Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 at 5:41 pm  |  15 responses

Amnesty Provision

Who Would Be Cut? Part 1.

New York Knicks

Candidates: Ronny Turiaf (1 year, 4.4 million), Renaldo Balkman (2 years, $3.4 million)

The Knicks (like the Heat) don’t have a lot of cap space to spend on role players. Hence the Knicks have no terrible contracts (unless you don’t think Chauncey Billups is worth $14.2 million next season). Turiaf’s deal may be a little excessive for his skillset, but Balkman is the worst player on the team (congrats Andy Rautins!) and should be playing for the league’s minimum at best.

Final Verdict: Renaldo Balkman

Turiaf’s hustle, energy and defense aren’t easily replaced, regardless of his lack of size or offensive ability. Meanwhile, Balkman could certainly be superseded by a number of free agents at a cheaper price tag.

Orlando Magic

Candidates: Gilbert Arenas (3 years, $62.4 million), Hedo Turkoglu (3 years, $34.8 million), Chris Duhon (3 years, $10.8 million)

Where do I begin? Can the Magic buy multiple amnesty clauses from other teams that don’t need them? Despite playing impressively in New York (for one season), Duhon is the least productive point guard not named Ronnie Price. Turkoglu is no longer an All-Star, or even a top-notch closer anymore, limiting his value on the basketball court. Arenas’ best skills are blind dates and planking. That’s not what you want from a guy making over $20 million to come off the bench and average 8 points on .344 shooting.

Final Verdict: Gilbert Arenas

This is an easy call. Arenas has one of the most ludicrous contracts in the NBA (along with Joe Johnson and Rashard Lewis), and does not seem to fit well in Orlando. Look on the bright side Gil, you’ll have more time to tweet, give away free merchandise, and entertain the public.

Philadelphia 76ers

Candidates: Elton Brand (2 years, $35.2 million), Andres Nocioni (2 years, $14.2 million)

The Sixers are currently being held back by a huge mistake that occurred in the summer of 2008: signing Elton Brand to a multi-year, mega-million dollar deal. Instead of getting the franchise big man they’ve sorely lacked, the Sixers got an injury-prone, past-his-prime power forward. Additionally, Nocioni isn’t going to get any playing time with Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young (possibly), Evan Turner, Louis Williams and Jodie Meeks ahead of him in the shooting guard/small forward rotation, making him replaceable and his contract exorbitant.

Final Verdict: Andres Nocioni

Brand still has value with his size, strength, and versatility, and will be an asset for Philadelphia as a starting or back-up power forward (behind Thaddeus Young). Nocioni’s gritty Chicago days are long gone, and has become too pricey for a non-rotation player.

Toronto Raptors

Candidates: Amir Johnson (4 years, $25 million), Jose Calderon (2 years, $19.3 million), Linas Kleiza (2 years, $9.2 million), Leandro Barbosa (1 year, $7.6 million)

Father time is slowly catching up to both Barbosa and Calderon, as neither is enjoying their primes despite being in their late 20’s. Johnson is actually an underpaid player, but his future presence won’t be needed with the drafting of Jonas Valanciunas and development of Ed Davis. Kleiza is a skilled role player who makes this list because of a knee injury that may cause him to miss part or all of next season.

Final Verdict: Amir Johnson

Calderon is still an above average point guard, with no capable back up behind him (I consider Bayless a combo guard). Barbosa has one year left on his deal, and isn’t as washed-up as perceived. Kleiza’s scoring and toughness are useful, and his contract isn’t too bad to begin with. Johnson is expendable with Andrea Bargnani, Davis and Valanciunas on the roster (hopefully sooner than later).

Washington Wizards

Candidates: Rashard Lewis (2 years, $43.8 million), Andray Blatche (4 years, $29.8 million)

Lewis is insanely overpaid despite boasting average numbers and production at best. The former sharpshooter is still a decent player, just not in the $20 million plus range. Blatche is a skilled and talented big man, yet he lacks the motivation and maturity to turn into an All-Star level player. At some point, the Wizards may have to move on.

Final Verdict: Rashard Lewis

Besides Arenas and Outlaw, Lewis is probably the only other lock to be released from his contract. Luckily, he’ll have company.

Jovan Buha is a sophomore at the University of Southern California majoring in print & digital journalism. He also writes for ESPN TrueHoop’s ClipperBlog.com.

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  • Buddahfan

    Why would the Raptors release Amir Johnson their hardest worker, best defender and best all-around best player when is still only 24 and has a good contract to boot?

    A lot of Davis lovers out there. He has upside but most likely will bolt Toronto first chance he gets. When he was drafted he was not to happy about having to play in Toronto.

    This article was written by another member of the Amir Johnson Doubter’s club.

    Bargnani would be a far better choice.

  • http://NBA.com/bulls The Babe

    Cosign Buddahfan

  • http://twitter.com/BeezKneezy LA Huey

    I will never understand decision to ink Rashard Lewis to that contract. I could kinda see if the Magic thought he was worth or one day be worth around $10 mil/yr. But $20 mil/yr? That’s the kinda money you get when casual sports fans can refer to you by one name (i.e. Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, LeBron).

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    Bulls fans worldwide would rejoice is Boozer was let go. But management probably wouldn’t do that. Which sucks.
    And I disagree, I absolutely believe Gibson is ready to hold down the 4=spot as a starter. He did so as a rookie.

  • add

    i agree with all of em except the bulls, i think watson is a really reliable player off the bench

  • Dillantradamus

    Nothing on the Suns? Too easy?

  • Cmac

    @Dillantradamus This is part 1, Eastern Conference. Look out for the Suns in part 2.
    Also Jovan, I think you might’ve missed Jason Kapono for Philly. He’s making around 6 mil a year to sit on the bench…

  • matt the jazz fan

    chauncey is so grossly overpaid it’s a joke!

  • http://www.slamonline.com TADOne

    If I were Detroit I would cut Ben Gordon, not Rip. BG is the most overrated guard in the league and was never worth the salary he was given. At least Rip has size and at least attempts to play D and passes the ball. I want Rip gone as well, but I would choose BG for this.

  • Hurricane

    When I read those numbers, I side with the owners.

  • orlando woolridge

    I understand that Mike Miller performed poorly this past season, but I don’t think his only asset is shooting. He’s a good all around player imo.

  • orlando woolridge

    ^when healthy

  • Dave19

    Hurricane; the owners and the men they hire to manage the team are to blame. The only exception is Arenas, who earned his massive contract at the time of the signing… Gil was playing, at the time, at a level not that far off of Bryant and James. But then came bad knees, then came guns in his locker, and then came suspension, then came John Wall. Gil could use a new situation that chooses to have him there… And a salary that doesn’t demand he score 24 with 8 assists to be respected. If they lower the cap, they will have to include something like this to help teams get manageable under the new cba..

  • MikeC.

    I see these salaries and think, “jeez, I had to save for a year to build a new deck on my house.” I almost got heated at those players, then remembered that if an NBA GM said to me “Hey MikeC., we’re gonna give you $120 million to play basketball.” I’d snap that up in a heartbeat. Damn the owners for putting themselves in a position where they have to lock out the players and not pay them because they chose to overpay their players. Damn the owners!

  • young c

    @Cmac: Jason Kapono is an unrestricted free agent. He is no longer on the Sixers books.

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