1Welcome to COMO's middle-class free agency.
For the first time, there is a dearth of elite names available — but this is a zero sum game, so that means this is also the deepest class in league history. Some guys — Kevin Durant, John Wall, and Boogie Cousins included — will be long-term investments. Some will be win-now propositions (looking at you, Chris Paul). A great many will be excellent additions to new squads, and will likely be the difference between a playoff berth and a legitimate championship run. Twenty-two players averaged 20+ bones last season, and there are some legitimate All-COMO candidates out there. Don't forget: COMO features two new teams (Hamburg BSV and Scranton) who will complete an Expansion Draft this week (featuring any cut players $1-14M). That will dry up the talent pool a tad. And with 14 total teams, we're in uncharted economic territory. That's part of the reason teams were so reticent to allow their big stars to walk this offseason; it's unlikelier than ever that they will see them again. Here's a breakdown of the 2019 COMO Free Agency class. NOTE: Expansion players are in bold, and their salaries have been increased by 7/6 to account for new league size. The salaries only matter for the Expansion Draft.
Cut but unavailable in UFA:
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NASHVILLE -- A new era of COMO basketball is about to begin. Three-time champion Shorewood failed to win a title for the first time. St. Louis, coming off a legendary season, was forced to shed many of its stars. Several proud franchises are now teetering on the brink of playoff bids as the trio of expansion teams — Colorado, Manhattan and Sunnyvale — grow stronger. Cut Day forced teams to say goodbye to dozens of good players (and a handful of great ones). Among the discarded: Four-time All-COMO 1st-Team selection James Harden, Four-time All-COMO selection Chris Paul and a small army of former All-COMO picks including Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Damian Lillard, Marc Gasol and Draymond Green. Teams must submit their wish lists to the league office by midnight CT on Sunday, Oct. 1, and Free Agency begins Monday, Oct. 2. Here's a look at which players are newly available: Chaska
Here are the top players available, per CBS Sports:
LeBron, Steph, KD headline star-studded 2016 free agency class; several other big names hit market9/26/2016 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The league office has officially processed 63 new free-agency participants after the annual "Cut Day" allowed teams to shed extra weight. Among the players available this October: COMO MVP and two-time COMO Finals MVP Steph Curry (formerly of Shorewood), COMO MVP Kevin Durant (Duval United) and three-time All-COMO first-teamer LeBron James (Newport Beach). Curry and James faced off in this April's COMO Finals, which the Shorewood Show won to complete a three-peat. Shorewood dumped its three most valuable contributors — Curry, LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol — on Cut Day, while Newport Beach decided to let James walk alongside a few smaller names. Free agency begins Monday, Oct. 3. Here's a rundown of all 63 players released over the weekend (as well as some notable leftover names from last season's waiver wire): Chaska cuts
Colorado cuts
Duval United cuts
Kansas City cuts
Manhattan cuts
Minneapolis cuts
Minnesnowta cuts
Newport Beach cuts
Paisley Park cuts
Shorewood cuts
St. Louis cuts
Sunnyvale cuts
Best of the 2016 waiver wire (per CBS Sports projections)
