SB Nation - James Singleton

Spurs vs. Mavericks: Stats of the Game

BlaseE — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:36 -0000

I love the Spurs. I was at our elimination game last year and needed this so bad. Thank you Pop for not playing around with the starting lineup and setting the tone for the whole game. The substitutions were predictable and made tons of sense.

Stats? After the jump....

I got a good song for you this time. It's Dredg's Savior. I know Tim likes them too and put one of their songs on a TWSS awhile back. Some of the lyrics fit tonight. Our savior tonight was RJ. Clearly he picked up some of the FSM gospel from watching Manu go crazy against the Raptors. It mentions some stuff about revenge (There's no need for forgiveness, It's already said and done, But don't let revenge consume and take hold of you, Cause it will blind you) which I'm sure a lot of us were craving tonight; not that a Spurs fan should openly admit that a regular season game is revenge for a playoff defeat.

1. Dirk had 29 points on 9 of 27 shooting. Sure he got to the line 10 times and made them all but he looked out of rhythm for 90% of the game. He seemed to be preventing anyone else from finding a real great streak too. This stat was my girlfriend's pick.

2. RJ had 10 FTA's. I don't care that he missed 5. FTA's are a measure of being aggressive and getting into the paint. Even if one player is missing them, they can speed up the opponent going into the penalty so other players can get opportunities. RJ had more than every other player on the team combined, 10 to 9 and Bonner's 2 were just a forced foul at the end by the Mavs. Usually Duncan takes contact in the paint and gets to the foul line for us. Without him, it was great to see RJ step up...

3. ...which leads me to RJ stepping up in terms of minutes. We knew going into this season that Parker, Duncan, and Manu were likely to see reduced minutes because of injuries or playing in the summer for Parker. We brought in RJ to carry some load. If we played this game last year, how many minutes do Manu and Hill play and we still probably lose. RJ played 41 minutes. Bogans shared the load and finished second with 34.

Hill had a respectable 33, and Manu was able to play an efficient 29. Sure, you can say Blair saw limited minutes because of foul trouble or being a risk on defense, but I think 20 minutes and his first career start is pretty damn good for the rookie (playing for Pop). He finished with a +6 and some decent rebounding numbers and had one of the top highlights of the night, his block on Dirk. We shouldn't have to ask Blair to play any more than 20 minutes a night and last night, we were able to limit him with a shallow rotation.

4. This is just a funny stat line to me. James Singleton played 1 minute with 1 foul and a -10 plus/minus.

Mavs Lose Opener to Wizards 91 to 102

Wes Cox — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:16:18 -0000

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Wow, I feel like I've seen that game before. Multiple times last season actually. Dirk Nowitzki and JJ Barea forced to carry the scoring load., poor defense, flat offense, and bad perimeter shooting. In no way did I feel like this was a new season -- it was actually really strange watching it at times. The offseason went by quick, but it did actually happen right?

James Singleton was a DNP which I thought was a little surprising and maybe a little weird too.

You could tell Dirk really wanted to try and take over in the fourth quarter, but the defense was terrible late and he wasn't getting any help.

Dallas only lost nine home games last season, but don't forget that also included an opening night loss against Houston.

The Mavs had as many turnovers, nine, as they did blocked shots. So that was good.

Twice Shawn Marion didn't have the legs to finish a dunk -- hopefully that's a first game after a truncated preseason issue...

Postgame Quotes Rick Carlisle

Within our system you want to take good threes because it's one of the most potent weapons in the game. And on nights when you're not shooting well you want to get into the paint and make other things happen. Plan B would be to get to the paint and get to the line some. We did that during certain stretches of the game, but when you get behind and it's late you have to start putting up some more three's. It can turn into a negative feedback process.

The missed three's weren't the problem. The problem was the second quarter defense. When they got 35 points in that quarter we had probably 5 or 6 six situations where we gambled for steals and missed. It gave them easy buckets or and1's. That gives a team confidence. It deflated us to a certain degree. We were fortunate to get into halftime only down 6. We needed to make a stand in the second half, and we were never able to really sustain anything long term. Washington played a very intelligent game. They played well, and we weren't shooting it well -- you have to hang in the game with your defense, and we just weren't able to do it.

I thought our start was good. I think they were 2-7 to start the game. After that, their percentage went way up until it drifted under 50 somewhere in the fourth. It's going to be whether we can defend or not. It's as simple as that. So, you know. Tough night.

Postgame Quotes Jason Terry

Very disappointed. It looked like we were still in training camp the way we were moving out there. That's not the way you can do it at home. You have to come out running, come out playing our all. We gave them some confidence by giving them easy baskets, and we paid for it. You can't do that against any team, but especially a team that is relying on one man to take control of ballgames. First game of the season, tough road ahead but we are up the task.

AP Recap & Highlights | Box Score

Monday Roundup

Wes Cox — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:45:43 -0000

Sefko writes on Carlisle's second year as coach.

"He sees things out there that sometimes we don't see ourselves," James Singleton says. "And he'll tell you exactly what he wants done. Exactly. He won't beat around the bush. That's all I ask for. ... Coach Carlisle is in a league of his own. He doesn't do things like everybody else."

If there's a point of pride in Carlisle's way of doing things, that would be it.

"You can never be too good a communicator," he says. "I try to be very honest because I feel there's a definite correlation between how a team responds to communication and the value of the power of truth.

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Rick Carlisle gets a little bit of love in the annual ESPN predictions. And just about everyone has Dallas finishing second in the Southwest, with only Marc Stein and Jalen Rose predicting home court advantage in the first round.

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Mike Fisher has player-by-player preview of the backcourt.

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Rob Mahoney has a good preview over at the Two Man Game.

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We should be seeing a lot of this.

A Look at the Orlando Magic's Last-String Power Forward/Center Options

Ben Q Rock — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:00:11 -0000

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Not so long ago, I took a look at potential free-agent point guards whom the Orlando Magic could sign to fill out their bench. Team GM Otis Smith has made it clear that point guard is his highest priority; he's also made it clear that he'd also like to add another big man to the roster. With no movement on the point guard front--except the rumor that Smith is still pursuing restricted free agent C.J. Watson via a sign-and-trade with Golden State--it's high time we look at potential power forwards and centers Orlando could probably sign on the cheap.

The operative word is "cheap." As we've noted previously, the Magic are over the salary cap and have used both the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, meaning they can only sign players to minimum contracts. NBA experience determines the specific finances of said deals, about which you can read here.

Unfortunately for the Magic, the best minimum-salary bigs have already signed. Joe Smith spurned the Cleveland Cavaliers to latch on with the Atlanta Hawks, while Rasho Nesterovic has re-upped with the Toronto Raptors after a one-year detour with the Indiana Pacers and, in arguably the best signing of the summer, the Cavs landed the productive-but-injury-hobbled power forward Leon Powe. Thus, there are few standouts on this list. Bear in mind that whomever Orlando chooses will be last on the depth chart, behind two All-Stars (Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis), two youngsters combining to earn nearly $10 million this season (Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass), and the second-year player whom the team views as a long-term building block (Ryan Anderson). In short, the Magic's mystery signee will hardly play, so he need not be exceptional.

After the jump, brief breakdowns of no fewer than 17 free-agent power forwards and centers who are still on the market.

And, as with the point guard piece, I've excluded D-Leaguers, because Smith has never made a D-League call-up in his tenure as Orlando's GM.

Calvin Booth:

The Good: Booth has parlayed his exceptional shot-blocking skills into a 10-year career in which he's earned nearly $36 million. He still has the touch, averaging a block per every 13 minutes played over his last two seasons, which he's split between Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Sacramento. And he'd undoubtedly accept a minimum contract.
The Bad: Just about everything else. He's not much of a scorer or rebounder, and one wonders if he'll even sign in the NBA this year as teams plan to carry fewer players due to the weak economy.
The Verdict: In spite of everything, he's hardly the worst name on this list, which should keep him in the conversation.

Head back to the top.

