Marquis Daniels Not So Easy To Let Go
by Tom Lewis on Apr 26, 2009 10:41 PM EDT
in Indiana Pacers News
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PrintMike Wells is taking reader questions and putting them up for consideration on Pacers Insider. The first question deals with the $7.35 team option on Marquis Daniels and whether or not the Pacers should pick it up.
Heading into the offseason I figured this issue was a non-starter since the Pacers were looking to clear cap space and as much as I like Quisy, his $7.35 option would be too rich for the Pacers this offseason.
Then in his press conference last week, Larry Bird made a case for keeping Quisy due to the unknown status of Mike Dunleavy for next season. Now Mike thinks the move to keep Quisy wouldn't surprise him.
But what about the expected down market in the NBA this summer. Coming off an injury plagued year, could Quisy command more than a $5 million mid-level exception this summer? If there is a desire to bring him back, why not re-sign him after he's a free agent and save a couple million?
Quisy's pride may rule out the re-sign option, but if he's healthy he can rebuild his value playing in JOB's system.
Mike makes a good point about future cap space being more important than cap space this summer, but since Bird expects to have around $9-10 million to work with this summer, Quisy's option would mop up most of that reserve. Combined with the fact that he has to be considered injury prone at this point, there has to be a more efficient way to spend that money and make sure the depth at wing is addressed.
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A Possible Snag
Any new free agent contract Marquis would sign—with the Pacers or anyone
else—would be for multiple years. Would you rather have Daniels with a new
three-year contract at $5 million per than a contract with one year left at $7.35
million?
doesn't sound like a great option for us at all
I do wonder what he’d get on the open market
"If you don't [draft me], I promise you I'll come back and kick your ass for the next 15 years."
No.
I’m sure the Pacers won’t pick up the option on Marquis’ contract. Marquis is a good player, but just not worth the nearly 7.5 million in today’s economy/market. If the Pacers would pick up the option they would have hardly any money left, meaning that
- they can’t offer anything to Jarrett Jack, letting him go
- they even would have trouble filling up the roster to the NBA minimum of players even if they just sign minimum salary players.
That’s why I am sure Marquis’ option won’t be an option for the Pacers.
Nevertheless, with Dunleavy out, the Pacers have a hole to fill at the wing. So what’s the alternative?
(1) sign Stevie Graham to a minimum contract or anything close to it.
(2) re-sign J. Jack; he spent a lot of minutes at the 2 spot and will continue to do so.
(3) sign another free agent to a minimum contract; last year the types of wing players signing for the veteran mimimum or close to included guys like Kareem Rush, Jarvis Hayes. These are no potential starters, as Marquis is, but still capable players who a team can have in the rotation without having to worry too much.
if they pick up his option I will cry
Although, it would be his contract year again, so we might see the same quisy as last year and not the one the couple years before.
Only way you pick this up is if you plan on trading him during the season when his value is highest. But I don’t see anyone else around the league that would want a 2 guard with an iffy shot with injury problems for 7 mil
My Guess is . . .
. . . the Pacers will not exercise the option. But if they do, I won’t cry:
1) Daniels is apparently one of the most popular teammates and has been
a key element in the good chemistry.. He also is a good player on both
ends of the court when he’s healthy.
2) His expiring contract will be VERY valuable next year—for either the
Pacers or, more importantly, a potential trading partner.
3) The upcoming draft appears to be one of the weakest in NBA history.
That could indirectly factor into the decision. Daniels is likely a lot
better than anyone we’d pick up at #13.
With all that said, I repeat—I think the most likely decision will be not to
exercise.
Why?
I don’t get the urge to resign everyone from this current team? This was a 30 something win team in a weak eastern conference.
Take a chance on someone young with some upside. Rodney Carney,Marcus Williams,Sheldon Williams etc. should all be really cheap and have tons more upside than the current stiffs on the roster. Why tie up the cap with non improvements?
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
I think the most important thing...
is making sure we get rid of Dunleavy and Murphy. I think everyones fooling themselves if they think we are going anywhere with these 2 as our 2nd and 3rd best players. They are stiff, slow, and even though Murph had a grea statistical year and does things not many people can do, I really don’t see him as an integral part of the team when the turnarround happens.
