Free Agent Frenzy
Sorry for the lack of originality in the title, but that phrase has never meant as much as it has meant this summer during the 2010 NBA free agency season. There have been several teams which have gone through major changes. With this we are going to go over the changes that each team has made, what they mean for them, and what they need to do from here on out to maximize. Since not every team has made a huge splash at this time, the main teams that will be looked at are the big six teams who were in the LeBron sweepstakes.
The first team we are going to look at, no surprise, is going to be the Miami Heat. Right now they are considered the big winners in free agency, and with good reason. Not only did they hold on to the face of the franchise, but they added the best player in the NBA in LeBron James and one of the top power forwards in the league in Chris Bosh. No matter what you think of the move, as there is plenty of controversy about it, mostly as to how it showed a lack of respect for competition between the three as well as accusations of collusion between the group. However, 2 of the top 3 players in the NBA are on the Miami Heat right now, and Chris Bosh isn't a scrub either, and that's the bottom line. However, this has still left the Heat with some serious questions. How will the rest of the roster fill out? Right now the Heat have brought back Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony, and still have Mario Chalmers. On top of that they have added sharpshooter and an old lumbering center in Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Second round draft pick Dexter Pittman is now on the team and they're expected to add another old timer in Juwan Howard before long. Is this an ideal supporting cast for those three? In no way at all. However, it looks like it may, in some ways, be at least a decent start. Ilgauskas and Pittman can probably give them a combined 36 good minutes off the bench, and while Anthony is far from ideal, he'll at least be able to be there for the remaining time. Chalmers should work out well as the starting point guard along those three. As for Haslem and Howard, they should serve well as a second and third power forward, and in small lineups should be able to play some center, which should be useful when you have Ilgauskas and Pittman (who couldn't barely stay on the floor in college). Right now it looks like Miller will be a reserve small forward and shooting guard while the point guard position will likely have to be backed up by a cheap free agent and Wade. As it stands right now, the Heat are out of cap room. They will only be able to bring along players playing for the minimum at this point unless they're able to bring anybody else back. The Heat do have three other second round picks to bring along, but outside of Da'Sean Butler, there's little chance of them actually filling any needs for the Heat. Still, with that strong core, the Heat look to be an instant contender for the NBA championship. Right now what they are going to have to do is add a point guard that they can get for the minimum to backup Chalmers. Anthony Johnson may be someone who they can get to fill that spot in, if not, Carlos Arroyo, Chucky Atkins, and Travis Diener are all available there. Kevin Ollie is another player who can be a good veteran to step in there. They should also look for a shooting guard to play for the minimum since Miller is a better fit at the 3, Keith Bogans, Joey Graham, or Royal Ivey may be willing to play for the minimum. If not, they'll have to go the young route. All in all, things are looking great for Heat fans, and the rest of the NBA fans couldn't be more disgusted. The Heat won't win any awards with their depth this season, but if they're able to build big enough leads to allow the starters to rest for most of the fourth quarter in most games, then they shouldn't be too worn out for the playoffs.
The next team that we'll look at is the New York Knicks. The Knicks have made some huge changes this offseason. Gone is David Lee, but the Knicks did acquire Amare Stoudemire. In the sign and trade deal for David Lee the Knicks were also able to acquire defensive big man Ronny Turiaf, sharpshooter Kelenna Azubuike, and young hopeful Anthony Randolph. The Knicks don't look to play Eddy Curry at all next season, but they still have Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, and Toney Douglas returning. I believe Bill Walker is also still returning, but honestly, I can't remember if he was there last year, it's Bill Walker we're talking about. Timofey Mozgov is an interesting addition for them, a young, tall European prospect. The Knicks though still have plenty of holes to fill. Raymond Felton looks to be their starting point guard next season. From there it becomes blurry. Will Chandler be the 2 or the 3? Will Gallinari be the 3 or the 4? Will Amare be the 4 or the 5? With most coaches this would be much more clear, but with Mike D'Antoni this is much harder to figure out. Kelenna Azubuike could be that starter to fill in the vacancy at either the 2 or 3, which would answer the rest of those questions. From there it looks like they'll have Douglas coming off the bench as a point guard and shooting guard. After him I assume it would be Bill Walker, who would also backup the 3. Anthony Randolph seems like a guy who can fill in at the 3 or the 4, and Mozgov seems to be the backup center at this point. The Knicks still look like they have money to spend though. If I'm Donnie Walsh, I'm looking for a good backup center. Right now Shaq is considered to be the best available center, but I have trouble believing that he'd be willing to be a backup at this point. If they can get Brad Miller, he would fit in well there. Josh Boone also wouldn't be a bad option, even though he brings little offense. Seeing as Mike D'Antoni is the coach, I wouldn't throw Kyrylo Fasenko may not be out of the question either. Outside of that, they need a backup point guard. Rafer Alston or Javaris Crittenton could be an option since Douglas seems to play more of a shooting guard style of play. The Knicks, no matter what they do from here on out still seem to be a lower playoffs team. Sure, they did good adding Amare and Raymond Felton, but at the same time, their roster is far from one that will strike fear into any of the top 5 teams in either conference. Then again, when you look at how the Knicks have been over the past 6 or 7 years, that's a huge improvement. They still have a long way to go as far as becoming a contender goes, but the Knicks are clearly going to give New York fans a much better product than they have given them in recent history.
