Top 5 Free Agent Targets

[MAS RipCity]

Mine

1- Andre Miller
It's pretty obvious, I've been sweatin Dre since the season has been over. I think he would be a great addition. A nice, calming influence on our team and an ability to make the opposing point guards actually play defense on him. I like Steve, but he is nothing bu a spot up shooter. We deserve more from a starting point guard.

2- Hedo Turkoglu
He turns 31 soon, but he still has a few years left in the tank, before Batum eventually would take over. I love how he is clutch, can handle the ball, and a dead eye shot. I think he could be the consistent 3rd scorer we need. He also has deep playoff run playoff experience from his days in Sacramento.

3- Ron Artest
I am not 100% sold on this idea, but he does have a man-crush on Brandon. He would be another player for Batum to learn under for a few years. He has a nice 3 ball, but I absolutely hate how he tries to take over games sometimes.

4- Mike Bibby
A better Steve Blake with playoff experience. He runs the team well and is quite deadly when left open. Where I like Miller better is his ability to take his man down in the post and abuse them. Bibby being this high on a free agent list goes to show the weak class of free agents.

5- Leon Powe/Brandon Bass
Baring we do not draft Dejaun Blair, we need a high energy, banger off of the bench. Powe has Finals experience and Bass has playoff games under his belt as well. Nearly every team left in these playoffs has a big, physical backup 4 on their roster. We need that. I think the draft is really sub-par this year and only want Blair, because he has potential to be a better Millsap and would rather spend free agent money on a point or sf.

Pipe Dream
Chris Andersen
I made a post on him already, but his heart is in Denver and I don't think even offering more money would be enough to lure him away. But holy hell, a bench lineup of Bayless, Rudy, Outlaw, Bird, and Przy would be fucking insane to watch.

It should be noted that we could get potentially 2 of these guys on this list. One via signing them outright and the other via a sign and trade...Blake..Webster..future 1st.

 

[B-Roy]

1. LeBron James

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Chris Bosh

4. Amare Stoudemire

5. Steve Nash

Oh, you meant this year.

 

[Minstrel]

1. LeBron James

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Chris Bosh

4. Amare Stoudemire

5. Steve Nash

Oh, you meant this year.

I'd put Joe Johnson ahead of Steve Nash for our big free agent strike in 2010 (assuming we have tons and tons of cap space next year...we will, right?).

 

[oldmangrouch]

I have to disagree with Bibby. He seems to have an inflated opinion of his own ability/worth. I would bet that he will demand at least as good a contract as Miller, while bringing significantly less to the table.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

1A) Ron Artest
1B) Andre Miller

Get 'em both, KP.

 

[julius]

For me, Chris Andersen is my second on my list of FA's I want the team to get.

Everyone else is tied for 1st on my list.

 

[Wheels]

for me.. Chris Anderson better not come anywhere near our team.. guy is an idiot.

 

[Sinobas]

Our 2nd unit of Joel, Anderson, Bayless and Batum could be a terrific defensive unit. Bass is another possibility, but I was surprised to see on 82games.com that he actually has a pretty poor inside shooting %.

Bass shoots 38% from inside, and gets 30% of his inside shots blocked! He does have a 17% dunk percentage though, which is good.

As a comparison, LaMarcus shoots 53% inside, is only blocked 10% of the time, and 10% of his shots are blocked.

 

[Further]

Hedo would be a great addition. Not only for his experience and scoring abilities, but also because he has good court vision and could would be a great SF to have on the floor while Bayless is learning at PG. Hedo and Roy each have enough point ability so that Bayless does not need to be a "pure" PG. And Hedo could also help spread the floor which would be lost if Blake was out. So Even if Miller with his lack of distance was the starting PG, Hedo would be great in that lineup. I love the idea of getting both Miller and Hedo.

 

[MAS RipCity]

miller/bayless
roy/rudy
hedo/batum
lma/outlaw/blair
greg/joel

champs 09-10

 

[Further]

miller/bayless
roy/rudy
hedo/batum
lma/outlaw/blair
greg/joel

champs 09-10

The crazy thing is that this is not that crazy. To get Miller, Hedo and Blair we would have 5 low picks, 7-8 mil to absorb, 3 mil cash in trades, Webster, Outlaw, Blake all on good contracts, trade exception , and KP's winning smile.

