The Best Of What's Left

Almost all of this year's NBA free agents crop has now been signed. Of the few that remain, most have already finalised which training camp they're going to, and training camp contracts have already begun to be signed. However, these are far from being the only players in the world. A shedload of remaining NBA calibre players remain unsigned, as rosters across the whole of FIBA are being trimmed and cheapened due to the current economic thing that you may have heard about.

At the moment, including qualifying offers that are as-yet pending, there are 421 players in the NBA, out of a potential maximum of 450. That total does not include people who have committed to sign but that haven't done it yet (Garrett Temple, Rodney Carney, Curtis Jerrells, Russell Robinson, etc). Assuming (wrongly) that all of those 421 are here to stay, there are a maximum of 29 places left in the NBA; however, considering that many teams will run with 13 or 14 man rosters this year, and we're already averaging 14 players per team, the real amount is even less than that. As such, there's nothing but a scant few places available in the world's strongest basketball league, and several jillion candidates fighting for them. But this shouldn't stop them from fighting, and nor will it stop me from listing.

There now follows a list of the best of what's left of this year's free agency market. Listed in no particular order. Also note: there's lots of NBA calibre players that aren't in the NBA. But if they're not in this free agents list, then they're signed elsewhere. Check the other countries rosters to find them.



Point Guards

- Raymond Felton: The only guards who shot a worse percentage on inside shots than Raymond Felton last year were Derek Fisher, Luke Ridnour and Sebastian Telfair. The fact that Felton shot only 29% from three point range doesn't help, either. But despite Felton's perpetually inefficient scoring and his career PER of 13.7, the market for Felton shouldn't have been as slow as it has been. It's been non-existent, in fact. The only suitor, it appears, is the Bobcats. A report came out the other day, presumably based out of whispers from Felton's camp, that said a deal in the $7 million a year range would get it done. It probably would. But it's also too much. Felton looks like an inevitable candidate to re-sign for his one year qualifying offer, being as it is for a sizeable (and apt) $5.5 million.

- Nate Robinson: Robinson, too, looks like he's inevitably re-signing to a one year deal. For those unsure of quite how annoying the Knicks 2010 plan is, let me tell you that it's really, really annoying. And if it works out, it will be even more annoying. Not because of jealousy (although that will factor), but because this is no way to manage an NBA team. If you want to make salary cutting moves such as Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington, then feel free to do so. Good move, that one. And if you want to attach an asset to a bad contract just to shift it for more cap space, then that's fine too. But don't do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL. That's not good for the game. And it's also really boring.

- Jamaal Tinsley: Tinsley sat out all of last year (without wanting to) and played only 39 games the season before. He is now 31 years old, and hardly viewed upon in favour by an NBA world that hasn't seen him for God knows how long. But despite all that, despite his startling inconsistency, despite his tendency to be around while crimes are being committed, despite his penchant for cheeseburgers and despite his jarring scoring ineffiency, Jamaal Tinsley is very talented. Not many people can pass and handle like he can, and not many point guards can rebound like him. He can defend pretty well, too. Of course, it doesn't help that Tinsley himself only plays like Jamaal Tinsley can once a week, but there's really a lot of talent there. This is a man who posted a 23 assist game in his rookie year. 23 assists. That's a lot of freaking assists. That one outing may have been 8 years ago, but it was also only 18 months ago that Tinsley was averaging 8.4 assists per game. That, too, is a lot of freaking assists. Miami were said to be interested, but other teams should be too. Unless he's gotten really fat or something.

- Tyronn Lue: Reports came out that said that Tyronn Lue had signed in Greece. Then reports came out that said that Lue had turned down the offer from Greece. Now, a new wave of reports have come out saying that Lue has signed in Greece. I don't know where we stand on that right now. Either way, the team that's trying to sign him (PAOK) only just staved off bankruptcy two months ago, so this doesn't seem like a long term solution. Boston were said to have been chasing Lue at one point, but that broke down, which is a shame because they could use him.

(EDIT: It's now been said, again, that the PAOK transfer fell through because Lue asked for too much money. PAOK have now signed William Avery instead. Slight difference.)

- Carlos Arroyo: Arroyo has been the compelling protagonist in a lot of made-up rumours about him this summer. From Chicago to Milwaukee, via the Clippers and the Sixers, lots of teams were said to have been interested in his services, sometimes with absolutely no truth to it whatsoever. So, always keen to get in on trends, I'll play along; according to an unnamed Western Conference executive, Arroyo is set to sign a three year deal with the expansion North Texas Fresh of the ABA. You heard it here first. You heard it here only. Because it's not true.

- Chucky Atkins: Atkins is not a free agent, yet. But he will be. Currently, Minnesota holds his unguaranteed contract, which has only $760,000 of $3,480,000 guaranteed. They'll probably hold onto it for a while - they essentially have a free player until December - trying to use him as a trade asset. There's lots of teams that need to save money this year more than Minnesota does. But wherever he ends up, Atkins will be a free agent at some point in the next three months, adding another veteran point guard to a market quite heavy in them. The difference is that this one can shoot.

- Earl Boykins: Boykins' year in Italy didn't go too well. At all. He was almost released at Christmas time for going home without permission. Nevertheless, he saw out the season with La Fortezza Bologna, but I don't think they're friends enough for a retrial. This puts Boykins back on the market for an NBA team, should they so choose. If you need a midrange jumpshot-shooting offense-first player with no three point shot and permanent defensive disadvantages, then this is the guy for you.

- Dan Dickau: The Celtics have apparently invited Dickau to training camp, which ones again craps on my stupid theory that no one ever goes to the German league and comes back to the NBA. I don't know why I say these things sometimes.

- Brevin Knight: Knight had a good bounceback season last year, after a few years of steady decline. Oh wait, no he didn't; he boasted a career low PER of 9.3. Never mind then.

- Mike Wilks: Perhaps against my better judgement, I have long advocated the virtues of Mike Wilks. He's only 5'10, which is reason enough to (in fact, as far as I can remember, the only guaranteed contract he ever had was when he was signed and traded to the Bulls; he was waived before playing a game). But he's not that bad. He's been in the NBA for bit parts of 6 years because he's all right. The question now is whether his knee - which he badly tore last October, causing him to miss all of last season - is good to go yet. If it is, then I advocate him as a signing. But only for the inactive list.

- Eddie Gill: Eddie Gill was in the NBA last year. You might have missed this, because it was quiet and pointless. But it happened. Gill was first in the NBA way back in 2000, and he's still going, because there's still Scott Skiles' out there who lobby for veteran point guards. Fun Eddie Gill fact: Eddie Gill scored the 6 millionth point in NBA history. So he'll always have a legacy.

- Jacque Vaughn: Vaughn is now 34, and hasn't been good since he was 26. Last year was particularly bad. It doesn't look as though there's anything left; your front office may disagree, however. You can't put a price on old point guards, apparently.

- Stephon Marbury: No.

- Sean Singletary: True to their policy of not spending a single dollar this offseason, the Bobcats declined Single Terry's team option and left him unrestricted. He has since remained unsigned. Terry played in summer league with the Pistons team, started every game, and did all right, but the Pistons have decided to sign Curtis Jerrells of Baylor to audition for the third point guard spot instead. This can't be good for Singletary's chances.

- Jason Hart: Memphis worked him out at one point; indeed, Memphis worked out every free agent guard at one point. They didn't sign him, though, instead deciding upon the infinitely more talented duo of Allen Iverson and Marcus Williams. The Nuggets ended last season with both Hart and Anthony Carter on the roster (presumably making Hart the shooter of the two), but they've decided they don't need both now, which is probably best. Hart was genuinely decent for the Bobcats back in 2004/05, but that was a while ago now. Since then, it's been mostly nothing.