Jarron Collins:

The Good: Regarded as a stout, heady defender--just like his twin brother, whom we'll discuss shortly--Jarron Collins has carved out a respectable 8-year career despite having no discernible offensive skills. The contributions that have kept him in the league this long must go beyond the box score, since his per-game stats (4.3 points, 3.1 boards, 0.2 blocks in 16.9 minutes) are far from exceptional.
The Bad: As with most of the guys on this list, Jarron Collins is a zero on offense.
The Verdict: Think of Jarron as a younger version of Adonal Foyle, minus the rebounding and shot-blocking. In other words, think of him as Adonal Foyle, minus the skills that have kept him in the league.

Head back to the top.

Jason Collins:

The Good: Jason's career has eerily mirrored that of his brother but he enjoys a higher profile due to his presence on the New Jersey Nets' Eastern Conference Championship-winning teams in 2001/2002 and 2002/2003.
The Bad: Statistically speaking, he's worse than Jarron, in spite of his higher profile. Despite hardly straying more than 10 feet from the immediate basket area on offense, he's a career 41% shooter (Jarron's more efficient, but still unacceptable, with a career 45.9% mark from the field) . For some perspective, two years ago, Rashard Lewis shot 40.9%...from three-point range. "Awful" really doesn't begin to describe Jason's offensive ability.
The Verdict: Unless his great reputation somehow precedes him, it's hard to imagine Jason Collins playing in the NBA this season. Jarron is the better option of the two.

Head back to the top.

Melvin Ely:

The Good: If nothing else, Ely's built like a semi truck. Listed at 6'10" and 260 pounds, but likely heavier, Ely can take up space in the paint.
The Bad: But in all likelihood, when he's in there offensively, he's not doing much good. Discounting dunks and tip-ins, Ely converted just 31.3% of his shots in the immediate basket area last season. You'd almost prefer him to step out and take a jumper, which he's willing to do. 82games classifies nearly one-third of Ely's shots last season, as jumpers, which he converted at a 33.3% clip.
The Verdict: Maybe the Magic could live with Ely's considerable offensive shortcomings if he could at least rebound, but even then he's mediocre, with a career rebound rate of 11.7%, which puts him in Brian Cook (11.2% career) territory. He's a poor all-around player who hardly cracked New Orleans' rotation last season, despite their dearth of frontcourt talent. With all that said, Smith tried to acquire Ely from Charlotte at the 2007 trading deadline, so we at least know he was on Smith's radar at one point. For Orlando's purposes, it's probably best if he isn't.

Head back to the top.

Adonal Foyle:

The Good: Say what you will about his poor hands and finishing ability, but Foyle's still a tremendous defender, rebounder, and shot-blocker. I stumbled all over myself in order to praise Foyle after his first appearance last season, in which coach Stan Van Gundy called upon him to defend Yao Ming. Foyle responded with 4 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocked shots against the NBA's most offensively skilled center, in relief of the foul-maligned Howard. And, on the non-basketball side of the equation, Foyle's a great guy to have in the locker room, and as someone who eschews stories about athletes' intangibles, that's not something to take lightly
The Bad: Outside of the occasional put-back attempt, all Foyle can do on offense is set screens and box out.
The Verdict: Whichever team signs Foyle--if he's even in the league at all--will get some bang for its buck. He's worth the money for his locker-room wisdom--not a vocal leader, but more of a quiet, willing, mentor--alone. The fact that the Magic re-signed him last season solely to be a sparring partner for Howard during practices attests to his "intangible" value, and all told, he's in the upper tier of players on this list.

Head back to the top.

Aaron Gray:

The Good: In two seasons with Chicago--which owns his restricted free-agent rights, giving it the ability to match any offer another team makes for his services--the 24-year-old Gray has shown flashes of being a solid, rotation-caliber player. Consider, for instance, his career per-36-minute averages of 12.4 points and 10.5 boards. Not bad for a second-round draft pick, and arguably better than another second-rounder from the 2007 draft class who recently signed for $3 million annually.
The Bad: He's noted for his utter lack of athleticism and speed, and the Bulls would likely match a minimum-salary offer, meaning the Magic would have to obtain him in a sign-and-trade deal.
The Verdict: Physical limitations aside, Gray has decent low-post, back-to-the-basket scoring instincts, and would be worth a long-term investment were it not for the more than $100 million Orlando has tied up in Howard and Gortat over the next several seasons. If he can be had cheaply, he might be the best fit for Orlando of any player listed here. That possibility seems very remote, however.

Head back to the top.

Juwan Howard:

The Good: The opposite of Gray in many respects, as a been-there, done-that veteran. He's lasted quite awhile, hasn't he? Howard, at age 35, appeared in 42 games last season, no doubt surprising countless television viewers who assumed he'd been out of basketball for quite some time. Last season, his 15th in the league, he set a new career-high by shooting 51% from the field. And he's earned a reputation as a good locker-room presence
The Bad: If the Magic want rebounding from their end-of-the-bench big man--and why wouldn't they?--they aren't going to find it with Howard, whose total rebound rate of 9.9 last season puts him in (here comes that phrase again!) Brian Cook territory.
The Verdict: My guess is that he doesn't have much of anything else to contribute at the NBA level. He's probably not a markedly better option for Orlando than, say, either of the Collins twins.

Head back to the top.

Othello Hunter:

The Good: In extremely limited minutes for the Atlanta Hawks last season--92, to be precise--Hunter posted encouraging numbers. 8.6 points per 36 minutes isn't great, but the 9.4 boards and 15.3% rebounding rate? That's encouraging. And at 23, there's potential for long-term development.
The Bad: He's listed at just 6'08" and 225 pounds, making him a less-than-ideal size for the position. Plus, the Hawks didn't think highly enough of him to play him very often, although that might be more of an indictment of coach Mike Woodson's ability to manage players than it is of Hunter's skills.
The Verdict: Based on the small sample size, Hunter appears to be worth at least a training-camp invitation; I'd stay away from offering him a guaranteed deal until he shows what he's got in the preseason. He might stand to earn more money overseas, but at the same time, he might not want to give up on the NBA just yet. Put him at or around the top of the list, for now.

Head back to the top.

Sean Marks

The Good: Based on what I've seen, there aren't many scrappier players in the NBA. Marks is a decent rebounder (13% rebound rate) and an average shot-blocker (1.4 blocks/36 career) who plays hard. 110% and all that.
The Bad: Utterly anemic offensively, with a career 44.9% mark from the field, although he's a combined 49.5% in his last two seasons. All the hustle in the world can't put the ball in the basket.
The Verdict: He's one of the main reasons the Hornets traded for Emeka Okafor and signed Ike Diogu this summer, as Marks just doesn't belong in a contender's rotation. But in Orlando, as the 6th big man, he wouldn't be in the rotation. Not a great option, but certainly not the worst, either.

Head back to the top.

Mikki Moore:

The Good: He's only 2 years removed from averaging 8.5 points and 6 rebounds per game with Sacramento, with a respectable Player Efficiency Rating of 11.5.
The Bad: Last year, the Boston Celtics signed Moore after the Kings bought him out, hoping he'd approximate the contributions P.J. Brown made to their championship team in 2008. Predictably, it didn't work out. Moore plays hard and means well, but was so utterly lost defensively in Boston that coach Doc Rivers couldn't count on him when the games mattered more. Indeed, Moore played only 66 minutes in the postseason, while Brian Scalabrine--Brian Scalabrine!--played 246. If that's not a strike against Moore, I'm not sure what is.
The Verdict: As a sixth big man--as opposed to the third in injury-riddled Boston--Moore isn't such a bad option. And he'd actually have a fair amount of time to learn Van Gundy's defensive rotations, as opposed to last year, when he had to take a crash-course in Boston's plans. He wouldn't be a bad pickup, but certainly wouldn't be a great one, either.

Head back to the top.

Johan Petro:

The Good: His rebounding and blocked-shots statistics compare favorably to Marks', and he's 10 years younger to boot.
The Bad: His offense, though, is also similar to Marks. Worse, it's on the decline. In his first two seasons, he shot a combined 51.4% from the field. In his last two? 41.8%, a staggering drop-off due to his over-reliance on an iffy jumper. Yikes. Now the Magic wouldn't ask him--or anyone on this list, really--to create any offense for himself. But you'd nonetheless like whomever they sign to be able to bang an open jumper every now and again, as Tony Battie did last year, and as Brandon Bass will do (much more effectively) this year.
The Verdict: I'm lukewarm on Petro, which makes him better than almost everyone on this list. Of the young players, he seems the most likely to be available for the minimum.

