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2017 NBA free agency: 5 players to stay away from

By Brian Sampson

Apr 18, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) talks with forward Serge Ibaka (9) after beating Milwaukee Bucks 106-100 in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 18, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) talks with forward Serge Ibaka (9) after beating Milwaukee Bucks 106-100 in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 4, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammad (15) at the foul line against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 109-99. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammad (15) at the foul line against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 109-99. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Shabazz Muhammad

Shabazz Muhammad comes up next on our list and for mostly different reasons than Rose. He was the 14th overall pick by Utah Jazz in the 2013 NBA Draft and was quickly shipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves on draft night.

Muhammad has been a career backup, starting in only 14 of his 235 career games, with 13 of those starts coming during the 2014-15 season.

He’s proven to be a decent scorer throughout his career, averaging double-digits in two of the past three seasons and just narrowly missing out on that feat again last season when he averaged 9.9 points per game. This past season he even had the highest effective field goal percentage of his career at 52.3 percent.

Unfortunately for Muhammad, the “hate” comes in when you look at literally any other aspect of his game. I mean, this is a dude who averaged 2.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.1 blocks per game. Talk about atrocious.

He can’t shoot from outside either, racking up a career three-point percentage of 32.3 percent. Even that number is deceiving for Muhammad.

As you can see from the above video, Muhammad’s shot isn’t pretty looking. His release is also slow which means he needs an extra second to get his shot off. Seconds are very precious in the NBA, so this is valuable time that is being wasted.

While Muhammad can create shots for himself, he cannot create for anyone else. He often gets tunnel vision while driving to the rim, resulting in the porous assist numbers.

Muhammad’s biggest struggle is that he is a tweener forward. He’s too small and not strong enough to guard power forwards but not quick or agile enough to guard small forwards. This puts him in a very difficult position every night as he looks completely lost on the defensive end of the court.

Last season, Muhammad racked up a Defensive Rating of 116, the worst of his career. His Defensive Box Plus/Minus was a whopping -4.4, also the worst of his career.

What mediocre production Muhammad does bring on offense, he more than takes away from it with his lack of defensive production — meaning you will want your favorite team to stay far, far away from the Bazz.