Late last week, Fox 8′s John Telich reported that “at least three teams” were interested in Gee with the Suns being joined by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons. Brendan Bowers of Stepien Rules followed this up by reporting that the Suns were in fact in the lead for Gee’s services, set to offer the athletic wing approximately $4 million per year with the length of the deal unknown.
Two things: (1) Gee is a restricted free agent, so the Cavs will have the opportunity to match whatever offers other teams make, and (2) $4 million per year sounds a little high, but reasonable. I would bring Gee back for $12 million over three years or whatever the Suns offer looks like.
This TERRIFIES me. God forbid some crazy team (like Phoenix, who has a recent history of being crazy) offers Gee 6 or 7 mil (or more!) knowing that we’ll match anything less. If this happens, we’re in a pretty terrible situation.
losing gee is not terrible. Its bad, but its better to be rid of him than pay him 6 million, which phoenix would be crazy to do. If we lose him to a deal like that, i will have no qualms giving that money to a better player and being done with it. Would it be nice to keep gee around for a reasonable price? Of course. Is retaining a player, whose best-case scenario is the 5th or 6th best player on a contender, on a team 2 or 3 years outside of contention, something to fret about? I don’t think so.
That said, I hope we can keep Gee for 4 mil or less per year. If not, then it was fun watching him blossom, and I wish him well. We’ll move on just fine with his reasonably priced replacement.
Phoenix is the king of overpaying midlevel players. It’s comical. I wouldn’t put anything past them with how much they gave Josh Childress, Channing Frye, and Hakim Warrick. If we could sign and trade for Gortat, Dudley, or Lopez, though this could be a good thing.
I’d offer Gee about $4 mil. Boobie made about 4.4 mil this past year and is in line to make 4.7 next year. If the offers go over $5 million per year, I’d rather use that money to try to get a top-tier free agent or save it for the future.
@HoopsDogg Gortat would be great, Dudley would be okay, Not so sure about Lopez
Gortat would be the perfect compliment to TT but I don’t know why the Suns would do that.
Gee has played well for stretches for this team but ultimately he is a bench player on a good team so this is not the worst news ever. Even at 4 mil a year that would be an overpay, so if Phoenix really feels like shelling out the money I don’t think losing him will have a terribly large effect on the team.
How about we sign and trade Gee for their first rounder? That would probably never happen but if he opts to go to Phoenix, I hope we can get something out of it.
Why is everyone terrified of losing Gee? How sad we are being terrified of losing LeBron (justifiably), now we’re afraid of losing Alonzo freaking Gee? He’s a bench player for a playoff team. Would it be nice to keep him? Yes. This is the perfect example of how the NBA owners got themselves in a salary mess. Overpaying for someone who is not worth it. Whomever gave the example of the Suns’ contracts hit it on the head. We don’t pay for performance anymore in the NBA, we pay to keep players from leaving because teams get scared for some reason.
This is not Gee-bashing. This is overpaying-for-no-better-than-average-bench-players-bashing. If someone bids $4M or more for Gee for a few years, let them. There are much better FA’s out there who have experience to help lead a young team. Cavs fans drive me crazier by the day. I am guessing most of the people who want to save Gee are people who never visited the Richfield Coliseum to watch the Cavs. There is such a change in the attitudes of paying players between the 80′s and today. You never heard about crazy FA signings due to money back then. And, look where it got the NBA, a lockout and owners who (crossing their fingers) don’t make money. Paying Gee over $4M a year for a multiyear contract is a great example of this.
I saw the Cavs in the 80s but the modern Cavs have a real issue with luring good FAs to the team (even with Lebron). If you disagree please list the quality young FAs drooling at the chance to play in Cleveland right now. No one wants to waste their prime years playing for a team that as mentioned above needs 7 players and 2-3 years to compete. Gee is still growing into his game and not a bad deal at 4M IMO.
I witnessed games in Richfield in the 80′s (…and even one or two in the 70′s). Was Hot Rod Williams’ last contract with the Cavs not a bit crazy back then?
Dan -
Losing Gee isn’t bad because he’s that talented (believe me, I’m the head of the we-overrate-Gee fan club) but when you look at this roster, we’re in desperate need of talent. Losing Gee takes talent away from our thinnest position.
Mallory,
Your argument makes no sense. You first premise is that Gee is overrated and not “that talented,” and somehow that leads to the conclusion that its terrible to lose him because we need talent at the 3 spot. If he is not that talented, why do we care if we lose him, especially if it allows us to gain more money to sign someone with more talent?
Hot Sauce -
I’m not advocating over paying him. I’m simply saying if we lose him, that’s one less ligit NBA player on our team. A team of Kyrie, TT, Andy, and a bunch of rookies isn’t exactly gold.
Last year a team of Kyrie, TT, Andy and a bunch of rookies actually played very well for stretches. 4 Mil is a certain overpay of Gee, and I don’t personally think he’ll be that hard to replace. Add to that core a top pick (who will have a similar if not as dramatic impact as Kyrie), plus some depth with the later picks and I think this team is improved. Perhaps not playoff ready yet, but who cares if we take another year to develop the team and add more talent to it.