Shooting Guards

- Ronald Murray: Murray has gone from overrated to underrated. He became overrated after his scoring explosion as a Sonic back in 2003/04; now, he's underrated after a fine season of 6th man scoring for the Hawks. The Hawks had signed Murray to only a one year, $1.5 million contract in the first place, and got great returns for their money, yet now they'd rather pay Jamal Crawford $20 million to do exactly what Murray did last year. It makes no sense, and what makes less sense is how few other suitors Murray has had. Memphis gave him a workout, but that's about it. And this isn't right. You mean to tell me that the Sixers can't crank off $2 million for one year of their untouched MLE to obtain a decent and sorely needed backcourt scorer? He's not the best shooter in the world, but he's better than Willie Green. At everything. He doesn't even have to affect your pretty desperate 2010 situation. This doesn't seem right. If someone signs Ronald Murray for the minimum this year, they'll be stoked with their returns.

- Rashad McCants: McCants has been for workouts with the Nuggets and Cavaliers, and has a camp invite for unguaranteed money from the Heat that he hasn't accepted yet. It's quite the fall for a man who was the second leading scorer on the Timberwolves two years ago on not-terrible efficiency. Last year, though, was a complete brainfart: McCants, always a chucker, chucked more than ever, and his efficiency tumbled off the charts. His defense still consists solely of fouling, and he's less and less interested in offensive continuity. If he calmed down and embraced a role similar to J.R. Smith's on the Nuggets, he might be all right. But it hasn't happened yet.

- Luther Head: A personal favourite of mine, Head would be ideally suited to a team with a superstar swing man, a team that needs a complimentary shooter and defender at the point guard spot, someone who doesn't have to do much dribbling ro playmaking. Think of him as kind of a crap Derek Fisher, with far less ball handling. Someone's got to need this, surely? Boston? Cleveland? No? Damn.

- Thomas Gardner: Gardner has a career PER of 2.4. However, he averages only 7.2 minutes per game for his career, so per 36 minutes that's a PER of 12.0. Which is better. [That was a joke.]

- Salim Stoudamire: The Bucks mercifully waived Salim aabout six weeks ago, and he hasn't been heard from since. Salim is another personal favourite of mine, but the thing with undersized shooting guards is that there's loads of them, and so even the good ones usually only have an NBA shelf life of about 3 years. Salim's had three years and then some, so I don't know where this puts him.

- DerMarr Johnson: DerMarr barely played last season, spending 8 games in the D-League in March and 11 games in Puerto Rico in May. That was it. He's now 29 years old, hasn't corrected the flaws he came into the league with, and is unsigned.

- Coby Karl: I'm telling you. Nuggets. This isn't a scoop; it's just an inevitability. Has your dad ever tried to get you a job at his company? Mine has. He even wanted me to take over his company for a while. It's the done thing. George Karl will do the same. Watch and learn.

- Greg Buckner: Like Chucky Atkins, Buckner is not a free agent. Yet. The Mavericks currently have a 17 player roster, and Buckner's contract is less than 25% guaranteed. This makes him an obvious cut should it come to that; however, there's no doubt that the Mavericks are whoring out this unguaranteed contract as a trade chip, along with those of Drew Gooden and Shawne Williams. If they can't get a deal done (meaning, if they can't get Philly to accept Matt Carroll in a deal for Sam Dalembert), then Buckner will be cut, at which point he is free to join pastures new. If he can find them.

- Kirk Snyder: Snyder was on this list last year. That's the only reason why he's on this one. Latest Kirk Snyder news: after months of being force fed his food and medication, Snyder has been found competent to stand trial. His bond was reduced from $500,000 to $25,000, and his lawyer said they could pay it, so presumably Snyder is now out of jail/hospital. If he is, he is to be fitted with a monitoring device and ordered to stay out of Warren County. No trial date yet.

- Morris Almond: Almond was with the Knicks for summer league, and scored quite highly. Then again, scoring was never his problem. It was expected that the Knicks would bring him in for summer league, but they've already started their summer league signings, and Almond wasn't one of them. So this remains up in the air.

- Juan Dixon: Dixon's days of masquerading as a scoring specialist look pretty much numbered. Last year he did his usual thing, and totalled 261 points on 259 shots. He's all right, but if your team is looking for a shooting specialist at guard, wouldn't they be better off with a player with a true three point shot?

- Bobby Jackson: Jackson's been slowing down for a few years, but he's not done yet. He can't get up and down like he once could (giggidy), but he can still score the ball off the bench. He sounds like a good fit for Boston, even if they don't really know it yet.

- Kareem Rush: For years, Kareem Rush has been signed to be a shooter. But this year, it hasn't happened. Has the league finally cottoned on?

- Mario West: West is supposed to be going back to the Hawks for training camp. Clearly Atlanta thinks he's going to show something that that he's kept craftily hidden for the last two seasons. I know he's really a decent defensive player and all, but West does extremely little on offense. At what point does that cancel out the defense?

- Keith Bogans: Bogans was traded from the Magic to the Bucks partway through last season, but they haven't re-signed him. However, since the Bucks currently only have three backup two guards (Carlos Delfino, Charlie Bell and Jodie Meeks) and three backup small forward options (Delfino, Walter Sharpe, Joe Alexander, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute), they surely could use one more.

- Damon Jones: Jones has always been a good shooter, despite all the huge gaping flaws in his game and his excessive swag. The league always needs catch and shoot players, and Jones is one of the best ones left. So why is no one signing him? Well, because they have no reason to. Just know that he's there if you want him.

- Anthony Roberson: The Bulls did the inevitable and waived Roberson in mid-July, after Gar Forman had spent summer league cussing him out for how bad he was. Good times. Roberson is unsigned and unheard of, although Jack McClinton called him "A-Robe" in a Tweet the other day, which was strangely fun. He's still a manslut.




Small Forwards

- Sasha Pavlovic: Any day now, Pavlovic will be waived. And when that happens, he'll probably get a new contract fairly quickly. This is because he has a good reputation, and not because he has a huge degree of skill. I don't want this piece to be too PER-centric - and it kind of gets like that near the bottom - but Pavlovic's career PER is 9.0, and his highest in any season is 12.1. That's crap. The man may have wanted a 6 year, $35 million contract back in the day, but he's worth roughly the minimum. Let's hope no one outbids themself for him.

- Desmond Mason: Mason was one of those "if only he can develop" a jumpshot players for a long time, but those days are long gone. Mason never did develop a jumpshot, and has lost whatever fledgling one he had. He's now a bit part player, a defensive specialist with occasional post offense, whether he wants to be or not. Larry Harris' decision two years ago to give him a 2 year, $10.3 million contract after back to back seasons of 10 PER was pretty stupid at the time, yet now that the contract has expired, Desmond can't even get the minimum. The Thunder have ruled out re-signing him. Tough times.

- Wally Szczerbiak: The days of Wally Szczerbiak being able to play as a big guard are probably over; he was always slow for the position, and he's not gotten any faster. But Wally is still good at the only thing he was ever good at - shooting - and that's not going to change either. He should catch on somewhere, even if Denver decide against him.

- Gerald Green: Green didn't do anything last year to change his reputation. He jumped a lot, scored a bit, and gave back even more at the other end. That said, as flawed as he still is, he's also still good enough to be in the NBA, and he's still only 23. It's surprising that someone hasn't taken a chance on him yet. As reclamation projects go, you could do worse.