With football season in full swing, it's almost time to get back into a basketball mindset. The first autumn deadline occurred on Sunday night, when COMO teams decided which players to cut from their rosters. Among the 48 players axed were a pair of superstars, as well as two former All-COMO players. All cuts worth $14 million or less are eligible for the Expansion Draft (featuring Manhattan and Sunnyvale) on Oct. 4, while the leftovers will be free to sign with any team of their choosing. Without further ado, here is the 2015 COMO free agent class: LeBron James, SF/PF (Shorewood), $54 million — baseline asking price: $27 million — 14/15: 67 starts, 27.52 (1st Team All-COMO) Chris Paul, PG (Hollywood), $40 million — BAP: $20 million — 14/15: 66 starts, 26.71 (1st Team All-COMO) Carmelo Anthony, SF (Minnesnowta), $37 million — BAP: $19 million — 14/15: 36 starts, 21.72 Kevin Love, PF (Colorado), $35 million — BAP: $18 million — 14/15: 62 starts, 21.94 Derrick Rose, PG (Rio), $31 million — BAP: $16 million — 14/15: 43 starts, 14.51 Dwight Howard, C (Minnesnowta), $29 million — BAP: $15 million — 14/15: 32 starts, 21.75 Serge Ibaka, PF/C (Kansas City), $27 million — BAP: $14 million — 14/15: 56 starts, 20.61 Kobe Bryant, SG (Duval United), $21 million — BAP: $11 million — 14/15: 32 starts, 19.16 Nicolas Batum, SG/SF (Newport Beach), $17 million — BAP: $9 million — 14/15: 50 starts, 15.78 Dirk Nowitzki, PF (Colorado), $15 million — BAP: $8 million — 14/15: 59 starts, 18.08 NOTE: The following players are eligible for the Expansion Draft on Oct. 4 at full value (not BAP). The draft will last eight rounds (16 total picks). Any unselected players will return to free agency pool. Dwyane Wade, SG (Chaska), $13 million — BAP: $7M -- 14/15: 36 starts, 19.33 Jrue Holiday, PG (Duval United), $11 million — BAP: $6M — 14/15: 35 starts, 19.66 Monta Ellis, SG (Kansas City), $11 million — BAP: $6M — 14/15: 61 starts, 17.59 Ricky Rubio, PG (Minnesnowta), $9 million — BAP: $5M — 14/15: 11 starts, 17.64 David Lee, PF (Newport Beach), $9 million — BAP: $5M — 14/15: 27 starts, 13.93 Josh Smith, PF (Newport Beach), $9 million — BAP: $5M — 14/15: 45 starts, 15.84 Mike Conley, PG (Chaska), $8 million — BAP: $4M — 14/15: 20 starts, 17.25 Marcin Gortat, PF (Minnesnowta), $8 million — BAP: $4M — 14/15: 38 starts, 17.89 Kemba Walker, PG (Newport Beach), $8 million — BAP: $4M — 14/15: 31 starts, 19.94 Lance Stephenson, SG (Minneapolis), $6 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 43 starts, 11.23 DeMar DeRozan, SG (Minneapolis), $6 million – BAP: $3M — 14/15: 38 starts, 15.29 Gorgui Dieng, PF/C (Minneapolis), $6 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 39 starts, 19.59 Tobias Harris, SF (Minnesnowta), $6 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 37 starts, 19.27 Omer Asik, C (Newport Beach), $6 million – BAP: $3M — 14/15: 48 starts, 14.19 Chandler Parsons, SF (Chaska), $5 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 21 starts, 16.19 Kevin Martin, SG (Colorado), $5 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 7 starts, 14.57 Jeff Green, SF (Hollywood), $5 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 35 starts, 13.94 Trevor Ariza, SF (Minneapolis), $5 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 55 starts, 14.98 David West, PF (Newport Beach), $5 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 20 starts, 18.90 Darren Collison, PG (Duval United), $4 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 37 starts, 18.19 Andrew Bogut, C (Duval United), $4 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 35 starts, 16.83 Wes Matthews, SG (Chaska), $4 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 13 starts, 15.00 Tony Parker, PG (Hollywood), $4 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 13 starts, 