My first thought here is that if we’re that worried about losing Gee, why wouldn’t we just draft Jeffery Taylor? He basically does everything that Gee does as well or better. Of course, we don’t *know* that he’s an NBA player like we do with Gee, but I think the upside on his offense is a lot greater.
I’d be fine with spending $4 mil to keep Gee. Boobie is making $4.5 and most bench role players make similar amounts. I wouldn’t go over $5 mil and would prefer they use that money to attract a FA or buy another draft pick if it comes to that.
Losing Gee would hurt but overpaying him would be more detrimental long term. The $12 million over three years mentioned earlier sounds about right. That rate will be better spent on him than Boobie because Gee’s a more versatile player. They can’t over pay him though. Gee reminds me of Scott Burrell. Same size and very similar game. Burrell had a few quality years with the Charlotte Hornets, but he was never a start and eventually faded.
I keep hearing that because Gibson makes around 4 mil, we should therefore pay Gee about that much. Are you all missing the part where Boobie is way overpaid? You don’t give $4 mil a year for multiple years to an okay player with no upside. Boobie should be a warning against that, but somehow he’s become the example of why we should do it.
All I hear is confirming my comment: “we’re afraid to lose Gee, let’s be sure he doesn’t leave.” I like Gee, but $4M on a multiyear deal is a bit much for an unproven player. Maybe $3M with some team options for more after the first year or two… I don’t want to lose him, but I don’t want to overpay. This is exactly how the owners (and GM’s) created their salary mess.
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I saw the Cavs in the 80s but the modern Cavs have a real issue with luring good FAs to the team (even with Lebron). If you disagree please list the quality young FAs drooling at the chance to play in Cleveland right now. No one wants to waste their prime years playing for a team that as mentioned above needs 7 players and 2-3 years to compete. Gee is still growing into his game and not a bad deal at 4M IMO.
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If you are a business who is having a hard time recruiting for an executive position, do you simply overpay the junior guy and hope he can do the job, or do you bust your butt off trying to recruit the best talent? I am not saying Cleveland is a mecca for FA’s, but just as it isn’t for business either (hopefully that is changing). We have a lot of promising rookies and a solid coach who used to play in the NBA at a high level. I would think there are other FA’s out there who would not joining Kyrie, Andy, etc… I am not a GM or agent, so I don’t know who they are, but you can’t give up because Danny Ferry (the worst contract in Cleveland history) could not recruit tier-1 talent to play with LBJ.
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I witnessed games in Richfield in the 80′s (…and even one or two in the 70′s). Was Hot Rod Williams’ last contract with the Cavs not a bit crazy back then?
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Yes, Hot Rod’s contract was, but it was precipitated by being a RFA and we panicked (like Gee, but on a much higher level). It was a front-loaded contract and for the most part it worked out – he was productive and by 1993, his average salary was the average of the highest 15 players (still overpaid). But, that is a great example of what happened in the 90′s. In fact, that deal may have triggered what we see today and is a great example. In 95 he was the 18th highest-paid player and in 97 he wasn’t in the top-50 by the time his contract was up.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1136437/index.htm
I love Gee and watching him the past two years (this year especially) was awesome, as he gave the Cavs some of the few highlights that didn’t involve the name Kyrie. But I don’t think he’s worth more than $4 million an year, and probably not even that. I’ve heard the $12 mil for 3 years number floated around over at FTS and that’s probably the limit on what I think his contract should be; ideally it’d be less, but that’s not unreasonable.
The argument that I don’t like is not actually based on Gee, it’s the “where else are the Cavs going to spend” argument. Sure top dollar free agents haven’t been drooling to come to Cleveland, but there are a lot of very good players who are looking for a shot at an NBA roster or a second go around that the Cavs could get. Look at what Tracy McGrady is doing for Atlanta right now: he signed a veteran’s minimum contract, and is competing and playing well. I’m not saying that’s the best example because he signed with a playoff caliber team to contend for a title, but a) he’s playing well for 1.3 mil, and b) Atlanta didn’t really have a shot at a title so it’s not like FAs only sign with the Heat or Lakers. Solid teams with promise and the opportunity of playing time can get FAs; just because the Cavs aren’t in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes doesn’t mean free agency is not a valuable place to rebuild.
I think the Cavs should sign Greg Oden. An excellent article by Mark Titus over at grantland affirmed what I’ve believed for a while, which is that he’s a player who could help a team but needs a second chance in a new city with a new organization who wouldn’t push him too hard. Can anyone think of a better fit for him than Cleveland? If he signs a 2 year deal (which doesn’t have to be rich one. Titus quotes Oden as saying “money doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got enough money. All I want is to get 100 percent healthy and get back on the court.”) and can’t contribute, oh well, is are the Cavs any worse off than having Ryan Hollins or Semih Erden? The Titus article says he’s planning on taking the 2012-2013 season off and trying to get his degree at OSU. He couldn’t work towards his degree and work his way into the Cavs organization, rehabing with a patient NBA medical staff instead of the joke that is Portland’s, and building relationships with the team? His experiences and the mistakes he’s learned from wouldn’t be welcome with the Cavs’ young guys?
So come on Chris Grant, bring Greg back to Ohio (I know he’s from Indianapolis, but his time at OSU made him at least an adopted son, if not a native one), give him a second shot, and go Cavs!