The contracts free agents sign around the NBA promise to be completely out of bounds this summer. With the cap increasing a great deal due to the influx of television revenue, the max deal is going to be more than 20 percent higher than what it was two years ago.
This will obviously impact mid-tier free agents, who will see their values increase with the new cap.
Set to become one of those mid-tier guys that’s going to cash in on the open market, Oklahoma City guard Dion Waiters is expected to cash in big time.
“No matter the dollar amount — likely in the $12 to $16 million per year range in this new market — OKC may blindly match any contract Waiters receives, similar to the Enes Kanter situation last summer,” the Oklahoman‘s Anthony Slater reported. “It’s unwise to let a 24-year-old two-way wing player walk away when you don’t have the ability to replace him.”
Slater is right that it would be foolish for the Thunder to let the 24-year-old former No. 4 overall pick walk. But there’s something to be said about overpaying for his services.
Waiters has never lived up to his status as a top pick, averaging 12.8 points while shooting just 41 percent from the field in four NBA seasons.
This past year alone, his first full campaign with the Thunder, the former Syracuse standout put up a career low 9.8 points while shooting at a 40 percent clip from the field.
The Thunder may not have an in-house option to replace Waiters in the rotation, but getting into a bidding war for the average player makes very little sense.
Then again, Oklahoma City is already going to find itself between a rock and a hard place come free agency. Kevin Durant is set to hit the open market, and there’s no telling whether he will be back.
In reality, he could dictate what the team does (almost literally). If Durant wants Waiters back as a prerequisite to re-sign, that’s likely something the Thunder will have to do. Waiters and his camp surely know this.
The good news here is that Waiters is a restricted free agent, meaning the Thunder can match any offer thrown his way. That will let other teams dictate his market.