JamStone
07-04-2009, 12:51 PM
While not official yet, the free agency has already been marked by quite a few interesting (some surprising) decisions. While next summer appears to be the biggest or most hyped free agent summer in recent history, this off season has already proven to be quite eventful. Now there are some "big" names in this free agency as well, except they are mostly of older, past their prime players. Guess where some of these free agents land.
1. Rasheed Wallace - Orlando Magic. Talk is mostly of Boston and some about San Antonio, but I think he can be lured and will eventually sign with Orlando if for no other reason but they aren't a David Stern darling team. Same could be said of the Spurs, but I think Rasheed will want to play roadblock to the LeBrons and Celtic Pride in the East. Second choice would be the Spurs, but for whatever reason, I'm guessing Magic.
2. Allen Iverson - Europe. I think he's done in the NBA, and rightfully so. Been probably my favorite player for the better part of 12 years, mainly because of how hard he played as soon as the game started. But his act has grown tired, his attitude even more so. Love his talent and his competitive spirit, but despise what kind of person he appears to be off the court and his unwillingness to be more unselfish on the court to try to adapt and adjust to coaches and teammates.
3. Stephon Marbury - Miami. I think they'd conceivably give him a good chunk of the MLE. Mario Chalmers ain't a bad PG, but Riley has proven to be willing to take chances on older players that used to be stars.
4. Mike Bibby - Oklahoma City. I think he'll find out fairly quick that the market for him is extremely thin. He might explore the chance to join the Lakers, but I think Oklahoma City offers just enough to persuade him to get a few more million.
5. Shawn Marion - Cleveland. He may have talked about not wanting to take too much of a pay cut. Reality will not merely slap him in the face. It will Mike Tyson punch him out. I think the Cavs are desperate for that hybrid forward. They're running out of options. They extend Marion the MLE and hilarity ensues as the guy Shaq was traded for to Phoenix joins him on the Cavs.
6. Andre Miller - Portland. This should have been their first move to begin with. Not Turkoglu. Blake does a decent job. Jerryd Bayless has some promise. They need a steadier guy at the position who is good enough offensively to play with and without the ball and will do at least a moderately good job defensively. Andre Miller isn't a great shooter, but he finds ways to score and while he's a true point guard, he doesn't dominate the ball. He's old but he's still a step up defensively over either Blake or Bayless. He should take some pressure off of Roy.
7. Drew Gooden - Olympiakos. He's done in the NBA. Maybe the Spurs bring him back for real cheap. But, he's just not much of an asset. He's still relatively young. I think he tries to make some money overseas. He should go to some Greek team. I hear they like signing bad NBA players in the hopes of filling up their high school stadiums. Maybe he can be a forward version of Vassoulis.
Where do you think some of this summer's free agents land. Feel free to add others. I just mentioned some of the "bigger" names that used to be really good players.
1. Rasheed Wallace - Orlando Magic. Talk is mostly of Boston and some about San Antonio, but I think he can be lured and will eventually sign with Orlando if for no other reason but they aren't a David Stern darling team. Same could be said of the Spurs, but I think Rasheed will want to play roadblock to the LeBrons and Celtic Pride in the East. Second choice would be the Spurs, but for whatever reason, I'm guessing Magic.
2. Allen Iverson - Europe. I think he's done in the NBA, and rightfully so. Been probably my favorite player for the better part of 12 years, mainly because of how hard he played as soon as the game started. But his act has grown tired, his attitude even more so. Love his talent and his competitive spirit, but despise what kind of person he appears to be off the court and his unwillingness to be more unselfish on the court to try to adapt and adjust to coaches and teammates.
3. Stephon Marbury - Miami. I think they'd conceivably give him a good chunk of the MLE. Mario Chalmers ain't a bad PG, but Riley has proven to be willing to take chances on older players that used to be stars.
4. Mike Bibby - Oklahoma City. I think he'll find out fairly quick that the market for him is extremely thin. He might explore the chance to join the Lakers, but I think Oklahoma City offers just enough to persuade him to get a few more million.
5. Shawn Marion - Cleveland. He may have talked about not wanting to take too much of a pay cut. Reality will not merely slap him in the face. It will Mike Tyson punch him out. I think the Cavs are desperate for that hybrid forward. They're running out of options. They extend Marion the MLE and hilarity ensues as the guy Shaq was traded for to Phoenix joins him on the Cavs.
6. Andre Miller - Portland. This should have been their first move to begin with. Not Turkoglu. Blake does a decent job. Jerryd Bayless has some promise. They need a steadier guy at the position who is good enough offensively to play with and without the ball and will do at least a moderately good job defensively. Andre Miller isn't a great shooter, but he finds ways to score and while he's a true point guard, he doesn't dominate the ball. He's old but he's still a step up defensively over either Blake or Bayless. He should take some pressure off of Roy.
7. Drew Gooden - Olympiakos. He's done in the NBA. Maybe the Spurs bring him back for real cheap. But, he's just not much of an asset. He's still relatively young. I think he tries to make some money overseas. He should go to some Greek team. I hear they like signing bad NBA players in the hopes of filling up their high school stadiums. Maybe he can be a forward version of Vassoulis.
Where do you think some of this summer's free agents land. Feel free to add others. I just mentioned some of the "bigger" names that used to be really good players.