Head back to the top.

Malik Rose:

The Good: Rose would bring championship experience to Orlando, as he won titles with the San Antonio Spurs in both 1999 and 2003. These weren't cheap rings for Rose, as he averaged 12.9 minutes per game in '99 and 24.5 in '03.
The Bad: Did the absence of any skills analysis in the last paragraph tip my hand? Rose doesn't have anything in the tank anymore, it appears. His Player Efficiency Ratings in the last three years are in the single-digits, and his rebounding rates have dipped into the 11-and-12 range. He never was an offensive stalwart, having never shot better than 47.7% from the field in any of his 13 professional seasons, and he hasn't so much as cracked 40% in any of his last 4 seasons.
The Verdict: Rose has enjoyed a decent career by most metrics, but his skills have diminished too sharply to justify granting him a roster spot.

Head back to the top.

James Singleton:

The Good: The 28-year-old James is coming off a career season with the Dallas Mavericks, averaging 5.1 points per game, in just 14.9 minutes, while shooting 52.9% from the floor. His ability to finish inside boosted his field-goal percentage, as he converted a stellar 71.4% of his shots in the immediate basket area in 2008/2009. For comparison's sake, consider that Dwight Howard shot 62.2% and Marcin Gortat shot 63.4% in the same situations.
The Bad: First, there's the question of how much Hall-of-Fame point guard Jason Kidd inflated Singleton's stats; they'd almost certainly return to Earth in Orlando, even potentially playing alongside All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson. Second, there's probably no way Dallas wouldn't match a minimum contract offer for his services, as he is a restricted free agent, and owner Mark Cuban is a freakin' billionaire (the Magic's decision to match his offer to Gortat doesn't figure into this analysis, because Cuban would match a minimum offer to Singleton regardless of the team that extended it). Finally, he's more of a combo forward than a true big man, although he still played roughly 80% of his minutes at power forward last season.
The Verdict: If the Magic can somehow find a way to grab him, their fans wouldn't have much reason to complain. He'd be worth it, even when one accounts for the statistical decline in his play without Kidd. Let me put it this way: the Magic's chances of signing him are so infinitesimally remote that he's hardly worth considering, but I included him in this post anyway because he was, frankly, just that impressive last season.

Head back to the top.

Brian Skinner:

The Good: One can take or leave Skinner's rebounding--15.1% career rate, 13.9% last year with the Clippers--but that block rate (3.6% career, 4.6% last year and 6.0% the year before) deserves some attention. Skinner is perhaps the quintessential, defensive-minded, end-of-the-bench big man. His overall statistics last year suggest that, even at 33, he's an NBA-caliber player.
The Bad: In the tradition of many mediocre NBA bigs, he tends to shoot a lot of jumpers at a low percentage.

Also, this goatee.
The Verdict: Skinner, it seems to me, is the sort of emergency big man who's not going to greatly aid his team's cause when he's on the floor... but he's not going to hurt it, either. That's about all you can ask from a sixth big man, which is why I endorse Skinner more strongly than I do any of the other veterans on this list, save for Foyle.

Head back to the top.

Stromile Swift:

The Good: He has a bad reputation for never living up to his potential--he was the second overall pick of the 1999 draft--but he's actually carved out a decent career. In 2003/04, under the tutelage of Hubie Brown, he posted a Player Efficiency Rating of 19.7, for instance, and his career PER is an above-average 16.7. So he's not as bad a player as some people might expect due to the negativity surrounding him, which stems from his high draft position.
The Bad: Sadly, Swift's mother passed away in February, which (obviously) upset him very much. He was "inconsolable," according to his agent, and a week later, the Nets waived him after his agent talked things over with GM Kiki Vandeweghe. He signed with Phoenix--where he played with Magic free-agent signee Matt Barnes, who also lost his mother recently--but did not contribute much. In short, it's been a tough year for Swift, and concerns remain about his readiness to play basketball to the best of his (underrated) ability.
The Verdict: Orlando might be the ideal landing place for Swift, as he'd re-join former teammates Anderson, Barnes, and Vince Carter. He'd also play with Nelson, a team captain and leader, who dealt with the sudden and unexpected death of his father in 2007. In short, he'd be among friends. Of this we can be certain.

Whether Orlando has much use for him, though, is less sure. He's still a great athlete (this dunk is less than two years old!) and, as I mentioned, a somewhat underrated player. If Smith feels as though he can bank on Swift's readiness to contribute in an end-of-the-bench role, then he'd be a solid pickup. But if Swift isn't mentally "there" yet, the Magic shouldn't commit to him when there are other, better options who are ready.

Head back to the top.

Jake Voskuhl:

The Good: At 6'11" and 245 pounds, Voskuhl's a big boy. Yup, that's all I've got.
The Bad: Last year, in Toronto, he posted a PER of 0.4, shot 26.7% from the field, and committed a turnover on almost exactly one-quarter of his possessions used. He also committed one foul for every four minutes he played. He was so cosmically dreadful that Basketbawful coined the term "Voskuhl" for big men whose "combined fouls and turnovers exceed his combined points and rebounds over the course of a game."

And he was no great shakes prior to last season, either.
The Verdict: There's quite simply no compelling reason to believe Voskuhl merits an NBA roster spot at this point in his career.

Head back to the top.

Lorenzen Wright:

The Good: Pardon the echo chamber here, but at 6'11" and 225 pounds, Wright's a big boy..
The Bad: He's probably worse than Voskuhl, if you can believe it. Injuries have limited Wright to 36 games over the last two seasons, in which he's combined to shoot 16-of-48, or 33.3%. No NBA team is ever going to ask Wright to do anything on offense, but his other stats don't indicate he's worth having on the floor. He'll turn 34 in the first week of the season.
The Verdict: Yeah, his NBA days are probably finished. Orlando need not seriously consider Wright, but if there isn't anyone else on the board, they might have to settle for him.

Head back to the top.

A quick survey of the above players shows that only four (Foyle, Gray, Singleton, and Skinner) are near-locks to make an NBA roster this season, which sort of illustrates the talent pool with which we're dealing. Fortunately, the Magic won't require much of their last big man, which makes these choices sightly more attractive. Foyle and Skinner are the best realistic options, at least to me, and the only way Smith can go wrong here is by signing someone on the level of Voskuhl and Wright. In other words, don't get too down on the Magic if, say, Moore is the best they can get for the minimum salary.

All the Small Things

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:10:55 -0000

Franchise takes a look at the overhaul done by Bryan Colangelo so far and looks at a few more minor tweaks he'd like to see the Raptors make to the roster...

"The one thing I like about what Colangelo is doing is that he's said to heck with it, I'm going to build the kind of team I've always wanted to have with nothing but shooters and ballhandlers, and we'll see if it works or not. The money is high for a lot of these guys and it could be a train wreck, but it's gonna be interesting, that's for sure."

That quote was taken from a chat session Jon Hollinger did yesterday on ESPN.com, in response to a reader enquiring if Bryan Colangelo should now start "walking on water" based on his string of off-season moves.

I found Hollinger's answer to be quite interesting because while it's hard not to be enamored with many of the new faces and names associated with the Toronto Raptors going into next season, there's no way to know just how this is going to turn out.

Will the team lead the league in scoring but also give up 112 points a game?

Can Jay Triano play a style that best fits the personnel BC has brought on-board?

Is anyone going to rebound the basketball outside of Chris Bosh and Reggie Evans?

Really, there are just as many question marks now as there were last season, albeit questions of a different type.

Hollinger has a point though, this team on paper looks to boast one of the league's most dynamic offensive groups; a collection of players who are extremely versatile, who can shoot the ball, and look to hurt opponents from inside and out. Toronto last year finished 22nd in terms of their offensive rating and we should see a big jump in that respect this coming season. The diverse skill sets of players like Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani will be perfectly suited for Jose Calderon's pick-and-roll abilities and others from Jarrett Jack to the newly acquired Belinelli should help as well.

However what happens if the offense goes cold?

There are certainly some streaky shooters in this bunch and if the offense sputters at times during games, there isn't a lot defensively to fall back on.

And even with Reggie Evans and his orcs in tow, this team still seems about as soft as David Ortiz minus the roids.