The next team up is the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls really went all out trying to get at least two of the top free agents out there. However, when they did fall short, they did a great job in getting one of the top consolation prizes in Carlos Boozer. Boozer provides the Bulls with some much needed post scoring, something the team has horribly lacked since they traded Eddy Curry to the New York Knicks right before the 2005/2006 season. Along wth Carlos Boozer the Bulls filled in another need by adding Kyle Korver, who just set the record for three point percentage in a single season. The Bulls still had a glaring hole though that they didn't have this past season. The Bulls had good perimeter defense last season thanks to Kirk Hinrich. However, they traded Hinrich during the draft to clear up space for free agency. However, the Bulls have just addressed this need for perimeter defense by adding Ronnie Brewer who is a bigger guard who provides excellent perimeter defense. The Bulls had tried to also add JJ Redick to improve their three point shooting, but that was not to be as Orlando swallowed $14 million this next season in order to keep him on board. One more addition that the Bulls have made has been Turkish center Omer Asik, who the Bulls traded for during the 2008 draft. Asik was a second pick of the Trailblazers who the Bulls were and since have been very high on. He looks to be, at the current time, Joakim Noah's backup at center. Carlos Boozer's backup at the power forward spot looks to be Taj Gibson. Luol Deng has James Johnson as his backup at the small forward position. It looks like Ronnie Brewer will start over Kyle Korver at the shooting guard position, and Derrick Rose will be backed up by.....well, Ronnie Brewer for now. In other words, the only pressing need for the Bulls right now is at the backup point guard position. However, the Bulls look to have about $10 million in remaining cap space. There are all of the previously mentioned remaining point guards, but on top of that, the Bulls may be best suited in bringing back Acie Law, who did very well when given minutes last season, to be Rose's backup. On top of that, bringing back Brad Miller to solidify the big man position for the Bulls would be a great idea, if Miller wants to return to the Bulls. Before bringing back those two though, the Bulls should probably add one more deep threat. Matt Barnes may be an excellent option, as he should not be expensive and he can play both the 2 and the 3, and while he's not a lights out shooter from distance, he can still make them with some regularity. Eddie House may be another option, although he would not add the defense that Barnes would add. Still, with the floor spread out and a great post threat, Derrick Rose, who claims that he now has a reliable three point shot, should have even more of a breakout year this coming season. Outside of that, if the Bulls bring one of those two along and bring back Miller and Law, then they'll have a solid 12 men which can allow them to easily fill out the rest of their roster. Derrick Byars, Morris Almond, Andrew Ogilvy, Chris Richard, and Jerel McNeal all are competent players on their summer league team who may be able to fill in the final three roster spots. The bottom line is that the Bulls, assuming they get a good backup for Derrick Rose, should be a top 4 team in the east and should be able beat out the Milwaukee Bucks for the top team in the Central Division.
Next up is going to be the Cleveland Cavaliers. Losing LeBron James has seemed to be a crippling blow for them. Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams, and Anderson Varejao look to be the leaders for this team. They have not made any offseason additions at all. However, they still have about $9 million to spend. Bringing in Richard Jefferson may actually be an option for them to consider. Sure, Jefferson had a poor year in San Antonio last season, but it was his totals that really suffered, not his averages. Jefferson may not be the ideal replacement for LeBron, but he's at least one that, if he returns to form, can keep the Cavaliers at least in the hunt for the playoffs. If the Cavs do add Jefferson, then they can at least have a starting lineup of Williams, Parker, Jefferson, Jamison, and Varejao. The bench would have strong players in Hickson, West, and Moon. Obviously there's still a whole lot that the Cavs would have to add onto that, even though they'd still have Green, Powe, Jawad Williams (assuming QO), Telfair, and Gibson to play as well. That's at least a group of 13 men, and they would only have to add two to that in order to have a full roster. While the Cavs have taken a huge blow, if they can get Jefferson to come aboard, they'll at least still be in playoff contention, which I understand is far from what they're used to with LeBron, but given the loss, it's much better than most teams have done after losing a player of LeBron's calibur.