14.85 Jarrett Jack, PG (Duval United), $3 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 14 starts, 14.71 Jose Calderon, PG (Kansas City), $3 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 15 starts, 11.80 Jordan Hill, PF (Minneapolis), $3 million — BAP: $3M — 14/15: 49 starts, 15.86 Taj Gibson, PF (Newport Beach), $3 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 29 starts, 15.72 George Hill, PG (Newport Beach), $3 million — BAP: $2M — 14/15: 17 starts, 16.94 Danny Green, SG (Duval United), $2 million — 14/15: 13 starts, 17.00 John Henson, C (Rio), $2 million — 14/15: 19 starts, 15.58 Avery Bradley, PG (Rio), $2 million — 14/15: 29 starts, 14.38 Joe Johnson, SG (Kansas City), $2 million — 14/15: 24 starts, 14.92 Brandon Jennings, PG (Minneapolis), $2 million — 14/15: 29 starts, 15.59 Harrison Barnes, SF (Minneapolis), $2 million — 14/15: 20 starts, 11.10 Patrick Beverley, PG (Minneapolis), $2 million — 14/15: 20 starts, 12.20 J.J. Redick, SG (Hollywood), $2 million — 14/15: 0 starts, 0.00 Manu Ginobili, SG (Kansas City), $1 million — 14/15: 7 starts, 12.71 K.J. McDaniels, SF (Minnesnowta), $1 million — 14/15: 5 starts, 12.60 Jeremy Lin, PG (Newport Beach), $1 million — 14/15: 4 starts, 16.25 Langston Galloway, SG (Newport Beach), $1 million — 14/15: 8 starts, 13.75 NOTE: This list will be updated as more players ($4 million or less) are cut from teams.
Last year's trade value column was primarily focused on dime-store deals across COMO (Rio's Andre Drummond was No. 1 with a $3 million contract), but this offseason, we're talking about the 50 most valuable assets in the league. Based on a combination of talent and cap numbers (with talent winning most battles), our league reporter has compiled a half-century list of the guys GMs dream of having on their books. These rankings are in a vacuum, meaning that a team's other assets and cap issues were not considered. Therefore, some guys (even a couple Top 10 guys) are bound for free agency thanks to an abundance of talent in certain zip codes. With the trade window now open until next February, let's take a look at the state of COMO: Honorable mentions (“Let’s see what we can do.”) Tyson Chandler, Minnesnowta (6) Al Jefferson, Hollywood (20) Tim Duncan, Chaska (16) Jeff Teague, Rio (6) Tyreke Evans, Colorado (6) Kemba Walker, Newport Beach (8) George Hill, Newport Beach (3) Goran Dragic, Hollywood (5) Bradley Beal, Rio (5) Brandon Knight, Minnesnowta (6) Monta Ellis, Kansas City (11) “There’s some wear on the tires, but you still need to impress me with your offer.” 50. Ty Lawson, Chaska (12) 49. Jrue Holiday, Duval United (11) 48. Hassan Whiteside, Minnesnowta (4) 47. Brook Lopez, Kansas City (6) There are reasons to be nervous about all four of these guys (injuries being the most common objection), but all four can get over the 20-bone hump next year, and none of them are breaking the bank. Lopez is the most intriguing, because he’s a candidate for a 28-average, “where did he come from?” year, but he can’t stay healthy. If Whiteside isn’t a flash in the pan, then Minnesnowta made the waiver pickup of the year. “20-plus guys don’t grow on trees, you know.” 46. Serge Ibaka, Kansas City (27) 45. Rudy Gay, Kansas City (12) Ibaka is likely gone this fall thanks to ownership fatigue with a roster that hasn’t wanted to sniff the playoffs over the past two years. But he’s still a serviceable (albeit overpaid) piece for somebody at $27 million. Gay is nearing the chopping block, but there’s no reason KC can’t fit him into its plans for one more season, especially given his valuable SG/SF eligibility. “Have you ever heard of upside? It’s not cheap.” 