NBA free agency: Players that signed with the wrong team

5. Al Jefferson — Indiana Pacers

One team that’s been making moves left and right this offseason that maybe not many fans saw coming has been the Indiana Pacers. They pulled off the Thaddeus Young and Jeff Teague trades and seemingly are putting themselves in position for a run in the playoffs. And without question, essentially replacing Ian Mahinmi in the center rotation with Al Jefferson is a move that makes for yet another upgrade on their roster.

If you’re Big Al, though, I’m not exactly sure why you’re signing this deal in any regard. For one, Jefferson took backup center money while other big men who you could argue don’t have the impact that he does were getting paid big time dollars. Additionally, he’s essentially shoehorning himself into a backup role when the argument could be made that some half the teams in the league right now could use him as a starter.

While I understand the appeal of wanting to be a part of a team that could very well be a sleeper in the Eastern Conference moving forward, it’s hard to see a player that offers as much as Jefferson does from a basketball and leadership sense take a backseat so willingly when his next contract won’t see him being nearly the player that he is right now. Perhaps this is based partly on affinity for Big Al, but it feels like he could’ve signed with a team that had a better and bigger role for him.

Next: No. 4 Deng