Well, with the LeBron sweepstakes teams there's two left. The first that we'll look at is a team with a huge upside, the Los Angeles Clippers. Sure, they've been in the backseat in Los Angeles like the White Sox have been in Chicago, but the White Sox have had seveal seasons where they've been a better actual team than the Cubs. However, the same is rarely the case with the Clippers, and it doesn't seem to be the case this coming season. Then again, when you look at who they're going up against, that's not necessarily a horrible thing. The Clippers have a strong group at this point that can be built around fairly easily. However, their biggest problem is inexperience. they look to have a starting lineup next year featuring Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Ryan Gomes (?), Blake Griffin, and Chris Kaman. The biggest questions in that lineup are the health of Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, if Blake Griffin can be a force in the NBA, and the small forward position. It's looking like the Clippers may have $4-5 million to spend still at this point, and Matt Barnes and James Jones could be guys who can fit into that lineup very well who can fit in that position. Barnes would be the more ideal of the two due to his defense, but the Clippers are not only a team with a good looking starting lineup next season. With a bench that will certainly include Randy Foye and DeAndre Jordan as well as good looking rookies in Al-Farouq Aminu (potential starting small forward) and Eric Bledsoe, this is a team that is loaded with potential. The danger is in potential though. Who knows how Blake Griffin, Al-Farouq Aminu, or Eric Bledsoe will turn out? None of them have played a single game in the NBA. Griffin and Aminu especially both look to be guys who will at least be very good, if not all-stars at the NBA level, but we really just don't know. In the west it's hard to say. The playoffs there seem to always be filled with 50 win teams. However, at the same time, there always seems to be one or two surprise teams that step in. Take the Thunder this past season for example. It can happen, and to be honest, the Clippers seem to be one of the more likely teams, but it's going to be one of those wait and see if it happens things.
With the New Jersey Nets, things just don't look great. They have the coolest owner in the world in Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov, aka the REAL most interesting man in the world, but at the same time, they've had a lot of trouble in free agency. Not only were they another team shut out in free agency, but their consolation prizes haven't totally met their needs. Their first consolation prize came in the form of the draft, before they knew they'd need one in the form of Derrick Favors. I can say that I still think that this was an excellent pick for them. Josh Boone just wasn't enough on offense, even though he was a nice defender. Favors, at worst, is going to be another Tyrus Thomas, which is more than a step up. Favors seems to be so much brighter than Thomas ever was, so in the long run, he could be a very good power forward, maybe even a smart version of...dare I say...Shawn Kemp. Let's keep grounded though and we'll look everywhere else for now. At point guard they have Devin Harris starting with Jordan Farmar backing him up. There's not much that can be complained about there. Harris is a very good starter and Farmar is more than a servicable as a backup, although he really is never going to be more than a backup. At shooting guard they have Courtney Lee, who is a nice player on both ends, and with Anthony Randolph either as his backup or as the guy starting over him. At small forward they have Terrence Williams who is all the rage, an all-around talent, without a doubt, although he's not great at any single area. His backup should be Travis Outlaw, one of the big signings for the Nets this offseason. At power forward it's hard to envision anyone other than Derrick Favors starting there, even though he still is raw. Kris Humphries seems to be his backup, which is only another reason to believe that Favors will be the starter. At center Brook Lopez will obviously be the starter. His backup may be someone as small as Brian Zoubek, but at the same time, Lopez is a guy who can give you 38 or so great minutes per game throughout a season. He's an excellent offensive player with a very good defensive game. While the Nets are far from contention, they're one of those young teams with a ton of talent. They almost remind me of the Atlanta Hawks several years ago. This is a team that can go places, but they're far from being where they can go. If I'm in charge of operations I'm looking mainly at a cheap power forward (I don't think they have a lot of money to spend, looking at the numbers and estimated numbers), although Earl Barron may be worth a shot for them.
To look at it all in perspective, of those six teams, look for the Heat to be the best of the bunch, but look for the Bulls to compete to be the next best with the Clippers coming in third, Knicks in fourth, Cavs in fifth, and Nets in sixth, but that's just among those six teams. The Nets are the only team that I feel will need more time to really compete in their conference for a playoff spot. However, as actual competitors in their conference go, the Bulls and Heat seem to the be the only ones.
