The top 10 underpaid NBA studs

Operating under the current collective bargaining agreement it almost seems like a fairy tale now, but once upon a time player salaries in the NBA became dangerously fragmented, driving a widening gap between the leagues’ have’s and the have not’s. Not too long ago, if you remember, star players like Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett were racking up 5 or 6 year deals with salaries totaling well north of $100 million dollars, while the prosperity gap between a handful of All-Stars and the rest of the NBA’s players was expanding at an alarming rate.

Of course, as history tells us, recognizing that his league’s financials were completely out of whack, David Stern, the forward-thinking uber-commish that he is, in collusion with the league’s owners terminated the ill-fated 1995 collective bargaining agreement and locked out the league and its players in 1998 for a record seven months, or 191 days. The shortened season and a whopping $400 million lost in player salaries as a result of the lockout caused the NBA Players’ Association and its members to blink. The result was a brand new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement that led to a hard limit on maximum salaries, an extended rookie wage scale, a reduction in year-over-year percentage salary increase in a multi-year contract, the implementation of the mid-level salary exemption and later the institution of a luxury tax. The net result, as Stern and the NBA owners had anticipated, has been the gradual elimination of outrageously high star salaries and a more redistributed pay scale creating a more balanced salary structure.

The history lesson is to set up the point that the new CBA has done what countless accountants couldn’t get the NBA’s owners to do, which is set up a tiered performance and tenure-based pay scale. Since star players won’t hog payrolls under the current CBA, most owners are no longer overpaying relatively marginal players like Juwan Howard, for example. Given the relative fiscal frugality in today’s NBA it’s no surprise that there are a growing number of top-talent bargains to be found on NBA rosters.

We had a change to look at the overpaid duds in a recent post, but how about the top 10 underpaid studs?

10. Ron Artest: Sure he’s crazier than Britney Spears, but it’s tough to argue against the 18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals that Artest put up last year. At least the Maloofs don’t have to dig too deep into their casino profits to pay for Artest’s economical $7,800,000 for the coming season – after which swingin’ Ronnie Artest can opt out of his deal and seek equitable compensation.

9. Bruce Bowen: Hate him, or despise him, you have to admit that Bowen is a critical part of the Spurs championship team. Without Bowen around to at least bother players like Kobe and T-Mac, the Spurs defense doesn’t look as solid. So, to retain Bowen at the $4,125,000 that the team will pay him for the 2007/2008 season is a pretty sweet deal for San Antonio – and, we’re sure they’re ecstatic about the 3 additional seasons left on Bowen’s contract at around that thrifty price.

8. TayShaun Prince: Anytime you can get All-Star caliber player at a yearly salary of around $8 million, you’ve done your job as a GM. In the immortal words of rapper Big Daddy Kane, Pistons’ GM Joe Dumars sure does “get the job done.” Dumars will be paying All-Star Prince $8,675,620 next year with 3 additional seasons remaining on his contract at around that same price.

7. David West: This Hornet is only 27 years old, going into the prime of his career, and is coming off a season where he averaged 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. So, any idiot can see that his value should only go up over the next few seasons, right? Funny thing is that his salary is going to do the opposite. West will make $10,650,000 this coming season, but over the subsequent 4 seasons his salary will actually decrease, ending up at a relatively low $7,525,000 in the final season. It’s called a front-loaded contract boys and girls, and the Hornets were pretty smart to sign West to one wouldn’t you say?

6. Gilbert Arenas: “Agent 0” won’t be a bargain for long, because as soon as he opts out of his contract following this season his salary should balloon to the $18 - $20 million range. In the meantime, the world’s most famous Halo 3 player will lace it up for a bargain price of $11,946,667. We thought we’d get Arenas on our list now, before his pending jackpot contract takes him out of the realm of the underpaid.

5. Caron Butler: Once again an All-Star who doesn’t quite make All-Star dough – a perfect fit for our underpaid list. Butler, who was first traded for Shaquille O’Neal and then traded for Kwame Brown (try to make sense of that logic), deserves more than the $8,218,990 he will make next season. To top it off, Butler has 3 years left beyond next year, so, given his stellar game on both ends of the floor, he should remain a staple on the underpaid list for quite some time.

