52 Free-Agent Pick-up!

Hey again, sports fans. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get rolling again over here. Life’s been pretty hectic, but I think I’ve finally managed to get things under control to some degree, so… I’m back.

And first up on the docket… the 2010 NBA Free Agency fiasco.

As you’ve probably heard, there are a whole boatload of NBA stars that are going to be free agents at the end of the season.  Normally we hear about a couple big names every season that teams either re-sign or decide to let go, but this summer/fall is going to be chock full of “names you know” people changing homes.  Don’t believe me?

Here’s an abbreviated list of just the unrestricted free agents after this season, or those that have the option to terminate their contracts early.

*deep breath*

Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Eddie House, Paul Pierce, Tyson Chandler, Brad Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Drew Gooden, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Kenyon Martin, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Marcus Camby, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Udonis Haslem, Jermaine O’Neal, Dwayne Wade, Michael Redd, Peja Stojakovic, Eddy Curry, Chris Duhon, David Lee, Jason Williams, Jason Kapono, Amare Stoudemire, Louis Amundson, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Chris Bosh, and Carlos Boozer.

Whew.

Believe me, that’s not by any means an exhaustive list.  If you want the full list, check out ESPN’s full listing on the matter.

In the above list, I’ve highlighted a bunch of players.  Some are absolute studs, and will be sought after by any owner that has a pulse (Kobe, Pierce, LeBron, Bosh, Wade, Dirk).  Others are absolutely fantastic basketball players that, while not full-fledged stars, can make awesome compliments to any team (Allen, Chandler, Ilgauskas, Shaq, Gooden, Martin, Lee, Stoudemire, Ginobili, and Boozer).  These are the hot commodities of the off-season.  Yes, I just referenced NBA basketball players as items.

First of all, let’s be frank.  Kobe isn’t going anywhere.  The Lakers would be absolute morons to allow him to walk away.  Frankly, I don’t think Yao, Manu, or Pierce are going anywhere either.  All of them are faces of their respective franchises, and would force the teams to completely reorient themselves on how they approached the game.  McGrady is washed up and an injury risk, so I think the Rockets are ok letting him walk away.

Oh wait, I totally forgot… Bosh, LeBron, and Wade.

Listen, they definitely belong in the above category of “don’t let them go, stupid”.  Toronto is truly a joke team without Bosh.  He has carried that team to the 5th spot in the division, and without him, they’re struggling hard.  The Cavs are going to be lost puppies when they lose LeBron.  Not if, when.  They’ve got some outstanding role players on that team, and they all thrive off of James’ energy and skill, but that won’t matter once he’s gone..  And the Heat… well, other than the fluke year where Shaq and Wade decided to dominate, they’ve also been a garbage team.

Joke, lost puppies, and garbage.  That pretty much sums up the NBA as a whole right now.  I couldn’t figure out how to throw “bleeding money like it’s their profession” into those analogies, so I’ll let that slide.

But where will they go?  Who is going to vie for those positions?  First, I’ll tell you who’s screwed.  The Clippers.  Plain and simple.  Look, pretend I’m James/Wade/Bosh.  First of all, my #1 deal is I want to win a championship.  Sharing a town and division with the Lakers is not the right way to do that.  Plus, the Clips are so poorly marketed and operated, that even with Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin, the desire to try and make that team my home is very, very slim. (I could see some mid-high level guard/forward arriving and trying to contribute.  Maybe a Ray Allen or Kenyon Martin?)

Same deal with the Timberwolves.  Even while Kevin Garnett called that hell-hole home, the team was “eh”.  Sure, they’d get carried into the playoffs a couple times.  But seriously… it’s cold there.  Really cold.  And while they obviously have a massive surplus of guards from this year’s draft, that doesn’t mean that I could make that team good.  Well, no, I take that back, I’m amazing, and I make anyone good.  But could we win?  Doubtful.

So who’s left?  What are the options we have here?

5. The New York Knicks – Everyone has the Knicks as their #1 contender for LeBron, who is easily the most coveted player in this free agency.  I don’t buy it.  Sure, you’ve got the Garden, it’s in New York, yadda yadda.  So what?  Is this a team that one, maybe two players (if they’re lucky) can turn into championship contenders?  I don’t see it… especially if they don’t manage to re-sign David Lee.  Plus, Nate Robinson is gone to the Celtics now.  You might be able to pull in Wade and Bosh (and that’s about all your team would be, after their contracts were paid), but LeBron is a no-go.

4. The Oklahoma City Thunder – My “dark horse” team, and the only Western Conference team I can see the stars flocking to.  Why?  Kevin Durant.  Well, more like Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook.  Will they get one of the Big 3?  Probably not… but wouldn’t that rock if they did?  Otherwise, a solid role-player would probably boost the Thunder straight to the top of the Western title contention in the 2010-2011 season.

3. The Chicago Bulls – Hinrich’s gotta go.  No question on that one.  If that happens, there’d be plenty of cap space for LeBron to come in and make Chicago his city.  A combination of good players (Rose and Noah), plus the prestige that is the Chicago Bulls, makes for a very enticing option.

2. The Miami Heat – A lot of put the Heat behind the Knicks.  However, the Heat have one huge advantage… Wade already plays for them.  Re-sign him, pull in another big name, and you’re off and rolling again.  Who knows, maybe you can get Shaq back…

1. The New Jersey Nets – Yep.  The Nets.  If I had money to spare, I’d put it on the Nets acquiring LBJ.  No question about it.  First of all, Jay-Z owns the Nets, and he and LeBron are tight.  Plus (if I understand this correct), the Nets are moving into New York.  They’ll still be the New Jersey Nets, though… kinda like the New York Giants playing in Jersey… makes perfect sense.  Third, the Nets actually have some decent players on the team.  Brook Lopez is a stud, Chris Douglas-Roberts will be a good player, Devin Harris is studly, and Yi Jianlian has some awesome upside to him.  And lastly… the most important reason of all… ego.  If LBJ can take this team, who’s on pace to be the worst in the league, and make a strong playoff push (or even win the title) next season, what’s that say about him?  Granted, he may be the only major free agent the Nets could acquire, but they could collectively do some pretty serious damage.

All in all, this is going to be an exciting off-season.  Now if only David Stern would “trim the fat” and contract the NBA, in order to weed out the super garbage players…

Advertisement