NBA Free Agency 2012: Restricted Free Agents Who Aren't Worth the Price Tag

The NBA playoffs are now into the semifinals and it's time to take a little peak into the future to see what lies in the offseason.

NBA free agency is going to be the most important event as always, but some teams will be forced to overpay players who simply don't deserve much money.

Restricted free agents are players who, by the rules, have to get an offer from their current team—and the new contracts are substantially larger than the old ones.

Let's look at some examples:

Michael Beasley 

Qualifying Offer - $8,172,363

The Timberwolves were a playoff team last season and if it wasn’t for the injury to Ricky Rubio they would have made it. Michael Beasley is showing all the signs of a bust, but unfortunately there is not much the Wolves can do about it.

He will be offered an $8 million contract, and knowing Beasley, he may very well accept it. Beasley has all the potential in the world, but has terrible shot selection and maturity issues. He will be a high priced disappointment.

Jerryd Bayless

Qualifying Offer - $4,164,881

The Raptors are clearly in rebuilding mode, but it does not look like Bayless is part of the puzzle. They will have to pay him a decent salary of $4 million, but they will not get much in return. Bayless was injured for the majority of the year and was not impressive when he played.

He is still young, but this is going to be his fourth year in the league and progress has been nonexistent up to this point.

Brook Lopez

Qualifying Offer - $4,190,851

Brook Lopez (when healthy) can score in the low post with the best of them. However, his toughness has a huge question mark on it and so does his health. In the five games he played this season, he averaged just below 20 points a game, but only grabbed three rebounds.

That’s right, three rebounds. Three rebounds is slightly below average for a point guard, but for a center it is ridiculous. Considering that there is a good chance he might also miss a lot of next year, the $4 million offer seems quite large.

Rudy Fernandez

Qualifying Offer - $3,187,808

Rudy Fernandez looked like a promising player early in his career, but now at the age of 27 with his stats being exactly the same, it is clear he is not going to amount to much. Three million dollars will get you an average three-point shooter with below average defense.

Not to mention someone who has caught the injury bug a few times in his career. Definitely not worth the asking price.

Well that is all, thanks for reading and please feel free to follow me on Facebook!