44. Gorgui Dieng, Minneapolis (6) 43. DeMar DeRozan, Minneapolis (6) 42. Victor Oladipo, Rio (6) Hindsight is 20/20, but can we admit that Minneapolis didn’t exactly hit a home run when it gave away the league’s most expensive asset (No. 7) to Shorewood at the trade deadline? There are certainly recoupable parts — Dieng and DeRozan being the prized return, alongside Joakim “Please Make Gasol Leave Town” Noah — but the Player Haterzz probably should’ve used some leverage to get another team involved (Duval United, namely) or at least demanded a first-rounder. Fittingly, Oladipo joins those two in this group; Rio GM Brendan Halleron made the oft-criticized decision to unload Paul Millsap for him in 2013-2014. “I’m well aware that this guy is the extra bump you need to make the playoffs.” 41. Chris Bosh, Rio (12) 40. Greg Monroe, Rio (10) Two X-factors on the same team? Given that Rio has four players above these two on this list, one could say the Rainmakers are in a position to make some noise in 2015-2016 (or at least own the trade block). “Don’t think you’re going to buy low here.” 39. Carmelo Anthony, Minnesnowta (37) 38. Paul George, Rio (13) This is a big caveat, but if George can stay healthy, he’ll be Top 15 on this list by next summer. Last year, he commanded nearly $40 million before Rio let him test the free agency waters. Meanwhile, Anthony’s $37 million is probably worth it for a select few teams, but Minnesnowta has seen enough. There’s a chance ‘Melo will return to second-team All-COMO form, but his prime is slipping away, fast. “You’re not interested in keeping your lottery pick, huh?” 37. Klay Thompson, Chaska (12) 36. Gordon Hayward, Hollywood (7) 35. Draymond Green, Duval United (4) Green is not going anywhere, but it remains to be seen how much more he can improve. There’s a big difference between $4 million and $8 million, so he needs to show the Duval management some clear flashes in 2015-2016. Hayward and Thompson are potential All-COMO players, but they’re simply not at the peak of their powers, and there’s a chance they never will be. “This guy eats up your frontcourt every time we play. Why would I let you have him?” 34. Marc Gasol, Kansas City (33) 33. Kevin Love, Colorado (35) 32. Dwight Howard, Minnesnowta (29) 31. Al Horford, Chaska (16) All of these players are potential cuts in September, especially Love and Howard. But both of those are mostly team-specific. Love is weighing down a Colorado roster that already has No. 6 on this list, and Howard is probably a package toss-out with Carmelo in Minnesnowta. Neither Dwight nor ‘Melo contributed to the Chill’s playoff run, so GM Matthew Taylor will likely just take the extra cash. Still, there might be a team that wants to take a chance on Howard before he officially hits free agency. “You’d better not be wasting my time.” 30. Joel Embiid, Newport Beach (1) 29. Nikola Vucevic, Newport Beach (8) 28. Rudy Gobert, Minnesnowta (3) 27. Elfrid Payton, Shorewood (2) 26. Jabari Parker, Rio (4) There are no ceilings here. Vucevic is by far the most established COMO weapon, but Gobert is sneaking up behind him. Embiid is a huge question mark, but his potential at $1 million is very tough to top. Payton and Parker are stars, plain and simple. The former made a decent impact in this year’s COMO Finals, while the latter had an inside track for Rookie of the Year before his knee injury. Trade these five at your own risk. “Keep this between us.” 25. Pau Gasol, Shorewood (20) 24. Damian Lillard, Kansas City (18) 23. Eric Bledsoe, Minnesnowta (17) 22. Kyle Lowry, Chaska (8) 21. Kyrie Irving, Minnesnowta (21) 20. Paul Millsap, Chaska (11) Make no mistake: All of these guys should probably stay put. But that doesn’t mean GMs have to lock them down. There are certainly warts (Gasol’s and Millsap’s age, guards’ questionable health), but they all can be steady No. 3s on a championship squad. 