Marquis Teague is the only first-round pick who remains unsigned. Apparently this is because the Bulls don't want to pay him the standard 120% of his rookie slot value that about 97% of draft picks received. They want to do this either because Jerry Reinsdorf is notoriously cheap and doesn't want to pay an extra ~$170k + luxury tax and/or because they are running up against the hard cap, since they used the big MLE as well as the BAE. They're currently about $1.7 mil under the apron, with only 12 players signed (and only 11 healthy.) Giving Teague more than his slot value prevents them from signing any more players before the season starts, and probably makes it so they only can add one vet during the season, or perhaps 2 if they're able to wait until post trade deadline cuts before they need more players (which means no more injuries.)
Accordingly, should DA try to get Teague? The only player they can trade is Joseph. They could also send some cash, assuming they didn't give up all their allotted $2.9 mil in the Lee exchange. I suppose they could send along a future 2nd rounder, but we're out of those for 2013.
I think they should kick the tires and see what the Bulls think. Teague > Joseph. The downside is that paying Teague the full 120% eats up that much more room against the hard cap for ourselves. I think this downside is low, because (unlike Chicago) we have 15 players signed, and it's difficult for me to envision any truly useful players being available at the end of the season for vet min contracts. The last time we got one that worked out was PJ Brown. It creates some roster imbalance, making us a little more shallow at the 3 and giving us an extra PG, but in the event the Green or PP get hurt, Lee can play backup minutes at the 3, giving JET more time at SG (and either Dooling or Teague minutes backing up Rondo.) Lee isn't a true 3, obviously, but I'm willing to believe he could play it as well as a rookie for a few minutes, in the event of an injury.
Long-term, I think Teague holds more value than Joseph. Having a young PG to develop behind Rondo creates future flexibility. If he develops and Bradley stagnates, JET can spend more time at SG while Teague takes over backup point duties next year. If both Teague and Bradley develop, that can make Bradley more expendable, because again JET plays more 2 while Teague backs up Rondo. Same is also true if the Celtics and Bradley can't agree on an extension. Likewise, if Teague really takes off, he'll be entering his 4th season when Rondo becomes a free agent. While I think DA would be crazy to not bring back Rondo, I expect those to be difficult negotiations, given the personalities involved, and given that Doc's contract also runs out at that time (how will Rondo like the new coach should Doc retire?) Finally, Teague will have more trade value next off-season (and also this mid-season, but we seriously have too little cap room to make most things work) if we want to pursue a trade for a major piece at that time.
Thoughts? Have I overstated Teague's value? Is Joseph likely to have real value to this year's team? I do think the compensation of Joseph + cash + maybe a future 2nd is well in line with compensation for the 29th pick of the draft -- these picks get sold all the time.
Topic: Marquis Teague (Read 3723 times)