Free Agent Watch: Mini-MLe

[shrink]

Minnesota still carries it's $2.5 mil Mini-MLE. I thought it might be worth a look, to see if we should spend the money (and the roster spot) and consider some of the still-available free agents.

1. Joel Przybilla: He's considered retirement, but has drawn interest from the Celtics and Milwaukee. He'll decide after Christmas.

2. Michael Redd: On his rebuilt knee, the 32 year old would only be available for 10-15 minutes, and his defense has never been stellar. Still he's a great shooter.

3. Gilbert Arenas: He campaigned to have some teams not bid on him during amnesty free agency so that he could pick his team. The Knicks and Heat reportedly favor Baron Davis over Arenas, and the Lakers are "hesitant" to sign him, but the Nets may be willing to sign him if they can complete a trade for Dwight. Both L.A. and Miami could use a veteran PG on a minimum contract. He has the money, so $2.5 vs the min (about $1 mil) might not mean much to him.

OTHER NAMES: Al Thornton, Mickael Pietrus, Francisco Elson, Kyrylo Fesenko, Alexis Ajinca, James Posey

[Foye]

I want none of these guys.

[B Calrissian]

I'd rather have Pietrus than Ellington but I doubt he would want to be a back up here rather than BOS, LAL, etc. I wouldn't mind Posey if he barely played.

None of those big men interest me.

No way to Thornton.

[shangrila]

Pryzbilla - I worry about his knee. I was watching the game that he injured it in and it wasn't pretty.

Redd - I'd rather give minutes to Lee, although if he were to replace Ellington I'd be fine with that.

Arenas - He's done. But even if he weren't, he proved in his last few months in Washington that he can't co-exist with a ball dominant point guard.

Thornton - If people don't like Beasley they'll hate Thornton. Funny, since I remember only a few years ago that he was being hyped as a major part of the Clippers' core.

Pietrus - Wants to go to a contender and I wouldn't want him anyway. The dude is dumb as a brick and we've got enough of that with Randolph.

Elson - Energy big that does nothing special. We've got a better player that does the same things and more (Tolliver)

Fesenko - This is probably the only guy I would be excited about the team getting. He's a huge, plodding C, but all of his advanced defensive stats are amazing. Still young too, IIRC, but mainly I would get him so that you could continue the defence Darko's been bringing when he goes to the bench.

Ajinca - Hasn't done squat. Pretty much the poster child for draft workout wonders. I wouldn't bother, unless Rubio feels like learning French.

Posey - Kind of done, like Raja Bell, but I like him for the same reason. Solid defensive vet with playoff/championship experience.


I think it's a moot point anyway. They're not going to cut anybody, especially with the up and down preseason everyone except the main guys seemed to have.

[Dewey]

Posey (SF) would be a good backup if Beas or Wes get traded ... Sounds like Wes will be playing more SF now that DW has been assigned to learn the PF role for now (and a good insurance plan in case Love dont sign an extension). As it stands now - none of these would have an impact for us IMO.

[shrink]

Shangrila had a nice breakdown. I don't really see a great fit either, but remember, this is only $2.5 mil. A flier on Przybilla isn't something I'd hate, or a young center like Fesenko or even Ajinca wouldn't make me sad. The free agent wire is a way to increase your team's total value for nothing (except the money) and it's not a lot of money. With the size of the contracts that centers got this off-season ($7 mil for Kwame Brown?!?), if we had minutes, we could create a small asset.

We'd need a consolidation trade, or a deal paring down the end of our roster to have a slot though.

[Esohny]

No interest in any of them.

[cpfsf]

Little to no interest. It's a lateral move at best, which sounds kind of expensive. I figured someone would have picked up Arenas by now.

[Krapinsky]

I like alexi ajinca as a big man project.