Honorable Mention: Timofey Mozgov, UFA
2015-16 Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Age: 29
Slash Line: .565/.143/.716
Season Averages: 17.4 MPG, 6.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.5 ORPG, 0.8 BPG
Timofey Mozgov has effectively established himself as one of the better centers in the NBA. He’s not elite, but Mozgov is a very reliable player who contributes in multiple phases and will help solidify his team’s defensive interior.
Mozgov will likely receive an opportunity to start, but if he’s open to returning to the New York Knicks, he’d be worth investing in.
Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers’ best efforts to bring his market value down—but seriously, it was hard to find him minutes with Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson both receiving max contracts—Mozgov is respected. Chances are, he’ll get a hefty contract and start on an NBA team.
If a window exists to sign him for cheap, however, the Knicks must make getting that deal done a priority.
The bad news for New York is that Kosta Koufos set the market value for players of Mozgov’s breed—two-way bench players with the potential to start—when he received a four-year deal worth $33 million. That was before the salary cap skyrocketed to $90-plus million.
Mozgov has played for the Knicks before, and if he’s willing to do so again, he could round out a tremendous interior trio. Just don’t hold your breath.
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