NBA Players Who Desperately Need a Fresh Start with a New Team Next Season
Not all marriages are built to last.
NBA partnerships are no exception.
Poor systematic fits, personality clashes or a combination of both can push these round-ball relationships past the point of saving. Once that happens, there's no sense in delaying the inevitable. Separation becomes the only option, as teams and players seek out replacements for one another that better fit what they need to thrive.
There are a handful of guys who will spend their summer frantically searching for a better basketball home. Some have overstayed their welcome with their current clubs. Others were simply awkward fits from the start, failing to bring whatever their teams needed.
No matter the reason, they all need a change of locale over the offseason.
Gerald Green, SG, Phoenix Suns
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Gerald Green spent the 2013-14 campaign proving he's more than an aerial artist. This season, he fought a losing battle for playing time on a crowded Phoenix Suns perimeter.
The former preps-to-pros leaper is a spark-plug scorer. He can still do damage above the rim, and his streaky three-point shot is liable to catch fire at any time.
When those flames started coming fewer and farther between—he shot 35.4 percent from distance, down from 40.0 the previous year—the high-flyer was grounded to the Suns' bench. But the reasons for Green's demotion, according to Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek, extended to both sides of the ball.
"He never really seemed to get it going and then it comes to the point where, if you're not scoring and if your defense isn't picking up, it's hard to stay in the game," Hornacek said, per Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. "... We want to get to a top-notch winning level and you've got to do it on both sides."
Green's agent, Kevin Bradbury, called Hornacek's criticisms "nonsense," via Sporting News' Sean Deveney. But the Suns did allow 4.1 points per 100 possessions fewer when Green wasn't on the floor.
Still, the unrestricted free-agent-to-be is a good-enough scorer to help a second team short on offensive ammunition. He said he can still see a future in Phoenix, per Coro, but the parties might be better off without one another.
Maurice Harkless, SF, Orlando Magic
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The Orlando Magic have an impressive stable of young talent. At some point, former first-round pick Maurice Harkless fell out of that equation.
Only 21 years old, he has time to harness his freakish physical gifts. But his third NBA season—often a clear indication of what lies ahead—was by far his least productive.
He failed to hold a permanent rotation spot under either former coach Jacque Vaughn or his interim replacement James Borrego. Harkless started at least 41 games during each of his first two seasons in Orlando. He only appeared in 45 games this time around, making just four starts on the year.
His numbers sagged to personal lows across the board. His playing time undoubtedly impacted the quantity of his stats, but more troubling were the losses he weathered in efficiency. After shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from deep his first two years, he watched those figures nosedive to 39.9 and 17.9, respectively.
The Magic shopped Harkless at the deadline, per USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, but his address never changed. With $2.8 million headed his way next season, it's very possible he'll still be in Orlando after the summer.
But if the Magic don't see him as part of their future plans, he has to find a club that does. He obviously needs to hone his skills, but the lanky swingman hasn't lost all of his two-way potential just yet.
Roy Hibbert, C, Indiana Pacers
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Roy Hibbert has 15.5 million reasons to stay with the Indiana Pacers. That's the value of the player option he holds for next season.
But if the rim-protecting big wants to retain a prominent role, he might have to escape the Circle City to do it. The Pacers sound ready to embrace an uptempo style the plodding 7'2" center isn't built to play.
"We've got to run a little faster, maybe at times play a little smaller," Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said, via Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. "... I would like to score more points, and to do that, you've got to run."
Hibbert does a few things well; impersonating track star Usain Bolt is not one of them. If Indiana is really eager to run, it's also willing to play prolonged stretches without its defensive anchor.
"There's a possibility that Roy's role will be diminished, if we're trying to play faster and trying to play smaller," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said, via Buckner.
That possibility has a 250 percent chance of becoming a reality. The Pacers averaged nearly three extra possessions per 48 minutes when he didn't play (96.79) than when he did (94.14). Essentially, they played at a top-half speed without him and the sixth-slowest pace with him.
He'd have to leave a ton of money on the table to get out of Indy, cash he isn't going to collect elsewhere. NBA teams aren't exactly falling over themselves in pursuit of a center who averaged 10.7 points on 44.3 percent shooting and 6.9 rebounds the past seasons.
But some club might be willing to look past his weaknesses and focus on his strengths. The Pacers just aren't the team. The Los Angles Lakers and New York Knicks—clubs with money to spend and a need for paint protection—could be.
