Player Movement Thread (Was Free Agency Thread)

[anklebreaker]

ahh.. my neck of the woods.... enjoy the weekend. 

[jemagee]

Enjoy the fun, with gas at 5 per gallon and the gap fire only a few miles away, i'm just hoping the wind doesn't change directions  - freaking 5 hour power outage last night SUCKED...sure we don't have snow but these fires blow holy chunks

[anklebreaker]

Enjoy the fun, with gas at 5 per gallon and the gap fire only a few miles away, i'm just hoping the wind doesn't change directions  - freaking 5 hour power outage last night SUCKED...sure we don't have snow but these fires blow holy chunks

I bought a home down the Jersey Shore about 8 months ago.  Then about 2 months ago we got hit with an insane northeaster, and my house is right on the bay, so I was pretty much sitting there helpless watching my backyard flood and watch the water inch closer and closer to my home.  Fortunately the tide went down as the water line came within a few feet from my house. 

I do feel for you SoCal folks though.  You have unpredictable fires and earthquakes to deal with.... I guess that's the toll you pay for ideal year round weather.   

[Skates]

Is it just me, or has the quietest free agent through the first few days of free agency been Andris Biedrins?  I know GS has every intention of keeping him, but they did have difficulty coming to an agreement last summer and GS now has their fingers in every fire imaginable.  I have not heard anything indicating that they had worked out a deal for him to stay in GS, yet I have heard nothing about him visiting anywhere.  I recall one article somewhere mentioning him as a back-up plan for the Sixers, but that is about it.

If the FO starts getting real bad vibes about Smith coming here I would like them to at least take a look at Biedrins.  I think he can score more than he has in the past, he shoots a high FG%, rebounds and blocks shots and like Smith he is only 22.  He is no offensive juggernaut, but I could see him putting up 15-17 ppg if given the ball more often.  his FT % is not good and he does not have the flash of J Smoove (the last time I ever use that nickname, it's too stupid for words), but he has the substance.  he would be a big help on the D boards and I think he has no problem playing PF as he looks to be a 4-5 hybrid.  He could start at PF for a year or two until Speights earns a starting job and move to center when Sammy gets traded as an expiring contract in 2 years.

Golden State's pursuit of Brand may open the door to Biedrins a little, at least enough to take a look see.  Anybody wonder if teams like Philly are afraid to look at Biedrins publicly in fear of GS retaliating by going after the other teams' own RFA's (Iggy in our case) like they did with Brand when Davis decided to go to the Clips?  If he is one of our back-up plans it is being kept awful quiet.

[anklebreaker]

I love Biedrins as a back up plan to Smith. 

[tk76-]

I love Biedrins as a back up plan to Smith. 

I agree that Biedrins might be a good option to replace Sam down the road.  If Speights develops like he could, the Biedrins or Sam both would be good complements.

I do like Biedrins game- especially how he has the Thad trait of knowing how to be in the right place and how to play within his skill level and not try to do things he is bad at (like shoot outside 6 feet.)  I wish Sam new how to limit himself to playing to his strengths.

I am concerned that if Biedrins and Sam start in the frontcourt I may have to poke out my eyeballs to spare myself the viual pain of watching their post moves- but then again I just watched a year of Evans/Sam and am not too badly scared (for life.)

[pointguard86]

Biedrins is a good offensive rebounder. normally he gets his misses however not a very good FT shooter.  not a bad Plan C type of player.  what about Meka?

[Derek Bodner]

I think the GS free agents are pretty much off limits with GS's newfound cap room.

[pointguard86]

dabods,

how much caproom do they have?

[Derek Bodner]

ca $19 million.

[pointguard86]

thanks for the info. i didn't realize that they cleared that much cap after Baron bolted to LA.  oh well.

[jemagee]

GS's cap room has very little to do with the availability of their restricted free agents as much as their owners ability to pay the luxury tax impacts it...much like iguodala to the warriors...

[Derek Bodner]

GS's cap room has very little to do with the availability of their restricted free agents as much as their owners ability to pay the luxury tax impacts it...much like iguodala to the warriors...

GS's cap room has a lot to do with the availability of their restricted free agents.  Had Davis not opted out, inking both of them to near max deals would have put them near the tax.  With Davis opting out, they now have more wiggle room and would be more likely to Max out a contract.

We could throw a huge fork in the wrench by signing Monta Ellis (rather than Josh Smith) to a huge offer sheet on the first day of free agency.  If we make Monta's cap hold jump up to 11 million rather than the 1 million it's at now, they won't have money to offer Iguodala a Max deal, and we'd now be back to bidding against ourselves to retain Iguodala's services.

Of course, you'd have to like Monta enough to do that.

[jemagee]

GS's cap room has a lot to do with the availability of their restricted free agents.  Had Davis not opted out, inking both of them to near max deals would have put them near the tax.  With Davis opting out, they now have more wiggle room and would be more likely to Max out a contract

So what you're saying is that it's about the luxury tax and paying it or not, so if an owner doesn't care about paying the luxury tax, tell me why davis opting out matters...hence why i said what i said

[Derek Bodner]

so if an owner doesn't care about paying the luxury tax, tell me why davis opting out matters...hence why i said what i said

Because all owners care about paying the tax, hence why their cap room availability is of great importance.  You did say "as much as".  I'm disputing which is more important.  I do believe their newfound wiggle room is very important because I do believe the owner had concerns about exceeding the tax.