KoriEllis
09-07-2004, 03:52 PM
Heat, Kings and Grizzlies still have work to do
By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
The free-agent frenzy is over, and a number of high-profile teams have a lot to show for it. With NBA spending at an all-time high and trades going down at a frantic pace, there is a growing parity in the league that gives hope to franchises that have had little to cheer about the past few years.
From Boston to Utah to Orlando and even Cleveland, GMs can stand up credibly after a busy summer and tell fans hope is on the way.
With all the focus the past two months on what teams have done in an effort to improve, it's just as instructive to look at what some teams have left to do.
Training camps start in less than a month, and a handful of potential contenders -- including the Heat, Grizzlies, Kings and Rockets -- are heading into the season with major holes left unfilled.
Today, Insider takes a look 10 teams that still need to make another move or two before training camp begins. Do the Heat have enough depth to make Shaq happy? Can the Kings add enough depth to make a difference in the West? Will the Grizzlies finally get their hands on a big man? Here's our take.
Miami Heat
Holes: Power forward, small forward
Skinny: Shaquille O'Neal is big. But can the Big Aristotle play three positions? He might have to this year to compensate for the Heat's shocking lack of depth. Miami had to give up three starters for one in the Shaq trade. While Shaq is an enormous upgrade over Brian Grant at center, the team has yet to adequately fill holes at the four and three left by the departures of Lamar Odom and Caron Butler.
The team signed sharp-shooting Wesley Person (5.8 ppg, 2 rpg in '03-04) to play the three and goes into opening day with second-year forward Udonis Haslem (7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) as the starting power forward. Their bench players at that position, third-year forward Rasual Butler (6.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg), veteran big man Malik Allen (4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and second-round pick Matt Freije don't exactly inspire confidence on a team that has championship aspirations.
Miami's starting backcourt looks good, but there's little depth there, either. Dwyane Wade is a phenomenal talent, but is he really a point guard? He had better be. Damon Jones is coming off the best season of his career, but he's more of a gunner than a point. Keyon Dooling? He couldn't crack the Clippers' rotation. Eddie Jones has been great for the Heat the past four seasons, but he turns 33 in October and shot a career low 41 percent from the field last season. His backup, rookie Dorell Wright looks like he has a ton of potential. But when you consider he just graduated from prep school a few months ago, how much help is he really going to be?
Memphis Grizzlies
Holes: Center
Skinny: Brian Cardinal might be the hardest-working guy in the NBA, but he isn't going to be the player who puts the Grizzlies over the top next season. Jerry West has been looking for a legit big man for the past two seasons but still keeps coming up empty. Stromile Swift and Lorenzen Wright were good for the Grizz last season, but West still wants an upgrade. The Grizzlies were the front-runners to land Erick Dampier in a sign-and-trade earlier in the summer, but the Warriors weren't interested in what the Grizzlies were offering.
Last month the Grizzlies turned their attention to landing a younger, but riskier big man -- Eddy Curry. The Grizzlies have a ton of assets to throw at the Bulls, and a trade that would send Bonzi Wells and a re-signed Swift to Chicago for Curry, Eddie Robinson and Chris Jefferies works under the cap. Bulls GM John Paxson has grown weary of Curry's inconsistency and lack of conditioning. He showed up at the Bulls' training facility 35 pounds overweight six weeks ago -- after vowing to get in the best shape of his career as the season ended. Since then, Curry has been working out consistently and has gotten his weight down below 290 -- svelte for Curry.
However, talks have cooled over the past few weeks since Curry began working hard. If the Grizzlies don't land Curry -- who's left? The Grizzlies have a ton of assets to work with. The team has an astounding 10 players on its roster who play guard. No one needs four point guards and six players who can play shooting guard, not even Hubie Brown. The team also has Swift, who's hoping a team works out a sign-and-trade for him.
Sacramento Kings
Holes: Depth at shooting guard, small forward and power forward
Skinny: Remember a happier time when the Kings sported one of the deepest benches in the league? Those days are now gone. The Maloof brothers had to spend so much money signing free agents like Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Brad Miller and Doug Christie that they can no longer afford to pay the role players that once made the Kings so successful. While Sacramento continues to have one of the most impressive starting fives in the league, its bench is going to be a big issue this year.
With the exception of Bobby Jackson, who is great backing up Bibby, and big man Greg Ostertag, who the Kings added to help Miller, the Kings are shockingly shallow this year. The team is looking for rookies and one second-year player to help out the rest of the team's starters. That's pretty scary considering the team's injury history. The best of the group is second-year forward Darius Songaila, who was solid in limited minutes backing up Webber and Miller last season. Given that Webber misses, on average, around 20 games per season, will Songaila be enough?
