Son of the Free Agency News/Discussion Thread

[geiger]

I would not want Magloire at all. He's out of shape and he's buddies with Dalembert. We don't need a bad influence in that locker room and Magloire, while not a bad guy, is someone who crapped away his career by getting out of shape. And Magloire was so unbelievably horrible in New Jersey, that I would be shocked to see Stefanski make the same mistake twice, even if it is for the minimum.

Ratliff, on a one year deal for the minimum would be a nice signing. If we land him to be a situational back up for Dalembert, perhaps we could sign Nick Fazekas as a cheap, temporary replacement for Smith and to add a big guy with a solid jumper to the bench.

[ckchen]

Yes, he's signed.

Um...C.J. Giles is not signed anywhere.

[geiger]

Funny. I though he meant CJ Miles. Stupid. Big man talk. Sorry about that.

Don't know anything about CJ Giles other than he has no experience in the NBA and was booted off Kansas. His senior year, he averaged 6.3 points and and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 42% from the field - only appeared in 10 games for Oregon State. He also averaged 4 fouls in only 18 minutes a game.

Guessing someone saw that he put up 13 points and 12 rebounds in one summer league game against the Sixers. In the other two games, he didn't do that well. Lots of talent, raw, got his head screwed on wrong though.

[is1531]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9772

Theo has some major history on the bench. It's nice to get a check sitting down,lol

[Skates]

its ratliff or magliore at this stage.one of them is likely to be signed.

We may add a make good contract , probably a big, from one of our camp invites...thats it....the vet center....and one developmental type player....thats it

Personally, I'd much rather have Ratliff than Magliore, but that's probably why Ratliff supposedly has other offers for more money and Magliore probably doesn't. That said, Magliore is probably a better signing than most other journeyman big guys that you could land for the veteran's minimum. I also think Magliore was signed to a small deal when Stefanski was still in NJ, so he might still like him.

As for a make good contract from one of our camp invites, I can only imagine that would be from a big that was playing for another team, such as Elton Brown because I saw nothing from the FA bigs on Philly's SL team.

Couldn't agree with you more on Magloire, he is only 30 but he is completely done unless he has suddenly found a personal savior in the guise of a personal fitness trainer. The big man invite could refer to a guy they plan on inviting to training camp that was not necessarily a summer league player. I can't imagine any of our summer league FA bigs deserving even an invite to training camp.

[The Sixer Fixer]

Copying my list over to this thread. I will update this as players sign. Again, let me know if you think there is an option out there that I should add to the list.

The Vets
1 - P.J. Brown - doubt he would come here
2 - Theo Ratliff - not a bad option - shot blocker off the bench
3 - Dikembe Mutombo - probably will re-sign with Houston or retire
4 - Alonzo Mourning - similar to Deke, Miami or retire
5 - Jamal Magloire - trash at this point, but he is a big body
6 - Michael Doleac - I'd pass
7 - Jake Voskuhl - last big off the bench type
8 - Scott Pollard - same as Voskuhl
9 - Juwon Howard - anything left?
10 - Lorenzen Wright - time to retire
11 - Othella Harrington - he's done, no interest
12 - Robert "Tractor" Traylor - fat, but trying to make a comeback

The "big" shooting options (guys closer to the skill set Smith had offensively)
1 - Nick Fazekas - not much D/speed, but can shoot very well
2 - Austin Croshere - more a combo F, but could provide some shooting
3 - Robert Horry - anything left? Teams he's on win titles.
4 - Pat Garrity - not much of a shooter the last couple years

The younger guys with some potential
1 - Elton Brown - hey, he had his way with Smith in Summer League play
2 - Robert Swift - not really an option for the min (got the QO from Seattle for more)
3 - C.J. Giles - Rookie who looked decent in Summer League. Didn't we work him out?
4 - DJ Mbenga - has good size
5 - David Harrison - off the court issues, I'd pass
6 - Dwayne Jones - local guy, can D some
7 - Earl Barron - had some nice games for Miami late last year
8 - Shavlik Randolph - if healthy, could do worse that bringing him back
9 - Paul Davis - coming off major injury
10 - James Augustine - no interest
11 - Justin Williams - pretty good rebounder and shot blocker

Latest updates - Removed Amundson and Josh Powell (one of my favorite options) who just signed deals.

[jmon]

Vets: 2, 6,
shooters: 1, 2
youngs: 1, 6, 10, 11

Those are guys that I like. I like Fazekas and Theo the most. Just Williams would be a good 15th guy. He has had some weird things in his past though. He and his wife had a 3some with a female stripper or something and she charged them with rape or something weird. Charges were dropped though I think.

[geiger]

I actually like DJ Mbenga a little bit as well. He gives you absolutely nothing on offense, but he has good size, works hard, takes up space, and is a decent defensive player.

I like Earl Barron's offensive potential, although he typically doesn't show it in games, and at this point, I'm not sure if he has what it takes on the NBA level.

The thinking is, we need a big body if Sammy goes down to give us a few minutes. Ideally it would be a legitimate center and it would be someone who could take up some space and block some shots. Perhaps we can also add a guy like Fazekas - maybe on a non-guaranteed contract.

[monks]

Copying my list over to this thread. I will update this as players sign. Again, let me know if you think there is an option out there that I should add to the list.

