SI: Carl Landry ranked eighth among free agent big men

Carl Landry, who has a player option to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer, was ranked eighth by Rob Mahoney on a list of 2013 free agent big men at SI's Point Forward blog.

Three things that jump out about Landry's 2012-13 season with the Golden State Warriors (via Basketball-Reference):

• He had the best rebounding season (14.2% total rebounding percentage; 10.9% offensive rebounding percentage) since his rookie season with the Houston Rockets;
• He ranked tenth in the NBA in scoring efficiency (60.5%);
• He had the highest turnover percentage of his career (13.7%).

Mahoney elaborated on what Landry brings to the table in his piece:

Landry is a specialist of sorts, but his specialty happens to make him a rarity among the players on this list. Few free-agent big men can create offense when afforded the opportunity, but Landry, 29, ranked as one of the better post options in the league this season. He averaged 0.88 points per post-up possession, according to Synergy Sports, and while that isn't the kind of efficiency that can sustain an offense, it offers teams help in building or maintaining leads.

Landry's skill set is as such that he can complement ball-dominant stars by scrapping, cutting and spotting up, but he also helps prop up weaker reserve lineups by playing a more commanding role in the offense as necessary. He's a noticeably imperfect defender, but those post contributions - in conjunction with a smooth face-up jumper, solid pick-and-roll work and consistent offensive rebounding - make him a starting-caliber offensive player with a bench-friendly game.

Although Landry is ranked eighth there, his value on the free agent market this summer might be higher: the Indiana Pacers have to be optimistic about their chances to re-sign David West (3rd), an argument could be made that Landry is comparable to Paul Millsap (4th), both Nikola Pekovic (5th) and Tiago Splitter (7th) is are restricted free agents and you can tell me how you feel about Al Jefferson GSoM.

When looking at the landscape, it's easy to see why the Landry would opt out and why the Warriors have some difficult decisions this offseason in terms of how to keep this roster together.