The rest of the group consists of first-round pick Kevin Martin (who lit up the summer league), second-round pick Ricky Minard and international free agent David Bluthenthal. Will he be able to bail them out if Peja Stojakovic goes down with an injury?
While we're at it, let's not forget that Stojakovic is publicly demanding to be traded, and Webber privately supports the idea. GM Geoff Petrie claims the team won't trade Peja, despite strong interest around the league. The Pacers have talked with the Kings about a Ron Artest for Stojakovic swap. Another one that could make some sense? Stojakovic and Christie to the Suns for Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson.
New Jersey Nets
Holes: Power forward
Skinny: The Nets have yet to recover from losing Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets this summer. They attempted, to no avail, to get Shareef Abdur-Rahim from the Blazers. After that, there was little left on the market that made much sense for them. Now they're stuck with perennial backup Aaron Williams (6.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg), third-year forward Brian Scalabrine (3.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and undrafted rookie Kyle Davis. That's a far cry from the All-Star caliber numbers K-Mart put up last season.
The Nets will get some relief if Alonzo Mourning is healthy enough to play 20 minutes a game. That will allow them to move Jason Collins and, at times, rookie Nenad Kristic to the four when they need help. But if the Nets are going to contend this year, they really need someone capable of grabbing eight or nine boards a game.
Houston Rockets
Holes: Center, small forward, point guard
Skinny: The Rockets pulled off the second-biggest trade of the summer when they swapped three starters -- Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato for Tracy McGrady and Juwan Howard. A combo of T-Mac and Yao Ming should easily get the Rockets into the postseason next year. But you don't make a blockbuster trade like this unless you're gunning for a championship, and the Rockets still have some glaring weaknesses.
Over the past few weeks the Rockets have made some solid moves. The team signed veteran guards Bob Sura and Charlie Ward to help out at the point. The trade for Dikembe Mutombo (to the Rockets for Eric Piatkowski, Adrian Griffin and Mike Wilks) should go through today. But is that enough?
Mutombo, when he's capable of actually playing, is the perfect back-up for Yao. But he hasn't been healthy in two years. There's a reason the 7-foot-2 former defensive player of the year has bounced around Philly, New Jersey, New York and Chicago in the space of two years. Teams aren't convinced Mutombo (who's generously listed at 38) has much left in the tank. Teams keep trading for him, hoping he still has some juice, but lately he has disappointed everyone. This is relevant to the Rockets, because they have no one else to back up Yao. Yao goes through a grueling offseason every year for the Chinese national team and has been incapable, in the past, of giving the team more than 30 mpg.
With Piatkowski out of the mix, Sura likely will be slotted as T-Mac's back-up at the two. That leaves Ward, Tyronn Lue and second-year guard Reece Gaines to battle it out at the point. The team is also thin at small forward, where veteran Jim Jackson will have to hold down the fort virtually by himself. Third-year forward Bostjan Nachbar and veteran Clarence Weatherspoon can both play the position, but neither has been effective lately.
Denver Nuggets
Holes: Depth at shooting guard, small forward
Skinny: The Nuggets, by all accounts, had a fantastic summer. They re-signed starting center Marcus Camby to a pretty reasonable deal, then went out and landed a potential all-star at power forward in Kenyon Martin. On paper, at least, the Nuggets look like they could be serious contenders in the West this season.
What they're still missing is any sort of depth at shooting guard and small forward. Carmelo Anthony and Voshon Lenard will reprise their starting roles there this season, but the Nuggets literally have no one behind them. They've talked to their own free agents like Jon Barry, Ryan Bowen and Rodney White, as well as a couple of the few free agents left on the market, such as Michael Curry. There isn't much out there, so the Nuggets may have to get creative with a trade or two to fill the holes. Nikoloz Tskitishvili is the bait. Will anyone bite?
Atlanta Hawks
Holes: Point guard, center
Skinny: The Hawks have made some progress this summer. They hired an up-and-coming head coach in Mike Woodson, made great trades for Al Harrington and Antoine Walker, and still kept their cap flexibility for next summer.
Still, this team has to play basketball, and cap space and a team full of shooting guards and small forwards -- they've drafted six in the past two years: Boris Diaw, Travis Hansen, Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Donta Smith and Royal Ivey -- aren't going to win them many games.
Tony Delk is the only guy on their roster resembling a point guard, and big guy Peja Drobjnak is the only guy who can play center. Both are career backups playing the two most important positions on the floor. There aren't any free agents left that make much sense.
The Hawks could try to use the remaining $7 million in cap space and make an offer for restricted free agent Stromile Swift, who spent most of his time last year playing center for the Grizzlies and played well. While his ideal position is power forward, in the East, he should be able to get along just fine as a center for one season. Once Walker comes off the books next year, Swift could move back to his natural position, and the Hawks could pursue a big in free agency with $15 million-plus in cap room.
