Player Movement Thread (Was Free Agency Thread)

[jemagee]

Beno Udrih and his new contract is passing up the chance to play for his country this summer to work on improving his physicality and skills to be ready for the NBA season...sigh

[shadowTerp]

As Chris Sheridan said on ESPN today, every year there this a player who gets a huge contract he doesn't deserve. Josh Smith appears to be the most likely candidate to be that guy this year. Then again, Bogut's really feels like it's a terrible one.

The Bogut deal was ridiculous.... and going after Kwame?  Someone may give him an MLE... which based on Evans contract, is still too much (at least Evans works hard).  I'm glad we have Stefanski.

Roger Mason reportedly signed a 2 year deal with the Spurs

Spurs is a great spot for Mason. 

Rush has to be one of the names considered. Actually, here's what I'm thinking... I think Ed will use the veteran's minimum to bring Kevin Ollie back and then trade either Reggie Evans or Jason Smith to get a shooter with Evans being the preferred player being sent out. We do have a very versatile lineup with Iguodala having the ability to cover the 2 and 3, Young being able to cover the 3 and 4, and Brand able to cover the 4 and 5.

The depth chart may look bare without Evans or Smith in it, but we have to keep in mind that Sam and Elton are going to cover about 71 of the possible 96 minutes at the 4 and 5 spots. When you consider that Thad will probably eat up about 6 minutes or so at the 4, that leaves us with just under 20 minutes left to cover between those 2 spots. I'm fairly certain either Smith or Evans can handle that amount of minutes alone without sharing them. Also, he may not be much at the start, but I expect Speights to get somewhere between 5-10minutes by the end of the season.

I'm all for bringing Ollie back.  LW needs the mentoring on his PG skills.  We need a backup C, and Smith is the only one who fits the bill.  I'm not ready to give up on him yet.

About the needed shooter.  Even with Philly now being a desirable location, I doubt we will pick up a major contributor at the minimum.  I would think a trade is almost a necessity.

Still, I'd rather go forward with the current team for the first 1/2 season than risk dealing away any of its core other than maybe Evans.  Moving Smith for a smaller shooter seems a bit shortsighted and circular reasoning, since I think Smith is close to being a good shooter who can play a key reserve role as back-up PF/C.

I want to see what kind of jumper Iguodala, Lou, Thad and Smith have before a move is made.  All of them are young and dedicated enough to possibly show dramatic improvement- it's just up in the are how fast that improvement will happen.  I'm counting on Mark Price to be a miracle worker...

On the positive side, they all will be getting a lot of easy looks, which is a great way for an improving shooter to gain confidence.

I completely agree.  Let the Celtics get another year older, let the Lakers attempt to buy a championship (and manage a whole bunch of egos) and let us develop our outside shooting from within, bringing in someone cheap.  I'm really ready to let this pot simmer for awhile and see what we have.

[Skates]

Huge FA news  , the Wiz sign Dee Brown (no, not that one) to an offer sheet, Jazz have 7 days to match, if they even remember they own the rights to the guys.  I hope no one goes after Bavcic that way, he'd be a big loss to our summer team.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3482119

[jemagee]

I think it's going to be quiet for a while as people dance around the major restricteds Smith/Iguodala/Childres/Okafor/Gordon/Deng

Once that all gets settled out the trade market will probably pick up?

[TheGuiltyParty]

I agree Jem. It's sounding like Okafor and Charlotte may be getting closer to deal which should then enable Biedrins to get his deal settled with GSW. I imagine we'll see Iguodala, Ellis, Smith, and Deng all sign for similar deals. Gordon could take another month or so before he is either dealt in a sign-and-trade or takes the 1 year tender. Childress could also take a little while.

Anyone else of importance I'm not mentioning? After those deals are done... then we should see Joe Dumars make some noise with a big trade. Is Donnie Walsh just going to bring back the same team this year? Will Phoenix be able to move Barbosa or Diaw?

[tk76-]

A random stat for you.  Iguodala has needed to be the number #1 score for the last 2 seasons.  the year before that his eFG% on jumpers was a respectable 43% (Kobe is 45% and takes similar contested jumpers.)

His first year without AI he dropped to a putrid 37%, relying almost entirely on dunks/breaks to score 18ppg.  Last year his jumper dramatically improved back up to a respectable 42%.  This year I expect another improvement with more open shots.

[TheGuiltyParty]

I'm hoping (and feeling somewhat confident) that Iguodala's outside shot will improve this season. He's never been a guy to light it up from outside of 15 feet but his shot has gotten dramatically better over the past couple of seasons. Will he ever have the natural shooting stroke of Ray Allen, Michael Redd, or Kyle Korver? No. But I think he could develop into something better than he is now.

In my heart of hearts, I really do believe that within two seasons from now Ed will end up trading either Iguodala or Young in order to obtain a legitimate shooting guard that could push this team over the top.

[bebopdeluxe]

Or...we could just wait until next summer and sign AI with the MLE.