4. Emanuel Ginobili: It probably says something about San Antonio management that there are two Spurs on our underpaid list. Ginobili is a special player, and on a Spurs team that’s generally devoid of emotion he brings that much needed passion, hustle and fire. So to get Ginobili’s services for a paltry $9,075,000 for the upcoming season with 2 additional years left on his deal shows solid negotiating on San Antonio’s part.

3. Gerald Wallace: Last season, Wallace averaged 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2 steals, while shooting a scorching 50 percent from the floor. This preseason, he has been even hotter, averaging 21.7 points per game, despite the addition of high-scorer Jason Richardson to the Bobcats roster. And to top it all off, Wallace is only 25 years old and going into his prime. Let’s just say that Bobcats part owner Michael Jordan is exorcising the demons of picking Kwame Brown with the first pick, by getting a bargain basement deal of $7,500,000 for Wallace’s services.

2. David Lee: Lee averaged a double-double 10.7 points and 10.4 rebounds last year, and he’s set to make only $990,600 this coming season? Are you kidding us? That has to be, by far, the lowest dollars per rebound total in the NBA. The Knicks have a team option on Lee’s contract for the 2008/2009 and a qualifying offer for the 2009/2010 season, so he could be on underpaid lists for some time. Given all of the other bloated contracts on the roster, good karma has to find the Knicks at some point right?

1. Steve Nash: He is 33 years old, listed at 6’3” (probably closer to 6’1”) and a scant 195 pounds, and looks more like a surfer than a NBA player. Despite all that he’s a two-time NBA MVP and one of the top 5 players in the game. But, unfortunately for Nash, and fortunately for Suns ownership, the crazy Canadian makes nowhere near top-5 player money. In fact, despite his accomplishments, Nash will take home a relatively pedestrian $11,375,000 in salary for the upcoming season, with 2 additional seasons left on his svelte contract.

Virtual GM: Sacramento Kings

With the Mike Bibby trade rumors heating up once again, and Ron Artest’s name still being linked in “rumorville” with the New York Knicks, we thought it would be a good time to play virtual GM and take a look at some moves that could help the Sacramento Kings pull itself out of the quicksand of mediocrity that its been stuck in the last couple of seasons.

Here’s the Kings roster as it stands today, and the number of years remaining on the contracts for each player in parenthesis:

Point Guards: Mike Bibby (2), Quincy Douby (4), Mustafa Shakur (not signed yet)
Shooting Guards: Kevin Martin (2), John Salmons (4)
Small Forwards: Ron Artest (2), Francisco Garcia (3)
Power Forwards: Mikki Moore (1), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (3), Kenny Thomas (3), Justin Williams (1)
Centers: Brad Miller (3), Spencer Hawes (5)

Free agents: Vitaly Potapenko, Corliss Williamson

It’s safe to assume that unless they’re bundled as part of a blockbuster deal, players like Quincy Douby, Kevin Martin, John Salmons, Francisco Garcia, Mikki Moore, Justin Williams, Spencer Hawes and Brad Miller probably won’t be moved this year – whether it is because of their youth, talent and/or length (and amount) of contract. Taking those players out of the equation the players the Kings could most likely look to move are Mike Bibby, Ron Artest, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas. Of those four, Artest and Abdur-Rahim have the most cap/trade friendly contracts, at around $8 million and $6 million per year respectively.

So, now that the stage is set, let’s put our GM caps on to work out some scenarios. The bottom line is that Mike Bibby shouldn’t even be in any trade conversations. He is, and has been, the face of the Sacramento Kings franchise for some time, and unless you’re able to get an all-star caliber player in return he shouldn’t be traded. That option, unfortunately, isn’t available to the Kings. Especially since he’s coming off a down season, this is not a sellers market when it comes to Mike Bibby. Perhaps next summer, when he’ll only have one year left on his large $14.5 million contract, someone might be interested in a solid starting point guard with an expiring contract.

