Let the mayhem begin.
By Monday at 6 p.m. ET, interested teams will have to submit sealed bids in the first-ever "amnesty auction" to determine who, if anyone, will get the rights to point guard Chauncey Billups. A similar process already unfolded for the amnesty-qualified but thoroughly unloved Gilbert Arenas; eventually, we will probably see this process repeated for a few more players, including San Antonio small forward Richard Jefferson, New Jersey small forward Travis Outlaw, Golden State guard Charlie Bell and Houston center Hasheem Thabeet.
We may see some stealth candidates emerge in the next week, too, as we're going to see a few "opportunistic amnesties" to create cap space or exceptions for a free-agent deal. Bell and Thabeet are examples of that; depending on what the Clippers do to woo Chris Paul, Mo Williams could be another.
Another, less-discussed one is Portland center Marcus Camby. He's due $12.6 million this season, and cutting him would save Portland a nearly equal amount in luxury tax, plus it would create just enough room to let the team use its full midlevel exception. I consider it unlikely, but if the Blazers don't grant Brandon Roy amnesty -- a calculation that depends largely on how much their insurance payout will be -- Portland might decide to take the plunge with Camby.
But let's get back to Billups, because he is both first on the list and, almost certainly, the best player that is going to be available in this process. He's been doing his best to dissuade anyone from acquiring him, both because he'd like to choose a contender rather than the mostly downtrodden teams with enough cap space to bid on him, and because he can "double-dip" and get paid a second contract if nobody picks him up. Every player who receives amnesty is likely to do the same song-and-dance, but I doubt anyone will listen.
By my count, there are 15 teams which, by Monday, could potentially have enough cap space to bid the veteran's minimum (the minimum bid) and acquire Billups for this season (since he had one year left on his deal with New York before the amnesty).
Before we go to them, I must emphasize that whatever team gets Billups has him for the season. The ENTIRE season. According to ESPN.com's Larry Coon, players who are designated for amnesty status acquired via auction can't be traded until July 1.
So forget about picking up Chauncey as a trade chip -- you can't. That should cause a sigh of relief in the Billups camp, as it would seemingly take the league's five rebuilding teams with major cap space -- Charlotte, Sacramento, Toronto, Washington and Minnesota -- out of the picture, as well as the league-owned Hornets. (But can you imagine the uproar if the NBA submitted the winning bid?)
You can cross off Cleveland, Denver and Milwaukee too, since each would need to designate a player for amnesty to add Billups and each has a backcourt logjam already.
So who are the favorites to nab Mr. Billups? There are six teams that I'd give a non-zero chance of making a bid, and one in particular that I think would be well-advised to do so.
Let's go through them in reverse order:
6. Houston Rockets
Do not put this past Rockets GM Daryl Morey. While the Rockets have all their cap space committed to an offer sheet for Marc Gasol right now, they would regain their cap space if the Grizzlies match it by 5 p.m. ET on Monday. If so, the Rockets could potentially swoop in and nab a veteran point guard for their reconstructed roster ... and then trade Kyle Lowry or Goran Dragic for a starter at the wings. Unlikely? Sure. Impossible? Not ready to say that yet.
5. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors just used all their cap space to sign DeAndre Jordan to an offer sheet, which likely takes them out of the game ... unless the Clippers match it by 6 p.m. ET on Monday. If that were to happen, I'd think Golden State would immediately become a major player in the Billups chase.
Given that the Warriors just cut Jeremy Lin and have no backup guards with a minute of NBA experience, and given that they seem hell-bent on becoming a respectable playoff team this season instead of providing another wildly entertaining 32-50 campaign, Billups would seem to make a good target for them.
4. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers will be busy working every angle to get Chris Paul and at the moment are over the salary cap. They would get back under if they decline to match Golden State's offer sheet for DeAndre Jordan, or they could assign Mo Williams amnesty status to get back under the cap line and make a bid for Billups. Such a move would have virtually no impact on the Paul pursuit, since their cap space isn't an important consideration in those talks.
Billups makes some sense in L.A., as the Clippers have a potentially dominant front line that could use some more shooting to help spread out opponents, and Billups can play off the ball and space the floor with CP at the point. Billups would have some problems defensively, sure, but it beats the heck out of starting Randy Foye. Alas, I suspect it's highly unlikely that owner Donald Sterling would agree to pay a perfectly usable Mo Williams $17 million to play for somebody else, so the only way the Clips get in on this is if they decline to match the offer sheet to Jordan.
3. Indiana Pacers
While the Pacers have Darren Collison and A.J. Price at the point and George Hill as a combo guard, they don't seem terribly happy with their backcourt and are still looking to upgrade. The Pacers have $5 million in cap space after signing David West, a number that could jump to $12 million if they designate James Posey for amnesty. Billups would be a stopgap solution. But the Pacers, along with the Clippers and Warriors, are looking to make a big jump in the standings this season. A lineup with Billups, West and Danny Granger would be among the best-shooting teams in basketball; at worst, Billups would be a major upgrade over Price at backup point guard.
Of course, Indy may be content to keep its powder dry and use it in other ways; for instance, a sign-and-trade of Josh McRoberts for O.J. Mayo would eat up their remaining space unless they use their amnesty rights on Posey. I put them only third on this list because I'm not hearing much about them having interest, but connect the dots and it makes some sense.
2. New Jersey Nets
The Nets have $22 million in cap space if they put the amnesty tag on Travis Outlaw, but they're going to need it all to put together a trade for Dwight Howard that allows the Magic to dump Hedo Turkoglu's contract, and aside from Brook Lopez that's pretty much the main "asset" the Nets have for a Howard deal right now. Although they need a backup point guard and could play Deron Williams and Billups together for big chunks of the game, I would consider them highly unlikely to make a bid.
Ironically, the one way New Jersey might get involved is if Nene agrees to terms. That would blow up the Nets' cap space anyway, so New Jersey would have more motivation to submit a bid. The Nets wouldn't have much room unless they renounced Kris Humphries -- I'm guessing they'd rather not -- but they could assign amnesty to Outlaw and bid the veteran's minimum for Billups if Nene's first-year salary is $14.5 million.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
And now we're down to the team that could really use Billups and have the money free and clear. Oklahoma City still has $2.8 million in cap room, a number that could go up if they (a) cut Royal Ivey and his $1.2 million, (b) reach a buyout agreement with Nate Robinson to lessen his $4 million cap hit, or (c) use their amnesty tag on Robinson.
The thought of Billups with this team has to have Thunder GM Sam Presti rubbing his hands diabolically. Not only would Billups' savvy be an incredible teaching tool for the Thunder's kids, but he's exactly the kind of efficient deep shooter they need to space the floor for their dynamic athletes. Although it would stymie the progress of Eric Maynor and Reggie Jackson a bit, the Thunder are probably ready to make this type of move. The West is theirs for the taking, and Billups can help get them there.
― Cooper Chucklebutt, Monday, 12 December 2011 18:38 (twelve years ago) link