'09 Free Agent big men

[freeman]

Here's a list of some big men that Larry might be thinking of acquiring this offseason.
It's very unlikely that we could get a good big man in the draft so i kinda sorted out the guys that could be signed via free agency. A lot of guys here can be signed at low costs, which would really help the Pacers financially.

BOS - Glen Davis, Mikki Moore, Leon Powe
CHI - *Jerome James, Aaron Gray
CLE - *Anderson Varejao, Lorenzen Wright, Joe Smith
DAL - Brandon Bass, James Singleton
DEN - Chris Andersen
DET - Walter Hermann, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess
HOU - Brian Cook
LAC - Brian Skinner
MIA - Jamaal Magloire, Jamario Moon
MIL - *Francisco Elson, *Malik Allen, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
NOH - Melvin Ely
NYK - Eddy Curry, Chris Wilcox
PHI - Theo Ratliff
TOR - Pops Mensah-Bonsu
UTA - Paul Millsap

* - Player option

[freeman]

my personal rankings:

Top Tier:
Paul Millsap - will be too expensive.
Brandon Bass - could be cheaper than Millsap, but still as effective nonetheless.
Jason Maxiell - might probably be re-signed by Detroit.
Anderson Varejao - might probably be re-signed by Cleveland.
Chris Andersen - talent-wise, he's what the Pacers need. but he's got some drug issues before.
Leon Powe - cheaper and very talented, but is very injury-prone.
Chris Wilcox - effective.. when in the right state of mind.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - really good defender and a role player.he's young and very promising.

Middle Tier:
Jamario Moon - would be a solid reserve, but he's not a post player and he's kinda inconsistent.
Glen Davis - might probably be re-signed by Boston.
Antonio Mcdyess - might probably be re-signed by Detroit.
Francisco Elson - good defensive player but has limited offense.
Mikki Moore - good on the defensive end, might struggle offensively.
Brian Skinner - a solid pro, wouldn't mind coming off the bench. really good defensively. very rugged.
Joe Smith - not sure if he'll still get re-signed, too old, maybe?

Bottom Tier:
James Singleton - could be good with more playing time, but he's like a tweener.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu - good potential?
Aaron Gray - would be a good investment. he's got good skills.
Jamaal Magloire - already over his prime, but his size is still an asset.

[cdash]

No thanks.

[count55]

Mbah a Moute is not a Free Agent.

Hoopshype is wrong. I checked with guys from MIlwaukee.

[Scoot McGroot]

Millsap, Wilcox, Maxiell, Varejao, and Bass are either going to be a bit too expensive, or they're going to get a ton of interest that would probably overshadow Indy. Antonio McDyess, Chris Anderson and Joe Smith are likely to re-sign with their current teams.

That leaves guys like Glen Davis, Leon Powe, and I'll even add a Shelden Williams. The first two will be much more coveted and, thusly, expensive, while Shelden will likely come with a training camp invite/minimum salary and would just be expected to be a deep rotational player at the PF/C spots behind Hibbert and Foster at center, and Murphy at PF while likely battling McRoberts for minutes.

[Hicks]

Powe is interesting. He's very productive. I wouldn't give him the full MLE, but if he could be had for $3-4M a year I think the Pacers will be interested.

[PR07]

Boston will probably keep one of Powe and Davis, and with Powe's torn ACL, it will probably be Davis. I like Powe for the Pacers if the price is right, wouldn't pay more than 3-4 million per though.

[cdash]

No Powe. He just blew out his knee---the third time he's blown out the same knee. He is facing a long recovery and has long-term injury concerns. If we are going to add a guy, even at a small salary, let's make sure he can actually play for us. We have enough dead weight money on our books as it is.

[greenway84]

Mbah a Moute is very very promising, i would love to have him, but i think someone already mentioned he's not a free agent.

[Grang33r]

The only player that i truly like (with realism, so Millsap and Varajeo don't count) is Leon Powe. But, now that he's tore his 3rd ACL in the same knee, is scary. The guy will never hit his peak and probably won't even be the same again. Not that he's ever been a star, which is exactly my point. I guess there's a chance he recovers and plays well and develops more, but that's too big of a risk IMO. Too bad, he was a player who had a promising career.

For the right price, I wouldn't mind Brandon Bass. I always have liked him as he minds me of Antonio Davis. haha.

[MillerTime101]

Personally no one on that list jumps out to me that we actaully have a shot at landing. Do we really want to pay almost the full MLE for a slight upgrade over Mcroberts? I dont.

Its becoming more and more clear that we are going to have to make a deal to bring in the low post presence we need.

[Scoot McGroot]

Boston is going to be deep in the luxury tax for next season with just 11 guys under contract. When you factor in what it would cost to keep a Powe or Davis, I think they're going to end up having to let Davis walk, and re-sign Powe to a minimum salaried deal (since he likely won't get many offers coming off his ACL injury so quickly). They'll likely have to keep doing the minimum salaried guys off the bench that they have been doing (Powe, Pruitt, Davis, Walker, etc. this year), and if Davis gets an offer around $3 million or more in the first year, they might have to let him walk, otherwise, they're looking at a ton of money going out.

[freeman]

Its becoming more and more clear that we are going to have to make a deal to bring in the low post presence we need.

ditto. Unless we could land in Bass.
But i'm thinking what would be our offer? I think Marquis would be the odd man out once Dunleavy returns, and he didn't played at all towards the end of the season. I really do think we're gonna be fine without Quis. Dunleavy, Rush, and sometimes Jack at the sg rotation. I'm not so sure about his trade value, but is it possible that we could do a sign and trade?

[Wizop]

I think I'd try to bring one of our draft picks back from Europe before I took anyone on that list.

[chatard5]

I like Millsap, like most of the league. I think he will get a big contract, probably too big. Next I like Maxiell. Chris "Bird Man" Andersen of course! (not really, we don't really need more druggies)
Maybe Chris Wilcox if he doesn't get many offers and we can get him for a good price.

[freeman]

I think I'd try to bring one of our draft picks back from Europe before I took anyone on that list.

Geez, i almost forgot.. Lorbek's been doing really well in the Euroleague. I think his team, CSKA Moscow's in the semifinals. He's averaging close to 15ppg and 7rpg if i'm not mistaken.
I'm not so sure about his contract in Europe, anybody knows when he'll be legally eligible to bolt for the NBA?
Stanko's not doing much. He's not getting enough playing time with TAU. Maybe a couple of years more.

[Scoot McGroot]

The original plan (after they were drafted) was to bring over Lorbek this year, and Stanko next year, when their contracts overseas are up (I believe). That could've changed easily over the past couple years if they signed new deals or anything like that.

But also, don't just expect these guys to necessarily sign league minimum deals here in the NBA. If they're giving up money in Europe, they want to make it up in the NBA. We'll see what happens.

[Gremz]

Erazem's a coming?

Scoot's getting my hopes up again!

[freeman]

Should Erazem come in next season, it'd be a huge help for the Pacers.

[chatard5]

Is he even any good at all? I don't know much about him, but would he get minutes over McBob? He is a PF, right? Any1 have his stats or a link I can read about him. That'd be sweet if we got a Marc Gasol out of him/whoever.