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Summary
One good sign for Valentine's free agency hopes is that he has been healthy this season, which hasn't always been the case in the past as he missed the entire '18-'19 season and only played in 32 games in the '19-'20 season. I didn't expect the Bulls to tender Valentine his Qualifying Offer last offseason, and he signed that offer pretty quickly rather than trying to get an offer sheet as a restricted free agent. At 27 years old and five years into his career, I think we might know what Valentine is now, and I'm not sure it's anything more than "just a guy" - someone that can give you decent regular season minutes, but isn't really above replacement level.

Valentine had a poor shooting season, only hitting 32% from three. He has some craft off the dribble, but isn't really a ball-handling playmaker like he was back at Michigan State. Valentine might surprise me again and get more than the minimum, but I would rather use my cap space (or exceptions) elsewhere.
 
Cap Considerations
Valentine will be an unrestricted free agent with full Bird rights. As his cap hold ($8.8 million) exceeds the salary he will get in free agency, his cap hold is not really relevant. If the Bulls re-sign Valentine, his cap hold will be replaced by his starting salary, and the Bulls may still have some cap space available depending on his salary and what happens with their other free agents.
 
Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Valentine as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. There's also a chance that Valentine ends up settling for the minimum.

Potential Teams: Raptors, Magic, Bulls, Warriors, Nuggets

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $1.9 million ($1.7 million cap hit) with the Raptors

Actual Contract: 2-year, $4.1 million ($500k guaranteed) with the Cavaliers

Valentine got a partially-guaranteed minimum contract with Cleveland, and will fight for one of the final few roster spots.

Last updated: 9/24/2021

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