FA Bigs To Consider

[billysan]

I looked around at the unrestricted FA bigs that I thought would possibly accept the Veterans minimum or MLE to fill out our roster. This assuming we enter training camp with only KG, Perk and Baby on the roster. Obviously we could probably retain Sheldon Williams or Scalabrine but they were not considered on this list.

Centers

Minimum

Shaq
Nesterovic
Ben Wallace
Primo Brezec
Kyrylo Fesenko

MLE

Brandon Haywood
Brad Miller
Darko Milicic

Power Forwards

Minimum

Tim Thomas
Kenny Thomas
Juwann Howard
Kurt Thomas
Joe Smith
Oleksiy Pecherov
Ike Diogu

MLE

Udonis Haslem

The field is kind of slim for what I consider realistic possibilities. My preference at this point is a center group by committee until Perk is healthy that will accept a back up role. Then we add a solid PF like maybe Tim Thomas or Udonis Haslem that can hit an open jumper.


I hope Danny can figure something out with a trade for Sheeds contract.

[oldmanspeaks]

There is no way that Fesenko(who is a restricted free agent if I remember right),Shaq,or Wallace is going to accept the minimum. Fesenko can easily get more and Shaq and Wallace would retire first. And Haywood and Miller want more than the MLE and Haywood is going to get it in Dallas.

You have to scrape the barrel harder if you want to pay MLE or minimum. Your only real chance is some young guy who is desperate for playing time.

[billysan]

There is no way that Fesenko(who is a restricted free agent if I remember right),Shaq,or Wallace is going to accept the minimum. Fesenko can easily get more and Shaq and Wallace would retire first. And Haywood and Miller want more than the MLE and Haywood is going to get it in Dallas.

You have to scrape the barrel harder if you want to pay MLE or minimum. Your only real chance is some young guy who is desperate for playing time.

I will double check Fesenko, you are probably right.

* yup, my bad on Feseneko, thanx.

I think there is a decent outside chance Shaq or Ben Wallace would rather play for a team that has a good shot at the conference finals at a minimum contract than play for 3-4 million on a lottery bound team. That is why I phrased this as "possibly accept" with regard to the players listed.


Definitely will have to scrape the barrel for a big it seems.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Is Ben Wallace REALLY a center.....Not really, a decent forward/big body...how tall is he anyway..? Shaq...i don't know, he put on a real hack show here, slow, wants the ball too much...good enforcer though....so maybe, if he can accept a diff role..... Haywood would do.....Darko just signed with someone, nesterovic is pretty good...

[nickagneta]

Ben Wallace played last year for a veteran's minimum contract for Detroit. I don't know whether he would work at that level for anyone but Detroit though as I am pretty sure that team is sentimental to him and kind of like "home" to him.

Shaq, forget it at the veteran's minimum. He will wait and wait and then take whatever someone has over the MLE near the end of the summer. I would expect he is going to get at least $3-5 million per year with someone.

[billysan]

Ben Wallace played last year for a veteran's minimum contract for Detroit. I don't know whether he would work at that level for anyone but Detroit though as I am pretty sure that team is sentimental to him and kind of like "home" to him.

Shaq, forget it at the veteran's minimum. He will wait and wait and then take whatever someone has over the MLE near the end of the summer. I would expect he is going to get at least $3-5 million per year with someone.

You could be right about Shaq, but only if a legit playoff team offers that 3-5 mil. Otherwise I think he plays for a team that he believes has a shot at that next Championship and does it for a bargain. He certainly doesnt need the money.


Ben Wallace? Detroit only? We shall see I guess.

[kozlodoev]

Milicic has already been signed to a contract by the Timberwolves, if I am not mistaken.

[billysan]

Milicic has already been signed to a contract by the Timberwolves, if I am not mistaken.

Pretty sure he has agreed but not actually signed. You could be right of course, thanx.

[fanofgreen]

There's a name I didn't see on your list, that I would like to see Danny sign..........Steven Hunter.

