NBA Free Agency 2013: Biggest Steals So Far

Jan 23, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrei Kirilenko (47) and Brooklyn Nets center Andray Blatche (0) jump for a loose ball during the fourth quarter at the Target Center. The Nets defeated the Timberwolves 91-83. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

As per usual, this year’s NBA free agency featured quite a few bad contracts, with players getting overpaid left and right. When some players get more money than they deserve, that naturally reduces the flexibility of many teams around the league, which means that less money is available for those lower down in the food chain.

It’s obviously hard to evaluate the exact worth of a player and a lot of it comes down to subjective reasoning. Still, in some cases it’s just glaringly obvious that a player is underpaid for his production.

So what goes into this evaluation? Well, salary is obviously the primary factor here. But you also have to consider how well a player fits into the system and what kind of impact he is expected to have. Let’s take a look at some of the guys that we can consider as steals so far in the free agency process.

(Note, the contract figures are based on reports and some of them include team/player options)