re: How Low Could Asik Go?

This is still the biggest question I go back and forth on. I know Dell won't just let him walk, but how much leverage will Asik really have? Who gives up cap room for him? What team has him as one of the 5 most desired players on their list? heck, top 10?

Does he wait around for 3-4 teams to completely strike out just to hope to get an offer, or does he take what he can get from the Pels before they consider moving on?

I would love to see these negotiations more than any other this summer. Really intrigues me.

I still think it's mutually beneficial for Asik to take a one or two-year deal with a player option for the third. This way he can return to his Houston form and increase his value under Gentry. Also, he can test the market in a year or two to go elsewhere.

This also gives us more value in a trade, if needed, to move more to a small ball lineup or to go out and get someone slightly younger with the same or similar skill set. I'm not sure who that guy is, but nonetheless I think that could work out for all parties.

LINK /

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But watch Asik. There are rumblings in front office and coaching circles that teams will be a touch more daring next season going small against so-so pick-and-roll finishers and bigs who struggle to score on the block. In the end, Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson could really only punish Golden State’s small-ball groups with offensive rebounds; when someone passed them the ball, they couldn’t do any damage. And on defense, Mozgov simply wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Golden State’s skittering.

Just catching the ball on the pick-and-roll can be an issue for Asik. He has no post game or midrange jumper. The market for him might be cooler than it was a month ago. Asik is an elite offensive rebounder, but we may be learning that small-ball teams can gang up on one such player — that it really takes two board-crashers for the equation to tilt back in favor of big ball. The Pistons will be a good test of this if Monroe walks and Andre Drummond has to work as a one-man wrecking crew against teams who might risk some small ball against him.

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Also in that article:

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8. Does the Mid-Level Get You Anything?

The mid-level exception is only for teams over the cap; it allows them to sign someone for an annual salary up to $5.5 million. It has been a crucial roster-building tool for a decade-plus, and it will basically cease to exist after this summer, since almost no one will be over the cap.

I’m not 100 percent sure what that means for the market. Perhaps no player will even accept a multiyear deal at the mid-level, since it would take them out of next summer’s derby. Teams may push harder for multiyear mid-level deals, since they won’t have a chance to use that tool again for a couple of seasons. They might even reach for someone who can’t sniff mid-level cash from anyone else, and coax him into a three-year deal at what could turn into a great price. If you think Kyle O’Quinn has some unrealized upside, and no one is offering him more than $3 million per season, why not see if you can get him on a three-year, $12 million with the mid-level?

It’s a small unknown in a summer that is one giant unknown. Even if the player movement isn’t as fast and furious as we might hope, the dynamics behind this summer’s free agency are going to be fascinating. Buckle up.

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Scott Kushner ?@ScottDKushner 1 minute ago

The #Pelicans-Asik negotiations are strange. Tons of FA Cs on market, but NO can only go after him for Bird rights. Leverage runs both ways

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Pay me or enjoy bringing back Stiemsma? Is that really where these negotiations are heading? We don't want to insult him with $6 million out of the gate, but all we really need to do is beat the market enough that he wants to stay here. It's not our fault if the market is changing in a bad way for him.

It just means to me that he's not going to get a drastic overpay, but he's not going to get some ridiculously low deal either.

I think 3 years is where it maxes out unless we are getting some super sweetheart deal.

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I know Dell won't just let him walk, but how much leverage will Asik really have?

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Asik not much, but his agent Arn Tellem has some pull.

Arn Tellem is no longer an agent.

Maybe he will thing hitting free agency again next year will be advantageous to him and accept a 1 year deal.