- Ime Udoka: There's a rumour that Udoka is to return to the Blazers as a training camp invitee. If he does, then things are looking pretty bleak for him, because the Blazers already have Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and Nicolas Batum at the small forward position. Udoka is 32, so he's old, but not THAT old, and while he didn't have a very good season last year, his comparatively short NBA career might be good news for his longevity. I'm reaching here, but you can see my point. Probably because I'm not wearing any trousers.

- Ronald Dupree: Dupree is going to go to camp with the Utah Jazz, rightly deserving of his place in the NBA once again. It might not last long, though, because the Jazz are on for their biggest ever payroll by miles. And they won't want to spend on a 15th man unless they have to.

- Rob Kurz: Who was it who wrote that article about Rob Kurz potentially being the Cavaliers missing piece? Yeah. No. He might not even join them, reputedly now favouring the Nuggets instead.

- Bonzi Wells: Wells wants to join the Heat, but no one has said if the Heat want Wells to join them. Every year, Miami seems to obtain a small forward, someone to further guarantee that Dorell Wright never sees the court. This year, they've already gotten Quentin Richardson, and so they don't really need another. They didn't even need Quentin. But must that stop them? (Also, how bad has the Heat's offseason been? If you want to convince Dwyane Wade to stay, don't just rest all your Stan Laurels in the 2010 basket. Do something. Spend some tax. Get some players. Richardson doesn't count. Do what Toronto did. Try and do it better than they did, obviously, but follow their lead. Be proactive, not reactive. You're not holding the cards right now.)

- Linton Johnson: Johnson is to go to camp with Orlando, who have built themselves a nice veteran bench. However, there's not much in it for Lint; Orlando doesn't really need him, because they already have Matt Barnes. And they don't even really need Matt Barnes. So before the ink is dry, someone could still swoop in and give Linton a better option. Probably.

- Patrick Ewing Jr: The Knicks still haven't signed him, and they're carrying a very full roster now. Can't be good news for Pat.

- Sun Yue: The Knicks are reportedly going to be signing Sun Yue. Don't worry, though. You didn't miss out. He'll be a free agent again six weeks time. He's all yours then.

- Joey Graham: After 4 years of up-and-down medicrity, Graham is now out of a job. Speaking of....

- Stephen Graham: He's unsigned as well.

- Ryan Bowen: Look at it this way. Bowen never had any skill. So he can't have lost any, can he?





Power Forward

- David Lee: Lee is either seconds away from re-signing to a one year deal, or he isn't. It depends on who you read. Either way, in a different market, this guy's rocking a five year contract from someone right now. If this was last year, he might have gotten $65 million. It's been a bad year.

- Stromile Swift: Stromile Swift is a far better player, on both ends, than many people seem to give him credit for being. He may not be the most adept at learning the playbook, and he's not able to bast the world's most svelte back-to-the-basket game. But he makes good things happen. He has a career PER of 16.1, for God's sake, and even though last year was a nothing year for him, he's not even 30 yet. It's not like he's lost it all. It was as recently as the 2007/08 season that Swift was a useful scorer and shot blocker off the bench. And it was 18 short months ago that he had one of the more underrated dunks of the decade:



Someone should sign him. Unless Swift really did fall off that much at age 29, they'll be grateful that they did.

(Tyrus still bites on all fakes, by the way.)


- Darius Miles: On the power forward list for the simple reason that he's not the athlete that he was, Darius remains unsigned, which seems both fitting and awkward considering the furore that surrounded his signings last year. Memphis achieved their goal and stiffed Portland, and Darius achieved his goal and got paid. Everyone's a winner, except Portland. And except Darius, who got done for DUI.

- Mike Sweetney: After summer league, we know he's still alive, and we know he had a bag of skills back in the day. Do we really need any more than that? (Note: don't say yes. Even though the answer's yes, don't say yes. I don't want to hear it.)

- Donyell Marshall: Charlie Villanueva told me that he'd keep me posted on Donyell Marshall's situation. True story. I'm not sure I believe him, but he said it anyway. Marshall is apparently considering multiple offers, but the fact that he remains unsigned so late in the day would suggest that none of the offers are particularly brilliant.

- Andre Brown: Isn't it about that time that Andre Brown appeared on someone's training camp roster? I've never been entirely sure of what he's done to deserve it, but it's become an annual thing, so let's not be disappointed here. Someone make it happen. In four out of the last five years, Brown has at least a training camp roster, and dammit I want more. No man should have to fight so hard for a meagre 599 NBA minutes.

- Ruben Patterson: The last full year that Ruben Patterson played in the NBA was his best. As a member of the 2006/07 Bucks, Patterson set career highs in points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game and field goal percentage, scoring 14.7 points a night on 55% shooting and putting up a PER of 18.5. Since then, though, his NBA career has seen only 20 more games and one unguaranteed minimum salary contract. This isn't befitting of a man of his talent and playing resumé. But then again, he is a 34 year old convicted rapist. So it's swings and roundabouts.

- Paul Davis: Davis claimed on Millionaire Matchmaker that his next contract would be for 5 years and $35 million. If by that, he really meant "I'll be getting a workout with the Heat next offseason," then he was right. But that's all he's gotten.

- Shavlik Randolph: Randolph has worked out for the Heat, as they continue to search for the piece that will keep Wade there in 2010. That sounds like his best bet right now, if not his only bet. Even though Portland unrenounced him after Paul Millsap's QO was signed, there's no room for him there after Jeff Pendergraph and Dante Cunningham were brought in.

- Othello Hunter: Hunter played on the Warriors summer league team, but only because the Hawks didn't have one. He is expected to return to the team, even though they don't really need any more. Hunter has a long way to go before he lives up to any Brandon Bass comparisons, but he's all right.

- Malik Rose: Rose's PER has gone downwards or 7 consecutive seasons, as his salary increased for seven straight seasons. The Spurs got this one a bit wrong back in 2002.

- Melvin Ely: It's about time that people realised Melvin Ely was crap. After his one good year in Charlotte, he got an unfounded reputation as a good young post player, and.....no. He doesn't rebound, is a highly inefficient scorer, and is already 31 years of age. He's unsigned for a reason, and the reason is because he's not very good. Even the Hornets, who have struggled for frontcourt depth all season long, realise this now.

- Michael Ruffin: Like Rybo, Ruffin never had anything to give, so he can't exactly have lost it. After sitting needlessly on the Bulls cap for most of last season, he was traded to Portland as necessary filler in the highly worthwhile John Salmons deal, where he actually played a bit for no real reason. Portland then decided to draft and sign two power forwards, which kind of pissed on Muffin's chips. Ruffin is unsigned, and Ruffin is going to stay unsigned, because not even the Bulls need him any more.

- Maceo Baston: Baston will reportedly go to camp with the Pistons. But he shouldn't. Because if he does, he'll lose. The Pistons don't need him, and he doesn't need the Pistons. It's not a good fit at all. Baston's 3 year NBA redux has been quiet; he's appeared in only 89 games over those three seasons, for a total of 725 minutes. But even at age 34, he's still got some talent left. And going to the Pistons just to be waived in deference to Jonas Jerebko doesn't seem like the best use of it. Could Charlotte not ask?



Centres

- Courtney Sims: Sims is one of the better American centres not currently in the NBA, if not the best. I haven't heard about him signing anywhere for training camp, but he has done these last two years, and he really ought to. If your team signs him, he may well make your regular season roster.

