Our top four players are nothing to sneeze at, although the chances are almost nil that Chris Paul goes anywhere further than Donald Sterling’s office in Beverly Hills to sign his new max deal. The other three — Howard, Al Jefferson and Josh Smith — are likelier than not to move on.
Nikola Pekovic is probably this year’s leading candidate to receive a poison pill deal that the Minnesota Timberwolves may not be able to match while others—O.J. Mayo, Brandon Jennings, and Tyreke Evans come to mind—may be in for a rude awakening when they are not offered truckloads of money reminiscent of prior CBAs.
It will be very interesting to see where Andre Iguodala and Monta Ellis end up. We still are not sure what to make of J.J. Hickson or J.R. Smith’s ability to be everyday NBA contributors. And in the value bin (we think), some of the league’s elder statesmen—Lamar Odom, Manu Ginobili, Chris Kaman, Elton Brand, and Jose Calderon—probably do not have enough left to play 30 minutes a night for a contender, but they do still have something left in the tank to help.
