NBA Free Agency 2012: Breaking Down the Biggest Free-Agent Steals

When analyzing the NBA free-agency period, it seems that every year there are an infinite number of bad contracts and a minute number of steals.

In practice, the phenomenon makes sense. Owners with deep pockets pressure general managers to win now, causing them to overspend on mediocre talent only to sell that talent for 50 cents on the dollar.

Nets fans, this is how you got Joe Johnson.

However, every once in a while there's a player who slips through the cracks or simply signs a lesser contract in hopes of winning a championship.  

With that in mind, here are the biggest steals of the 2012 NBA free-agency period so far.

(Note: To estimate actual worth, we'll be using sports economist David Berri's Wins Produced statistic and its accompanying theory that each win produced is worth $1.47 million.)

D.J. Augustin (PG, Indiana Pacers)

Contract Information: One year, $3.5 million

Estimated 2011-12 Actual Worth: $5.57 million

Though I am still baffled by the Pacers' decision to trade incumbent point guard Darren Collison and guard Dahntay Jones for backup center Ian Mahinmi, they come out with one of the subtlest steals of free agency so far.

While Augustin is nowhere near a star (or even as good as Collison), he's a perfectly competent NBA starting point guard whose numbers should improve with a better supporting cast.

Getting Augustin on a one-year deal that is essentially his tender figure is a great value.

Reggie Evans (PF, Brooklyn Nets)

Contract Information: Three years, $5 million (via sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Clippers)

Estimated 2011-12 Actual Worth: $4.0 million

After playing just 13.8 minutes per game during the regular season, Evans showed his potential true value in the playoffs. Armed with an expanded role, Evans averaged an astounding 16.2 rebounds per 40 minutes and was even the Clippers' second-best per-48-minute player in their first-round series against the Grizzlies.

At 32 years old, Evans will never develop into anything other than what he already is—an uber-motor enforcer who infuriates on defense and should never touch the ball offensively.

But with Brooklyn investing an average of just $1.67 million per season over the next three years, Evans is well worth it even if he simply serves as a Charles Oakley-like backup for point guard Deron Williams.

Elton Brand (PF, Dallas Mavericks)

Contract Information: One year, $2.1 million (via the amnesty waiver process from the Philadelphia 76ers)

Actual 2011-12 Estimated Worth: $7.70 million

Though Brand was never technically a free agent, he still counts for these purposes because every team under the NBA salary cap had a chance to bid for his services.

At $2.1 million, Brand is a steal.

Brand's career never recovered after a ruptured Achilles in 2007 stifled his mobility, but the former All-Star has proven over the past two seasons that there is something left in his 33-year-old tank. In each season, Brand has put up a PER of over 18, doing so in consecutive seasons for the first time since the Achilles injury.

In Dallas, Brand will provide another patchwork solution as the Mavericks attempt to stay competitive for next season while not exhausting their cap space for the summer of 2013.

Ryan Anderson (PF, New Orleans Hornets)

Contract Information: Four years, $36 million (via sign-and-trade with the Orlando Magic)

Estimated 2010-11 Actual Worth: $12.79 million

The question coming into this offseason for Anderson has never been about skill. He's a prototypical stretch power forward who can consistently stroke out to the three-point line and has improved every season as a professional.

The question has always been about fit.

For all of his offensive skills, Anderson is undoubtedly a liability defensively and struggles to create his shot in space. Playing with a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and reigning best center in basketball helped Anderson overcome his deficiencies.

But without that presence in the middle, it was more than reasonable to wonder whether Anderson would crumble in a new situation with more interior responsibilities.

In New Orleans, there are no such worries. With No. 1 pick Anthony Davis anchoring the paint area, Anderson should be free to roam while not creating too much of a defensive liability situation.

Brandon Roy (SG, Minnesota Timberwolves)

Contract Information: Two years, $10.4 million

Estimated 2010-11 Actual Worth: $0.77 million 

Sometimes a contract should not be judged strictly for its on-paper merit. When running a basketball organization, general managers need to be calculating and take chances when the potential reward outweighs the risk.

For Minnesota, adding Brandon Roy is one of those situations.

Before injury marred his 2010-11 campaign and forced Roy into an early retirement, he was one of the most prolific shooting guards in the league. In the three years prior to Roy's final NBA season, he averaged 10.67 wins produced per season for an estimated worth of $15.68 million.

If you surmise that Roy's chronic knee problems make him exactly half the player that he used to be, that still means that he would nearly pay for himself in his first season in Minnesota.

Even if Roy is unable to play and retires again, it's not as if they're paying astronomically. If Kwame Brown can get $6 million in this market, then $5 million per season for Roy's potential is a steal.

Steve Nash (PG, Los Angeles Lakers)

Contract Information: Three years, $27 million (via sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns)

Estimated 2011-12 Actual Worth: $15.56 million

The Raptors are dangling with a Wayne Gretzky voice-over presentation and $36 million in guaranteed money, while the Knicks tout the esteem of playing Madison Square Garden. Most everyone (Nash included) thought the point guard was headed to Toronto or New York this offseason.

But after an arduous process (chronicled by ESPN.com's Marc Stein here), Nash shocked the world and became a Los Angeles Laker for the noblest of reasons: proximity to his children.

Finally, Kobe Bryant gets to play with his first competent point guard since Derek Fisher's heyday, and Nash no longer has to prop up a Bobcatian supporting cast.

There are questions about whether Nash and Bryant, guys who excel with the ball in their hands, will be able to make a cohesive fit. But there is no question that regardless of fit, Nash's presence reopens a championship window for the Lakers that most thought was closed.

That may be worth $27 million by itself.

Ray Allen (SG, Miami Heat)

Contract Information: Three years, $9.7 million

Actual 2011-12 Estimated Worth: $8.47 million

The acquisition of the greatest shooter in NBA history by the NBA champion is a steal in itself. But to get Allen at almost a third of his actual worth makes him easily the biggest pilfering on the free-agent market.

Even at nearly 37 years old and coming off arthroscopic ankle surgery, Allen will step in and fill one of Miami's biggest voids—consistency from beyond the arc. The team has tried filling those shoes with Shane Battier and Mike Miller over the past two seasons to little avail, but even Ray Allen coming off his worst professional season should be the answer.

Allen shot 45.3 percent from beyond the arc last season, a figure that is nearly 10 percent more than Miami's 35.9 percent regular-season rate.

Let's not forget that most of Allen's shots came off down screens in Boston's offense. Allen won't have to struggle so much to create his shot with defenses collapsing to cover LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

If anything, being in Miami may help extend Allen's legacy just as much as it does the Heat's talent gap over the NBA.