- Chris Mihm: The centre crop can't be very strong when Chris Mihm is the second available free agent centre that I could think of. Mihm used to be good, but he has spent several years recovering from a severly injured ankle. He's still suffering from it, too; Mihm featured in scrub minutes of 16 games for the Lakers last season, after missing all of the 2006/07 season and playing only 23 times in 2007/08, but after being salary dumped to the Grizzlies he underwent yet another ankle surgery. Mihm is done until further notice, and seems like an inevitable candidate for a training camp spot and accompanying fluff pieces in October 2012.

- Jermareo Davidson: The Warriors waived Davidson, and later signed Mikki Moore. I have no idea why they did this. Then again, I have no idea why they do most things. Davidson is about to turn 25 and has made no obvious improvements, but he's on the fringes of the NBA nonetheless, so a return to the D-League looks inevitable.

- Brian Skinner: Brian Skinner is an overlooked player. He has the worst hands in showbusiness and all the polish of a dart player's scrotum, but he gets things done on the defensive end. Last year was no different; he averaged 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in only 16 minutes per game. His offense has always been poor, and always will be, but he'll block shots and rebound. Teams need this. Teams need Brian Skinner. But no team has Brian Skinner. And Brian Skinner is probably regretting opting out of a guaranteed $1.2 million right now.

- Aaron Gray: Gray looks like a certainty to re-sign with the Bulls for their guaranteed $1,000,497 qualifying offer, but he and his agent continue to search for a two year deal. Good luck with that.

- Calvin Booth: Calvin Booth played 1206 minutes in 2003/04, and has played a total of 1,341 minutes since. He sported a PER of 39.8 with the Timberwolves last year, but that's what 1 minute sample sizes can do to a man. Booth is now 33, and has not done anything since that 17 minute, 2 point, 0 rebound, 10 block outing back in January 2004.

- Jarron Collins: Jarron Collins is no worse than Jason Collins. In fact, I'd even say he was slightly better. Both suck, of course, but Jarron hasn't got the reputation that Jason has, back from when Jason was good. And that's why Jarron is looking for work. Jarron recently worked out for the Cavaliers, but they're already three deep at centre, and they're supposed to be bringing in Darryl Watkins for training camp. So there might not be room there.

- Dwayne Jones: Jones is in and out of the NBA, appearing in 6 games for the Bobcats last year. Teams always need defensive centres, and Jones will probably get picked up again at some point. But maybe not for very long.

- Jackie Butler: Remember this guy? He hasn't played for two years; not just in the NBA, but anywhere at all. After being waived by the Rockets in 2007 training camp, despite having a $2.3 million guaranteed contract, Butler has not signed anywhere in the world. His last game played was two and a half years ago. It's weird in a way, because Butler is only 24, and proved he could score the ball at the NBA level in his short time here. But he hasn't made it back. Not sure why.

- Mouhamed Sene: The Knicks have brought in a load of draft busts this summer, including Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Yaroslav Korolev. But they couldn't bring it upon themselves to keep Sene, who they waived. That's not a glowing endorsement of the man, and nor was his summer league output, where he once again demonstrated that all he can do on an NBA court is block shots.

- Robert Swift: Swift used to be a reasonable athlete, believe it or not. He was far from fast, and far from what his surname would have you believe, but he didn't move too badly. That was three years ago, though. And the three years hence have been full of injuries and rehabbing. Swift is now as mobile as a back-alley Spanish Peugeot, and where his career goes from here, I wouldn't like to guess. Not even Danny Ainge wants him right now.

- Raef LaFrentz: Nah, not really.

- Jake Voskuhl: The Raptors were so desperate for size last year that they signed Voskuhl, who promptly demonstrated he has nothing left and put up a PER of 0.4. So that didn't really work out. Voskuhl will probably now join the long line of aging 7 footers who remain unsigned while waiting for the Batphone to ring once again; these players usually slowly dribble out of our hearts and minds, and into the world of real estate, without so much as a press release. Shame.

- Mark Madsen: Mark Madsen's Twitter says he doesn't know whether to play, coach, or go into media. Considering his PER's these last two years have been 0.2 and -0.1, I'd probably rule out the playing. It's not coming back to you.

- Lorenzen Wright: Wright's PERs the last three years have almost been as Madsen's; 6.6, 2.5, 4.0. It was a slightly staggering -11.7 in his time with the Kings. I don't want to know how much lower it can get.


There are others that could make this list, including some who have had NBA workouts this summer. John Lucas III, for example, or the long awaited return of Greg Ostertag. If you really want to push it, there's luminaries like Mountain Man Steven Hill and Austin Croshere still out there. Even J.R. Rider is supposed to be lining up a Dickerson-style return for some bizarre reason. And players such as Keith Brumbaugh (Nuggets) and David Monds (Lakers) are said to have been offered training camp spots already. But considering how few available spots we're talking about here, this list seems long enough already.

September Still Hasn't Ended

Part 1!!!!!!!!

Now part 2!!!!!!!!



Minimum salary deals:

Atlanta signed Randolph Morris for two seasons, giving themselves both the opportunity to develop a talented young centre and the opportunity to lose him to unrestricted free agency. They also signed Othello Hunter and Thomas Gardner for training camp. Sham's lame ill-informed prediction: Hunter makes it if Solomon Jones gets traded. (Readers note: they haven't signed Dalibor Bagaric, despite it reputedly being a done deal almost a month ago. This is not good.)

Boston signed Darius Miles and Patrick O'Bryant to young'en up an old old bench. Miles could be something between inconsequential and surprising, depending on how much cartilege is in his knee. And all O'Bryant has to do to replace the production of Scot Pollard is to stay alive. Whether he becomes anything of any use is another matter, but he's not entirely talentless.

Ryan Hollins re-signed with Charlotte for the qualifying offer, after the team had already taken out the team option on Jermareo Davidson. So apparently Charlotte likes these two nigh-on identical players in equal measure. The Bobcats also signed non-shooting guard Shannon Brown, trading away their draft pick Kyle Weaver immediately afterwards. They must think incredibly little of Weaver, because Brown is pretty poor.

The Bulls re-signed Demetris Nichols on the basis that he's young, cheap, partially guaranteed and can hit a jumpshot. But mainly the second one.

Cleveland made two minimum salary signings of a polarisingly different standard. The signing of Tarence Kinsey gives the Cavaliers a young player on the cheap, one who should never have been out of the league in the first place, but in contrast, the signing of Lorenzen Wright gives a new home to someone who shouldn't be in it. Wright used to be good, but those days are long gone - he was arguably the worst player in the NBA last season, and he has every chance of being so again.

Similarly, the Mavericks made two good minimum salary signings in James Singleton and Gerald Green, yet they also brought in Keith McLeod. You need shooters, so you sign one of the worst offensive guards in or around the game? Okay. Don't get that one. But great move on The Singleton. Hustle players and rebounding specialists who can also hit three pointers are always welcome. Another player who should never have been out of the league.

Denver did their usual of padding out their bench on the cheap, but they did so with Chris Andersen, Anthony Carter and Dahntay Jones, all of whom are fine value for that price. All three are also decent defensive players, something which Denver sorely needs. Let's hope that Carter doesn't start this year, though.

Will Bynum signed with the Pistons for two seasons, giving them the backcourt shooter that they sorely need. Wait, no, that's wrong.

Golden State got into the training camp scrub signfest early, picking up Anthony Morrow, Rob Kurz, DeMarcus Nelson and Dion Dowell to come to camp. Sham's lame ill-informed prediction - Morrow and Nelson make it.

The Clippers made some more value signings, getting Jason Williams for the minimum, which is good value if they get any version of J-Will other than last year's. They also signed Brian Skinner, someone who has been criminally underrated since Billy King overpaid for him back in 2004. Paul Davis is also returning as the 15th man for no real reason.

