State of the Union: 2011 NBA Free Agent Class
by B-Huse on Jul 19, 2010 2:18 AM EDT
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Print[From the FanPosts, B-Huse looks ahead to next summer's free agents and ranks his wish list. -TL]
We're almost there gentlemen. This time next year, the horrid contracts of Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Foster, and T.J. Ford will be off the books. So who are our next possible players to wear the blue and gold? Here's my top 10....
1. SF Carmelo Anthony: This is the obvious #1 choice. He may not have ridiculous ups like his '03 draft buddies in D-Wade and Lebron but he is still a beast. He doesn't get a lot of love but his stats are insane. 28.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.2 APG, and 1.28 SPG. This would mean Danny would have to bulk up a bit and move to the power forward spot but I'm sure he'd find it worth it to bring one of the best players in the NBA at his side.
2. PF/C Al Horford (RESTRICTED): Great player to have on your team, but don't get your hopes up. Like I've listed next to his name, Horford if restricted (meaning Atlanta can match any offer sent to him). Seeing that Al just came off an All-Star season at the age of 24 I doubt the Hawks let him go without a fight. The Pacers would probably need to give up at least 15 mil. to pry him away.
3. PG Tony Parker: We all know the desperate situation we are at with the point guard position. Now will the picture get any prettier by next year? Who knows? But, Parker should be at the top of our list when it comes to the 1. He's quick and runs the offense like a quarterback. I also wouldn't mind having Eva Longoria hanging around Geist.
4. PF/C Kendrick Perkins: Two words some this guy up pretty well "Wrecking Ball". Strong as an ox and will throw people around in the paint. Knows how to be a winner after being around the big 3 in Boston and will get you boards and blocks. Needs to work on his awful jump shot though.
T-4. PF/C Nene: Tied with Kendrick Perkins at the 4 spot, Nene is a very good player with a much better jumper. So why is he not higher then Perkins? Nene has battled various injuries over the years including a battle with testicular cancer. Stability is certainly an issue.
6. C Yao Ming: A lot of people would probably have him higher on their list, but the human body is not supposed to be that big and his lower body won't be able to take the abuse much longer. He's also of course coming off major surgery and who knows if he can ever get back to the level he was at before the injury at the age of 29? Also, his asking price to tear him away from Houston will have to be above 10 million... which I doubt he's worth.
7. PG Mo Williams: People overrated him for a while, now I think people are responding too much to that and underrating him. He's a very good player who can score in numerous ways. He's also probably one of the scariest players from beyond the arc.
8. PF/SF Jeff Green (RESTRICTED): He would be higher but his performance in the playoffs has dropped his value a bit. Good fit for a Magic style sort of offense, but needs to decide if he's gonna be a 3 or a 4. Don't count on getting him due to his restricted status. The Thunder have a very tight-knit group there and I doubt they let one of their pieces like that go. We would probably have to go around the 12 million range to make sure the Thunder don't match the offer.... which is too much for him
9. SF/PF Thaddeus Young (RESTRICTED): Meet Jeff Green's younger, skinnier twin Thaddeus.
10. C Tim Duncan: Having him 10th on here only has to do with him being 34. He will go down as one of the best bigs to ever play the game but he's just not in our plans of getting younger. Plus, I don't see him leaving San Antonio, smart money says he retires a Spur.
Wild Card!: C Greg Oden (RESTRICTED): Everybody knows his story. Ultra-talented player who's been plagued by injury his whole career. Signing him is an interesting concept. You could invest money in him and get a player who's always hurt or a player who recovers from injuries and becomes one of the best bigs in the game. I can also see him fitting in very well with Hibbert with Oden playing the 4.... he has REALLY bulked up.
So there's the info, what would you try and do? Is free agency the route you go when you can try and take contracts from other teams for nothing? If so, which players do you think would be available?
Love to hear your ideas and reactions guys, thanks.
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Well...
I would love to get a healthy Oden, but you have to think they match any offer for him, if he has a good season.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 19, 2010 3:14 AM EDT reply actions
There is light at the end of the tunnel!
Go White Sox!
I've never seen a supernova blow up, but if it's anything like my old Chevy Nova, it'll light up the night sky. - Fry
Many of those players would be great...
But I think we only have a chance at 4 of those players.
