The Most Undervalued 2016 NBA Free Agent at Every Position

In some ways, LeBron James and Kevin Durant will be the most “undervalued” free agents this summer. They each are likely to sign for max salaries north of $25 million for 2016-17, but neither figure would come close to matching what they’re actually worth to NBA franchises.

Heck, they could take home more than $50 million apiece next season and still undershoot the true value they bring to a team, both on and off the court.

This list isn’t for them.

Rather, it’s for the unsung (and less sung) heroes of this year’s free-agent class. These five players—one for each position—will cash in to some degree on the upcoming money-flooded market. But none of them will finish among the biggest earners at their respective spots.

It could be about health. It could be about age. It could be about personality.

Whatever holds back these players’ earning potential, the teams that sign them could be in for some serious steals.

 

Point Guard: Langston Galloway (Restricted Free Agent)

Forgive Langston Galloway for his rookie and sophomore struggles. As if learning to play point in the NBA weren’t tough enough, he had to do so for the New York Knicks, within the confines of the triangle offense. SNY.tv’s Keith Schlosser described Galloway’s plight:

Galloway was rather quiet, often getting lost in the Knicks’ continued triangle offense tailspin. They played him more off the ball, turning him into somewhat of a spot-shooter. Without the ball in his hands, Galloway’s assertiveness (and perhaps his respective confidence level) appears to waver a bit. He’s not one to actively move too well without the ball.

Should Galloway stick with the Knicks, he would likely find his situation much more comfortable. When it comes to point guards, new head coach Jeff Hornacek could swing the opposite way from where Phil Jackson had New York headed. While the Zen Master has long marginalized floor generals, Hornacek had success with the Phoenix Suns playing two (and sometimes three) of them at a time.

As Hornacek told ESPN’s Zach Lowe, then with Grantland, upon taking the Suns job in 2013:

You have to get a read on your players and what suits them the best. When you look at the game today, with the rule changes — that’s why everyone is going to some sort of pick-and-roll. The rules are, you can’t touch that guy with your hands. It’s not like the old days, where you could hand check.

To take advantage of those rules, the Knicks will need all the guards they can get, especially those on developmental timelines similar to that of Kristaps Porzingis. Galloway fits both bills.

And if the Knicks decide they don’t need him, he should be able to find a landing spot on a squad willing to take a chance on a young point guard (i.e. the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings), with a yearly salary inching toward $5 million.

 

Shooting Guard: Lance Stephenson (Team Option)

Lance Stephenson remains to the NBA what Russia was to Winston Churchill: a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

In some ways, Stephenson isn’t quite as mysterious and …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com