The Lakers had some training camp pickups of their own, namely Brandon Heath, C.J. Giles, Dwayne Mitchell and Josh Powell. Powell's making it, but the rest have only a little chance. Unless I'm wrong. Which is highly possible.

(EDIT - They've sinced also re-signed Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, who'll probably make it, defying logic and rational thought.

Jamaal Magloire signed with the Heat, despite him not being very good any more. Along with camp signee David Padgett, plus returnees Mark Blount and Joel Anthony, there's not now any room left for Alonzo Mourning. (The Heat also signed Jason Richards early for training camp, but he's since torn up his knee, so that's his NBA dream over for this season.)

New Orleans went the Denver route, and padded out their bench with veterans for the minimum salary. They went for Sean Marks (OK), Ryan Bowen (pointless) and Devin Brown (genius). So, a 50% success rate there.

New York signed one of the most one dimensional players of all time in Anthony Roberson, but thoughtfully, his one dimension is one that they need.

Adonal Foyle re-signed with the Magic, which did nothing to assuage the size problems that the Magic with everyone other than Dwight Howard.

Philadelphia binged and went the veterans minimum route four times. Theo Ratliff showed surprising mobility last year for a 35 year old big man with a history of back problems, and he still has something left to give as a backup. Donyell Marshall, meanwhile, doesn't. The signing of Kareem Rush gives the Sixers two of the least efficient shooting guards in Western society today, but at least is a small improvement on their outside shooting problem. Royal Ivey, meanwhile, isn't.

Former Sixers Louis Amundson signed with the Phoenix Suns, as did former Warrior Matt Barnes. Both are good pickups and good fits in Phoenix, particularly for that price. Maybe Barnes should fire another agent, because the boy hasn't gotten paid yet.

The Portland Trail Blazers signed Luke Jackson, Steven Hill and Jamaal Tatum, and you can probably pencil in all three to be waived, particularly if Darius Miles's contract reappears on their books. If not, Hill has a chance. Unless they sign Shaun Livingston, in which case, it's game over all around.

Bobby Brown signed with the Kings for two guaranteed seasons, which gives us a new tangent of wordplay jokes if nothing else.

Anthony Tolliver and Darryl Watkins signed with the Spurs, who apparently wanted a big man who can't make a layup to save his life. (Watkins, not Tolliver.) The Spurs also brought in Desmon Farmer and Devin Green for training camp, and I hereby predict that Farmer and Tolliver make it. The Spurs don't have to penny pinch around the tax this year, these are the luxuries that they can now afford.

(EDIT: They've also since brought in Salim Stoudamire. YEEHAW!)

Toronto brought in Will Solomon to play point guard, even though he isn't one, and Hassan Adams to play two guard, even though he isn't one. I like the way they're thinking.

In entirely inconsequential news, Dee Brown is back in the NBA after signing with the Wizards.



Draft picks:

Boston's three picks saw them draft J.R. Giddens (a swingman that they don't really need right now), Bill Walker (who everyone seems to be rating really high) and Semih Erden (who we'll probably never see again). I'm curious to see why everyone loves Bill Walker so much. I'm not saying they're wrong, for it would be foolish of me to have much opinion on draftees since I don't folow NCAA basketball (note: that might make this whole section a bit dull), but I understand that Bill Walker's game is predicated on athleticism, not skill. And Walker's also just had his third knee surgery. To me, that doesn't bode well. But, sod it, what would I know. (I'll tell you what I'd know: nothing. That's what I'd know.)

Charlotte, not happy with two athletic near-seven footers, plumped for a third in Alexis Ajinca, and also plumped for a second short ass point guard in D.J. Augustin. I don't think they've identified their most immediate holes here, but then again, they could use an upgrade basically everywhere.

Chicago didn't have much thinking to do before drafting Derrick Rose, a surefire number one pick despite no one being able to draw up a clear cut list of the things he's actually good it. ("Athleticism? Check! Finishing in the lane? Check! Passing? Um, well the system he played in wasn't right. Shooting? Yes, well, he needs to improve his shooting....") They also traded three second rounders for one, and came away from that bizarre trade with Omer Asik, who will no doubt go on to lead a fabulous life and have an amazing career, despite having already suffered a serious knee injury since the night of the draft.

Correctly identifying that Ben Wallace is awful, Cleveland drafted two power forwards, J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson. Both are post players, and both are quite good, but having watched summer league, I can't remember either of them throwing a single pass. (A look at the stats confirms this - Hickson had 0 assists in summer league. Jackson had 3. Must've kept dropping it.) The Cavaliers also drafted Sasha Kaun, which I thought was a province in Canada.

Denver traded for the rights to Sonny Weems at 39, which was interesting. (Hang on, no it wasn't.)

Detroit traded out of the first round and drafted the man they would have drafted in it anyway, Walter Sharpe. They signed him for two guaranteed years, sending all us hardened and overeager NBA addicts to Wikipedia to understand narcolepsy better than we thought we did. Sharpe won't play much this year. Detroit also drafted Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington, who will play even less, because they're not on the roster.

Anthony Randolph was drafted 14th by Golden State but already looks to be better than most of the people taken ahead of him. Dick Hendrix was taken 49th, and hasn't been able to make the same boast, but he is able to boast the name of Dick Hendrix, so his life will be fine.

Houston likes three kind of players - shooters, defensive specialists, and shit point guards. Having drafted Aaron Brooks and signed Steve Francis last year, they're all right for shit point guards, so they used the secound round this year to get one of each of the other two, with defensive specialist Joey Dorsey (33rd) and Maaaaaarty Leunen (54th). They also came out of the first round with Donte Greene (28th), but that didn't last (see below).

Indiana drafted Jerryd Bayless at 11. But that's not how it ended up. See below.

The Clippers drafted the best available player at their weakest position when they took Eric Gordon at 7, and that's rarely if ever a bad strategy. In the second round, they picked up Mike Taylor (55th) and DeAndre Jordan (35th), both of whom won't contribute much for two years, which is why they signed three year contracts.

The Lakers only draft pick was Joe Crawford at 58. They've subsequently signed him, but they've also signed Brandon Heath and Dwayne Mitchell (see above), and all three are battling with Coby Karl for what looks like one spot. So they probably could have not bothered drafting Crawford. The Lakers also brought in last year's second rounder, Sun Yue, and already are getting so wildly overexcited that they're talking about playing him at guard sometimes.

Memphis obtain probably the best player available at their weakest position when they traded for Darrell Arthur at 27. Shame about the weed and hoes thing, though. (Readers note: Don't be fooled. Darrell Arthur is not a keen gardener.)

Miami drafted Michael Beasley at number two, after giving the worst acting job since Keanu Reeves in Point Break when trying to convince people that they might not. In the second round, they came away with Mario Chalmers, despite not having a pick. Since when were number 34 picks so devalued? How does Minnesota have the 31st and 34th picks, and not come out of it with a player for next year? Strange times. (Readers note: Minnesota drafted Nikola Pekovic at 31, who may well be good, but whom we also may never see.)

Milwaukee rightly identified that their forward spots were pretty desolate, so they drafted two - Joe Alexander (6th) and Cucumber A Moute (37th). Mbah A Moute's profile informs you that I've only barely seen him play, ut I've seen more of himt han I have Joe Alexander, so I'll do us all a favour and not pretend to know what's going on there.

New Jersey were lauded for their draft, that saw them get Brook Lopez at 10, Ryan Anderson at 21, and Chris Douglas-Roberts at 40. I tend to agree, except for Ryan Anderson. No offence, Ryan.

