Top 10 "Value-for-Money" Signings 2000-2009

[Andrew]

Another one from Kelly Dwyer.

1. LeBron James
2. Chris Paul
3. Chauncey Billups
4. Ben Wallace (in Detroit, 2000)
5. Manu Ginobili
6. Ron Artest
7. Jason Kidd (in New Jersey, 2003)
8. Peja Stojakovic
9. Gilbert Arenas (2003)
10. Steve Nash

I see his reasoning for putting LeBron at number one and Paul at number two, but it's kind of cheating considering that Paul was on his rookie contract as noted and you'd expect a star getting in excess of $15 million to be one of the top players in the league. I think Billups could top that list and Artest and Ginobili could be a little higher, as could Nash.

[Lamrock]

I think Artest is an iffy one, since he destroyed the Pacers in 2004, and they are still rebuilding from that.

[jettdaking!]

yay, more top 10's!!! . me likey

[Andrew]

I think Artest is an iffy one, since he destroyed the Pacers in 2004, and they are still rebuilding from that.

True, but other than that he's been pretty good value for money. Players have been paid a lot more to do a lot less or having shown much less skill.

[The X]

List was alright, but he let himself down again. What a cop out to put LBJ & Paul at 1 & 2. It's like he started his list from 10, then got to 3 & realised he'd run out of players to think of. Rather than doing some research & re-ordering the list, he took the easy option. Any top rookie salary cap player is going to better than players on the normal salary scale.

[Andrew]

Absolutely. As I said, I think Billups could top the list with the contract the Pistons signed him to in 2002. That was much more of a steal than a player on their rookie contract or a superstar getting superstar money and playing up to it.

[Martti.]

If you sign Lebron, you know what you're gonna get.

[Andrew]

Well, yeah, but it's not necessarily about knowing what you're going to get. Teams know what they're getting with Ron Artest as well, what puts him on the list is that you'd normally expect teams to pay a lot more for a player like him; really get their money's worth. Of course, the Cavs are technically getting their money's worth with LeBron but it's not quite the same as Detroit signing Billups to a modest deal in 2002 and having him go on to be an All-Star, Finals MVP and leader of some formidable Piston teams so his inclusion is a bit of a cop-out. Same as Paul, with the rookie scale any young player who establishes themselves as one of the league's elite within their first couple of years is going to be great value for money, but it comes about because rookie contracts are signed according to that scale. It's not like a team can draft someone in the lottery and give him $20 million a year straight away.