As for Quisy, definitely not a good move to sign him for too much for too long. Even though I do like him, and when called upon I thought he was good (when healthy) thisyear, I think the samrtest thing is getting Jack back here, maybe drafting a PG, and maybe packaging murph and Tj for a big strong low post guy.
If I were king
If it were up to me, I would do the following:
-Attept to resign McRoberts for 2 years at NBA minimum and try to develop him.
-Check on Jarrett Jack and see if he would resign somewhere in the 2 yr/ 3 Mil per year range.
-encourage all other free agents and guys holding options to leave town
Assuming that Diener leaves, that leaves 5 open roster spots. 2 are taken up from draft picks. Looking at 3 free agents coming to town (assuming McRoberts and Jack return)
Order of target
1. Rodney Carney
2. Sheldon Williams
3. Marcus Williams
4. Cedric Simmons
5. Morris Almond
None of those guys will be expensive. All of them had solid prospect status coming into the league. Maybe one or two of them can develop into NBA rotation level guys?
Kinda the situation this franchise is in. Not good enough to win anything. Yet not bad enough to get impact players in the lottery. Unless we beat the lotto odds, then were are still in rudderless ship territory.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
do you mean...
try to possibly get all 5 with the 5 spots? or maybe try to fill a couple spots with those guys, in that order?
by captain flitzy on Apr 27, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Not all 5
We have 5 open spots on next years roster (assuming no trades) and Jack and McRoberts coming back (they are restricted FA’s).
1st and 2nd round picks will take up 2 roster spots. So signing 3 or the above 5 will fill out the roster. That was just the order of importance I would place on each individual guy. Ideally it will be
1 PG
1 Post guy
1 Wing
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
Not a big Sheldon Williams fan
Mainly cause he went to Duke, obviously. But I also went to the IU-Duke game his senior year when he was supposed to be one of the best big men in the country and he really got killed by Marco Killingsworth. Obviously you can’t let one game completely throw off your opinion of a player, but he really got dominated by a one-dimensional guy. Also, he’s married to Candace Parker, a talented and good looking woman who could do better than him. He just looks weird.
Okay enough of that, the other guys all are solid. Carney and the other Williams especially I would be happy to take on.
"If you don't [draft me], I promise you I'll come back and kick your ass for the next 15 years."
Trade Asset
I think Marquis Daniels is one of the best trade assets on the market this summer. His team option effectively allows him to be an instant expiring contract, and allows him to be traded unlike contracts which expire this summer. He has a large team option at $7.35mil, which could be traded to a team over the cap who could then decline his option and save themselves a lot of money.
I think the Pacers could look at two main types of trades
- A trade with a team over the luxury tax, like New Orleans, and take back one or two expiring contracts and charge 2-3 future first round picks for the cost. It would save the Hornets around $15mil — very valuable.
- A second trade would be one for established talents. Similar to the Clippers pickup of Camby from Denver, when the Nuggets were cutting salaries. I’m not sure who would be available. Barbosa perhaps? Tyson Chandler? (obviously need another contract or two to matchup financially)
I think Marquis Daniels is a great trade asset and could bring back a nice bounty for the Pacers.
I think it would be a really bad decision if the Pacers decide to keep Daniels @ 7.35mil next season. A waste of a trade asset, waste of potential cap space, and overpaying for a player.
I remember reading an article in the Indy Star, by Mike Wells, a few months ago were Bird was openly and clearly considering bringing Daniels back. I was very surprised then, and still am now. I worried back then that Bird may have already made his mind up, and decided to bring him back.
I’m hoping Bird finds a better use for that team option — either a trade or letting him go.
Bird isn't very good at his job
It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Kevin McHale made a comment about an impending bad decision he was going to make.
Why would it be any different with Larry? Both guys have shown to be equally incompetent in their jobs.
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
marcus williams?
If the Pacers end up with Marcus Williams, that will be ironic. When the Pacers drafted Shawne Williams, the ESPN.com draft analysts laughed and said that the Pacers were choosing the wrong Williams. Of course the Pacers also could have drafted Jordan Farmar or Rajan Rondo. Farmar looked soft, but Rajan Rondo was obviously pretty good, even with his limited offensive potential. Hindsight is 20-20.
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