Affordable Free Agents for Bostons next year

[nickagneta]

I just can't see Wallace taking on the "Walton" type role of aging veteran big man that is your sixth man. The dude has a huge ego and I don't see him settling for either that role or that money.

Pachulia would be perfect in the first big off the bench role for the Celtics but I think someone is going to be stupid and offer Zaza more than the MLE for his services. I just don't think he's worth more than that but someone will give him bigger bucks.

If not Pachulia I'd want Nesterovic. I really think the C's need to sure up there big man bench positions and realizing that POB is not the answer and getting someone like Nesterovic or Pachulia who can give you quality minutes in the 5 position would be huge. That way all the Celtics need to do is sign one of either Powe or Baby.

My depth chart for next year:

Rondo/Pruitt/House
Allen/Giddens/Someone other than Tony Allen or T Allen.
Pierce/Udoka/Walker
KG/Davis/Scal
Perk/Pachulia/2nd round project

[cordobes]

Hedo or Varejão for the MLE? Affordable free-agents? Come on, that's completely unrealistic... Hedo will never, ever, sign for the MLE.

not too fond of your other options. i am however convinced that Jamario Moon would be the perfect 3 to come off the bench for us.

compare his rankings among small forwards with james posey, its  pretty interesting:
posey ranks 20th in rebounds/game, moon 23rd
posey ranks 17th in steals, moon 6th
posey ranks 17th in blocks, moon 5th
posey ranks 9th in fouls, moon 35th
posey ranks 8th in 3pt% (.411), moon 29th (.350)
posey averages 28+ min/game, moon 25+ min. so the numbers are roughly comparable.

by the numbers posey is a better 3 point shooter, but moon is more active on the boards, a better shot blocker and gets more steals.
posey uses his fouls well so i'm not going to hold the disparity against him, he also has that intangible chemistry thing which coaches look for.

the long and short of it is that Moon is going to be a bargain this summer, i hope danny takes a long look.

Metrics like Rebounding Rate are better than those raw numbers. Moon is better with steals and blocks, but he's a very poor defender compared to Posey. Moon will probably get a LLE contract or something more, but hopefully not from Boston. Dumb player, we already have of that kind.

Are you sure about Rondo?  Sure the Celtics can extend a qualifying offer but he's still a restricted free agent in June of 2009.  RealGM thinks so too, although they are not always right.

How can that be? He's in the 3rd year of his rookie contract, therefore he can't be a FA as the C's picked his option for the 4th year.  

Sheed will get more than the MLE if he wants it. He'll have to go to a noncontender, however (which includes resigning with Detroit). And yes, he would be my top choice if he can be had with the MLE.

Marion, Artest, Millsap and Kidd can get more than the MLE too.

The best of the others: Anthony Parker, Lamar Odom, Grant Hill, Jamario Moon, Aaron Gray, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess, Rasho Nesterovic, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ramon Sessions, Za Za Pachulia, Gerald Green (for old times sake), Darius Miles (ditto), Kevin Ollie (future coach), Joe Smith, Bobby Jackson.  

Guys I would stay away from: Drew Gooden (headcase), Ben Gordon (gunner), Tyronn Lue (blah), Flip Murray (gunner), Jamal Magliore (finished), Adonal Foyle (finished), Antoine Walker (finished), Damon Stoudamire (finished), Steve Francis (finished), Shaun Livingston (still can't walk), JR Smith (gunner), Anthony Carter (never wins), Juwan Howard (finished), Chris Wilcox (head case),Desmond Mason (bad fit, can't shoot), Robert Swift (skinhead), Marcus Williams (slow, can't defend), Trevor Ariza (punk), Chris Mihm (finished?), Matt Barnes (punk).

The Celtics also have to deal with their own free agents: Davis and Powe, plus be prepared to match a fat offer sheet on Rondo.

Maxiell and Mbah a Moute are not free-agents. Ditto for JR Smith. Ariza would be a brilliant addition, excellent defender.

[Brickowski]

Confirmed by the Celtics' website:

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/press103108-rondo-option.html

Right, he becomes a restricted free agent in June of 2010, not 2009.

[ManUp]

I think Wallace with the M.L.E. would be great. If he decides to leave the Pistons I don't see him getting more than the MLE. I know GMs are dumb, but unless your contending he's not a smart move for big money.

