Just the facts, and then a quick-take on the pickup.
Knicks GM, Isiah Thomas, fired his first FA bullet this offseason by extending an offer sheet to Jeffries (formerly of the Wizards).
Just a quick recap of the process: Certain free agents (like Jeffries in this case) are restricted FA’s under the current collective bargaining agreement. Players can sign offer sheets from other teams in an attempt to move on from their current squad.
Their current squad then has a week to either match that contract or let the player go.
The Knicks and Jeffries agreed on a contract for the mid-level exception (called an exception because it’s a contract a team can acquire even after they have reached the NBA’s soft salary-cap), and in that contract is language that dissuades his current club from matching. Typically, that means he will get a balloon payment early in the contract that his current team would not be inclined to want to pay.
The Wizards then went about trying to find a replacement, which they did, in Deshawn Stevenson. They used all the time given to them by the league and decided NOT to match the Knicks’ offer.
So…what did the Knicks get?
Jeffries has a reputation around the league as a top notch defender with a limited offensive game. Certainly the limited offensive game portion of that is true. The bulk of his offensive value is from his post-up game because his jump shot leaves much to be desired. He has a very low FG% for a guy who doesn’t take many long rang shots.
Secondly, his FT% leaves a lot to be desired. His % has never gone above 61% for the regular season and that is very weak for a wing player.
Defense is where Jeffries seems to shine. Last season he was one of the top 3 defenders on his team. What makes that even more impressive was that he was often put on the opposing teams’ best offensive player. He has the length to bother post up players and he has the activity level to close out on jump shooters. He isn’t an all-world defender…this isn’t Bruce Bowen or a Ron Artest; however, he is a very good defender that instantly helps the Knicks in an area where recent history says they are pretty weak.
A strength that Jeffries might have, we need to see him play the minutes though, is in rebounding. His rebound rate (roughly the % of misses he gets to when he’s in the game) is on par with Paul Pierce and double that of Bruce Bowen. With big minutes he could be a very solid contributor for a team that doesn’t have a dominant rebounder and thus must pick up what it can from players here…there…and everywhere.
Lastly, one has to imagine that the impetus for this pick-up was from a chemistry standpoint. The Knicks have the offensive fire power needed to compete for a 6th,7th, or 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. What the team DOESN’T need are more guys who require shots to be happy. Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Jalen Rose, and Nate Robinson all seem to think “score” from the opening tip.
What Thomas needed to bring to the team were some hustle players that didn’t care if they got a ton of shots. That appears to have been his plan on draft day (drafting Renaldo Balkman) and it seems to have been the motivating factor for this acquisition as well.
Jeffries should provide what is asked of him: Defense, rebounding, team play. Any improvement he can make on drawing more fouls and hitting the foul shots he actually gets, will be gravy…and really he has nowhere to go but up.
From a financial standpoint I don’t think you love the fact that you’re paying a guy like Jeffries 6 mil a year. However, the Knicks haven’t shown they can develop players like Jeffries for cheaper…..so overpaying here wasn’t a worst sin this team has committed recently. Until they do a better job of scouting and a much better job finding young FA’s who have NOT broken out yet, they will continue to slightly overpay for mid-level talent. However, the fact that this team gave the mid-level exception for mid-level talent….shouldn’t alarm Knicks fans too bad. On the other hand, Knicks owner James Dolan can’t be thrilled paying Jeffries 12 mil a year. He’s doing this because once a team goes over the luxury tax level in salary, every dollar they spend id doubled dollar for dollar and put into a “fund” that gets redistributed out to the team that DIDN’T go over the tax level. So a $5 mil contract costs James Dolan $10 mil out of his pocket. However, Dolan is the one allowing Thomas to spend like a 14 year old girl run amok in the mall, so apparently he doesn’t mind.
Overall this move should help the Knicks as long as the chemistry overall is right. There is no way one player, the level of Jeffries, can solve the mess that is the Knicks and it would be unfair to place that kind of expectation on him. He’s here to play defense and not demand the ball. To that extent I think he will do just fine even if Thomas did have to overpay just a little.
If I were grading this move on an “Isiah Thomas curve” I’d give it an A- for the simple fact that this was a horrific contract that will doom the team.
If I were grading this move outright…let’s call it a solid B.