At number six, the Knicks drafted a man who "will not be a superstar" (c/o Fran Fraschilla) who plays their least needed position. So I'm going to need more convincing on the Danilo Gallinari pick.

The Thunder identified their need for a guard, and then didn't draft the best guard available, picking Russell Westbrook at 4. Either they see something the rest of the world didn't, or the rest of the world saw something that only they didn't. They also moved up into the first round to draft a power forward (D.J. White, 29th), despite having about twelve already, and after already having drafted one five spots earlier (Serge Ibaka). Entering the draft with four second rounders, they gave three away, and used the fourth on yet another big man (DeVon Hardin, 55th). Soon after the draft, they picked up Kyle Weaver from Charlotte, who obviously didn't want him. Sam Presti clearly did, though, because Weaver then signed a four (count'em, four!) year deal. The additions of he and Westbrook hopefully mean that Damien Wilkins will stop getting so much playing time, because no one likes a chucker. Unless you're a Kobe fan.

Orlando brought in Courtney Lee (22nd) because they didn't think they'd be able to keep Maurice Evans, and because they thought Keith Bogans sucked. Right on both counts.

Philadelphia drafted Marreese Speights at 16, something which led to Speights choosing 16 as his new jersey number. Not sure what role Speights will fill since Elton Brand was signed, but we won't hold that against them, given that the chicken came before the egg. Giggidy.

Phoenix got a backup centre in Robin Lopez (15th), as their roster starts to assume a more traditional makeup. This is not a bad thing.

Only Portland could go into a draft night with five picks and leave with two players, Nicolas Batum (25th) and Jerryd Bayless (11th, see below). They also brought over Rudy Fernandez, thieved from Phoenix the previous season. Young quality born out of endless money and trying hard. Good MO.

Sacramento copped more stick for head coach Reggie Theus's comments on why the team drafted Jason Thompson at number twelve than they did for the pick itself. But this doesn't mean that they got off lightly.

San Antonio tried to give away their pick, but couldn't, so took someone almost completely unheard of in George Hill (26th), who they've since signed. Backcourt scoring was apparently a priority of theirs this year. They also followed their own tradition and drafted a European in the second round (Goran Dragic, 45th), but then unusually traded him for an NCAA player (Malik Hairston, 48th). Strange times. (For equality's sake, we should mention James Gist, picked 57th. Hi James.)

Utah drafted three Euros that they don't need now and may never need ever, in Kosta Koufos (23rd), Ante Tomic (44th) and Tadija Dragicevic (53rd).

Finally, Washington drafted Tits McGee, one of my favourite draftees this year, and not only because his name is Tits. McGee is the next Marcus Camby. Book it. (Readers note: comparison overstated for effect. And his name isn't really Tits.)




Trades:

Cleveland finally has the right idea, dealing spare parts Joe Smith and Damon Jones in a three team trade with Oklahoma City and Milwaukee that landed them starting point guard Maurice Williams. Now that the Cavaliers finally have a complimentary guard that can score and handle the ball a bit, I hope Mike Brown finally figures out how to use one. Elsewhere in the deal, Oklahoma City somehow got two somewhat decent players on two sizeable expiring contracts in Smith and Desmond Mason, while only giving up Adrian Griffin Luke Ridnour to do so. Meanwhile, Milwaukee gives up the best player - and one of a good value contract - in return for nothing of any significant use. I know the Williams and Michael Redd pairing needed splitting up, but not like that. And don't give Adrian Grifin to Scott Skiles. You won't like where that goes.

Milwaukee's other trade involved somehow being giftwrapped Richard Jefferson by New Jersey for the tiny cost of Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian. Why New Jersey wanted that package, I do not know. Simmons expires a year sooner than Jefferson, and crucially in time for the 2010 offseason, but he's not an expiring contract, and Yi Jianlian is now but one of a humber of many young big men on the Nets roster. He's also not that good. Can you trade a 20ppg in-his-prime All Star, not get a starter back, not get an expiring contract back, nor even a draft pick, and be happy with your return? I'd like to think not, but I think it just happened.

Again on draft night, Toronto threw all their eggs in one basket, trading T.J. Ford, Macy O'Baston, Rasho Nesterovic and the rights to Roy Hibbert to Indiana for Jermaine O'Neal and the rights to Nathan Jawai. O'Neal and Chris Bosh should pair effortlessly, much more so than Ford and Jose Calderon did, and the Raptors now have the best frontcourt pairing in the East. (Even better than "Dwight Howard and anybody.") Yet they still have largely crappy wing players, and a very weak bench. They have a fine front three, but very very little in support of them. And they've run out of money to do too much about that. Indiana, meanwhile, saves a good amount of money, and gets two young talented players at their biggest positions of need. That can't be bad. They're not going anywhere, but that's not a bad way to retool.

Golden State picked up Marcus Williams for the cost of a first round pick, despite two years of nothing but injuries and bad play. It's a gamble worth taking, but one with an element of risk. Williams has shown roughly nothing so far, albeit while playing often out of position.

Ron Artest finally left Sacramento, going to Houston along with recently signed draftees Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing Jr in exchange for prospect forward Donte Greene, a pick, and the expiring contract of Bobby Jackson. Houston's defense is now freakin' mega, and they even made sure to save some money on the deal by dealing Ewing to New York for the meaningless rights to Frederic Weis, and dealing Singletary to Phoenix for D.J. Strawberry in a move that saves both teams money. Meanwhile, Sacramento's somewhat going for the ol' addition by subtraction thing, which may or may work out. (Donte Greene, by the way, put on an absolutely disgusting performance in summer league. Yes I know he scored 40 in one game, but HOLY SWEET JESUS CHRIST BOY will you pass the sodding ball.)

Denver took a break from their minimum salary policy to get a younger, cheaper and better version of the departed Eduardo Najera, when they traded the peripheral expiring contracts of Taurean Green and Bobby Jones
to New York for Renaldo Balkman. New York then waived both instantly. A no-brainer for Denver, even with their self-inflicted budget concerns, and when factoring in the fact that Balkman will always be a backup. But what were New York doing? You have a lot of small forwards, yes. But get rid of the crap ones. Also, don't trade a small forward on account of the fact that he's a "bad fit" and that there's too much competition in front of him, just to later trade for Patrick Ewing Jr, his cheaper but inferior replacement. If you want to save money for two years, don't sign Chris Duhon to that deal. There. Sorted.

The Clippers filled their cap space, with a few trades, most notably getting former DPOY candidate Marcus Camby for absolutely nothing. It's just not good enough, is it? Some teams out there are pissing away their MLE's, and some teams get gifted the league's better big men in their prime, entirely through circumstance. The NBA is a stupid game anyway. The Clippers also later traded for Steve Novak, seemingly seeing something in him that Nick Fazekas couldn't reproduce. They also conspired with Utah to complete one of the most pointless trades ever, acquiring their former player Jason Hart for Brevin Knight. The contracts are basically the same, the players are basically the same, and while Knight is slightly better, he'll play fewer games. Yet neither should actually play at all, barring a typhoid outbreak. So....why did this happen again?

An 8 player trade went down on draft night, but only three players in it mattered. Memphis and Minnesota swapped their draft picks a few hours after making them, with Kevin Love going to the Timberwolves, and O.J. Mayo going to Memphis. Also involved in the trade were Mike Miller, Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins, but of those few, only Mike Miller is a productive player. Essentially, Miller was Minnesota's asking price for swapping the two, and in exchange for Miller, Memphis made some salary swaps that gives them roughly $7 million more in cap space next offseason. For both parties, the question is, did they get the better part of the prospect swap. I'm going to cop out and say that I don't know enough about Kevin Love to judge. This is what you can do when you're an amateur blogger.

