The NBA Signings You Forgot About This Year - Role Players

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The NBA 2018-2019 Role Player Signings You Forgot About by Christ Watford July 29th, 2018

In a year where numerous superstars became free agents it becomes pretty easy to forget about the regular guys. The first game of the regular season becomes really jarring as well when you see Zaza Pachulia in a Pistons jersey or Javale McGee playing alongside LeBron James and Lonzo Ball. With the stars already committed to their new teams let’s take a look at the guys who go unnoticed: the role players.

Luc Mbah a Moute Signs To the Clippers (Again), 1yr/$4.3M

Houston hasn’t been as active as they would have liked this off-season. Losing Ariza and Luc hurt them bad, and it doesn’t help that they’re going to be paying a 37 year old Chris Paul $44M in 2021. Statistically, Luc wasn’t a very impressive player but he brought one thing that Houston desperately needed: defense. The Rockets had a good chance to make it to the finals this year, but with a tougher western conference Houston hasn’t been able to put the pieces together.

Elfird Payton Signs To the Pelicans, 1yr/$2.7M

Being a Pelicans fan has never been easy, but this year was a little bit different. Once Demarcus Cousins went down a lot of people had lost hope, until Pelicans GM Dell Demps was able to work his magic. Demps shed the monstrosity of Omer Asik’s 5yr/$58M contract in exchange for Rajon Rondo and Nikola Mirotic. With Rondo leaving to the Lakers, Demps signed Elfrid Payton to a cheap 1yr/$2.7M. If Elfrid Payton can run the point and continue his career averages of 11/6 he can allow Jrue Holiday to shine off the ball at SG and fill in Rondo’s spot rather nicely.

Yogi Ferrell Signs To the Kings, 2yr/$5.3M

Ferrell has been a young and promising player for the Mavericks and it’s a surprise that the Mavericks didn’t match the Kings’ offer of $900K more. Averaging 10/2.5/3 in only his third year it’s a shame that we won’t get to see a backcourt of Doncic/Ferrell. The kings have a lot of young talent and impossible to spell names and while they certainly won’t make the playoffs this year, keep an eye on them over the course of the next 3 years.

Isaiah Thomas To the Nuggets, 1yr/$2M

The rise and fall of Thomas has been one of the saddest moments in recent NBA history. Thomas put his heart and soul in to Boston, averaging 29 points in 2016-2017 and playing the day after his sister’s death. Within a year, Thomas has played for three separate teams and hasn’t been the same since his hip injury. It’s a shame to see a player fall from being eligible for a max-contract to a travelling the NBA. Let’s hope that playing alongside Jokic and a potential playoff run sparks some life into the 5’9 point guard.

Ersan Ilyasova Signs To the Bucks, 3yr/$21M

The last time that Ersan Ilyasova played in a Bucks Uniform was the 2015-2016 season; but this year will be pretty interesting. Coming off an 11/7 season in PHI there’s no doubt that Ilyasova will slide in perfectly to the Bucks lineup alongside Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo averaged an absurd 27/10 last season playing at the PF position, it’ll be interesting to see whether Ilyasova will come off the bench or if Antetokounmpo will slide to the SF position with Ilyasova playing PF. No matter what happens we should all fear the deer next year.

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