2015-2016 will be a huge year for Lillard and Irving — they need to make big strides to be worth next year’s contract. Lowry is one of Chaska’s key salary cap glue guys. Great scouting equals more cap space, which means big win totals, people. “Do I hear multiple first-rounders and a stud prospect?” 19. John Wall, Newport Beach (18) 18. Jimmy Butler, Hollywood (17) 17. Derrick Favors, Duval United (9) 16. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shorewood (2) 15. Kawhi Leonard, Rio (9) 14. Andre Drummond, Rio (8) Butler could be expendable if the Hornets decide to keep their No. 2 guy (more below), but other than him, nobody in this group appears to be going anywhere. Leonard and Drummond lead a surprisingly solid cast of Rainmakers that underwhelmed this past season. But there’s plenty of value and talent in Rio. Meanwhile, Giannis remains one of COMO’s biggest wildcards. But after this past season, pundits are much surer about his star potential than last summer. Shorewood’s young core (Payton, Giannis and No. 11) are looking mighty dangerous. “You have five seconds.” 13. DeAndre Jordan, Duval United (17) 12. LaMarcus Aldridge, Shorewood (25) 11. Nerlens Noel, Shorewood (2) 10. Andrew Wiggins, Hollywood (3) 9. Blake Griffin, Minneapolis (18) This is a hodgepodge of younger players at different stages of their careers. Jordan, Aldridge and Griffin are No. 2 guys on a championship team. Noel and Wiggins are the league’s two most valuable young guns. Not to spoil the rest of the list, but Hollywood has three Top 10 guys, and has the financial ability to keep all three going into next year. If Wiggins can make a big leap in his sophomore season, the Hornets won’t need much else besides him and their two studs (more below). Noel and Wiggins are certainly looking like All-COMO locks in the next few seasons, so their price tags are obviously sexy. “Buy me a few drinks and I’ll pretend to consider it.” 8. Chris Paul, Hollywood (40) 7. LeBron James, Shorewood (54) In a vacuum, both of these guys’ contracts look pretty solid going into next season. Granted, it’d be nice to shave a couple dollars off both, but this is pretty close to face value. Obviously, we’re not in a vacuum, and both of these players are free agency candidates thanks to the fact that their current teams are loaded. So, yes, Paul and ‘Bron are two of the biggest trade chips on the market (Paul more so — Hollywood must choose between CP3 and Jimmy Butler’s contract plus cap space). But having one of the two on your team means possessing an elite player, and there’s nobody outside of this Top 8 that can hang with these gents. “I’m only answering the phone because you sent me a Christmas card last year.” 6. James Harden, Colorado (37) 5. Kevin Durant, Duval United (52) 4. Stephen Curry, Shorewood (40) This is the outer layer of the untouchables. None of these players should be traded, barring some sort of long-term injury (here’s hoping Durant’s foot finally gets Lil B’s curse off it). Colorado got the unexpected deal of free agency last summer when Harden went out and begin destroying defenses at a rate that surprised pretty much everybody. Durant is expected to be an MVP contender for the next few years, and Curry is fresh off the best season of his career (plus the COMO Finals MVP). All three of these guys have had COMO playoff success, and there’s no reason to think they won’t have their teams in prime position to make a postseason dent in 2015-2016. “/click.”