 

[RudyFor3]

How about Tayshaun Prince? He's the perfect SF who can defend and he shot 40% from behind the arc this year.

 

[Minstrel]

How about Tayshaun Prince? He's the perfect SF who can defend and he shot 40% from behind the arc this year.

Not a free agent.

 

[DaRizzle]

Leon Powe just had MF surgery

 

[Mediocre Man]

I am gonna be a weak suck and not give my top 5 in any order

I think the single most important thing for our team are players with playoff experience. We have some now, but adding a player like Prince for example would be ideal. A possition of need and a playr to fill it whp not only has the skill set, but the experience of a championship run, or at least a deep playoff run.

Here we go on the FA's

1. Turkoglu. Perfect player because he is young enough to add a lot to the team, and old enough so Batum could easily take over in a couple of years.

2. Artest. Psycho in a good way. Seems to think the world of Roy, so maybe he could behave like he has in Houston all year. He would add much, much needed perimeter defense.

3. K*be. Yes he is the Devil, but Blazer fans cheered for Rider, Sheed, Wells and Damon for crying out loud. If he opts out and agrees to sign here we win the championship the next 2 or 3 years.

4. Kidd. See Turkoglu. Old, experienced and a great mentor for Bayless who could take over in a year or two.

5. this will be a list of younger players or vets who would be upgrades, but not bring us a lot of needed veteran leadership for the playoffs.

Sessions
Bass
Felton
Miller....he is an upgrade over Blake, but I am not sure that would be money well spent.

 

[MAS RipCity]

how would we get kobe? sign and trade?

 

[Minstrel]

how would we get kobe? sign and trade?

If Portland renounced LaFrentz, Ruffin, Frye, Blake and Outlaw, they could have up to $16 million under the cap. What does a max contract start at for a player of Kobe's veteran status?

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Ramon Sessions is another guy people are forgetting if we go the young route at PG. While Conley isn't a PG, I can see KP trying to trade his assetts for him and taking his cap space and putting that towards a vet SF like Ron or Turk.

 

[brsinepyce]

Drew Gooden? he would be a great backup. Probably the best available. I dont know his pricing though?

 

[brsinepyce]

Shawn Marion wouldnt be bad either?

 

[julius]

Imho, if (by some miracle) Kobe opted out and signed in Portland (and it didn't end up costing us Rudy, Greg, LaMarcus or Rudy), the three things would be true.

1. KP would be a freaking genius.
2. A vocal minority of fans would bitch very loudly
3. We'd win the title next year.


But it won't happen. Kobe would never leave LA.

 

[Fawzi83]

Imho, if (by some miracle) Kobe opted out and signed in Portland (and it didn't end up costing us Rudy, Greg, LaMarcus or Rudy), the three things would be true.

1. KP would be a freaking genius.
2. A vocal minority of fans would bitch very loudly
3. We'd win the title next year.


But it won't happen. Kobe would never leave LA.

How many Rudy's do we have?

 

[julius]

How many Rudy's do we have?

2 obviously. Duh.

 

[gambitnut]

I couldn't come up with five players off the top of my head, so I looked at ESPN's lists for the next two years and sorted them by position:

C

Robert Swift
Aaron Gray
Marcin Gortat
Kyrylo Fesenko
Zaza Pachulia

PF

Channing Frye

SF

Grant Hill
Ron Artest
Hedo Turkoglu
Shawn Marion
Devean George
Wally Szczerbiak

SG

Dahntay Jones
Keith Bogans
Desmond Mason
Anthony Parker
Ronnie Price
Mario West
Josh Childress
Trenton Hassell
Kareem Rush
Morris Almond
Devin Brown
Alex Acker

PG

Andre Miller
Stephon Marbury
Mike Bibby
Jason Kidd
Anthony Carter
Jason Hart
Jacque Vaughn
Anthony Johnson
Tyronn Lue
Kevin Ollie