[Lucky17]

Here's RealGM's list, for what it's worth.

http://www.realgm.com/src_freeagents/2008/

Not a whole lot of inspiring names there, especially among the big men. Nick has already mentioned Pachulia and Nesterovic. Both the Collins twins. Bring back Chris Mihm or Raef LaFrentz? Retreads like Lo Wright, Michael Ruffin, and Calvin Booth are all UFAs as well.

Some younger UFAs in there: Johan Petro, Ced Simmons, and Shelden Williams, for instance. The aforementioned "skinhead" (LOL, Brick) Robert Swift. The fact that none of these guys were deemed worthy of extending on short money seems quite [dang]ing, though. Victims of poor coaching/wrong systems, or are these guys truly washouts? I have to think there's got to be at least one diamond in the rough out there.

[Brickowski]

The "hidden gem" is Anthony Parker," who is a good all-around veteran player, won't cost that much and won't mind coming off the bench.  He can shoot the three and he defends.

[cornbreadsmart]

talented players i DON'T want coming near this team-: rasheed- i think he's the main culprit for detroit playing without passion that we heard about over and over and over. no other piston seems like a guy that would coast. he hates the post more than antoine did. i don't want  his attitude near this team.i'm not saying he's a bad person but just a bad teammate (in this way).
   lamar odom- there is no man alive(well maybe bruce bowen) that belongs in a laker uniform like lamar. all flash, all choke when the chips are down. the guy is a wimpy cheap shot artist. stick out your toungue again lamar. CHUMP. i'm gonna throw confetti if the lakers don't trade him this year. it's his destiny to let his team down.
   grant hill-because he is NOT more classy then the rest of the nba. because of grant hill i loathe the word "classy". no. classy would have been not taking a boat load of money you did'nt earn while injured. taking it certainly does'nt make him bad. not at all. but not especailly classy either. see if you can watch a game w/phoenix and not hear him described as "classy".

[Lucky17]

The "hidden gem" is Anthony Parker," who is a good all-around veteran player, won't cost that much and won't mind coming off the bench.  He can shoot the three and he defends.

I agree he'd be a solid addition, provided everyone agrees he'd be a bench player.

I'm wondering which of the available bigs is the hidden gem. Ced Simmons seems like a possibility, although I can't say I've followed him closely since he came into the league. I think Shelden Williams has been exposed as too mechanical, with a bad case of "alligator arms."

[jdub1660]

Sheldon is just as small as Powe. We don't need another 1 of those. I hate hating on Sheed, but as good as he is in the post, he doesn't go there enough. He has an odd skill for a right-hander that he likes to go left and makes that post shot more than half the time. But he's just like Antoine and Horry and etc. They fall in love with that 3 point shot that only sometimes falls. Plus I don't see him playing 6th man unless he gets mentally coached by the Big 3 and Doc before signing.
Someone said our main focus is a C, not a SF...WHAT!?! And Jamario Moon!?! The guy has skills, and he's dirt cheap now, but he can't hit the 3 consistently, and he won't come here for another minimum contract. I know the idea/dream of getting Hedo was a little out there, but there have to be more options for our team. And Zaza won't sign for the MLE, nor should we use it all on a player like him.

[Bankshot]

Hedo or Varejão for the MLE? Affordable free-agents? Come on, that's completely unrealistic... Hedo will never, ever, sign for the MLE.

I think Verajao has a player option for $6.2Mil, so we'd have to offer him more.  How much is the MLE?

[RebusRankin]

Not a fan of Parker. He hasn't looked strong on defense this year nor has he been great on the offensive end.

[Bankshot]

Shouldn't Big Baby be on the list of affordable free agents?  Unless he's playing his way out of an affordable contract.

[greg683x]

I like the ZaZa idea.  Hes a safe pick for the right money.  We have to get at least one safe player where we know what we're getting from them.

I dont have a problem with Moon either.

'Sheed....eh....I wouldnt be mad if he came here I wouldnt be thrilled either.  We might set an NBA record for techs in a season with him here.

[Mr October]

Rasheed Wallace for the MLE. Grant Hill for the LLE.

TP. That looks like my ideal offseason. :-)

Wallace for MLE/2 and I think Hill could be had for the minimum.

[Mr October]

Wallace will have many suitors, so I'd also target the following bigs:

David Lee (see if the Kicks wanna loose a piece of their precious 2010 cap space)
McDyess, Joe Smith, Pachulia, Gooden or Wilcox (if the deal is short)

If they came cheap... Nesterovic or Swift could be interesting.
-------

If Hill doesn't happen, then I go after Childress (MLE), Szczerbiak, Parker, Udoka... perhaps Marbury.