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2024 Free Agents - Kyle Anderson

Summary
Anderson's value on offense mostly comes from being a skilled, versatile secondary playmaker. He has been able to make up for his lack of athleticism by always being under control. He has great footwork on drives, knowing how to use a slow-down step to let the defender fly by and create space. He has good vision and has the size and skill to execute on that vision with solid passing. He has consistently been near the top of the league in assist rate amongst forwards, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Anderson is a below-average outside shooter (in regards to both accuracy and volume). While he hit 41% from 3 in '22-'23, he's only a 35% 3-point shooter for his career. In the '20'-21 season, Anderson had started upping his 3-point volume and even taking some threes off-the-dribble in pick-and-roll when the defense went under, but those attempts decreased over the past few seasons. After previously speeding up his release a bit, which made him more of a catch-and-shoot threat, a hitch in his jumper returned during the '21-'22 season. In '23-'24, he hit 24% of his 3s on less than one attempt per game, and his overall eFG% was the worst since his rookie season. Defenses were willing to sag way off him in the playoffs, even giving him wide open midrange jumpers. 

On defense, Anderson isn't the quickest or the strongest but has good length, allowing him to defend multiple positions. He also fights hard through screens. He defended Luka Doncic as well as anyone in the 2024 Western Conference Playoffs. During his time in Memphis, the Grizzlies sometimes used his length by putting him up top in a 2-3 zone, which is something that NBA teams have started doing more of in recent years. He also posts really good steal and block rates. 

At 30 years old, Anderson could start to see some regression in the coming years, but I think he should still be able to be a valuable contributor due to his size and overall basketball intelligence. I expect him to be a solid rotation-level player for the remainder of his next contract.
 
Cap Considerations
Anderson will be an unrestricted free agent with an $12 million cap hold and Early Bird rights. Since the Timberwolves will likely be operating over the cap, his cap hold is not really relevant. The Timberwolves could offer Anderson a starting salary of up to $16.1 million using the Early Bird Exception, which should be enough should they wish to bring him back. 

For other teams, if Anderson demands a starting salary of more than the full $12.9 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him, unless a sign-and-trade is worked out. However, it's likely that Anderson could be had for the full MLE or slightly less, including possibly the $5 million Taxpayer MLE, which would make him available to almost every team.

Potential Teams: Timberwolves, Knicks, Hornets, Bulls, Cavaliers

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $25 million with the Timberwolves

Actual Contract: 3-year, $27.7 million with the Warriors

Anderson got a little less per-year than I expected, going to the Warriors as part of the Klay Thompson sign-and-trade.

Last updated: 7/10/2024

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