 

[TheGuiltyParty]

Or...we could just wait until next summer and sign AI with the MLE.

 

LOL! I know you're joking around but AI just doesn't seem to have a place on a legit championship contender and that's a shame. He and the Nuggets are more or less the Globetrotters of the NBA. They'll come to your town and show off their razzle dazzle moves but when it comes time to playing actual basketball, well... they're just no good.

We keep hearing that Joe Dumars is going to make a big move or two in Detroit, shouldn't Denver also look to do SOMETHING to improve that team? It's not like they are the Sixers where you hope that just by bringing back most of the same team, you feel like you're going to be better because of the experience the youth has gained. The Nuggets have Iverson (beyond his prime), Camby (beyond his prime), Anthony (entering his prime), Martin (even if healthy, beyond his prime), and Nene (an injury waiting to happen).

How can the Nuggets bring back the same team with the same coach and expect to make it out of the first round? Also, the Nuggets were an 8 seed last year so it's not like they were securely in the playoffs although Portland now figures to enter the picture.

[TheGuiltyParty]

Today's news from around the league....

-The Pistons make be trying to make a move for Tracy McGrady. I have to think that Rip is done in Detroit. The Pistons were supposedly after Maggette who could have been a 6th man, I guess... but now there's talk of McGrady being moved? How old is Rip?

-Even though's he's an RFA, Monte Ellis is apparently receiving interest from the Knicks, Heat, and Cavs in case talks breakdown with GSW and a sign-and-trade needs to be done.

-Jarvis Hayes signed with the Nets

- Despite having his rights renounced, Shaun Livingston is expected to re-sign with the Clips.

- Biedrins is another candidate for a sign-and-trade from GSW with Miami possibly using Shawn Marion as the bait

- Jumaine Jones has signed with Armani Jeans Milano. Oh how I miss the combo of Jones and Buford on the wings.

[bebopdeluxe]

TGP:

To be honest, my tongue is only partially in-cheek (and, no, jem...I'm not going to tell you which cheek it is)...

I am actually posing this thought over at the "other board"...with many teams saving/clearing cap room for the motherload summer 2010 free agency class, there may not be many teams that will be willing to shell out big bucks for AI when his contract expires next summer.  He will probably get Maggette-like offers from "meh" teams, but I don't see either really good teams or really bad teams shelling out big bucks for the guy.  So, if Miller chooses to not accept an extension from us...or if he tires again once the playoffs roll around like he did this year (Stefanski said as much on DNL yesterday)...we will be looking for a PG next summer.  And AI - at, say, a 4-year, $27 million MLE-based deal - wouold be great price/value, IMO.  Our young guys still get another year of development under Miller...the team gels and learns there roles in this Brand-new world...we go deep in the playoffs, but come up short (say, in the ECF)...

And AI comes back for short-money to take fewer shots, be a real PG (as he has in the All-Star games and Olympics), and does a Schilling - helping us break the "Curse of Billy Penn"...

(you simply cannot make stuff like that up)

Will it happen?  Probably not.  COULD it happen?  The economics of the NBA next summer suggest it could be a possibility.  Would I be on board with it?

Come back to me next May....

[tk76-]

I can see AI and Mo reuniting.  But I cannot imagine AI sitting next to Snyder at a PC.  I can not imagine AI and Snyfer in the same room, so unless Lukko completely replaces Snuder's role as running the Sixers, I don't see AI ever coming back.

[Derek Bodner]

Snider.

sorry, drives me nuts

[bebopdeluxe]

tk76:

At the MLE, the return of AI would pay for itself in ticket sales and ancillary revenue...so strictly from a dollars and cents perspective, it is a no-brainer.  From a basketball perspective, it is harder to gauge...there certainly is precedent in the NBA for guys at AI's stage of their career to take on a scaled-down role (both $$$ and on the floor) for a shot at a ring.  Iverson has already taken the first step in Denver, as Derek has pointed out, with his reduction in shots (and, consequently, the highest FG% of his career).  I have no doubt that - if he wanted to - AI could be a fine 35 mpg PG in the NBA...he has just never had the luxury to be on a team that was good enough for him to do that.  The '09-10 Sixers could be that team.

And Snider?

He strikes me as the Steinbrenner of the NBA...a guy with MASSIVE bluster, but a guy who can also take guys back when necessary.  Again - this is PURE speculation...but if the Sixers went to, say, the ECF...and they needed one more piece...and AI were willing o come back on short money to help make that happen, the combination of revenue, fan-base-buzz and undeniable talent would have to give Snider pause...

Don't you think?

[jemagee]

Um, i'm going to have to say no on Snider as the Steinbrenner of the NBA...not when you have Marc Cuban around doing an excellent imitation.

And thinking that Allen Iverson would return an win an NBA final in philadelphia strikes me as the kind of fantasy a little kid has ..He no longer fits on the roster as currently constructed...in yankees parlance it's the equivalent of clemens last season, seems like a good idea, but not so much

Pistons making a play for mcgrady?  That doesn't strike me as very dumars like