So, if we’ve decided that it’s best to hold onto Mike Bibby for at least another year, Ron Artest sticks out like a sore thumb on this defense challenged squad. Reggie Theus likes for his teams to get up and down the court, so to be able to do that the Kings need a more versatile small forward that can get out on the break to fill the wings and catch-and-shoot from the 3-point range on the perimeter. They have mobile big men that can run, a point guard in Bibby that can push the ball and a premiere shooter and slasher in Kevin Martin. The Kings should build around that core and look to trade Artest and possibly one of their aging power forwards, ie. Abdur-Rahim.

There’s a ton of trade scenarios that could work for the Kings, from trading Artest for Los Angeles Clippers forward Cory Maggette, or sending him in a package to the New York Knicks for Quentin Richardson and David Lee. But, the one that makes the most sense is packaging Artest with Abdur-Rahim and sending both to the Miami Heat for James Posey, Udonis Haslem and possibly a 2009 or 2010 1st round draft pick. Heat coach Pat Riley gets the defensive small forward he desperately needs and a serviceable presence at power forward in Abdur-Rahim that can play off Shaq -- besides Riley has shown a propensity for stockpiling veterans just slightly past their glory days.

The kings end up with two players that can thrive in Theus' up and down offensive schemes -- a small forward that can hit the open 3 and a power forward that can do the dirty work in the paint and hit the boards. Sacramento would also dump the 3 years still remaining on Abdur-Rahim's contracts and the headaches that come with having a personality like Artest on your team -- and they get younger and more athletic in the process. Besides, the major problem for the Kings last year was a lack of chemistry and team identity, not talent. With this trade the Kings can regain that swagger, and go back to being one of the highest scoring and most entertaining teams in the league.

Following the trade, the Kings lineup would be as follows:

Point Guards: Mike Bibby (2), Quincy Douby (4), Mustafa Shakur (not signed yet)
Shooting Guards: Kevin Martin (2), John Salmons (4)
Small Forwards: James Posey (new contract), Francisco Garcia (3)
Power Forwards: Udonis Haslem (3), Mikki Moore (1) Kenny Thomas (3), Justin Williams (1)
Centers: Brad Miller (3), Spencer Hawes (5)

Could Mike Bibby, J.R. Smith and Udonis Haslem be on the move?

The Mike Bibby to Miami rumors just won’t go away. An odds and ends report in the Miami Herald rekindles rumors that Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby may be headed to the Miami Heat in exchange for Heat guard Jason Williams and power forward Udonis Haslem. The salary cap numbers seem to work, but the holdup remains the Heat’s reluctance to include Haslem in the deal.

This move makes sense for Miami, but we’re not sure how Sacramento makes itself better by getting Williams and Haslem back in return for one of the best pick-and-roll point guards in the NBA. Williams is better on the break than Mike Bibby, but is more of a liability on defense, is very erratic, inconsistent and injury prone, and isn’t nearly the clutch player that Bibby has been throughout his career. Haslem is a solid player, but what do you get from him other than a good locker room presence and a few more rebounds at the power forward position? And worst of all, this deal would leave Ron Artest as the Kings’ best player and leader, and the face of the Sacramento franchise. Seriously, nobody wants that.

We’ll post again soon on what we think the Kings should do with their current, disparate roster. So, stay tuned for that.

Among other NBA rumors, the Denver Nuggets apparently aren’t finished tweaking their roster. It seeems that they’re speaking with the Orlando Magic about sending shooting guard J.R. Smith and forward Reggie Evans for point guard Keyon Dooling and outside shooting forward Pat Garrity. Sure J.R. Smith was in Nuggets coach George Karl’s doghouse off and on for portions of the 2006-2007 season, but if this deal does happen it will be purely for salary cap reasons. The Nuggets may be looking for cap, and specifically luxury tax, relief by acquiring the expiring contracts of Dooling and Garrity.