That's why I'd love to see BC make a few more minor tweaks to this club.

As currently composed, I think we can group the roster into three main tiers; the starters, the bench and the DNP options.

In the starters we've got:

Jose Calderon, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani. I have a feeling that Antoine Wright will be the starting 2 guard when all his said and done due to his defensive abilities so I'm going to lump him in there too.

The second group will probably consist of Jarrett Jack (whom I believe barring injuries and foul trouble will be the club's first option off the bench), DeMar DeRozan, Reggie Evans, Marco Belinelli and Rasho Nesterovic.

That gives a back-up at each spot, some different looks, and some options offensively if the starters can't knock down a shot.

Finally, the DNP's, that is Quincy Douby, Roko Ukic, Patrick O'Bryant and Marcus Banks.

I suspect that Ukic won't see many DNP's and will play the role of the third stringer while Banks and O'Bryant will get the bulk of the DNP's...

...if they're still on the team.

Along with Douby, who unfortunately with Belinelli now on board doesn't seem to have much purpose, I'm not sure why BC doesn't divest himself of a few of these players. Banks might make some sense to keep around for trade purposes at the deadline, but O'Bryant, whose contract for the upcoming season is pittance in the grand scheme of things, needs to go. The reality is that he couldn't dominate or even exert his occasional will over much less-talented players in Summer League and we're not talking about a first or second-year player here. This will be O'Bryant's fourth-year in the league!

As for Douby, I think he's got a spot in the NBA still but his skill-set duplicates those of too many other current Raptors.

Really, the top 10 guys are pretty much locked-in and outside of this group, there won't be much playing time for others anyways. So preferably, I'd like to see Colangelo fill out the final two or three roster spots with some young upside prospects or players with differing skill sets that may come in handy during the grind of the regular season.

Players like Pops Mensah-Bonsu and James Singleton could be slotted into the latter category due to their rebounding and defensive skills while in the former, how about looking at a few undrafted free-agents? I mentioned a few yesterday in the comments section but I'll reiterate my top 3:

1) Paul Harris - At 6-6 you might want to lump him into the SG category but I think he can play the 3 in the NBA. He's extremely long, is a great defender and rebounder, is quite athletic, and he played at a great program in college (Syracuse.)

2) Wes Matthews - Matthews is quite similar to Harris in terms of size and length but he's a better shooter and shot blocker.

3) Jeff Adrien - The UConn star might be one of those Leon Powe types; an undersized power forward who despite his physical limitations just knows how to play. He's a bulldog in the paint as well as an excellent offensive threat and I'd certainly take a flyer on him if I was an NBA GM looking to fill out my bench.

In terms of other options remaining in the NBA Free Agent group, there obviously aren't many game-changers considering how little money Toronto has left to spend. Maybe BC is intrigued by the shot-blocking skills of Ryan Hollins, the defense of Ime Udoka, the intensity of Mario West, the athleticism and upside of Rodney Carney...who knows?

And as stated, anyone else that's brought in from here on out might not see much daylight in terms of time on the court.

However I think as fans we learned last year that too much depth is never a bad thing.

And considering the offensive expertise that BC has acquired over the past few months, a few defenders and guys willing to do the dirty work would be nice...

...even if they're at the end of the bench and only see time in practice.

FRANCHISE

Looking At The Options At Small Forward

Roy_Hobbs — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:00:44 -0000

Marc Spears provides a fairly comprehensive list of the free agent small forwards who may or may not be willing to backup Paul Pierce this off-season:

There is a long list of small forwards available for the $1.9 biannual exception or even less, including Miami’s Jamario Moon (restricted), Phoenix’s Matt Barnes, Jerry Stackhouse (waived by Memphis Friday), Indiana’s Marquis Daniels and Stephen Graham, Atlanta’s Josh Childress (restricted), Dallas’s James Singleton (restricted) and Gerald Green, Detroit’s Walter Herrmann, Oklahoma City’s Desmond Mason, Golden State’s Rob Kurz, San Antonio’s Ime Udoka, and Minnesota’s Rodney Carney. While some may garner more money elsewhere, playing for the contending Celtics would be an added draw that could bring a discount.

Other names that Spears left out are Wally Szczerbiak, Joey Graham, and Keith Bogans.

I think some of the guys on the list are pretty unlikely to take the LLE, including Daniels, Moon, and Childress (and in the case of the latter two, their teams would almost surely match any LLE offer sheet signed). We all know the story with Gerald, and Kurz is a rookie with 40 games total of NBA experience. If you further limit the list to only include: 1) players 6'6" or taller; and 2) a three point percentage (career or last season) of over 33.3%, you're left with the six names: Carney, Herrman, Barnes, Singleton, Wally, and Udoka.

For the LLE, I'd be okay with any of those guys. Obviously, none of them are ideal, but that's what you get when you only have bargain contracts to offer. Of those players, I'd rank my wish list in the following order: Carney, Barnes, Udoka, Herrman, Wally, Singleton. Bruce Bowen also may get bought out, and if so, I'm sure he'd be considered, as well.

The small forward I really want, though, is Nocioni. If Sacramento has any desire to dump his salary, I hope Danny puts in a phone call, because he'd be a great fit here. Other potential trade targets for teams that are struggling finacially include Francisco Garcia, James Posey, Rasual Butler, Matt Harpring, Jared Jeffries, James Jones, Tim Thomas, and Ricky Davis (some are more likely than others).

Poll

Which free agent small forward should the Celtics sign?

Matt Barnes

1357 votes

Rodney Carney

363 votes

Walter Herrman

170 votes

James Singleton

28 votes

Jerry Stackhouse

639 votes

Wally Szczerbiak

295 votes

Ime Udoka

234 votes

None of the above

513 votes

3599 votes | Poll has closed

Free Agent Rumor Roundup

Wes Cox — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:06:18 -0000

Jason Kidd

AP: Knicks meet with Kidd, but make no contract offer
Kidd and his agent met with Knicks president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, the first day of free agency. Walsh told reporters that no contract offer was made to Kidd, who is exploring his options.

DB.com: Cuban 'Optimistic' As Mavs 'Work On The Details'
Rules preclude the offer from being more than three years; the one-year MLE deals that the Knicks and others might offer will be worth a fourth of what Dallas can guarantee; the declines in salaries and the non-guaranteed final year allow Dallas to avoid losing an asset for nothing while at the same time retaining some financial elbow room as Kidd ages.

Marcin Gortat

DB.com: Polish Media Links The Mavs With 'The Hammer' -
*He is absolutely on the Mavs� wish list. � and very likely on Mark Cuban�s travel itinerary as soon as he�s done courting Jason Kidd. *He almost certainly has an offer or two on the table. Houston is the lead-pipe cinch to be one of those bidders, and the Mavs cannot be far behind. That bid figures to be at the MLE.

Rockets, Mavs making push for Magic's Gortat
Gortat is one of the few true centers among this summer's crop of free agents, and the Rockets aren't the only team interested. The Mavericks jumped into the mix Wednesday, too, sending coach Rick Carlisle to handle some of the recruiting. Dallas is looking for a big man to back up starter Erick Dampier, though Dampier's expiring contract makes him a juicy trade target this offseason. The Mavericks may be dangling a bigger role for Gortat, either right away or by the start of the next season.

Quentin Ross

DMN: Dallas Mavericks making pitch to former SMU, Kimball star
the Mavericks started this year's free-agent season by making a strong pitch to Quinton Ross, the former SMU and Kimball High School standout. While owner Mark Cuban was wining and dining Jason Kidd in New York during the first hours after free agency opened, coach Rick Carlisle and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson were meeting with Ross in Dallas.

Ron Artest

NBA.com: Agent: Artest mulling options in free agency
he Rockets star forward, an unrestricted free agent, will consider a team's chances of winning an NBA championship when deciding where he'll bring his skills next season, his agent says. David Bauman said Wednesday that his client would like to return to Houston, but Artest would also think about signing with a contending team

DB.com: Ron Artest Says 'Goodbye' To Houston. ...
Are the Mavs players here? That’s entirely up to the whims of the player. If Artest’s tweet expresses his true feelings, it puts any contender with a sales pitch in the picture. Rick Carlisle once dealt with Artest in Indy and would be willing to do so again.

