I saw this on another board and I figured that this can generate some good discussion.
Everyone has said that this year's free agent class is extremely weak. The only guys that were worth anything were Carmelo Anthony, Al Horford, Tony Parker, Caron Butler, and Zach Randolph. Tony Parker and Al Horford have now signed extensions so that makes things even weaker. Carmelo Anthony isn't coming here either. Caron Butler and Zach Randolph potentially can, but there will be some competition to pick either of these players up. However, even though the high echelon players aren't very good, that doesn't mean that the role players are crap as well. So, who do you think are some players that we can bring in that may be under the radar that can come here and be productive and help us out on the win column?
Kendrick Perkins- First and foremost, I believe that the best under-the-radar player that we can possibly pick up is Kendrick Perkins. His injury has seemingly made everyone forget about him and let's not forget how good of a defensive player he is. He had 132 blocks last year which is good for ninth in the league, and he has an 11.5 offensive rebound percentage which is good for eighth in the league. He sets bonecrushing picks, and he is just mean. I don't think that I have ever seen him smile. Which is a good thing.
He finishes around the rim (2nd in the league last year with a .602 percentage) and has a respectable back to basket game which is valuable for a 3rd big nowadays. I know that this may be somewhat of a stretch considering that Boston is in love with him, but we must as well make an offer to him as he would tremendously help us as a 3rd big. He has won a championship and he has been around leaders like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Not to mention that if he and Roy worked together in the offseason he would potentially make Roy the best center in the league (no hyperbole).
So, that is just one player that I have had on my mind. He'd at least be a fan favorite for sure.
And for good measure here is a very good article wrote on the day of Finals game 7 about Perk: http://nbaplaybook.com/2010/06/17/th...drick-perkins/
Tayshaun Prince- Kstat I may need some input here, buddy. I know that Tayshaun Prince is a pesky defender and he is made of steel. He is a respectable floor spacer and he has an all around game. He has a good defensive rebounding percentage (13.8 last year), and he can really score at a high percentage for a player of his position (.473 from the field so far this season). He's got long arms, he's a winner, he has ability to create off the dribble, plays with intensity, and he's just a glue guy. Basically James Posey when he was with Boston. Good thing.
If we brought him off the bench for Danny next year we would have a very, very solid backup small forward. I love the idea of having two good rebounding and defending small forwards both starting and coming off the bench. I know that technically and morally we aren't supposed to be doing any business w/ guys from Detroit, but for the sake of winning I don't really care. Tayshaun would be a real glue guy for us.
Here is yet another article about what has been "up" with Tayshaun. It just really seems as if it is time for him to part ways with the franchise: http://www.freep.com/article/2010112...ayshaun-Prince
DeAndre Jordan- If we strictly want to go youth movement here, I think that DeAndre can be a good pickup. First of all, he's a big boy. He's a big time athlete, and he can rebound the ball (2.0 offensive rebounds per game in 18 minutes per game which is a 12.9 offensive rebound %.) He also has had nice or decent defensive rebounding percentages in his first two years in the league (25.5 and 23.5 respecively.)
To put this into perspective, let's look at Jeff Foster's defensive and offensive rebounding percentages. In his best defensive rebounding percentage year, he was at 25.4 percentage compared to DeAndre's 23.5 last year (his first year he didn't play too many games). Pretty good considering that DeAndre is just 22, eh?
He is awkward around the basket and doesn't hit very many contested shots around the rim though. He is flat footed and can't really go up very well such as Amare Stoudamire or Javale McGee for example (Perk has this problem too). However, he still hits his shots. He has very good percentages for a big man (.644 fg% this year) and that is decent coming from a 22 year old kid drafted on potential who averages 9.9 ppg per 36 minutes. He's limited offensively, but he doesn't take silly shots.
Some more downsides: Awful free throw shooter and not good from the perimeter.
So, to conclude, pick him up if you think that he can steadily improve year by year to become a good-to-elite 3rd big. If he doesn't he'll be okay. Still better than Solomon Jones.
Some more but I have gotten too lazy to keep going on: Andrei Kirilenko (if he ever learns to stop shooting from the perimeter), Samuel Dalembert (for a one or two year deal at the most), Joel Pryzbilla (be healthy my man), Nick Collison, Marcus Thornton (restricted), Chuck Hayes, Tyson Chandler (I'd love this pickup if cheap. I'd absolutely love it), and Shane Battier*
*I bet that Shane isn't going anywhere. So I didn't expand on that.
