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Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2022 Free Agents - Raul Neto
Summary
Neto will not wow you with incredible plays, but he rarely makes mistakes and will take advantage when defenses don't respect him. He has gotten more aggressive in recent years, making him more of a threat on offense than he used to be. After shooting over 41% from three from '19-'21, Neto only hit 30% from three in '21-'22, which is slightly concerning. However, he still posted an above-average eFG% for his position (per Cleaning the Glass) due to his high percentage at the rim and from floater range. I also think it's reasonable to expect Neto to shoot around average from three going forward, as he's a career 36% shooter from outside.
Defensively, Neto has posted good steal rates over the past two seasons. He works hard on that end, despite not having the length or athleticism to be super disruptive. Due to some of those physical limitations on offense, Neto is unlikely to be deserving of minutes when the games count the most, as he could be targeted in the playoffs. However, he can be a reliable backup option at point guard during the regular season.
Neto even has shown to be able to play next to other point guards, as long as that individual is big enough to guard shooting guards, so teams with bigger point guards will likely be more interested than teams with smaller point guards, since those teams won't have the luxury of being able to play both guards together. Although Neto has signed minimum contracts in recent years, if I were his agent I would be looking at what Cory Joseph got in 2021 (2 years, $10 million) as a comparable, realistic benchmark.
Cap Considerations
Neto will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.8 million cap hold and Early Bird rights. Since the Wizards will be operating over the salary cap, they will retain Neto's Early Bird rights until he is re-signed or signs elsewhere. The Wizards could offer Neto a starting salary of up to 5% more than the average salary (likely around $10.9 million) using the Early Bird exception, which will be more than enough should they wish to bring him back.
Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Neto 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. Since he signed a minimum contract in 2021, teams will hope to get him at the minimum in 2022 too.
Potential Teams: Wizards, Clippers, Hawks, Warriors, Rockets
Predicted Contract: 3-year, $15 million with the Wizards
Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.5 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Cavaliers
I thought this was finally going to be the year that Neto signed for more than the minimum, but instead he signs a one-year minimum contract for the fourth year in a row. I like this signing by the Cavs as a Rondo replacement.
Last updated: 7/1/2022
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