7 NBA Free Agents Who Will Be the Steals of 2012 Offseason

Most NBA teams will be shopping the bargain bin in the 2012 offseason.

With the luxury tax penalty set to increase in 2013-14, adding talent without breaking the bank is now imperative, and your team's front office will be under more pressure than ever to find the steal of free agency.    

But let’s begin by defining what makes a player a “steal.”

For our purposes, a "steal" is a player who signs a cheap contract relative to his contribution. This means that many of the most highly sought after free agents in the 2012 offseason won’t qualify because, well, they’re highly sought after.

Ersan Ilayasova, for example, is a prime candidate to receive several big offers after a startlingly efficient season (14.2 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 51.9 FG percentage, 47.1 3P percentage as a starter). Unless his agent is incompetent, he’ll be paid what he’s worth, or more.

Ditto for Roy Hibbert, Deron Williams, Goran Dragic and Eric Gordon. It’s no secret that these guys are studs, and they'll sign with teams who can afford to shell out top dollar.

The true steals are the players whose market value has been suppressed for some reason, like limited playing time, age or a recent stint of bad play, to name a few examples. Every year, a handful of these free agents outperform their new contracts and return the kind of value that can shape a team's season.  

Here are seven players who are likely to do just that.

Boris Diaw

Here’s what we’ve learned about Boris Diaw: He’ll play hard for a good team but not a bad one.

He’s overweight, will stay that way and can be effective in spite of it.

And while he does many things well, he does nothing well enough to justify a big contract or big minutes on a competitive team.

That makes him a niche player only a handful of teams can use. He’ll sign a modest contract ($10 million over two years, team option for a third year) for a contender and be “the forgotten man” for much of the 2012-13 season.

Until the playoffs, that is, when his all-around skill set will be a boon to a team that can leverage his strengths (passing, shooting, ball-handling) and hide his weaknesses (athleticism, length).

As a third big man in a frontcourt rotation, Boris Diaw will be an affordable option who stands a good chance to outperform his contract.

Jeff Green

When we last saw Jeff Green, he was out of place on a veteran Boston team that missed its center and BFF Kendrick Perkins.

His minutes had dropped from the 37 per game he played for OKC to 23.5. His scoring fell from 15.2 points per game to 9.8.   

In sum, he had difficulty adjusting to his new role on a team that was clearly mourning its "Ubuntu."

It was a poor last impression for a player who’d been solid in previous years. After missing the 2011-12 season with a heart condition, the specter of his health looms, as well. 

However, if he’s cleared by physicians to resume play, he will be a young, serviceable role player who can be had for a reasonable contract. He shoots well, can guard either forward position, and can stretch the floor when teams decide to go small at the 4.

An organization that rolls the dice on his talent could be rewarded handsomely.

Andre Miller

Andre Miller put it plainly: He wants respect. He wants to lead.

He wants to start.

Unfortunately, there isn't a huge market for a 36-year-old point guard.

Young teams with no playoff aspirations are better off developing their prospects.

Veteran teams typically have a point guard already in place.

Which means the handful of teams who are both competitive and looking for a floor general (Bulls, Heat, Lakers) might be able to get Miller on a bargain-basement contract.

The 10th all-time assist leader would be a strong addition to a team in need of a tough-minded leader with eight years and 46 games of playoff experience. His defense is adequate despite his age, and he's still capable of taking over the occasional game.

Miller is a player who, in the parlance of Bill Simmons, brings much to the table and takes virtually nothing off of it.

Alonzo Gee

It was easy to fly under the radar as a Cavs role player last season.

What little national attention Cleveland received was monopolized by Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving early and Lestermania late. In the meantime Gee quietly put together a nice season, showcasing his athleticism, defense and shooting ability.

The undrafted swingman is also just 25 years old, and could perform as a team's glue guy for years to come.

Ramon Sessions

At the trade deadline, many predicted that Sessions was the guy who would reboot the Lakers' title hopes. But after L.A. was bounced in five games by OKC—and his shoddy defense was exposed—we were ready to call him a bum. 

The correct assessment is somewhere in the middle. Sessions isn’t good enough to turn a good team into a contender. That much is clear. But he’s a strong enough shooter and passer to play big minutes for a competitive team.

If it turns out that his mediocre playoff performance put a dent in his prospects, Sessions might be had for less than the mid-level exception, assuming he opts out of his contract.

He’ll be a steal as a player capable of logging 30 minutes a night or more, so long as he's backed up by a more capable defender.

Michael Beasley

Michael Beasley has done his stock no favors since entering the league. Stories of his immaturity followed him from high school and college right into the 2008 draft.

Even now, four years into his NBA career, there’s plenty of reason to believe he doesn't “get it” and never will.

All of which we’d gladly forgive if he’d rounded into the player we hoped he would. But Beasley has been a volume scorer with no real position. He can create his own shot, sure, but he lacks the lateral quickness to defend the 3 or the size guard to the 4. It's made him a liability against the league's more athletic frontcourts. 

However, he’s only 23. We tend to forget that as we analyze his flaws.

We have been spoiled by stars who stormed out of the gates—Durant, Rose, Westbrook, Irving—but Beasley is still a relatively young player in this league. And, efficiency aside, he did average 19.2 points in 32 minutes per game in 2010-11.

A team that can sign him for a reasonable contract (say, the mid-level over four years) will have a prospect who can create his own shot today and grow into a more versatile contributor tomorrow.

Chris Kaman

Lest we forget, Chris Kaman is a legitimate NBA starting center and a rare commodity in a league that seems to grow smaller by the year.

But as he was yanked in and out of Monty Williams’ rotation, placed on and taken off the trade block, his exposure suffered. His free agency stock will be hurt accordingly.

Now 30, Kaman may be willing to take a smaller contract to join a team with title aspirations. The Heat, for example, were rumored to be interested in acquiring him at the 2012 deadline and can throw him the full mid-level if they amnesty Mike Miller (as they should). 

On a team that is a center away from fully rounding out its roster, Chris Kaman would be a steal indeed.