top of page

2022 Free Agents - Goran Dragic

Summary
Dragic looked like he was on the decline in '18-'19, as he spent the majority of that season injured, and lost the starting point guard position to Kendrick Nunn during the '19-'20 regular season. Dragic was looking less like an above-average starting point guard and more like a low-end starter or high-end backup.

Dragic completely turned his season around with his play in the 2020 playoffs, where he looked like an All-Star. He showed his shot-making and creation skills, showing he can score at multiple levels. However, Dragic came back down to earth a bit in '20-'21, but the Heat were still much better with him on the court than when he was off.

After Dragic and the Raptors agreed he wouldn't be playing any real minutes for Toronto this season, Dragic sat out most of the season before he was eventually traded to San Antonio at the trade deadline and ultimately was bought out and signed with the Nets.

Dragic struggled to score efficiently with the Nets, shooting less than 30% from three combined in the regular season and playoffs. However, he did show some ability to get in the lane and make plays, and finished well at the rim when he got there. He got real minutes for the Nets when the games mattered most, despite them already having a bunch of small guards. He still has some ability to create off the dribble, and I would bet on his three-point shooting to improve to around his career average of 36%.

Dragic will be 36 in 2022 as a free agent, so teams will likely not be willing to give him a long-term contract, but he could have some real interest from teams. He could also play a role as a short-term answer at point-guard for a young team that feels like having a solid point guard could help their other players develop, or a team that simply needs another perimeter creator.
 
Cap Considerations
Dragic will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.8 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Nets could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $3.4 million. Alternatively, the Nets could use their Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception to re-sign Dragic if he demands more than $3.4 million.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Dragic 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. It's also possible that Dragic is willing to accept the minimum to go to the right team.

Potential Teams: Clippers, Nets, Celtics, Wizards, Knicks

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $13.1 million with the Clippers

Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.9 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Bulls

I thought Dragic might get more than the minimum, but the minimum was always in play, and that's what he ended up signing with Chicago, where he will provide some solid depth in their backcourt that suffered a bunch of injuries last season.

Last updated: 7/3/2022

bottom of page