Rodriguez, UM Cough up Cash
July 9, 2008Catching Up With: Luke Jackson
July 9, 2008So, our wish list is slowly accumulating more lines through the middle than a Memorial Day weekend at Cedar Point. No, we really never had a shot at offering any sort of money at the big-named guys; a sign and trade was our only path to the promised land.
But what do we have to offer? Aside from some expiring deals and a crazy-haired master of the running 360, all Danny Ferry has to work with at this juncture is that mid-level offer of approximately $6 million – a nominal amount that is simply burning a hole in the pocket of our collective pants.
The next trick: finding someone who will take said amount. Corey Maggette wouldn’t do it. You can bet that Monta Ellis won’t be signing up either. Let’s face it fans – we’re not getting a superstar for “mid-level” money. But who would take it? While there is still a chance that we end up extending the offer to Delonte West or Daniel Gibson, Chad Ford has a list of what he’s calling “other notables.”
Other notables: Matt Barnes, Warriors; Alonzo Mourning, Heat; Patrick O’Bryant, Warriors; Jason Williams, Heat; Juwan Howard, Mavs; Jarvis Hayes, Pistons; Robert Horry, Spurs; James Jones, Blazers; Michael Finley, Spurs; Jannero Pargo, Hornets; Damon Stoudamire, Spurs; Sam Cassell, Celtics; Jamaal Magloire, Nets; Kareem Rush, Pacers; Gordan Giricek, Suns; Michael Doleac, Timberwolves; Francisco Elson, Oklahoma City; Keyon Dooling, Magic; Quinton Ross, Clippers; Antoine Wright, Mavericks; Fred Jones, Knicks; Juan Dixon, Pistons; Maurice Evans, Magic; Primoz Brezec, Raptors; Anthony Johnson, Kings; Tyronn Lue, Kings; Theo Ratliff, Pistons; Adonal Foyle, Magic; Sebastian Telfair, Timberwolves; Kirk Snyder, Timberwolves.
Pretty, ain’t she? You have the “should retire” group of Alonzo Mourning, Theo Ratliff and even Damon Stoudamire. You can sure bet that they would love an MLE deal at this point in their careers. You have the “flashes of brilliance” guys that are good for a few double-digit outings per season; just enough to garner some attention. Those would be the James Jones’, Fred Jones’ and even the Antione Wrights among others.
The other glaring portion of this is the amount of point guards on the list: Sam Cassell, Jason Williams, Keyon Dooling, Anthony Johnson, Sabastian Telfair and Tyronn Lue. Most of these guys will get offers before the end of the summer, so I expect this list to slowly dwindle down.
But as we aren’t exactly in the mix for the Rony Turiafs of the world, we could be looking at some of these guys. Another guy that I’ve been eying up for the past few days (whom you may or may not like) is Brent Barry (San Antonio). Though he’s old and a bit of a tweener, he’s seasoned enough to play at the level we need this season, is efficient from all parts of the floor, and is a winner. The answer to all of our prayers? Not in the least. But a viable option? I think so.
(Chad Ford via Henry Abbott)
25 Comments
At this point, I say just keep it. I don’t even really think Posey is worth the full MLE. I’d hate to see us use it just for the sake of using it. Lets hang onto the money and make a real run at someone next year.
James Posey solves nothing for this team. We have our quota of slow. old guys that can’t create their own shot. Signing Posey= signing Donyell Marshall
Couldnt agree more. I cant remember where it was said, but we talked about how he’s no better than anyone we have currently – he was just good off of Boston’s bench. We don’t need another bench player.
Funny, the article doesn’t even metion Posey…
He’s not unrestricted
I agree – what will signing any of these guys really do for our team? Not a whole heck of a lot. Will maybe add a little depth to our bench, but no real improvements at all…
a) Were you guys not paying attention to Posey in the playoffs? He was HUGE for Boston. He’s a rock solid defender, a guy who knocks down shots, and a guy who brings energy, hustle, and effort (3 things that we DEFINITELY lacked in the 4th quarter of Game 7 against Boston). Yeah, he’s a bench guy, but he’s twice the player Devin Brown is. Like I said, I wouldn’t give Posey the MLE, but I’d love to have him on our team.
b) He is unrestricted. The only time you’re a restricted FA in the NBA is coming off your rookie scale contract. The reason he’s not on that list is because those are only the “other notables”. If you read the article, he’s listed as the #2 available unrestricted free agent.
What’s truly funny is that Devin Brown didn’t make the list. Not the top 10 best unrestricted FA’s remaining nor the “other notables”. Ouch. Or did he sign somewhere and we just didn’t hear about it?
I guess we weren’t watching the same James Posey. He had a good series against the Cavs, yes.
Look at his post-season PER: 14.31. He was solid all postseason long.
That list made me throw up in my mouth.
Rock, my fault on the Posey front…
But isn’t Gibson RFA now that we gave him a qualified offer? Not sure how that whole thing works…
Right, because Gibson is coming off his rookie contract. Once he signs his next deal, he will never be restricted ever again.
Posey fits a huge need for us if we were to sign him, we could use his perimeter defense late in games. He would be a huge upgrade over Wally in that department. He essentially does what Wally does on offense, but can defend. And if we do trade Wally eventually we could use that type of player that can hit the 3. I would give him the full MLE, but not for anything more than 3 years. But he is the only player I would even consider giving the MLE, we don’t need to add to our massive luxury tax if we don’t get a player that doesn’t provide us with something we don’t already have. Thats why I like Posey, we need perimeter defense and he provides it
No way this guy deserves a three year deal. Eric Snow, Damon Jones…all players warming the bench being paid waaaayyy too much.
All these comments and not one yea or nay about pursuing Barry?
Damon only makes 4.5 mil, thats not terrible, and Snow probably won’t be on the team and will either give the team a trade exemption or cap relief. And Posey is 31, not 41. He can play for 3 more years
And I would rather get Michael Finley for a 1 year deal than Barry. He could give 20 solid minutes a night
“No way this guy deserves a three year deal.”
Wow. Honestly, I think you’re confusing Posey with someone else.
Here you go, Scott, Brent Barry sucks. He isn’t a winner. He just so happened to be on teams that won. Big difference.
I like Matt Barnes – I think he could be worth the MLE
Matt Barnes isn’t bad, especially considering he was drafted by the Cavs, but we don’t need big men right now unless we were to trade Varejao or Joe Smith. I wouldn’t give him the whole midlevel either, but maybe like half of it
I would love to give out MLE to Josh Childress, he had a really good year for Atlanta last year as their 6th man and is only 25. He is restricted, but if the Hawks have to match a large offer for Josh Smith he might become available and no team would have the cap space to offer him anything more than the MLE
I would shell out the midlevel to Childress – he is definitely worth it. He is a very underrated player. He would probably be the Cavs 6th man.
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