G9.
Mavericks GM
- Messages
- 6,477
Our yearly series is back by popular demand. Although, this time... I'm writing it. I guess Henny has his eyes on some sleeper MLE caliber players and didn't want to talk about them. With FA1 just around the corner, here's a preview of 5 players who may see a variety of offers tonight.
PG Aidan Mahaney
Last season Aiden took up the role of power sub at the 1 and 2 for the Phoenix Suns, and that role proved to fit him well. Mahaney averaged nearly 13 points in 26 points off the bench on excellent splits (44/87/40) with 1.9 steals to 0.7 turnovers. He and Tiny Gallon provided the Suns with two legitimate options off the bench. Expect Mahaney to receive offers from competing teams across the league. In his last season starting (2034) he averaged 17 points with 8.3 assists to a mere 1.4 turnovers. I do think the bench role fits him best, but an up and coming team may try and snag him to start.
SG Xavier Thames
Trust me, I know Thames pretty well... and I'm not a huge fan... but I do think there is still hope for the young shooting guard coming off his rookie contract. On draft night his potential was top 20, so there may be some left in the tank. His career splits (43/75/35), volume (9.8 points in 24 minutes), and ball handling (3.2 assists to 1.7 turnovers) leave a lot to be desired, and Thames is not coachable next season - so the team that signs him will be depending on training camp to bring him some offensive value... but... and maybe I'm biased... he deserves at least one more long-term contract at low value. If not that, expect Thames to be the type of player who signs on day two for a 1 year large money deal as he ultimately fizzles out.
SF Zane Hicke
Two years removed from providing the Eastern Conference runner-up Minnesota Timberwolves with 16/10 from the 4, Hicke found himself cutback last season and traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for some cash. Despite his recent decline in letter grades, Hicke still had a productive season offensively (wing Mahaney) - averaging 10 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. Hicke's inside rating is ranked "high" B and his other letter grades can be expected to hold into TC, so if you're looking for a flexible back-up maybe 6'10" B+ B- C C+ C+ Zane Hicke is your man.
PF Kyle Hardrick
Gotta give Henny some credit, Hardrick was a nice late round pick-up 4 seasons ago. Nothing is super exciting about Kyle, but he's definitely capable of stepping in as a back-up PF, C, and maybe even SF. He's a bit of consistent coaching and 1 or 2 decent TC's away from being a serious starter (championship caliber), and I honestly doubt he gets to that level, but he's definitely worth a back-up contract.
C John Salley
Nothing crazy about Salley either, he's basically going to provide you what Hardick does just in a different build. John was solid enough to receive playing time for the Finals runners-up SuperSonics, so he's probably solid enough to receive minutes for your team. He's still only 27 years old so I wouldn't expect him to decline significantly from what he provides now, but I don't think he's capable of getting significantly better like Hardrick may be. Because of this, expect Salley to receive similar money to Hardrick but over a shorter period of time.