Who do you guys think we should go after that we haven't really talked about?
Everyone has said that this year's free agent class is extremely weak. The only guys that were worth anything were Carmelo Anthony, Al Horford, Tony Parker, Caron Butler, and Zach Randolph. Tony Parker and Al Horford have now signed extensions so that makes things even weaker. Carmelo Anthony isn't coming here either. Caron Butler and Zach Randolph potentially can, but there will be some competition to pick either of these players up. However, even though the high echelon players aren't very good, that doesn't mean that the role players are crap as well. So, who do you think are some players that we can bring in that may be under the radar that can come here and be productive and help us out on the win column?
Kendrick Perkins- First and foremost, I believe that the best under-the-radar player that we can possibly pick up is Kendrick Perkins. His injury has seemingly made everyone forget about him and let's not forget how good of a defensive player he is. He had 132 blocks last year which is good for ninth in the league, and he has an 11.5 offensive rebound percentage which is good for eighth in the league. He sets bonecrushing picks, and he is just mean. I don't think that I have ever seen him smile. Which is a good thing.
He finishes around the rim (2nd in the league last year with a .602 percentage) and has a respectable back to basket game which is valuable for a 3rd big nowadays. I know that this may be somewhat of a stretch considering that Boston is in love with him, but we must as well make an offer to him as he would tremendously help us as a 3rd big. He has won a championship and he has been around leaders like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Not to mention that if he and Roy worked together in the offseason he would potentially make Roy the best center in the league (no hyperbole).
So, that is just one player that I have had on my mind. He'd at least be a fan favorite for sure.
And for good measure here is a very good article wrote on the day of Finals game 7 about Perk: http://nbaplaybook.com/2010/06/17/th...drick-perkins/
Tayshaun Prince- Kstat I may need some input here, buddy. I know that Tayshaun Prince is a pesky defender and he is made of steel. He is a respectable floor spacer and he has an all around game. He has a good defensive rebounding percentage (13.8 last year), and he can really score at a high percentage for a player of his position (.473 from the field so far this season). He's got long arms, he's a winner, he has ability to create off the dribble, plays with intensity, and he's just a glue guy. Basically James Posey when he was with Boston. Good thing.
If we brought him off the bench for Danny next year we would have a very, very solid backup small forward. I love the idea of having two good rebounding and defending small forwards both starting and coming off the bench. I know that technically and morally we aren't supposed to be doing any business w/ guys from Detroit, but for the sake of winning I don't really care. Tayshaun would be a real glue guy for us.
Here is yet another article about what has been "up" with Tayshaun. It just really seems as if it is time for him to part ways with the franchise: http://www.freep.com/article/2010112...ayshaun-Prince
DeAndre Jordan- If we strictly want to go youth movement here, I think that DeAndre can be a good pickup. First of all, he's a big boy. He's a big time athlete, and he can rebound the ball (2.0 offensive rebounds per game in 18 minutes per game which is a 12.9 offensive rebound %.) He also has had nice or decent defensive rebounding percentages in his first two years in the league (25.5 and 23.5 respecively.)
To put this into perspective, let's look at Jeff Foster's defensive and offensive rebounding percentages. In his best defensive rebounding percentage year, he was at 25.4 percentage compared to DeAndre's 23.5 last year (his first year he didn't play too many games). Pretty good considering that DeAndre is just 22, eh?
He is awkward around the basket and doesn't hit very many contested shots around the rim though. He is flat footed and can't really go up very well such as Amare Stoudamire or Javale McGee for example (Perk has this problem too). However, he still hits his shots. He has very good percentages for a big man (.644 fg% this year) and that is decent coming from a 22 year old kid drafted on potential who averages 9.9 ppg per 36 minutes. He's limited offensively, but he doesn't take silly shots.
Some more downsides: Awful free throw shooter and not good from the perimeter.
So, to conclude, pick him up if you think that he can steadily improve year by year to become a good-to-elite 3rd big. If he doesn't he'll be okay. Still better than Solomon Jones.
Some more but I have gotten too lazy to keep going on: Andrei Kirilenko (if he ever learns to stop shooting from the perimeter), Samuel Dalembert (for a one or two year deal at the most), Joel Pryzbilla (be healthy my man), Nick Collison, Marcus Thornton (restricted), Chuck Hayes, Tyson Chandler (I'd love this pickup if cheap. I'd absolutely love it), and Shane Battier*
*I bet that Shane isn't going anywhere. So I didn't expand on that.
Who do you guys think we should go after that we haven't really talked about?
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