Horford (if we offer him a ton of dough)
Mo Williams (I’m not a huge fan, but there are worse players to have)
Thaddeus (how many 6-8 forwards do we need really)
Oden (only because he is from here and might want to come back.)
I think Thaddeus is redundant, Horford would be overpaid (but worth it IMO), and Williams would be my third or fourth option.
Oden truly is the wildcard and if we got him would depend almost entirely on how much Portland wants to keep him. I would think he’d be worth it for a limited amount of money, but it depends on how much Portland is willing to match. Unfortunately, I could see the FO making it a priority to sign him for seat filling purposes and overpaying him.
Well, if he plays up to his draft status...
He’d be worth it, you could kinda say we’ve had success with Portland’s castoffs.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 19, 2010 4:56 AM EDT up reply actions
Thad and Oden will get picked back up.
Horford will be a huge target for good teams but since he is restricted, I see ATL keeping him. Mo WIlliams is the only possibility I see on the whole list, and he is not even close to the answer.
I see one guy who would possibly sign with us
so this doesn’t matter.
There are also multiple teams with cap space as well. We aren’t even close to the only ones, or the most appealing ones.
Oden and Conley
We could overpay and maybe get them here as a tandem.
Not a lot of hope to get anyone else to come to Indy. Other than maybe Zach Randolph, who is a UFA.
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
I'll say that Stephenson will be better than Conley.
There I said it.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 19, 2010 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I wouldnt touch Zach Randolph with a mile long pole after the allegations hes had for being a drug kingpin. No way, no how.
These predictions get crazier and crazier about Stephenson. All over this site since we drafted him I’ve heard not predictions, but a lot of statements of what Lance will become. But the truth is nobody knows what he’s gonna be. Can he play point guard? Is he a natural or could there be a huge learning curve? Is he quick enough? Can he even play the shooting guard spot? Has he matured? Let’s let him play his first NBA game before we start saying this stuff. This guy is probably gonna be one of the hardest players to predict what he is going to become.
Isn't all talk befor the season...
Just predictions and unsubstantiated statements. It’s part of the fun coming to a site like this in the off-season. Just enjoy the ride and put out your own crazy predictions and unsubstantiated statements. Follow that misleading gut and hope.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 12:36 AM EDT up reply actions
It's Al Horford or bust for me.
I mean Melo would be nice, but we’ve got Danny so Melo would just be a luxury rather than a neccesity. Al Horford at the 4 is a neccessity. Tony Parker is an intriguing option no doubt – but a) he’s a Frenchie and b)we would have to MASSIVELY overpay for him – an easier and cheaper option is to just draft Brandon Knight/Kyrie Irving. You might argue that we could just draft a PF instead of getting Al Horford, but the highest ranked PF in the draft(I know it’s early days) is Donetas Montejunas, so a big drop off. I think Kendrick Perkins is overrated – playing in Boston makes him look better than he actually is. As for Nene, I think Roy could be just as good as Nene. I agee with you on Yao. His body is breaking down, and he could end up like JO. Mo Williams is actually an intriguing option who I wouldn’t mind, but I’m sure Cleveland will re-sign him. Jeff Green is over-rated and like you said part of the Thunder nucleus – and they wouldn’t let him go easy. Thaddeus Young. Meh – I don’t really see how he makes this team better. Timmy is retiring a Spur. Greg Oden if he came for the right price would be awesome. But would Portland give up on him that easy? Al Horford is a neccesity. We don’t have a starting 4. He can score. He can rebound. He can bang. He can defend the paint. He can play center if Roy goes down. Horford is like the perfect 4 for this team. We absolutely have to get him next summer.
But we need to.
What’s the point of all this cap space if we’re just going to fill it with the Ramon Sessions’ of the NBA? Horford can defend, score, rebound. Horford would allow Roy to play his game, and bring out the best in Roy, and accelerate his development. Let’s overpay for Horford. Why can’t we get him?
ATL will clear cap to resign him
Other more appealing teams would be willing to pay Max as well, even if ATL is not willing to match.
More appealing teams like who?
Seriously. With all our cap space next summer I think looking at our competitors and what they’ll already have rostered would help a lot.
Some call it rationalizing, some call it shilling, some call it being blind. I call it holding on for dear life.
Yes more appealing
There are many teams gearing up to have space next season and we are one just one of them. The only big prize next year is Melo. If HOU/NYK/NJ/DAL/NO/etc. doesn’t land him, they will look at Horford. Then once they sign Horford to a offer sheet, Atlanta will match it.
