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Now that Jason Smith is likely out for the year, Ed will likely sign one more big man. Here are some available free agents:

Theo Ratliff -
Carl Landry -
Juwan Howard -
Jamaal Maglore -
David Harrison -
Michael Doleac -

The smileys are for how i'd feel about each free agent.

Ratliff or bust for me.

Thanks for the new post. Luckily, we don't already have a bunch of posts about this. This one adds a lot.

What is Doleac up to? That would be a fine little pick up.

Doleac and Howard are total garbage IMO - Mags despite being younger than Ratliff shows absolutely nothing on either end of the court - Landry would want more than the minimum which rules him out - I wouldnt mind Harrison but his attitute and work ethic are issues - right now the best option is ratliff - in detroit he has shown to be a capable defender and would be able to consistantly contribute on that side of the court- offensively he has nothing but he wouldnt be getting many minutes nor would he be looked to to score - He would be able to come in for some sparse minutes and do the dirty work while keeping the other team from going on a run - Ratliff all the way for me

Not much possible on the trade front. WG is our only trading chip. His contract matches up with Steven Hunter and Shelden Williams. That's about all that might be realistic.

Earl Barron is an unrestricted FA from Miami, the Heat want to bring him back, but the Sixers might be a good opportunity for him this year.

Like I said before, an additional big man would be a good insurance policy, but not necessary for the game to game rotation. We essentially had three big men last year playing each night, and now we have four. Unless everyone thinks that Speights isn't ready, which shouldn't be the case. It's not like he'll be starting for us, so there's no reason why he can't give us 15 MPG like Smith had last season. We also have Evans off the bench, and Brand playing some minutes at center as well. But by all means we should get that big man, just in case...

sixerswillrule wrote:Like I said before, an additional big man would be a good insurance policy, but not necessary for the game to game rotation. We essentially had three big men last year playing each night, and now we have four. Unless everyone thinks that Speights isn't ready, which shouldn't be the case. It's not like he'll be starting for us, so there's no reason why he can't give us 15 MPG like Smith had last season. We also have Evans off the bench, and Brand playing some minutes at center as well. But by all means we should get that big man, just in case...

Well to be fair last year we were trying to get by... this year the aim is to try to contend correct? it is going to be hard to do that without another big who can guard the post without getting man handled. You need another Center as insurance like we needed Ivey as insurance. They will play spot minutes when needed.

I agree that we should get that 5th big man as insurance. He wouldn't be asked to play much, only spot minutes like you said. As for guarding the post, Brand can be that man for us. Forget his height, with his 9'2" standing reach he is practically a seven footer. He has the bulk as well at a solid 255 pounds. I don't see guys like Howard being such a problem for us anymore.

Ratliff would def be my 1st option...but Barron wouldnt be a bad pickup and maybe even Justin Williams.

Trading Willie Green would hurt our bench, and Smith is only a situational 3rd to 4th big man with the emergence of Speights. It doesn't matter who you sign, as long as he can play for 5-10 mins.

Magloire or Ratliff.

put me down for the ratliff return

They needed the extra big man before Smith's injury...now they really should get two. You need big man depth if you want to compete. Theo's an easy choice...who should be the second? Doleac or even Fazekas could be the last big off the bench, and still offers something.

freshie2 wrote:They needed the extra big man before Smith's injury...now they really should get two. You need big man depth if you want to compete. Theo's an easy choice...who should be the second? Doleac or even Fazekas could be the last big off the bench, and still offers something.

Fill out the bench with Elton Brown, Ratliff and Bonzi Wells.

freshie2 wrote:They needed the extra big man before Smith's injury...now they really should get two. You need big man depth if you want to compete. Theo's an easy choice...who should be the second? Doleac or even Fazekas could be the last big off the bench, and still offers something.

I agree. Doleac and Fazekas aren't good defensive options, but they can hit an open jumper to help spread the floor for when teams zone up. I would sign one defensive C (Ratliff ideally) and one shooting F/C like Fazekas or Doleac.

Oh, amd just for kicks, why not bring back Herbie!

I have put together a complete list all the "bigs" who are out there. I'm sure I missed a couple, so let me know if you think it's missing anyone. As far as I know, none of these guys are currently under contract.

From this list, I think we are looking for 2 guys. We were already in the market for a big before Smith went down (probably a vet). Now I think we need 2 guys (at least 1 vet is required). Also, 1 must be clear backup C material.

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 - Josh Powell - has always produced when give minutes.
3 - Robert Swift - not really an option for the min (got the QO from Seattle for more)
4 - C.J. Giles - Rookie who looked decent in Summer League. Didn't we work him out?
5 - DJ Mbenga - has good size
6 - David Harrison - off the court issues, I'd pass
7 - Dwayne Jones - local guy, can D some
8 - Earl Barron - had some nice games for Miami late last year
9 - Lou Amundson - back? rumors that GS was going to sign him, but don't think they did.
10 - Shavlik Randolph - if healthy, could do worse that bringing him back
11 - Paul Davis - coming off major injury
12 - James Augustine - no interest
13 - Justin Williams - pretty good rebounder and shot blocker

From the list, my choices would be...
- Vets - Ratliff then PJ Brown, Deke and/or Mourning (if any would come - doubtful). If not, then Magloire
- Shooters - Fazekas and Croshere
- Youngs - Elton Brown, Josh Powell and maybe take a shot on C.J. Giles

Edits...
Removed Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Pape Sow who signed deals overseas.
Removed Ryan Bowen who just re-signed w/ New Orleans for 1 yr.
Removed Francisco Elson who confirmed he will be signing w/ the Bucks.

good list