15 NBA players certain to be overpaid in free agency
By Brad Rowland
3. Meyers Leonard
Because he missed the final month of the 2015-2016 season with injury, Meyers Leonard has faded into relative obscurity. In fact, the casual fan probably has no understanding of why Leonard would even crack this list.
After all, the 24-year-old big man just posted career highs in points (8.4) and rebounds (5.4) per game in his fourth season, and those aren’t exactly earth-shattering numbers. Still, Leonard is about to hit restricted free agency at the absolute best time imaginable, and he brings a ton of potential value to the table.
More than anything, Leonard is an attractive target because he can really shoot. As a legitimate 7-footer, Leonard is a career 38.5% three-point shooter, and he attempted 3.7 threes per game last season while connecting at a 37.7% clip. The majority of the NBA world is moving toward a playing style that encourages big men to shoot from long distance, and it would be tough to find a better shooter at the center spot than Leonard.
Because of that attribute, Leonard is set to make a great deal of money, to the point where he reportedly turned down a lucrative extension in Portland within the last year. Still, the former Illinois big man remains a deeply flawed player in that he is a well below-average rim protector (0.5 blocks per 36 minutes last season) that doesn’t bring a ton to the table offensively outside of his jump shot.
It is hard to imagine a better situation for a jump-shooting big man hitting free agency, but while Leonard is almost sure to be a useful player moving forward, that is probably his ceiling and he will likely be paid on a much higher level.
Next: 2. Evan Turner