I think our core is not bad, but at the moment we are not in a position to show them that by adding you(Al Horford) that we become contenders. If we Tank and add a real bigtime franchise piece, we would be in the position to do this.
Again
Who? What teams are current on pace to have cap space other than us?
Some call it rationalizing, some call it shilling, some call it being blind. I call it holding on for dear life.
Houston, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver
Are just some of the teams that expect to be players in the free agent market next season.
Nobody has the money we do, minus Toronto and Minnesota. Two places that are colder and just as boring as Indianapolis. Also, nobody’s going to wanna go to Minnesota the way David Kahn is screwing things up there. Well Denver has the money too but the only reason is cause they would be losing 2 of there 3 best players to have cap. Lets just hope the Nuggets implode for some reason.
I don't think New Orleans are looking to sign a max deal.
They seem to wanna sale the team and adding a guy that fills out the cap (mostly) isn’t gonna be likely.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
they dont even have the money for a max guy, at least I don’t think they do. CP3 is like 13 mil., Emeka and David West are over 10 each.
Well, they probably couldn't get Horford in that case.
So, they seem like a non-player. Dallas seems unlikely, Denver made a mistake in signing Al Harrington and now there on the hook for him for awhile. Houston, that all depends on whether they resign Yao. New Jersey would be interesting, but they have a young forward and a pretty good center, so they seem unlikely.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions
It does not matter what things look like right now
It depends on what goes on from now until the deadline that will shape the cap. I can assure you, there will be multiple teams making moves to free up money for ’Melo.
by kennythered on Jul 22, 2010 12:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Possible.
But I think he might get extended and stay in Denver.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 22, 2010 1:44 AM EDT up reply actions
LeBron could have stayed in Cle
Didn’t stop teams from preparing for him. Melo is only a tick below LeBron.
by kennythered on Jul 23, 2010 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't think anyone thought he really would.
He was gonna go somewhere else, regardless of winning a championship there or not.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 23, 2010 2:24 AM EDT up reply actions
3 Days before his Decision
Every expert on ESPN said LeBron would stay and gave it a 75% chance or better. Word also is if LeBron could have convinced Bosh to come to CLE he would have stayed.
Thats not the argument though. The fact is, teams will prepare to woo Melo with big contracts. We will not be the only team with cap, but instead one of many.
So...
ESPN gets shxt wrong all the time. Lebron is the an extreme narcissist and you could say he actually got more attention this way, but again that irrelevant to the conversation. Do I think teams will try to woo Melo, sure, but if they need the cap space, they’ll be talking to us. After all, we have the expiring contracts, so we could definitely come out of this winners.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 23, 2010 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions
I think so too
eventually the pacers will have to over pay for some type of talent just to get them to come to indy to play.. THe city isnt a great place to live compared to NY or Cali and its not like they have a winning caliber team. The Pacers will have to over pay for a player to make it more inticing to play for them. Why not over pay for a guy who you know will produce and do all of the little things it takes to win…I wouldnt over pay Murphy style but …
Well...
If you believe stories regarding Manning. People and fans from around the area don’t bug them when they’re just walking around it seems. That could be appealing, haha… weak argument.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 12:38 AM EDT up reply actions
We have to build thru the draft
The Weather is bad in Indy and nightlife for 20 somethings isn’t near what it is elsewhere.
Resigning a guy and luring a top level free agent are two different animals.
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
I think Melo can take bad weather. I mean the guy went to college in New York and plays ball in Colorado. He can take it.
Does that mean Granger is playing the 4?
So, it’d be like
PG – Stephenson
SG – George
SF – Melo
PF – Granger
C – Roy
that’d be a lineup for some fast paced scoring, wonder about the defense.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Yea that’s what I had in mind. Well if ur worried about Danny playing the 4, Roy thrived in that 5 game winning streak with Danny playing power forward cause Murphy was injured and not bringing his D down. I’d like to see Danny add on 15 or so more pounds though if this were to work. You know Carmelo is a good defensive player… he’s not the best but by the way he can light it up I’ll live with it. Can’t really see how Lance and Paul would be. They have the potential to play some crazy D. That’s not what Stephenson’s known for but he has a 6’11 wingspan, is 6’5, and is guarding point guards. Quickness is a bit of a question mark that will be answered. Paul really has a lot of potential. He got a lot of steals in summer league, averagin around 2.4-2.8 (Not sure but it’s up there). So long arms and athletecism all around. would be a pain to go against.
