Devin Brown

Devin Brown - Bulls fans love to daydream about the prospect of Tracy McGrady returning to his 2006 form. But I'm not allowed to daydream about the possibility that Devin Brown could return to his 2006 form. In 2006, as a midseason pick-up playing as an emergency point guard for the Hornets, Brown was good. He was athletic, a rebounder and decent shooter, capable defender and passer, a solid and versatile all-around player who was great at nothing, but contributed at everything. That's not what he is now, of course; the athleticism has gone, and the shot, which was never very good, has gotten worse. He now can't defend, run the court or drive, and resorts to casting up bad 3's.

I'm not saying I want Devin back with the Bulls. I'm just saying the McGrady pipe dream is a hypocrisy. Tracy, after all, lost a lot more than Devin ever did.

Young players don't usually sign one year minimum salary deals. Veterans almost always do, because teams have financial incentive to do so. Teams who sign players with more than two years of experience to sign one year minimum salary deals are billed only the amount of a two year veteran; for example, when Chicago signed Lindsey Hunter to a one year minimum salary deal this past offseason, they were billed only $825,497 for his services. The minimum salary for a ten year or more veteran is actually $1,306,455, and Hunter got all that; however, only $825,497 is charged to the Bulls cap, and the league refunds the difference between the two sums to the Bulls during the following offseason. This is why most old farts only sign one year minimum deals, and, on the rare occasions that they don't - Eric Piatkowski with Phoenix, Devin Brown with Nawlins, Calvin Booth with Philadelphia - it's usually a mistake.