PF is the easiest choice for me. I am very happy with Aldridge/Outlaw/Frye there, I want Frye back. I could accept other players at PF, but I like the skills Frye brings and his sense of humor is a bonus and he likes Portland so he might sign cheaper than other players. I would let Blake go at PG and bring in another veteran for a year or two. I think Andre Miller is my favorite there right now, but, unlike others here, I wouldn't be against Marbury either. I also want a veteran to mentor Batum and Webster, Grant Hill is my first choice there, then Artest. At the other two positions, our greatest needs IMO are a defensive specialist at SG and a raw center, especially on defense. We can fill at least one of those through the draft, Gerald Henderson and BJ Mullens respectively are my favorite draft prospects at those two positions. If we don't get Mullens, I remember thinking that Robert Swift was a decent player when he was healthy and we might be able to get him cheap. I like a number of defensive specialist SG free agents, hopefully we can get one for cheap if we draft Mullens.

 

[LameR]

PF is the easiest choice for me. I am very happy with Aldridge/Outlaw/Frye there,
I want Frye back. I could accept other players at PF, but I like the skills Frye brings and his sense of humor is a bonus and he likes Portland so he might sign cheaper than other players. I would let Blake go at PG and bring in another veteran for a year or two. I think Andre Miller is my favorite there right now, but, unlike others here, I wouldn't be against Marbury either. I also want a veteran to mentor Batum and Webster, Grant Hill is my first choice there, then Artest. At the other two positions, our greatest needs IMO are a defensive specialist at SG and a raw center, especially on defense. We can fill at least one of those through the draft, Gerald Henderson and BJ Mullens respectively are my favorite draft prospects at those two positions. If we don't get Mullens, I remember thinking that Robert Swift was a decent player when he was healthy and we might be able to get him cheap. I like a number of defensive specialist SG free agents, hopefully we can get one for cheap if we draft Mullens.

This is the most unexpected paragraph I have ever read on here. You're definitely in the minority on wanting to keep Frye, but that overall idea is odd.

 

[gambitnut]

This is the most unexpected paragraph I have ever read on here. You're definitely in the minority on wanting to keep Frye, but that overall idea is odd.

What else do you find odd about my plan?

 

[LameR]

What else do you find odd about my plan?

I did not expect to hear Stephon Marbury or Robert Swift's name.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Frye is gone. He and Nate don't see eye to eye.

 

[gambitnut]

I did not expect to hear Stephon Marbury or Robert Swift's name.

The way I see it, our current depth chart is:

Blake/Rodriguez/Bayless
Roy/Fernandez
Batum/Webster (or Webster/Batum if you prefer)
Aldridge/Outlaw/Frye/Randolph/Ruffin/LaFrentz
Przybilla/Oden (soon to be Oden/Przybilla until Przybilla leaves)

I like the idea of being three deep at each position, right now we have way more depth than we need at PF and could use a bit more elsewhere. Letting Randolph, Ruffin and LaFrentz go is the obvious part. The question is who do we get to replace them. As I said in my other post, I still like Frye, and I see Outlaw as a PF, so that position is still covered. I don't think we need a C to replace Pryzbilla or Oden in the rotation, or a SF to replace Batum or Webster or a SG to replace Roy or Fernandez, so I looked for players that would be satisfied with a very small contract, playing just a few minutes off the bench and filling a specific role for us for those few minutes. Those roles are a defensive SG, a mentor for Batum and Webster and a raw play at C who might be ready to take Przybilla's place if he leaves for more playing time and/or more money in a year or two. I also want to replace Blake, and that is where I think we should spend most of our cap space to get the player we want. I suppose we could also look for a cheap PG and spend our money on a SF like Artest, or Prince in a trade if we can pull it off, but I think it would be easier to give the older PGs a shorter contract, and would therefore make the transition to our young players easier than it would be at SF.

 

[STOMP]

Frye is gone. He and Nate don't see eye to eye.

well we can't have that...

the question is which 6'4 PF should the club target?

STOMP