I Would love this team.
Young and athletic, just beautiful. Bet it’d be fun to watch.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 21, 2010 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions
It would be one hell of a team to watch. Big question mark to me though is what Stephenson will bring to the table at the point guard position. If he put all his heart into being a floor general he could be incredible. But, usually once a scorer is always a scorer. I’d like to see us do with Lance that teams have with Andre Miller. Let Lance just back down the smaller player and let him go to work. He could be dynamic but a bigger Monta Ellis…. may flirt with being a point guard but will always just wanna fill up the score board.
Well
I think he you want him to be a scorer. I think passing first might be a bit overrated. Because if he constantly just passing the ball, that will get the team nowhere. I want him to score when it’s the right time and to pass when it’s the right time. I’m gonna say I want a smart basketball player at the point. I agree with backing down, but it seems likely JOB won’t allow such a thing. He doesn’t let Roy do it, so I don’t see Stephenson getting the chance.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 21, 2010 3:31 AM EDT up reply actions
Oden...
I don’t think Portland let’s Oden go, they have to keep him and hope in order to save face on the Durant screw-up.
by captain flitzy on Jul 20, 2010 12:04 AM EDT reply actions
Mo Williams is under contract for 8.5 million in 2011/2012
he has an option for 2012/2013. He will not be a FA after next season.
eh, does it really matter if the league is locked out anyway?
No free agent is coming here. Indiana can’t use the cap space to sign anyway because at best, we will pull a detroit and overpay horribly for mediocre players and get stuck sucking for the next 10 years.
We have to use this capspace for ripping off teams in trades looking to dump players salary wise.
And another question: if Conley wasn’t from Indiana would anyone really care about him? Honestly… he seems really underwhelming and his PER sucks. It was in TJ Ford range… Hell.. teh same goes for Oden… we would have to overpay and give a ridiculous contract so Portland wouldn’t match… for a player who gets hurt every year.
That's why you only sign Oden if he stays healthy for a year.
To be fair T.J. Ford has actually had good PER, but that was before he played for JOB. I’m not interested in signing a point guard at this point, (yes, i know he isn’t available till next season.) because I think that Stephenson could work. And, If he doesn’t its no big deal because we can sign/draft someone else.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions
I say after the trade deadline, the big contracts we haven’t moved yet… drop em, Let the youngens get some time in and let fellow New Yorkers Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson convince Melo to come here. That actually might be a good bargaining chip.
If we don't move them
I agree with that thinking.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Give Stephenson a shot
Start him right away and let him play it out and see what he is and what he can do. Either way the team isnt a contender so why would we still wanna float around the 30 win mark and never really improve. Sooner or later we are gonna have to play the young guys considering most of the roster is young guys now. JOB needs to start em and let them play major minutes to see what they are capable of and see what direction the team needs to go. Its time to play the players that the team drafts and see what they have..why wait the time is now.
Stephenson/Price
George/Rush
Granger/
hansbrough/Rolle
Hibbert/Mcbob
Because JOB's philosophy is to play the vets because...
the vets supposedly give us the best chance of winning.
Just gonna have to give him no choice.
I think Stephenson has a good chance to start, because TJ Ford doesn’t seem like a fave of JOB and the same could be said of Price.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 9:10 PM EDT up reply actions
I had this big post
written up saying if we’re out of it by mid-February JOB’ll be fired and someone gets a trial run.
Then I remembered we brought on Potapenko and McCarty as ass’ts specifically because they’re JOB guys and no one else would take a one year gig. Then I threw a glass against the wall. There’s a pretty slim chance JOB’s gone before the season ends, I mean are we gonna replace 3 staff members mid-season? We’d all be fine with it, but just not realistic.
٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ The sky is falling!
With the way the CBA is shaking out...
Doesn’t look like JOB will be gone at the end of the year either.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 20, 2010 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions
POR resigns Oden if he stays healthy.
Why would they let a healthy player, with star potential (he still has it, look at the numbers), to walk?
by kennythered on Jul 22, 2010 12:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Stupidity.
They have a pretty good record of that.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jul 22, 2010 1:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Melo's not coming here
End that discussion. I’ll frankly be pretty surprised if he leaves Denver.
٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ The sky is falling!
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