but I like that he won't do anything but make open 3s, bring the ball up the court very well, and pass to good players. Ivey does the same but is much worse dribbling/offensively, but can pressure the ball and be disruptive sometimes. Morrow is a cheap, hired gun. And Milik Hairston is a player I really think should have gotten more looks in the draft. His versatility will be nice if I need a PG, SG, or SF... he can fill that role and won't try to do too much. Right now, he is the 9th man in SA. He was drafted and cut and then signed by San Anton I believe so he is fair game.
Most of my bench can't really score, but that is fine. They won't need to. If need be, Manu would be moved to the bench and someone else would step in the starting spot. Maybe Morrow?
Nice, I like it. I added a couple rosters to the post using no rookie contracts. It's much, much harder that way.
It's amazing how cap friendly Orlando's team is (except for Lewis' bloated contract). Here's mine:
Dwight Howard 13.75
David West 9.86
Travis Outlaw 4.00
Manu Ginobli 9.90
Jameer Nelson 7.43
Roger Mason 3.5
Matt Bonner 2.98
Antonio McDyess 1.9
Brent Barry 1.91
Anthony Carter .8
Chris Anderson .8
Jamario Moon .71
Brings me right up against the cap. The way I see it, you either build around LeBron or Dwight in this exercise. I used a simple strategy: build around Dwight using good shooters. Nelson and Outlaw can both run a mean break off outlet passes, and Ginobli is a finisher. The bench has experience, 3-point shooting, and big bodies. Anderson, Carter, and Moon are defensive bodies. I like the depth this team has.
You know, it's funny, this exercise kind of let's you see what GM's have gotten good value in the contracts they sign players to. It also shows you how much of a premium you have to pay for bigs. Nice job, cliche.
here's my All-Rookie Contracts team. i initially was just looking for the best team of players making under 5 mil. i was surprised that not a single non-rookie contract made it.
PG: Chris Paul
SG: Kevin Durant
SF: Danny Granger
PF: David Lee
C: Andrew Bynum
PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Brandon Roy
SF: Rudy Gay
PF: LaMarcu Aldridge
C: Al Horford
G: Rodney Stuckey
F: Paul Millsap
incidentally, this team can be yours for the low low price of $34,067,108