SLAM ONLINE | Ron Artest’s Twitter Gaffe
alarm. A message attributed to Artest — ‘THANKS A LOT HOUSTON I HAD A LOT OF FUN.’ — appeared on Twitter late Wednesday. Artest’s agent, David Bauman, said that the message was sent by an imposter. ‘That is not Ron’s account,’ Bauman said. ‘That’s what happens with the so-called new media.’

Trevor Ariza

Sources: Trevor Ariza leaning toward leaving Los Angeles Lakers - ESPN
The 24-year-old swingman, who played a key role in the Lakers' run to their 15th NBA championship, is on the verge of leaving the club, sources close to the situation said on Wednesday. With at least five teams pursuing Ariza, the Lakers are currently unwilling to pay him more than the $5.6 million mid-level exception.

Charlie Villanueva

ESPN: Pistons agree with both Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva
Former Bulls guard Gordon will receive a five-year, $55 million deal, while former Bucks forward Villanueva gets a five-year deal for $40 million, sources told ESPN.com's Chris Broussard.

James Singleton

He's an unrestricted free agent, but was out doing stuff for the Mavs in the community yesterday.

KIDS CAMP - friends.mavs.com
James Singleton talks to Dallas Mavericks Hoop Campers today at Richland Community College.

Brandon Bass

Hornets in the hunt for former LSU star Brandon Bass
One of those teams interested in Bass is none other than New Orleans, the same team with the same coach who, after drafting the former LSU star in 2005, barely gave him an opportunity to play. "When I was coming out of high school, no matter what the Hornets offered me, I would have been there," Bass said. "I grew out of being a homeboy. I’d go other places. They’ve got a good team down there and if everything falls in line like it’s supposed to, I’d love to be back in New Orleans."

While Turkoglu is set adrift, Magic go fishing for Bass - OrlandoSentinel.com
You couldn't call a $118 million contract a goodwill gesture, but maybe the Orlando Magic's generosity toward Rashard Lewis' agent two summers ago will give them an edge in signing promising power forward Brandon Bass. Like Lewis, he is represented by Tony Dutt, who told the Sentinel on Wednesday that the Magic had contacted Bass, 24, on the opening day of NBA free agency. "Yes, I did speak to [Magic General Manager] Otis Smith and they did show interest in Brandon," Dutt said.

Welcome to NBA free agency

Phoenix Stan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:03:22 -0000

With the NBA free agency about to kick off on July 1st, we can expect a lot of activity over the next few days as players opt out and teams exercise their options. Mostly though, we will see a lot of movement of some big name players and perhaps even more impactful will be which young up-and-comer signs where. There is rightly a lot of discussion about next year's free agent period dubbed "The Summer of LeBron" but don't go to sleep on who's available now.

Before we get into specific players and the Suns salary situation, lets first have a quick primer on some free agency basics.

Free agency period, salary cap, luxury tax and what not

On July 1st free agents become "free" and teams are allowed to begin negotiations with those players. July 1st in effect marks the official end to the previous season from a salary calculation standpoint and the rosters are in essence reset. Like a pumpkin at midnight, on July 1st those valuable "expiring contracts" official expire.

But before teams can actually spend money on new players the league has a moratorium on signings and conducts an audit to establishe the salary cap for the coming season. The salary cap is mandated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the teams and players and is designed to limit how much teams can spend. The salary cap is set at 51% of the total basketball related revenue from the NBA.

The audit that will be conducted over the next few days determines what the salary cap will be for the coming year. The cap is based on overall league revenues. If the league makes less money that translates to a lower salary cap and less money for players. A pretty smart system.

The salary cap determines how much money teams can pay free agents. If a team has $10m under the cap it can spend up to $10m to sign a free agent.

There are exceptions to the salary cap which allow teams to exceed the limit. Most of these exceptions like "Bird Rights" allow teams to exceed the cap to resign it's own free agents. The system is designed to encourage players to remain with the same team and limit player movement.

The other well known exception is the "Mid-level Exception" which allows a team to sign one or more players up to an amount equal to the average league salary. The MLE is expected to be about $5.6m this summer.

Between the MLE (which can be used on one player each year) and the various other exceptions you can see that teams quickly exceed the salary cap making it a so-called "soft cap". The Suns for example were $17m over the salary cap last season.

The other big impact of the salary cap is on trades. If two teams want to make a trade and both are over the salary cap then the salaries have to match salaries within 125%. If however, a team is under the salary cap it can use its cap space to receive the incoming player's salary and not have to send back and equivalent salary amount. This is a very important factor in trades and is why teams with cap space have a lot of leverage when it comes to making trades with teams wanting to cut payroll.

On July 8th, when the audit is complete and the salary cap is officially set teams can official begin signing free agents and can continue to sign them throughout the season.

The Luxury Tax is the next limit teams work within. The lux tax is established at essentially 61% of all basketball related income. Last season it was $71m and like the salary cap had grown about $3m every year since the 2005 CBA went into effect. This season both the salary cap and luxury tax are expected to stay about the same or perhaps decline as a result of the economy.

The luxury tax is calculated based on the total payroll a team has at the end of the season. This is important as a team that is over the tax and wanting to get under it has until the February trade deadline to shed payroll. The problem at that point is the only way to get under the tax for the current season is to make a deal with a team that has salary cap space.

When the Suns traded Kurt Thomas to the Seattle Supersonics to save $16m, Kerr had to "pay" the Sonic two first round picks to compensate the Sonics for using their cap space. If the Suns had held on to Thomas and traded him at the deadline as the Sonic did, they would not have saved the $16m as they would have had to receive contracts back. Again, this shows why teams that are under the cap have a lot of leverage and flexibility when it comes to making deals.

The luxury tax is paid dollar for dollar for any salary over the tax line meaning a team that is $4m over the tax line will pay $4m in tax. The tax gets distributed to non-tax paying teams making the process even more painful.

For more detailed CBA information see the Salary Cap FAQ

Where are the Suns now?

On July 1st the Suns will have 12 players under contract totaling about $73m in salary. That assumes they waive Pavlovic and are on the hook for only the $1.5m guaranteed portion of his full $4.5m contract. When you add in a $2m place holder for Grant Hill who is the Suns highest priority free agent and $800k for Taylor Griffin you are at 14 players at $76m which is projected to be about $4m over the tax line.

If the Suns hadn't made the trade with Cleveland they would be at $81m including Hill and Clark and assuming they wouldn't sign Griffin or any other players.

Ben Wallace has said that he's considering retirement. If he were to accept a buy out of $10m that would save the Suns $8m and put them in a sound financial position. If he were to be traded to the Hornets for Chandler's $12m salary the team would still save about $4m. As we said when the deal went down, Wallace's intentions are important to what the Suns do over the next few weeks. If he decides he wants to play next season the Suns have no option but to pay him the full $14m. Chances are good though that we will take a buy out and either retire or sign somewhere else for much less.

If the Suns don't do anything else other then sign Clark to the rookie scale and Griffin to a minimum contract and then lock up Grant Hill for about $2m then they will be paying $4m in tax. They've said they are fine with this.

What the Suns don't have (unlike numerous teams) is the room under either salary cap or the luxury tax to sign any of the free agents available. Using the MLE would cost the team over $10m in salary and tax and they are not going to do that.

Who's got money to spend?

Using $65m as the line between teams that can spend the MLE without going to far over the luxury tax, there are 14 teams that can be considered buyers in the upcoming free agency spending period. That doesn't mean all of those teams will use the MLE but they reasonably could. Those teams in order of highest payroll to lowest are:

Bulls, Rockets, Clippers, Warriors, Nets, 76ers, Trailblazers, Kings Timberwolves, Raptors, Hawks, Thunder, Pistons and Grizzlies. Those last three teams are all about $17m to $21m under the salary cap making them major players in this market.

That's not to say certain teams with deep pocketed owners won't go even further over the luxury tax to sign certain players. The Knicks who are already about $4m over the tax line are reportedly interested in signing Jason Kidd and the Lakers who are $5m over are going to have to decide how much more to spend on Odom and/or Ariza. The Mavericks with Cuban's checkbook are right at the luxury tax line and have the very movable contract of Jerry Stackhouse which should make them a player as well.