Indiana and Portland also made a prospect swap, switching the draft rights of Brandon Rush and Jerry D. Bayless, while also including Josh McRoberts, Ike Diogu and Jarrett Jack. In terms of the other three players, Portland got hosed, but since Bayless is apparently the better prospect, that makes it all right. (Again, I refuse to say. I've watched summer league, but I'm not making an empassioned opinion solely off of that. Nor should you.)

Finally, in the biggest news of the offseason, Minnesota managed to blag a first round pick off of Philadelphia for the less than arduous task of taking on the contracts of Calvin Booth and Rodney Carney. Talk about easy decisions. Carney is still a cheap prospect, even though he hasn't done anything yet, and Booth earns the minimum. Not even Minnesota says no to that.

Wake me up when September ends.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

John Hollinger wrote a long old piece two weeks ago in which he opines upon pretty much every transaction made this summer.

Well, if he can, I can. From the people you know about, to the insignificant ones you couldn't give a Keith Closs about. That's how I want it, so that's how it's going to be.

If you're the kind of person who is annoyed by long posts, then the length of this post will annoy you. It is essentially done as a compendium of all the relative NBA parts of the Summer Signings sequence of posts, written so that I don't have to do it when I do my season previews. This way, I might actually get them all done this year! Woop!

(Readers note: If the format and opinions contained within this piece are incredibly similar to those of John Hollinger, then that's because John Hollinger is very good at what he does. And that's why he did this first. To a much higher standard. Also, if it gets too long for you to tolerate it, print it off and read it next time you're having a shit. The bonus aspect to this - you can then use it to wipe your arse with! Win win situation. Alternatively, if you hate it and feel like killing yourself for having read it, you can give yourself a nasty papercut with the print-out and then bleed to death in the bath. And, as everyone knows, there's nothing worse than a papercut. Not even cholera. I like to think of your welfare when writing this opinionated bobbins.)

(Instead of this, just search for your favourite team's name for their transactions.)


Big old eight figure deals:

Philadelphia landed a big name free agent, which hasn't happened in the entire time that I've followed the sport. They did so by signing Elton Brand for 5 year and $79.8 million, after Brand reneged on a verbal agreement to re-sign with the L.A. Clippers, a deed for which he will join Carlos Boozer and John Salmons in hell. After this, Philadelphia also re-signed Andre Iguodala to a 6 year, $80 million deal - those two now form the Sixers core, along with Louis Williams, Samuel Dalembert, Thaddeus Young and Andre Miller (who is staring down the barrel of an extension.) But none of them can shoot three's. Just saying.

Baron Davis opted out and agreed to leave Golden State for the Clippers after Brand's verbal commitment, but stuck to his promise even after Brand didn't. So he's going to heaven. His 5 year, $65 million deal is comparative value, in a world where one in every two players averages $15 million now. (Sort of.) Monta Ellis got 6 years and $66 million to replace Davis at point guard, even though he isn't one, and already he's torn his ankle up in suspicious circumstances. So that made for a good start to the Warriors offseason.

Golden State also paid Andris Biedrins $54 million over 6 years, a comparative bargain in a world where people will overpay for unproductive centres in the hope that they start producing. But before both of those re-signings, they brought in Corey Maggette on a 5 year, $48 million contract. This despite having drafted a small forward (Anthony Randolph) will a hell of a lot of promise, while also having Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Marco Belinelli, Kelenna Azubuike and Brandan Wright to get some 2/3/4 minutes. Corey Maggette is a good player, and the price for which he has signed represents decent value, but I still don't see the point here. Now you have negative mismatches in your starting lineup. There's not much good to say about a starting guard lineup of Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson. Play, Randolph.

Washington threw a shitload of money at re-signing Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, commiting themselves to a core consistently good enough to not win the East. Here's hoping for another big leap from Caron Butler, but I don't think he's got one more in him.

Josh Smith signed an offer sheet with Memphis after his negotiations to re-sign with Atlanta got sticky and underwhelming. The offer sheet was of good value to Memphis. Unfortunately, precisely because of that, Atlanta matched it immediately.

Luol Deng went through the rather awkward process of setting an artificial deadline date for his negotiations, but disaster was averted when the Bulls overpaid to keep him.

Emeka Okafor turned a year of improved health and worse play into a 6 year, $72 million contract from Charlotte, the details of which are not listed on this website purely because I forgot. That's how we roll around here.

Toronto re-signed Jose Calderon quickly and easily to a 5 year, $45 millionc ontract. In the opening stages of free agency, the players signed are almost always overpaid. See also: Toronto, Jason Kapono, last year. But this time, that's not the case. I'm teary eyed.

Chris Paul and Deron Williams both agreed to max extensions, in possibly the easiest negotiations in the world.

"How many years do you want?"
"Four."
"OK, done."

Easy. Cuts the heartache out of it.

Andrew Bogut took a 5 year, $60 million extension from Milwaukee, one which he'll justify if he makes an improvement like last year's. Unfortunately, Scott Skiles is his coach now.




Reasonably big deals:

The Mavericks gave the full MLE to DeSagana Diop, without changing their core at all. Their core was never good enough, and yet all they do to change it is add Diop, a backup centre who may well start under some misguided "tempo" concept. Hmmm. So when you were nearly good enough to win a title, Diop wasn't enough to get you over the hump, yet now that you're nowhere near one, he's all you need? I don't understand this. Nor do I understand why a man who has never scored above 10 points in a game deserves $32.4 million. And I've tried to understand that, I really have.

Cleveland retained shooters Delonte West and Daniel Gibson for noticably less than the MLE each. Alternatively, you could say that they've both been retained for the cost of one Rick Snow. Either way, I'm worried about this new version of the Cavs. You know, the one that does good business sometimes. And which has some idea of what decent guard play is.

J.R. Smith re-signed with Denver, and George Karl will be gone before J.R. is. Which should please both of them.

Joe Dumars surprised us all when he signed Kwame Brown to a 2 year, $8 million deal. Come on, Joe. You're better than that.

Never bound by society's conformities, the Golden State Warriors filled their backup centre hole with Ronny Turiaf, a power forward. This might not be the best idea, but it's a better idea than using Al Harrington there. In overpaying to make sure that the Lakers didn't match, the Warriors overpaid.

The Lakers paid Sasha Vujacic 3 years and $15 million after three seasons of piss poor everything and one season of fine jumpshooting. Paying someone on the basis of one season is always a risky proposition, and it sure as hell didn't work out for Vujacic's namesake, Sasha Pavlovic. But then again, Vujacic didn't subject himself to an embarassing holdout, and probably won't show up to camp 25 pounds overweight like Pavlovic did. This will help stave off any dramatic Pavlovic-like demise.

James Jones signed a five year deal with Miami that has only two years of guaranteed money, which seems like a rather odd thing to do. His presence will once again ensure that Dorell Wright never actually plays, which seems to be a priority for the Heat.

Minnesota re-signed Ryan Gomes to a very similar deal to that of Jones, with the added advantage that Gomes is comfortably the better player.

New Jersey has enough forwards already, but that didn't stop them giving a four year contract to Eduardo Najera, either unaware of oblivious to the fact that four year contracts to 32 year old forwards who were never any good anyway are usually bad news. They gave a similar sized but shorter contract to Keyon Dooling in a sign and trade, meaning that a man who averages 3.9 assists per 48 minutes is now their backup point guard. I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve, to be honest.

