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Alternative Free Agent Watch: Noah Vonleh & Stanley Johnson

Assuming we also retain JJ Redick and Mike Muscala, two potential free agent targets I am intrigued by are rugged 6’9 Noah Vonleh and another broad shouldered forward 6’7 restricted free agent, Stanley Johnson. Both are potential fifth options who provide more athleticism and upside than Wilson Chandler. Given that we’ll probably retain a bunch of guards and small wings like Fultz, TJ, JJ, Zhaire, Shamet, and Milton, it makes sense to me to spend some dough on beefiness.


Vonleh was a favorite of several Liberty Baller commentators back in 2014. Took awhile, but he’s finally added more nuance to his catch&shoot/rebounding game. Although 6’9, he has a body beautiful, giving us a potential starting four and backup five, a fine complement to Muscala and Jonah Bolden.

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Over his last 10 games, Vonleh is hitting 54% from deep, along with 8rebounds and around a steal and block per game. He’s started the last five games, hitting 57% from the floor, including 60% from three, 0.8stls & 1.2blks. In a lineup with JoJoBenJimmy and JJ, Vonleh’s job would be to defend, ht open shots and rebound. That’s pretty much all he does.


Similarly, while Stanley Johnson has not developed into a star, he can at the still tender age of 22 defend and rebound, with the ability to hit open shots still to be seen. There’s been progress there lately. In his last 10 games, Johnson has taken around 4.5 3pts/gm, hitting 34% of them. Add to that 1.4stls/gm in 21min/gm.

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A restricted free agent, the Pistons can match anything the Sixers offer. However, Detroit will be close to the salary cap even before addressing Johnson’s contract, and they may have a price point they won’t go over. It’s been hard on teams that were unwilling to let go of Tyler Johnson, Allen Crabbe, etc. At the same time, that’s also a warning sign to the Sixers not to overpay a guy who might not ever develop into a $20m player.


As for Vonleh, the Knicks will have darn near $60m to spend and can easily drop a load on Vonleh. On the other hand, the Knicks may spend big money on a point guard, then commit to a frontcourt of Kevin Knox, Kristaps Porzingis and Mitchell Robinson. Besides the money, Vonleh may prefer a very real chance to start on a contending team.


This summer is going to be a seller's market--a lot of teams with a lot of money but only a few max level players. The contracts to good but not great players are going to be nuts. In that environment, I might prefer that the sixers hand out $10m contracts to Noah Vonleh and/or Stanley Johnson, than to chase Khris Middleton or Tobias Harris with $30m offers that I still don’t think they will take because their home teams are going to the playoffs and can offer them even more in terms of years and salary.

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