Who's available?

There are some big names out there to be had by those teams with money to spend. There are quite a few solid power forwards available and a couple of very good point guards. There are also some very interesting big names like Shawn Marion, Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury. I can't wait to find out where those guys end up.

Stay tuned, the next few weeks are going to be interesting.

Here's a quick look at some of the bigger names. For the full list click here:

Centers

Rasheed Wallace
Mehmet Okur
Marcin Gortat
Chris Anderson
Zaza Pachulia
Rasho Nesterovic
Others include: Ryan Hollins, Johan Petro and Joel Anthony

Power Forwards

Carlos Boozer
Brandon Bass
Paul Milsap
Charlie Villanueva
David Lee
Lamar Odom
Glen Davis
Leon Powe
Marvin Williams
Chris Wilcox
Channing Frye
Others include: Rob Kurz, Joe Smith, Walter Herrmann, James Singleton, Hakim Warrick

Small Forwards

Linas Kleiza
Ron Artest
Trevor Ariza
Jamario Moon
Matt Barnes
Grant Hill
Shawn Marion
Hedo Turkoglu
Rashad McCants
Others include: Steve Novak, Stephen Graham, Gerald Green

Shooting Guards

Point Guards

Flip Murray
Stephon Marbury
Raymond Felton
Jason Kidd
Allen Iverson
Ramon Sessions
Nate Robinson
Andre Miller
Anthony Carter

The Shopping List

atthehive — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:03:53 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Ike Diogu is one of the 50 front court options NBA teams have this summer.

Browse more photos »

I took a look at our budget last post (1-2 million dollars to sign one player). Now, let's assess what people are going to cost.

I've tried to include every front court free agents (UFA and RFA) that I could find here, but if I missed any, let me know. Big thanks to this list from Depressed Fan and to ESPN player pages. Quick explanation of the table: Restricted refers to UFA/RFA status, competitors refers to projected number of teams that want the player, Salary projection is my estimation of the player's market value, and target refers to whether New Orleans can reasonably target the player (in parantheses is an explanation of why (expensive, etc)).

The full 50 player table after the jump.

Player	Restricted?	Last Salary	Competitors	Projection ($)	Target?
Rasheed Wallace	No	20.1M	3+	10-15	No ($)
Malik Rose	No	11.5M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Drew Gooden	No	3.0M	1-2	2-4	Yes ($)
Chris Wilcox	No	10.1M	1-2	2-5	Yes ($)
Stromile Swift	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Shawn Marion	No	20.1M	3+	12-18	No ($)
Ike Diogu	Yes	8.8M	0-1	2-4	Yes ($)
Lamar Odom	No	20.1M	3+	15-20	No ($)
Paul Millsap	Yes	1.6M	3+	unknown, but $$$	No ($)
Charlie Villanueva	Yes	10.3M	1-2	8-15	No ($)
Joe Smith	No	2.4M	1-2	2-4	Yes ($)
Shelden Williams	No	4.1M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Maceo Baston	No	4.5M	0-1	1-2	Yes
Cedric Simmons	No	2.7M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Marcin Gortat	Yes	0.83M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Chris Andersen	No	0.83M	2-3	2-4	Yes (DEN)
Channing Frye	Yes	9.5M	0-1	2-4	No ($, sucks)
Hakim Warrick	Yes	6.4M	1-2	4-8	Yes ($)
David Lee	Yes	6.1M	3+	unknown, but $$$	No ($)
Steve Novak	No	1.0M	0-1	min-3	Yes
Donyell Marshall	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (old)
Ryan Bowen	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes
Michael Ruffin	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes
Shavlik Randolph	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Leon Powe	Yes	0.83M	3+	Unknown, but $$	No ($)
Glen Davis	Yes	1.0M	2-3	3-7	Yes (BOS)
Raef LaFrentz	No	19.1M	0	Negative	No (sucks)
Rasho Nesterovic	No	12.6M	1-2	3-5	Yes ($)
Jason Collins	No	9.3M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Zaza Pachulia	No	8.0M	2-3	4-5	No ($)
Robert Swift	No	7.2M	0	Minimum	Yes
Aaron Gray	Yes	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Chris Mihm	No	5.0M	0-1	2-3	Yes
Saer Sene	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes
Jarron Collins	see Jason	4.1M	see Jason	see Jason	see Jason
DJ Mbenga	No	0.96M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Calvin Booth	No	2.7M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Melvin Ely	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (sucks)
Ryan Hollins	No	0.83M	0-1	1-2	Yes
Lorenzen Wright	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (old)
Adonal Foyle	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (old)
Jamaal Magloire	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (old)
Sean Marks	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (old)
Theo Ratliff	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (old)
Johan Petro	Yes	5.9M	0-1	2-3	Yes
Jake Voskuhl	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	No (sucks)
Marvin Williams	Yes	14.1M	3+	10-15	No ($)
James Singleton	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (DAL)
Walter Herrmann	No	4.0M	0-1	2-4	Yes

So out of the 50 UFA/RFA big men of 2009, the Hornets can put 30 of them on their radar.

As you can see, there are a ton of guys out there. Not all of these guys (or even half these guys, I suspect) are going to find homes next season. Yes, there is a good deal of variance, but the supply is definitely greater than the demand.

There are four tiers the 30 players can be split into.

"Uh Oh, Everybody's Gone And/Or (Probably And) We're Broke."

Among the 30 potential signees, we can probably classify some of them as last gasp options due to suckage, old age, or some combination of the two. Of all the players I gave a 'yes' in the far right column, here are the ones I'd categorize as last resorts:

Steve Novak: The Hornets have gaping holes in their frontcourt, but specifically they need to target rebounders. When David West and Tyson Chandler hit the bench, Byron Scott won't appreciate a big man that spends 99.999% of his time between three point arcs. Novak's rebound rate is barely half of Hilton Armstrong's. Yeah. Consider this the last last resort.
Donyell Marshall- DMarsh is another three point specialist, but he's been a stellar defensive rebounder throughout his career. The issues clearly are that he's 36 years old, and he's nearing retirement. Toss in a recent comment about how he'd want to come in and mentor guys if he joined a new team (nothing on actually playing), and you don't have a great combination.
Michael Ruffin- He's undersized but a fantastic rebounder on offense and defense. The question with him is playing time. He only got 11 games last year, 46 the year before, and 30 before that. Nobody knows how he'd hold up over 82, especially now that he's on the wrong side of 30.
Ryan Bowen- Great hustle, but I don't think I need to elaborate much here.
Shavlik Randolph- Randolph only got in 89 games in his first 4 years in the league. But he's shown some serious potential on the boards. The risk is that if we pin our one rebounding hope on the 25 year old and he blows up, well, we won't be in great shape.
Robert Swift- Showed lots of potential, once upon a time. He's the madly tattooed, infinitely riskier Shavlik Randolph.
Saer Sene- 47 games in three years. He'll be mad cheap, but he's 7'0" and weighs 220 pounds. You tell me how that's gonna end up.
Melvin Ely- Yeah.
Ryan Hollins- I rank Hollins somewhere between Last Resorts and the next category. He's a great shot blocker with good timing, and while he isn't the most impressive defensive boarder, his offensive figures are nice. He brings great energy to both sides of the floor. With Eric Dampier rumored to be on his way out of Dallas, I wonder how much the Mavs will spend to keep him. My feeling is they like him a good bit... and Hollins is only worth it if he comes cheap.
Lorenzen Wright- With age, his offensive boarding figures have slipped badly. And last year, not one, not two, but three teams (ATL, SAC, CLE) tossed him in the their respective trash cans. He brings size (6'11), if not bulk (225), and he has a career full of good defensive rebounding. One of the better Last Resort picks, though it wouldn't be a flashy signing at all.
Adonal Foyle- And if you thought Lorenzen was the antithesis of all things stylish, well, apparently, you've never seen this guy. Most famous for clanging an open 7 footer off the side of the backboard, Foyle's actually a decent option. The problem here is that he spent most of last year injured. Not sure the Hornets are willing to gamble on a 34 year old's health.
Sean Marks- I think Marks is a last resort, not because of his play necessarily, but because it wouldn't go over well with the fans. Most Hornets' supporters are looking for a front court overhaul. The truth is, Marks' 9/18/13.5 rebounding split from last year wasn't shabby at all. An understatedly decent last resort option
Theo Ratliff- Ratliff hasn't been discussed in a basketball context ever since he legally changed his name to The Expiring Contract of Theo Ratliff some time in 2004. Though the dude is older than my pet rock, he provided Philadelphia some boards and some blocks last year. Overall, he's way too old to be considered a good signing.
Johan Petro- I'd rank the Denver center higher (his rebounding numbers are terrific) but he seemingly never plays, and he is straight up horrible at basketball. A center with a 43% true shooting percentage? Unbelievably atrocious.
Stromile Swift- From 2000-2008, SS was a serviceable player. Great rebounder, good shot blocker, coudl even put the ball in the bucket unassisted, once a month. Suddenly everybody forgot about him, and he played nineteen of the most anonymous games in NBA history with NJN and PHO last season. One of those guys where if he goes to the Knicks, everyone will rag on them for getting another overpaid bust, and if he goes to the Spurs, everyone will praise them for getting another underpaid overachiever. If he goes to New Orleans? Who knows.
Walter Herrmann- Imagine Hilton Armstrong with range. (If you can actually do this, I have just one question: are you on drugs?)