The Vets
1 - P.J. Brown - doubt he would come here
2 - Theo Ratliff - not a bad option - shot blocker off the bench
3 - Dikembe Mutombo - probably will re-sign with Houston or retire
4 - Alonzo Mourning - similar to Deke, Miami or retire
5 - Jamal Magloire - trash at this point, but he is a big body
6 - Michael Doleac - I'd pass
7 - Jake Voskuhl - last big off the bench type
8 - Scott Pollard - same as Voskuhl
9 - Juwon Howard - anything left?
10 - Lorenzen Wright - time to retire
11 - Othella Harrington - he's done, no interest
12 - Robert "Tractor" Traylor - fat, but trying to make a comeback

The "big" shooting options (guys closer to the skill set Smith had offensively)
1 - Nick Fazekas - not much D/speed, but can shoot very well
2 - Austin Croshere - more a combo F, but could provide some shooting
3 - Robert Horry - anything left? Teams he's on win titles.
4 - Pat Garrity - not much of a shooter the last couple years

The younger guys with some potential
1 - Elton Brown - hey, he had his way with Smith in Summer League play
2 - Robert Swift - not really an option for the min (got the QO from Seattle for more)
3 - C.J. Giles - Rookie who looked decent in Summer League. Didn't we work him out?
4 - DJ Mbenga - has good size
5 - David Harrison - off the court issues, I'd pass
6 - Dwayne Jones - local guy, can D some
7 - Earl Barron - had some nice games for Miami late last year
8 - Shavlik Randolph - if healthy, could do worse that bringing him back
9 - Paul Davis - coming off major injury
10 - James Augustine - no interest
11 - Justin Williams - pretty good rebounder and shot blocker

Latest updates - Removed Amundson and Josh Powell (one of my favorite options) who just signed deals.

I bolded the two in each group I like the most.
- Ratliff I already mentioned, and Voshkul's always been solid for spot emergency minutes.
- Fazekas and Croshere best emulate what we lost in Smith. Still, they wouldn't see 10mpg unless someone gets hurt.
- Jones I remember watching in college at St. Joes...he uses his size well. Barron might take more than the minimum to get, though, considering he started 15 games and averaged 7/4.5 last year.

[LongLiveHinkie]

PJ Brown, Ratliff, Magloire, Elton Brown are my top 4.

[Don]

My guy out of that bunch would be Croshere. The others would be on an as needed basis-Fazekas (I would still put him in the younger guys with potential list), PJ Brown, Ratliff.

[freshie2]

Funny. I though he meant CJ Miles. Stupid. Big man talk. Sorry about that.

Don't know anything about CJ Giles other than he has no experience in the NBA and was booted off Kansas. His senior year, he averaged 6.3 points and and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 42% from the field - only appeared in 10 games for Oregon State. He also averaged 4 fouls in only 18 minutes a game.

Guessing someone saw that he put up 13 points and 12 rebounds in one summer league game against the Sixers. In the other two games, he didn't do that well. Lots of talent, raw, got his head screwed on wrong though.

It would be a flier on him. With the high character roster that the Sixers have, I wouldn't be opposed to taking a risk on someone like this. Skilled big men don't grow on trees, and maybe it's more maturity than anything else. He's probably player 12-15 on the roster, so if he gets out of hand you cut him, but maybe he comes in and conforms to the norm of this team.

Just threw the name out to see if he has been signed...won't lose sleep if he's playing in Bosul next season.

Of the bigs listed, I think they need to focus on defense/rebounding more than scoring. While I would have interest in Fazekas as more of a scoring big (again, bench player) I think the other young players to be considered should be active/athletic players who can defend and rebound inside. If they can get Theo and a young player like that for extra depth, I think they would be set moving forward. This is where not succeeding in getting Deandre Jordan was a mistake in my view...he's not great, but a young/athletic big with some skills would be great to have behind Sam (and potentially Theo) right now.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

LA sold 3 seconds. We would've had to give the Utah 1st that was instramental to bringing in Brand in the first place. So in essence, who'd ya rather have? Deandre Jordan or Elton Brand?

[geiger]

With Theo here, no longer have any need for a guy like Giles. I think if he ever gets his act together and works hard, he could, in a few years, develop into an NBA quality player. Right now, he's an NBDL player. He wasn't even productive in college, so there is no reason to think he can magically step in and be able to produce on a veteran NBA roster for a team that can compete now. If we add another big body, I'd rather it be someone who provides an element we currently don't have - i.e. outside shooting big man from the bench. So I'd rather see if Garrity has anything left in the tank or if Fazekas can play in the league. I however don't think we'll be adding anyone else to the roster until training camp if at all. It seems Stefanski would rather have flexibility to make moves and have roster space than add a body to the end of the bench who won't see the light of day unless there are devastating injuries to key players.

[geiger]

By the way, if we add a 14th player, I think it would make sense to add a SF. Iggy is expected to play SG, but obviously, he can play SF. Young is a SF who needs to develop some more SF skills. Rush is not really big or strong enough to play SF, but in an emergency, he can give us a few minutes. Still, it would be nice to have a pure SF on the roster. Unfortunately, there are very few guys available who fit the bill. I think Ira Newble and Quinton Ross are both still out there. Neither is much of an offensive threat, but both are good perimiter defenders who can also guard SGs.

[corwin]

I'm more in agreement with your previous post. I think the last remaining hole on the team is a pick & pop big man or someone to replace Jason Smith for the year. Fazekas would seem to be ideal if he can play in the league. Who knows though, perhaps Speights will show that skill & develop quickly. It's probably a good idea to keep at least one & probably two roster spots open during the early stages of the season. In terms of SF, I don't think one is needed. However, that is a position where there are lots of guys in the D-League who might deserve a shot later in the season. I don't think that there's much of a rush to sign one.

[geiger]

I think as it gets closer to training camp, it will be easier to extend a few invitations to guys on a non-guaranteed basis to see if we can uncover one more piece that might be able to contribute.