Hawks winners in free agency

Now that the NBA’s free agency period is all but over, Chicago’s Ben Gordon is still waiting, it’s time to start evaluating the winners and losers from the league’s annual player scramble:

WINNERS

If big spending alone guaranteed a team success, the 76ers would be in line for a shot at the title. They snagged All-Star power forward Elton Brand for $80 million and capped the summer by keeping their budding star shooting guard/small forward Andre Iguodala for another $80 million. For anyone who failed math in middle school, that’s a whopping $160 million in one summer for two players who have played in a combined 23 playoff games. It’s risky for sure. But for a team left for dead after Allen Iverson was traded away for Andre Miller and spare parts, the 76ers have rebounded rather nicely. That said, anything other than a second consecutive playoff appearance will probably result in someone having to pay with his job.

Charlotte Bobcats

For the second straight summer the Bobcats managed to hold on to one of their core players at a reasonable price. Last summer it was Gerald Wallace, and this summer it was Emeka Okafor, who turned down a five-year, $60 million offer only to sign a six-year, $72 million deal this summer. The average annual salary of $12 million remains the same, meaning the Bobcats’ gamble paid off handsomely. They didn’t have to fork over any more money than they were willing to before Okafor’s fourth season. So they keep their best rebounder and shot blocker for the exact same price they would have the summer before had Okafor agreed to the deal.

Hawks

Even with the departure of Josh Childress to Greece, the Hawks made out like bandits on the free-agent scene. They kept Josh Smith in the fold for a mere $58 million and added much needed veteran help in Mo Evans and Flip Murray at crucial backup backcourt positions at minimum prices. A six-year deal for Smith with the same annual salary would have ended up being around $72 million, which is a bit more than the Hawks were willing to pay their starting power forward. But the Memphis Grizzlies did the heavy lifting for them by presenting Smith with an offer sheet the Hawks matched within hours after receiving it — making good on their promise to do just that when Smith turned down a $45 million offer before the start of his fourth season.

LOSERS

When the Warriors paid Monta Ellis $66 million this summer they did not intend for Marcus Williams to start in his position. But a high ankle sprain suffered earlier this week will keep Ellis out of the lineup for anywhere from a month to three months, depending on how his rehabilitation goes. Toss in the more than $60 million they paid to Andris Biedrins, the $50 million paid to Corey Maggette and the loss of Baron Davis, and it has been an extremely expensive summer for a team that didn’t make the playoffs last season. It might have made more sense, financially and otherwise, to keep Davis on the roster and build a foundation with the backcourt of him and Ellis.

Los Angeles Clippers

Speaking of Davis, playing alongside Marcus Camby instead of Brand isn’t the way things were planned for the Los Angeles native. Brand tossed a wrinkle into everything by bolting for the cash and opportunity to play on an up-and-coming team in Philadelphia. The Clippers flirted with Smith and Okafor before deciding instead to save some money and trade for Camby, the NBA’s blocks leader in each of the past two seasons and the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, who makes a reasonable $15.6 million over the final two seasons ($8 million this year and $7.6 million next year) of his contract. Any dreams the Clippers had of challenging the Lakers for Staples Center supremacy evaporated when Brand left town. They’ll be lucky to be in the Western Conference playoff mix.

INCOMPLETE

The summer began on a high note for the Bulls, who selected hometown hero Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, but things haven’t gone very well since. They didn’t agree to the terms on Luol Deng’s $71 million contract until after Deng’s camp went public with their ultimatum that they would cease negotiations and not consider the Bulls next summer unless a new deal was done before Aug. 1. While Gordon is still sorting out his future, negotiations between the two sides are all but dead after he turned down a $50 million offer before last season and the Bulls have refused to bid against imaginary suitors this summer. Gordon gambled and appears to be in danger of losing big if there is no resolution that pays him somewhere in the neighborhood of the $50 million he turned down.