"Yeah If We Got Him, Sweet... But We're Not Getting Him"

Glen Davis- Boston is going to keep him. Danny Ainge will re-sign him. Kevin Garnett will continue to make him cry. I don't see many ways around this. Plus, his rebounding is mediocre, his offensive abilities are vastly overrated on the strength of one or two jumpers he made in the playoffs, and he really isn't that great at anything else. So "If we got him, sweet" would probably not be an accurate description of Glen Davis, now that I think about it.
Joe Beast- aka Joe Smith to those unacquainted with his hip hop skills. Smith is kind of like Davis in that his team is probably going to keep him (I can't see Cleveland performing a single action that does not directly contribute towards the appeasement of the Great One). Smith is also kind of not like Davis in that he's actually good at basketball.
Antonio McDyess- Dice is likely out of the Pistons' price range this summer, though they have said they want to keep him. He made 6 million+ last year. I know there's always the chance he takes a pay cut to join a contender... but who really considers the Hornets a contender now any way?
Chris Andersen- The league leader in block rate will be getting some sort of financial upgrade, and probably one from Denver. If not, there will be plenty of teams just salivating at the thought of overpaying the 31 year old.
Hakim Warrick- Warrick is another guy in line for an upgrade on his 1.5 million a year salary. He's not the most efficient scorer, but I'd say he's the most underrated foul drawer in the entire league (6.6 FTA/36, which would be 0.3 more than Chris Paul, without the aid of superstar calls). He's a decent rebounder too. If Memphis doesn't realize what they have on their hands, plenty of others will do the realizing for them.
Marcin Gortat- If recent rumors are to be believed, the Magic are in hot pursuit of Rasheed Wallace and/or Brandon Bass. It sure sounds like they're gearing up to lose their backup power forward. The Gortat situation is a tricky one to read. On the one hand, he made under a million dollars last year. On the other hand, he had a great postseason and pretty much the entire NBA now knows about him. Positives: beastly rebounder, very efficient scorer, brings terrific energy. Downside: fouls a lot, but who really cares. But all this misses a crucial point- several teams have already reportedly discussed offering Gortat a large part of their midlevel exceptions (five million plus).

"Maybe They'll Forgive Us For Not Taking Blair Now"

Radoslav Nesterovic- aka Rasho to those unacquainted with Slovenian. Nesterovic is one of the few 30+ options I wouldn't mind. He has size (7'), bulk (250), and the career rebounding split (10/17/13) to warrant a serious look. The biggest issue would be salary. He made 7 million+ last year alone, and he hasn't earned below 2.5 mil since 2002-2003. If he agreed to take a pay cut with us, that'd be terrific.
Aaron Gray- It's universally agreed that Aaron Gray sucks, but he could help us out big time in the rebounding department. With a 14/22/18 split last year, he would bring rebounding figures that very few free agent bigs could match. He should be dirt cheap (making less than half a million last year on a second rounder contract). With a lot of teams looking at the flashier names, we're likely to receive less competition to sign him. And of course, the kicker is that he's a big from the University of Pittsburgh, something a lot of people seemed to want around these parts.
Shelden Williams- I've always loved Williams. Seemingly not in possession of a neck, he'd be the perfect complement to Hilton "The Ostrich" Armstrong. He posted super awesome terrific rebounding figures with ATL his rookie year before they moved him to Sacramento. He finished last year in Minnesota. He seems universally unwanted, but he'd be a tremendous bargain for the Hornets.
Maceo Baston- Baston's first salary was 20,000 with the Chicago Bulls in 1999. So I'm thinking he might be down to make a couple million with us next year. Last year with Toronto, he posted an 11/15/13 rebounding split in 27 games. He draws fouls at a decent rate and has a nice offensive game. He can also block a few shots here and there. The biggest problem is his size- 6'9" and 215 pounds; I don't know how long he can hold up.
Chris Mihm- Mihm has posted very, very nice rebounding numbers throughout his career. (a career 11/19/14 split). I thought we'd seen the last of him after his sparring session with D.J. Mbenga, but who knows. Could be an attractive option, given the lack of competition and low price.
Jamaal Magloire- 14/24/19 rebounding split last year. That's all you gotta know about the Big Cat. He will rebound the hell out of that ball.
James Singleton- Thanks to reader Scott for e-mailing to me about Singleton. Personally, this would be one of my favorite signings if it happened. Singleton, who broke into the League as a swingman, has seriously bulked up in recent years. He posted a 12/21/16 rebounding split with Dallas last year, terrific numbers for any player, let alone one making the minimum. He was also very efficient at putting the ball in the bucket (the most efficient out of any of the 30 on this list). Want more? He didn't turn the ball over, and Dallas put a fair bit of responsibility on him when he was in the game. And, oh yeah, he has three point range. Unfortunately, it appears we have compeition. Both my Dallas contacts confirmed that the Mavs have definite interest in bringing him back next season, and Singleton seems to like his situation there too. Don't know if it will happen, but Singleton would be an amazing, cheap add.

"The Heavens Have Smiled Upon Us"

Chris Wilcox- Wilcox parlayed a terrific contract year with the Clips into an overpaid two year stint with the SuperThunder. This summer, he's likely to return to his rightful tax bracket, and if so, the Hornets stand to benefit. At a career 9/20/14 rebounding split, Melvin Ely's twin would make Melvin himself a distant memory. Wilcox can also jump out the gym, so Chris Paul could still have an alley-oop partner when he's on the floor with the bench and Tyson's off. Wilcox's defense has been questioned repeatedly... but dude's trying to make the New Orleans Hornets' bench, not the All Defense team. I'd take him in a heartbeat, providing he agrees to slash his salary to the 2 million range.
Ike Diogu- Enter Mr. Diogu. I like Ike, and you should too. He never really got a chance with the GSW, or the IND, or the POR. Finally, he got some minutes with SAC last year, and they were predictably glorious. In the last two games, he dropped 32 on Denver, and 28 on Minnesota (oh, what's that you say about Denver resting its starters and Al Jefferson being injured? I can't really hear you, you're going to have to speak louder). He can rebound, and he draws fouls like a maniac. While he's kind of foul-prone, he doesn't turn the ball over. The kicker? His full name is Ikechukwa Somotochukwa Diogu. Pau Gasol is already recoiling in fear.
Drew Gooden- For a while there, it appeared Gooden's basketball ability had taken a back seat to him cultivating that ridiculous beard. But now all is well. Ever since he left the company of the Great Shining Internationally Renowned Supreme Basketball Talent, Gooden's been looking on the up and up. Rebounding last year? Try 10.4/22.6/16.6. 52.6% true shooting. 11.7% turnovers. 4.0 FTA/36 minutes. The one flaw is that he's lost all ability to put the ball in the bucket from the floor... but I can excuse that. Another downside: Signing the 27 year old Gooden would probably cement Jeff Bower's place as the Greatest GM in the History of Western Civilization.

So there you have it.

50 options -> 30 reasonable options -> 25 actually reasonable options -> 9 actually reasonable and good options -> 3 actually reasonable and very good options. Happy shopping.

