Money, it's a crime. (Free Agents pt 2 of 3)

Every year it never fails, does it? A player has a good year on a bad team and/or is in the last year of his contract and they get rewarded with a big fat contract. Well, the Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

History has shown us that most NBA GM's aren't up on their Spanish philosophers.

Let's look at the players that teams should (but probably won't) avoid rewarding with big contracts

Boston Celtics: Glen Davis 

2011 stats 

• Pts11.7
• Reb5.4
• Ast1.2

Here we have a player who improved on his stats from the year before and above the league averages at his position (9.3 pts, 4.7 rebs), however he lacks in many areas. 

Last year Davis played in 78 games and started in 13 of those games. For the season, Davis shot just under 45% , but as a starter in 13 games he shot under 42%. Davis has never been a defensive presence and rebounds are not something that he is known for. While you can admire his effort and teams may like the fact that he has been around great players which should have helped him in his development. Davis has mainly shown himself to be a jump-shooting power forward with a basic skillset. However, some team will fall in love with the fact he's been a Celtic and does have a championship ring and overpay him. 

Alanta Hawks: Jamal Crawford

2011 stats:

• Pts14.2
• Reb1.7
• Ast3.2

Well, before I start it should be noted that there are reports of Crawford returning to the Knicks. However, this is a common ploy to get more money from the team that a player is about to re-sign to, the Hawks, and doesn't make much sense. It's very clear that the Knicks want Chris Paul as was discussed earlier in this blog. That's where the Knicks money is going, people. Now back to reality. 

Jamal Crawford is an interesting story due to his impressive ability to create his own shot and his limitless confidence in his shot. However, as Knick fans know, Crawford suffers from Allen Iversonism, terrible shot selection and doesn't know when to stop. Last year Crawford's numbers were down from 18 pg to 14.2pg. His field goal percentage, which has never been good, dropped from a career high 44.9% to 42.1% last year. Defensively, things don't get much better. Crawford couldn't even average a 1.0 in steals last year. Overall, Crawford is a firecracker off the bench, exploding in an outburst of points and energy. To reward him , at age 30, with a fat contract, teams should remember that firecrackers are only good for a quick pop and nothing more. Buyer beware!

These two are just an example of players who will get over-paid. The honorable mentions are as follows:

Tyson Chandler, Thaddeus Young, Jason Richardson......let me know who I missed and your thoughts.