3. DeMarcus Cousins, Chaska (19) 2. Russell Westbrook, Newport Beach (13) 1. Anthony Davis, Hollywood (40) These three are absolutely untouchable. Anyone who trades one of these contracts is perhaps the dumbest human on the face of the Earth. Barring significant off-season injury, no amount of talent or picks could compensate for the loss of these contracts. While Cousins and Westbrook are elite championship pieces, there’s really no way to overstate Davis’ value. You’ve got a 22-year-old 7-footer who 1) already has a COMO MVP under his belt and 2) is, by all accounts, only going to improve. Financial projections have Davis at just $50 million by the start of the 2019-2020 season, when he’ll be 26 years old. Let that information wash over you. Now, time for a cold shower and some trade rumors. Free agency begins very soon (Sept. 29). It probably sounds like a vast, scary void that you don't want to get lost in. Because MAN, if you screw this up, your franchise is doomed. The easiest way to explain the FA period is as a "slow-moving auction draft." Very much like the inaugural draft we had last October, you will have the opportunity to bid on any player. This time, though, you have much more limited cap room, and the rules are a tad different. Here are the three main things you need to know: • Once a player receives his first bid, he will make a final decision within 72 hours. All bids for him must be entered within 72 hours. Teams may bid as many times as they like, auction-style. • If no one bids on a player for a 24-hour stretch at any time AFTER a bid is placed, then he will sign with the most recent high bidder. • If any bid is placed within a half hour (30 minutes) of the end of the 72-hour limit, all teams who wish to bid on him will text the commissioner with a blind bid higher than the most recent high bid posted (you will receive a prompt from the commish before your blind bid). This blind bid must be made to the commissioner within two hours of the final posted bid. Of course, there are a couple things to also keep in mind: • If the initial bid on a player is made with less than 72 hours remaining in the FA period (closes at 12 a.m. CT on Oct. 13), then there will not be a full 72 hours of bidding, just however much time remains in the FA period. The same 30-minute bidding rule applies to the end of the period though (to force a blind bid). • Teams are ALLOWED to go over $100 in this period, but beware: Teams will not be able to drop a player $5 or more until AFTER the $100 cap deadline on Oct. 20. Once the deadline passes, we go back to the normal rule of $20+ players being undroppable. This process will require daily checks on players that you are interested in signing. The easiest way to stay in the know is to 1) Follow @COMOLeague on Twitter and 2) Download the ESPN Fantasy Basketball app to keep track of the bids on the league message board. Any questions should be texted to the commish for the quickest answers. You can also use Twitter or the COMO Facebook group to clarify any confusion. To get you ready for the onslaught, here is a subjective ranking of the available free agents (and remember: If a player is not bid on during the first week, his asking price will be cut in half during the second week).
Carlos Boozer, PF/C (Los Angeles Lakers) •• Asking price: $2 million Tristan Thompson, PF (Cleveland) •• Asking price: $2 million Anderson Varejao, PF/C (Cleveland) •• Asking price: $2 million Spencer Hawes, C (Los Angeles Clippers) •• Asking price: $3 million Trey Burke, PG (Utah) •• Asking price: $2 million Marcin Gortat, PF/C (Washington) •• Asking price: $2 million Ersan Ilyasova, PF/C (Milwaukee) •• Asking price: $4 million David West, PF (Indiana) •• Asking price: $4 million Evan Turner, SF (Philadelphia) • Asking price: $2 million Tyreke Evans, SG/SF (New Orleans) • Asking price: $2 million Larry Sanders, PF (Milwaukee) • Asking price: $5 million Don't forget about waivers.The waiver period will open immediately after free agency concludes on Oct. 13. This pool will include any player listed above that is not signed + any player in the NBA that is not currently signed by a COMO team. Here are some guys who have slipped through the cracks (with several more role players available):
Arron Afflalo, SG (Denver) Gorgui Dieng, C (Minnesota) Brandon Jennings, PG (Detroit) Kevin Martin, SG (Minnesota) Brandon Knight, PG/SG (Milwaukee) Paul Pierce, SF (Washington) RIO DE JANEIRO — Derrick Rose will not be wearing a Rainmakers uniform in 2014, according to a source close to the team.
Rose, signed in the inaugural COMO auction for $28 million, is due for a $1 million raise next year because he played 10 games. Even without the extra money, management was not likely to keep his contract on the payroll after Rose tore his meniscus this week. "Prince loves Rose but is disappointed by his performance," the source said. If Rio lets Rose go to free agency next summer, his asking price will start at $15 million. If no team bids on him, he will be relegated to waivers in the last week of the preseason. That's quite the fall for a young man who won the NBA MVP in 2011-2012. It looks like he'll have a new home when he returns from his injury next season. Is there any chance Prince and the Rio management might reconsider? "Zero," the source said. "Derrick has played his last game for Rio." |
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