David Lee, PF, Golden State Warriors
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This is already the most successful season of David Lee's 10-year career. It's also quite possibly the one in which he's had the smallest impact on his team's fortune.
Injuries stalled him out of the gate, and the Golden State Warriors took off without him. The floor spacing and defensive versatility his replacement Draymond Green provides are assets the 31-year-old Lee has never had in his arsenal.
Lee is Golden State's highest-paid player, and he's set to retain that post next season. He also ranks sixth on the team in scoring (7.9 points) and eighth in minutes per game (18.4). Those numbers don't mesh, and that disconnect will grow more problematic once Green hits the restricted free-agent market this summer.
The Dubs need to shed Lee's salary, and frankly, he needs to find a place he can play. Warriors coach Steve Kerr thinks Lee has a ton of production left in him.
"David's a great guy, he's a great player," Kerr said, per Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. "If I put him out there for 30 minutes a night, I have no doubt that he’d average 18 points and 10 boards and he'd do his thing, because he’s talented and skilled."
Could Kerr, a former executive, be sharpening his selling skills? Maybe just a tad. But Lee did put up 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game just one season ago, so it's not as if Kerr is pulling numbers out of thin air.
With the right opportunity (the Milwaukee Bucks?), the former All-Star could showcase that ability again.
Jeremy Lin, PG, Los Angeles Lakers
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It's hard to say what was on Jeremy Lin's wish list for his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. But we're willing to bet that getting bumped from the starting lineup— first by journeyman Ronnie Price and then by second-round pick Jordan Clarkson—probably didn't make the final cut.
Lin had never played on an NBA team with a lower winning percentage than L.A.'s .256 mark. But suiting up for a lottery-bound club didn't help the unrestricted free-agent-to-be pad his stat sheet. In fact, his scoring (11.2) and minutes (25.8) averages were the lowest he'd posted since his rookie year with the Warriors in 2010-11.
He didn't quite disappoint—his per-36-minute marks of 15.7 points and 6.4 assists were identical to his career averages—but the Lakers clearly felt they had a better option. A younger, far less expensive option at that.
"The point guard writing is on the Lakers' wall, and Jordan Clarkson is holding the piece of chalk," wrote Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. "Lin wants a larger role than he has now, nothing he'll admit publicly, and he's been playing well enough to earn a solid chance with another team."
The "Linsanity" hype train has long since exhausted its fuel. Lin's days as an NBA starter could also be banished to the history books.
But he could still be a valuable third guard on a good team. Someone will give him that chance.
Rajon Rondo, PG, Dallas Mavericks
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The Dallas Mavericks' season isn't over, but their rocky relationship with point guard Rajon Rondo apparently is.
Dallas hasn't been the same since acquiring the four-time All-Star from the Boston Celtics in December. The Mavs fared 3.0 points per 100 possessions better without him during the regular season. That troubling gap has increased dramatically through two playoff games. Dallas was a staggering 44.9 points per 100 possessions worse when Rondo played during its two losses to the Houston Rockets.
Those numbers aren't going to change. He's been ruled out indefinitely with a back injury, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
Some might approach the diagnosis with skepticism. There was no mention of a bad back after Rondo's woeful display in Game 2, when—in less than 10 minutes of action—he racked up four personal fouls, one technical foul, an egregious eight-second violation, some sloppy passes and a host of blown defensive assignments.
But no one needs to guess about Rondo's future in Dallas. Coach Rick Carlisle was asked directly if he expected to ever see Rondo in a Mavs uniform again.
"Um, no, I don't," Carlisle said, per ESPN Dallas' Tim MacMahon.
So, Rondo is set to reach unrestricted free agency with his reputation at an all-time low. Since suffering a torn ACL in January 2013, he's averaged just 9.8 points on 41.8 percent shooting, 8.5 assists and 3.2 turnovers in 98 regular-season games. His plummeting free-throw percentage (a rock-bottom 39.7 this year) has sapped his aggressiveness around the basket.
Some team (the Lakers?) will still give him a look, hoping he can somehow return to being a nightly triple-double threat and disruptive defender. Once that contract comes, Rondo should cling to it like a life preserver.
As far as his NBA career is concerned, that's exactly what it will be.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com. Salary information obtained via BasketballInsiders.com.