New Orleans were lauded for giving James Posey the full MLE for 4 years, but we'll see how they feel in two years time, when a soon-to-be-34 year old Posey will have two years and $13.4 million remaining. Lest we forget - his importance was magnified due to the Celtics championship run, but Posey himself is past 30 and beginning to decline. Get as much as you can out of him next year, because that's the sole year of value.

New York gave Chris Duhon the full MLE for two years, under the misguided idea that he's the type of player that will reverse their fortunes. Such logic was used on Jared Jeffries, and such logic was wrong. Like Jeffries, Duhon is fatally flawed. He's only pass first because he's a terrible offensive guard, and he only has such a nice assist/turnover ratio because he never attempts even slightly tricky passes. Don't go around thinking that this man is good for your halfcourt offense. He isn't. And if his defense doesn't come back to where it was, you'll be wondering what in the hell you just signed.

Robert Swift took the qualifying offer to return to the Thunder, one which was rather generously extended given that Swift has played only 96 out of a possible 7872 minutes these past two seasons. (That's 1.219%, percentage fans.)

Orlando rather foolishly gave Mickael Pietrus the full mid level exception for 4 seasons. The Magic are a franchise that have to severly limit their own budget from here on out after the ridiculous Rashard Lewis contract, and yet now they've gone and overpaid for Pietrus, a miedocre player who also happens to play a position where the Magic already have two vastly superior players (Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu). If Orlando has any aspirations over playing Pietrus at shooting guard, they're about to find out the hard way how bad of an idea that is. I don't care how good Turkoglu is - you can't have Jameer Nelson and Pietrus as your backcourt. Not unless you want Tony Battie to handle the ball handling duties.

Louis Williams re-signed with Philadelphia for a bargain price of 5 years and $25 million. That is less than half of what Monta Ellis got from Golden State, and Williams is not less than half the player that Monta Ellis is. Not sure how they got this done.

Sacramento gave their full MLE to Beno Udrih, on account of his "breakout" season, overlooking the fact that 12.8 points and 4.3 assists with a less than 2:1 assist to turnover ratio is decidedly unremarkable from a starting point guard.

San Antonio, finally with money to spend, replaced the aging Brent Barry with another shooter in Roger Mason, as well as bringing back Kurt Thomas. Both contracts are slightly too big, but both are for only two years, which makes it worthwhile. (Readers note: such logic is also the saving grace of the Chris Duhon deal, and would have been the saving grace of the Mickael Pietrus deal had Orlando gone that route.)

Oklahoma City's first free agency splash involved throwing a hell of a lot of money to the uproven C.J. Miles. The contract was surprisingly large at 4 years and $14.8 million. Even more surprisingly, Utah matched it. Almost immediately after doing so, though, owner Larry Miller voiced concerns about the Jazz's proximity to the luxury tax in the near future. Yes, well, you should have thought of that before you matched the Miles deal. The saving grace is that Jerry Sloan will have to actually play Miles now.




Small, non-minimum deals:

The Clippers signed Kelenna Azubuike to a reasonable three year offer sheet, which Golden State matched once Maurice Evans turned his back on them. Keeping Azubuike represents decent value for Golden State, but after the Maggette signing, one of either Azubuike or Marco Belinelli is going to once again be nailed to the bench, neither of whom should be there. Evans then went to Atlanta for a cheap price, where he'll do a reasonably decent job of replacing Josh Childress in the rotation.

Soon after signing Evans, Atlanta then signed Ronald Murray, for no particular reason. If you want him to be your backup point guard, good luck.

Boston brought Eddie House and Tony Allen for average prices. Reasonable moves free of cynicism.

Seemingly sure that they've got enough, Dallas re-signed Devean George, Antoine Wright and Juan Jose Barea for a combined $11.6 million. Why they keep paying Devean George is beyond me. The others are all right.

Walter Herrmann re-signed with Detroit for only one year and $2 million, and now that Jarvis Hayes has gone, they might actually play him.

Houston's sole free agency signing has been giving the LLE to Brent Barry, giving them an extra needed shooter but doing nothing to resolve their point guard problem. The Rockets are saving their MLE for Carl Landry, who remains unsigned for whatever reason. (Can you hear me, Memphis? Indiana? Charlotte? So what if they match, you can try, right?)

(EDIT: Well done, Charlotte. Now watch Houston match because of how small that offer sheet is.)

Ricky Davis signed with the Clippers. The money's good ($2.3 million next year), but the depth it gives them could be both a blessing and a curse - with Eric Gordon and Cuttino Mobley also at shooting guard, and Tim Thomas and Al Thornton getting small forward minutes, where does Ricky get his minutes? If he's not going to get any, why sign him? Still, it's good to have options.

Memphis signed Marc Gasol and Hamed Haddadi to replace Kwame Brown and Jason Collins at the centre spots, successfully ensuring that Darko Milicic is now their most experienced centre. Doesn't sound good when you put it like that, but as young centre projects go, these two are worthwhile.

Needing a starting point guard, the Heat brought back Chris Quinn, who is in no way a starting point guard. However, resigning The Quinn is a decent failsafe move, unlike what any pursuit of Stephon Marbury will be. The Heat also brought in Yakhouba Diawara, because you can never have too many absolutely awful offensive guards, and they also brought back Dorell Wright on a two year deal so that he can sit behind the two other small forwards that they brought in this year. It's weird that they do this, you know.

Milwaukee made three rather cheap but totally pointless signings. They brought in Francisco Elson as a tiny upgrade to Dan Gadzuric, in spite of Elson's bad season last year. They brought in Malik Allen, apparently not satisfied with their quota of sub-45% shooting jumpshooting 'power' forward pansies. And they brought in Tyronn Lue as a second or third point guard, in spite of the fact that he shares that same weakness as his peers Ramon Sessions and Luke Ridnour - he can't defend. It doesn't seem to me like they've correctly identified their flaws from last year. Still, nice trade they made. (More on this later.)

Sebastian Telfair turned a season of poor shooting, mediocre defense and largely meaningless assists into a three year, $8.1 million contract. If nothing else, last year was an improvement over what went before, which doesn't say much. Aside from that, the Timberwolves also re-signed Craig Smith for the bargain price of 2 years and $4.8 million, meaning that Smith will experience unrestricted free agency at the earliest possible opportunity. One of the better backup big men in the league, and he's signed for that cheap with no real suitors? Really? Why do people keep selling Craig Smith so short? He should never have fallen to the second round, and he should never be signed for less than players such as Francisco Elson and Kwame Brown. So what gives? Who cares that he's a slightly fat 6'7? He's good. Respect this.

New Jersey signed Jarvis Hayes, even after trading for Bobby Simmons and agreeing to terms with Eduardo Najera. I don't know why they did this. Don't be fooled into thinking that Hayes is an outside shooter. He isn't. And if it's an outside shooter from the forward spots that you want, make Keith Van Horn start turning up. He probably won't be much use, but.....well, I won't say what I was about to say because I've vowed to become a nicer person.

Anthony Johnson signed with Magic, replacing Carlos Arroyo as the backup point guard. Bill Walton once said about him, "if Johnson ever gets a jumpshot, who's going to stop him?". Well, Johnson now has one, so I guess he's now unstoppable. Getting an unstoppable player is not bad for the bi-annual exception.

Toronto brought in their former draft pick, Roko Ukic, to be their backup point guard. Ukic is about to turn 28, and isn't nearly the prospect that we think he is, yet his 12.7 scoring average as a shoot first point guard is apparently enough to be a primary NBA backup point guard. M'kay. We'll see. Colour me sceptical.

(EDIT - Um, whoops. Ignore that bit about Ukic. I'm a twat.)



Part two in a minute.