2003 NBA Draft Second Round Re-draft: Part 2

Jon L — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:00:16 -0000

Keith Bogans is still available. Where will he be re-drafted?

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Welcome back to our 2003 second round re-draft. Part 1 garnered a flurry of comments, and it's nice to see people interested in this sort of thing. Without further ado, let's join the exciting conclusion to this re-draft, already in progress.

45. Chicago Bulls (original pick - Matt Bonner)

Bonner was traded, but we're making Chicago keep the pick. Everything said earlier about Chicago still applies, and the Bulls will take Travis Hansen to provide an offense-defense tandem with Korver.

46. Denver Nuggets (original pick - Sani Becirovic)

Becirovic, a combo guard, wasn't a terrible pick, and he's won several championships with different European teams, but this Nuggets squad could've used a power forward to replace Tskitishvili and for when Chris Andersen...you know. We're already starting to run out of those, though, and while Badiane could also work here, I'll go with Tommy Smith, who was a good shot-blocker and a decent rebounder in college.

47. Utah Jazz (original pick - Mo Williams)

There were a few second round steals this year, and in hindsight this was one of the biggest. In the first round Utah drafted Williams' current Cleveland teammate Sasha Pavlovic. Weird. Both guard and center were weaknesses for Utah that year, at least beyond DeShawn Stevenson and Raja Bell, who hadn't really become good yet anyway. We're going to preserve the Utah tradition of lame centers, though, and give them solid backup shooting guard in Keith Bogans

48. New Orleans Hornets (original pick - James Lang)

The fact that Lang didn't stick on a team that had Jamaal Magloire and Sean Rooks as its centers should tell you something (and yes, I know this was Magloire's good period). Here's a fun fact - it took me a long time before I realized that current Hornets backup Sean Marks wasn't Sean Rooks. Wasn't that a fun fact? There aren't really any "NBA-ready" centers left now, not even Lang, so we'll give the Hornets Sofoklis Schortsanitis. The "Greek Baby Shaq" has been shedding weight and refining his skills some, and was a key member of the Greek national team that won the 2006 FIBA World Championships silver medal. All the Hornets would have needed to do was let him develop for a few years and they would've had a decent backup. The way he's developed he's probably more of a power forward now, but I think he could be a solid undersized center.

49. Indiana Pacers (original pick - James Jones)

Indiana didn't have a first-round pick in 2003, but luckily they unearthed a starter. Unfortunately for them, he's a starter for Miami. It's not really surprising that Jones didn't play much that year, as the Pacers were full of forwards, but the team only had about five guards on the roster that season, including Fred Jones and whatever was left of Kenny Anderson. I like Sani Becirovic here, who's teams have won the Italian Super Cup in 2005 and two Greek and Euroleague Championships. Here are some highlights of Becirovic from a few years ago. I suggest you hit "mute."

50. Philadelphia 76ers (original pick - Paccelis Morlende)

I asked for less lende. Less! (Sorry) Morlende's rights were traded for Willie Green, and if you ask jsams at Liberty Ballers, he might ask for Morlende back. It appears the Sixers were looking for a guard, so why not NBA and D-League veteran Keith McLeod?

51. New Jersey Nets (original pick - Kyle Korver)

Another trade to Philly, but again, this is the Nets' pick. The Nets took Zoran Planinic in the first round, so theoretically they wouldn't be looking for another point guard, especially with Jason Kidd and, uh, Robert Pack also on the roster. What is it with teams having terrible centers in 2003? Alonzo Mourning (remember, the New Jersey Alonzo Mourning), Jason Collins and Mikki Moore. Oh, and Aaron Williams. This team won their division? Man, the East really was awful. Problem is, if we were running low on passable centers before, we're fresh out now. It's all FTGs, and not even any who have been that great for their own teams. Nedzad Sinanovic was seen as a draft sleeper at the time, though, 7'3" with decent agility. He went to Summer League with Portland (who had drafted him), but he still hasn't come over officially, and apparently his career high in points is six. The Nets love their FTGs, though.

52. Toronto Raptors (original pick - Remon van de Hare)

Another FTG for another FTG-loving team. (I can't decide whether I'm consciously trying to make "FTG" a thing. Mostly I just like the word foreign-y.) Toronto had just drafted Chris Bosh, and if I remember correctly they still hadn't figured out that he was more of a power forward, so despite van de Hare's selection I'm going to avoid centers. Drafting Quinton Ross would give Toronto a solid defensive wing, and you could argue that he could've gone higher (he was undrafted originally).

53. Chicago Bulls (original pick - Tommy Smith)

Yes, the Bulls had three second-round picks this year (what is this, the 2005 draft?), and so far we've given them a shooting guard and a swingman to go along with their first round point guard, so I guess we should throw a frontcourt player in there. Smith is gone, and Mario Austin is available but didn't stick with the Bulls when he was drafted the first time, so surprise! we'll go with Maciej Lampe. Yes, it's still okay to mock the Knicks for picking him, but he would've had at least some value this late in the draft.

54. Portland Trail Blazers (original pick - Nedzad Sinanovic)

Ah yes, the Rasheed-ZBo-Darius Miles-Qyntel Woods Blazers. Sigh. Let's try to make this a good pick and give the Portland fans something to hope for. Unfortunately the best players available are all forwards, and that's about the last thing Portland needs more of. Their backup guards that year included Jeff McInnis and Dan Dickau (and Eddie Gill), which means it's Willie Green's time to shine. Or do whatever it is other than shine that Willie Green does. I can just imagine the Portland columnists' Blazers/Green jokes now.

55. Minnesota Timberwolves (original pick - Rick Rickert)

Yes, the same Rick Rickert that got punched in the head by Kevin Garnett. As tempted as I am to pick Rickert here again and set in motion the same chain events in our imaginary 2003 (because who doesn't love a good "did you hear who Kevin Garnett punched in the head" story), I'll refrain, for there are better forwards available. I'm referring specifically to James Singleton, last seen in the comments of our "What Separates NBA Players from Non-NBA Players" discussion. After a few seasons in Europe, Singleton has become a decent backup for Dallas, averaging 14 and a half points and 11 rebounds per 40 minutes, and this could be considered a steal for Minnesota.

56. Boston Celtics (original pick - Brandon Hunter)

Thankfully for us, the Celtics had several centers of some varying degrees of quality, so we don't need to go digging for one. And while their backcourt was kind of a jumble, they have enough guards (even if one of them was Jiri Welsch). That means a forward, and preferably one of the power variety, and what do you know, the Celtics already drafted one. Brandon Hunter is a bit undersized, but he was a good rebounder and shot-blocker in college, and it's late-late in the second round anyway.

57. Dallas Mavericks (original pick - Xue Yuyang)

This was a year after Yao Ming was drafted, so Dallas was just trying to keep up with the neighbors. Xue entered the draft without permission from Chinese authorities, though, and they wouldn't let him come to America. And besides, the Mavericks already had Shawn Bradley and Mamadou N'Diaye. What they didn't have, though, was a proper backup point guard. Undrafted free agent Marquis Daniels ended up paying some point that year, but he's really more of a swingman. No, I don't consider Travis Best a proper backup, especially in '03-'04 when he averaged less than two assists per game. Paccelis Morlende is a converted shooting guard, but he's quick and can shoot from outside, and maybe bringing him over to learn from Nash would've made a difference.

58. Detroit Pistons (original pick - Andreas Glyniadakis)

In the re-draft, Glyniadakis is long gone, and Detroit isn't really looking for a contributor this year anyway, as they ended up winning the NBA championship. I wouldn't say I've forgotten about him, but Mario Austin is somewhat of a steal here. He didn't make it in Chicago but became a pretty good scorer over in Europe, and Detroit could've let him develop in the D-League for a few years before bringing him up.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the 2003 draft's second round. There wasn't quite as much depth as in 2005, but there were still some starters and solid backups available. As for whether to keep doing these, I'll leave that in the hands of you, the readers. And yes, I know that's probably a mistake.

Poll

Seriously, should I keep doing these?

Yes, they are interesting and informative and I love them.

26 votes

No, I don't really care about which European big men never made it to the NBA.

10 votes

36 votes | Poll has closed