Big Money Offers Mark 1st Day of Free Agency

After almost a day after free agency began, already we have seen some pretty wild contract agreements. Even though we are in a recession and the new NBA collective bargaining agreement could possible spell a lower salary cap, teams have not been bashful throwing their money around. Here is a list of the contract offers (players cannot officially sign until July 8th) so far.

C Drew Gooden, 28 years old

- Agreed to a 5 year/32 mil contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. For a player who has played on 9 teams in 8 seasons, this seems like a stretch. Yes he can he can rebound but that's pretty much it. You don't commit 5 years to a player of his caliber.

SF Rudy Gay, 23 years old

- Agreed to a 5 year/81.6 mil extension with the Memphis Grizzlies. Gay is not a number 1 option type of player and I doubt he ever will be. Therefore I don't see the value in this contract at all from a Memphis ownership standpoint. Another factor is that Gay is a restricted free agent which means any team cannot not go out and sign him without Memphis possibly matching the offer. That is why offering this contract so early is puzzling. The smarter way to go about it would be to wait and see if any team is willing to pay big money for Gay and then match it. Here they are just tactlessly throwing money away.

SG Joe Johnson, 29 years old

- Offered a 6 year/119 mil extension with the Atlanta Hawks. Another player who is never going to be a number 1 option, getting number 1 option money. The other issue I have is the length of this contract. Johnson is 29 and so this contract will not be up until he is 35. 20 mil per year is a steep price to pay a player exiting his prime.

PF Amir Johnson, 23 years old

- Agreed to a 5 year/34 mil extension with the Toronto Raptors. I am a big fan of Johnson but I have to say that Toronto is definitely overpaying. Although he shows promise, Johnson has not been able to put it all together consistently. I just wouldn't be comfortable setting aside this much money for an inconsistent backup.

Agree? Disagree? Lemme know!

JR