The idea to sign Atlanta’s Jeff Teague to an offer sheet, reuniting Teague with head coach Larry Drew, was a really good one.
Hammond’s problem? He undervalued Teague and didn’t offer him enough money or the kind of “poison pill”, heavily back-loaded contract that allowed Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey to lure restricted free agents Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin to Houston a year ago.
The offer to Teague? Four years and $32 million, which would actually be a bargain for a player of Teague’s potential and ability. Also consider that Atlanta just lost Josh Smith to Detroit around the same day Teague signed the Milwaukee offer sheet, and they had just signed Paul Millsap to a really, really affordable contract given his value.
|
Point Guards |
Minutes |
FG % |
3 FG % |
Points |
Assists |
PER |
Win Shares |
WS/48 |
|
Teague |
32.9 |
45.1 |
35.9 |
14.6 |
7.2 |
16.8 |
6.1 |
0.111 |
|
Jennings |
36.2 |
39.9 |
37.5 |
17.5 |
6.5 |
16.1 |
5.8 |
0.096 |
|
Ellis |
37.5 |
41.6 |
28.7 |
19.2 |
6 |
16.2 |
4.6 |
0.071 |
Teague took 12.2 shots per game compared to Jennings’ 15.6 and Ellis’ 17.5, and Teague still ended up having more value on the court than both the Bucks guards. So why not offer him more than $8 million per season? Atlanta quickly matched the feeble offer sheet, and Hammond was left to scramble.
Let’s just say Hammond’s scrambling decisions weren’t the best. He signed O.J. Mayo to a three-year deal worth $24 million, the same average annual value as Teague despite Mayo being the clearly inferior player. It was a clearly desperate reach to say the least.
|
Point Guards |
Minutes |
FG % |
3 FG % |
Pts |
Ast |
Reb |
O Rtg |
D Rtg |
PER |
WS |
WS/48 |
|
Teague |
32.9 |
45.1 |
35.9 |
14.6 |
7.2 |
2.3 |
106 |
106 |
16.8 |
6.1 |
0.111 |
|
Mayo |
35.5 |
44.9 |
40.7 |
15.3 |
4.4 |
3.5 |
104 |
109 |
13.9 |
4.2 |
0.069 |
Teague’s a year younger, a better player and plays a position (point guard) that Milwaukee needed more. So why offer Mayo too much money and Teague too little?
This all came while the team lost Ellis to Dallas (more on them soon) for three years and $30 million, which was apparently ammended to $25 million when Dallas realized Ellis wasn’t that good, a contract that made Jennings mad. Contract talks between the lone remaining Bucks guard from last season and the team took a turn for the worse, and it was apparent that Milwaukee would not be getting Jennings back. So nice job by Hammond there.
Trading for Luke Ridnour actually makes a good deal of sense, and Gary Neal will make a nice backup bench player. But since Hammond totally bungled the Jennings talks, they had to recoup some value for him. So they traded him to Detroit last week for a disappointing package highlighted by point guard Brandon Knight.
Knight is still only 21, but as of now he’s a below average NBA point guard. Even worse, he didn’t really improve much in his second season as a pro.
|
Knight |
Minutes |
FG % |
3 FG % |
Pts |
Ast |
O Rtg |
D Rtg |
PER |
WS |
WS/48 |
|
Season 2 |
31.5 |
40.7 |
36.7 |
13.3 |
4 |
98 |
111 |
12 |
1.1 |
0.022 |
|
Season 1 |
32.3 |
41.5 |
38 |
12.8 |
3.8 |
97 |
109 |
11.7 |
1.3 |
0.029 |
If you can see any real improvement in his numbers from one season to the next, take off your rosy-colored glasses, splash your face with some cold water and wake up.
This is not the player you want as your starting point guard right now.
So Hammond essentially turned a somewhat formidable backcourt and turned it into a mess.
Oh, and he gave Zaza Pachulia $15 million. Not a really good offseason if you’re a Bucks fan.
Dumbfounded In Dallas
Do the Dallas Mavericks have any direction at all here in the twilight of Dirk Nowitzki’s career? How many point guards does one team need?
I get that the Mavs signed too many PGs but 2 of those guys are expected to play the 2 but seriously they won 41 games with mike James at PG, Dirk missed half the season, and the center and SG positions were horrible… Just a healthy Dirk puts them in playoffs but they also have a solid PG that shot 46% from 3 to run the pick and roll with Dirk, a R protecting center, and solid back ups at every position??? Someone is gonna get rich bettering the over on the Mavs record because the way they are being underestimated is CRAZY.
Dont disagree with any of this, really. Good analysis. I think Milwaukee just screwed the pooch on the reddick deal. THAT was desperation. Losing Tobias Harris was just stupid. Since then…ok, they are building around Sanders and Henson..assuming henson improves. And Illysova, who i like a lot. But they had to move jennings…and got a gamble in Knight. Now i think BK could still develop. There were flashes. But its not a great move. Then they drafted Giannis the Greek Freak. I know lots of people were impressed, but I was not one of them. Maybe someday….but not anytime soon. Then Dallas,. which is just Cuban’s arrogance. He is now the jerry jones of the NBA., TERRIBLE (cue bill walton’s voice…) HORRRRRRRIBLE. there are no words. A mess. ANd finally NOLO. Im glad this writer so clearly articulated what went down. You gave up a #1 pick in the most loaded draft in ten years. For Holiday…oh and this years first. Jrue holiday is a nice player. Not an elite player. He struggled repeatedly against good defenders (Rondo and conely and CP3)….but he’s young, so….maybe. But it was way too much. And then….THEN they go all in for Tyreke. Now….you have three guys…eric gordon, jrue and reke who all need the ball. It is just bad roster management. Maybe i will be proved wrong….but I dont like it and then they gave up Robin Lopez, who I predict is going to be a huge plus for the blazers. And oh yeah, Vasquez. At worst he is a solid back up. Now…one complaint, Denver is not clearly better than ANYONE right now….count them a lotto team. NOLO could make the playoffs…lakers, nuggets and utah are going to awful.