Athletic, he played for Doc in Orlando, 7-footer,

I think he would be a very good fit on the Celtics. And Doc would already be familiar with him, and with our lack of big men, we could use him.

In my opinion, he would be a steal, (relatively speaking) in the sense that how many available centers are out there in this free agency pool, let alone, center's under the age of 30.

So Steven Hunter is my under the radar signing.

[Who]

I think Mike Miller is the only player I would spend the entire MLE on. Other than Miller, I'm not convinced anyone else is deserving of the MLE and reckon that the Celtics are best off splitting the MLE.

I like the idea of splitting the MLE between Dorell Wright and Kwame Brown. Travis Outlaw and Louis Amundson would be my second choice options.

Maybe sign someone like Nesterovic as the fifth big in the rotation and James Singleton or Scalabrine as the sixth big. If we go seven deep, with the bigs, then another power forward with a solid body and athleticism like Josh Powell. Try to sign James Jones and/or Rodney Carney as backup wings. Re-sign TA who can double up as a third string point guard if needed.

[Who]

Off that list

Centers

Minimum

Shaq -- solid rotation player, likely too expensive
Nesterovic -- unclear whether he's a rotation worthy player anymore or not but would still make a solid third string center
Ben Wallace -- good rotation player, most talented player on the list
Primo Brezec -- bad player
Kyrylo Fesenko -- far down by backup list but he's on it (last name on it)

MLE

Brandon Haywood -- too expensive
Brad Miller -- old + weak player, wasn't good enough to be a rotation player last year. A liability defensively + on the backboards + declining offensive game.
Darko Milicic -- signed with Minnesota

Power Forwards

Minimum

Tim Thomas -- bad player
Kenny Thomas -- hasn't played, don't trust him
Juwann Howard -- played well last year, played poorly for four years before that. Don't trust him.
Kurt Thomas -- decent fourth big, good fifth or sixth big
Joe Smith -- decent fifth or sixth big
Oleksiy Pecherov -- bad player
Ike Diogu -- bad player

MLE

Udonis Haslem -- not interested, too expensive. I don't like the idea of giving Haslem a 4/5 year contract at the MLE and I don't think he'd sign for anything less.

I would add Kwame Brown to the centers and Louis Amundson to the power forwards. I would also add James Singleton, Josh Powell and Craig Smith to the power forwards list. Maybe Shelden Williams too (but beneath the other guys).

Sean Marks, Adonal Foyle, Theo Ratliff and Etan Thomas could be considered also. Those guys would make good third string centers and serviceable low minutes (15-20mpg) rotation players if called upon. Foyle is probably the best of them but it's hard to tell because he hasn't played much over the past two seasons. Marks is the most skilled and intelligent player of the bunch.

[LooseCannon]

Milicic has already been signed to a contract by the Timberwolves, if I am not mistaken.

Pretty sure he has agreed but not actually signed. You could be right of course, thanx.

Technically, no one is signed until July 8, but Milicic is reported to have agreed to a deal.

Even though he's not agreed to anything, I wish people would just give up on the idea of Brendan Heywood for the MLE.  The belowe-market deal that Dirk signed with the Mavericks frees up money that can be used to overpay Haywood.  It's only a question of whether the Knicks are willing to pay Haywood something crazy like $11 million/year.

[More Banners]

Matt Bonner.

[jdpapa3]

Dampier will eventually join the list and he is very close skill-wise to Perkins. The problem is that he usually only shows promise during contract years.

[billysan]

Matt Bonner.

Matt Bonner could be added to the PF list but it seems likely to me that he would resign with San Antonio. Is he really better than Scalabrine?

Dampier will eventually join the list and he is very close skill-wise to Perkins. The problem is that he usually only shows promise during contract years.

Dampier is one of those guys that appears to only give consistent effort in contract years ala Mark Blount. I much prefer a lower skilled guy that gives consistent effort.