The team has targeted free-agent point guard Kenny Anderson to help at the point. But how much does he really have left? He turns 34 in October and averaged just 20 mpg last season.
Toronto Raptors
Holes: Center
Skinny: New GM Rob Babcock knew the team had to upgrade the center postion this summer to have any real chance of competiting. They reached in the draft for BYU big man Rafael Araujo, then spent some of their free-agent money on journeyman Loren Woods. While, technically, this is an upgrade over what the team had last year -- nothing -- is it enough? Last season the team was forced to play rookie Chris Bosh at center. While he started strong, he wore down quickly and finished the season with a whimper. The Raptors want to move him full time to power forward this year, which means they probably need a lot more help at center. The team does have some assets to move. Donyell Marshall is in the last year of his contract and will be the odd man out if Bosh starts at the four. The team also can afford to move point guard Alvin Williams now that Rafer Alston is in the fold.
Seattle SuperSonics
Holes: Center, depth, talent
Skinny:The Sonics are in perpetual rebuilding mode. They made no significant improvements to a team that won just 37 games last year and lost their starting point guard, Brent Barry, to the Spurs. Danny Fortson should give the Sonics some needed toughness in the post, but there's a reason he couldn't get off the bench in Golden State and Dallas the past two seasons.
Stromile Swift would make some sense in Seattle, but the team knows the mid-level exception won't be enough to land him. There is significant trade interest in a number of Sonics, from Ray Allen to Rashard Lewis to Vladimir Radmanovic. However, the only guy they've been close to moving is backup point guard Antonio Daniels. Something has to give or the team faces the real possibility it will challenge the Clippers and Warriors for the worst record in the West.
Charlotte Bobcats
Holes: Point guard, shooting guard, small forward
Skinny: If the Bobcats go into opening night with the roster they currently have, the honeymoon's going to be over quickly in Charlotte. The Bobcats have a plan, and it's a good one. The team isn't overspending and has, instead, decided to focus on developing a number of young players, hoping to strike gold with one or two. However, their opening night roster is pretty miserable.
Emeka Okafor is the only legitimate NBA starter on the team, and he hasn't played a game. Jason Hart, Gerald Wallace, Jason Kapono, Melvin Ely, Brandon Hunter, Theron Smith, Tamar Slay, Primoz Brezec and Jamal Sampson are all intriguing prospects. But on most NBA teams, none of them would be getting more than 10 to 15 minutes a night. This is the Bobcats' core.
I'm not saying the Bobcats should do anything differently at this point. I think it makes some sense to make a run at Stromile Swift, though the Bobcats haven't shown any real interest so far. But after that, the team is probably better off hoping one or two of these guys pans out. Still, it's going to be ugly, Bobcats fans. As far as holes go, the Bobcats are the Grand Canyon of the NBA.
'Atomic Fly' Looking for Work
With so many teams needing to fill holes and so few quality free agents left on the open market ... what is an NBA GM to do? Several GMs, impressed with the play of some veteran international players in the Olympics, have been quietly probing around Europe hoping the missing piece to their puzzle might reside overseas.
So far, teams are coming away empty handed. Many of the players they now want -- like Lithuania's Sarunas Jasikevicius and Arvydas Macijauskas, Argentina's Fabrico Oberto and Greece's Lazaros Papadopoulous -- were available earlier in the summer but since have signed contracts or had their NBA escape clauses expire. Jasikevicius agreed on a three-year contract with Spanish club F.C. Barcelona that will commence after his contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv expires at the end of the coming season. While the contract does have an NBA escape clause, Barcelona is on the verge of making Jasikevicius one of the highest-paid players in Europe. NBA teams will no longer be able to get him cheap.
A couple of top international players are available however ... and some of them are willing to work cheap.
Gianmarco Pozzecco had no problem getting by Stephon Marbury in the Olympics
At the top of the list is veteran Italian point guard Gianmarco Pozzecco. Known as the "Atomic Fly" in Europe, Pozzecco is one of the quickest, most exciting players over there. He's also one of the wildest, which is why he has never gotten a serious look from NBA scouts. However, over the past two seasons, he's settled down considerably and was the biggest reason an underdog Italian team won the silver medal in Athens.
Pozzecco's age -- he turns 32 in a week -- and his size -- he's listed at 5-foot-11 -- are both major obstacles to overcome. But he called me over the weekend and claims he's willing to come off the bench and play for the NBA minimum just to get a shot at the NBA.
"I have this dream of being an NBA player," Pozzecco told Insider. "I think that the NBA teams they see that I can play against anybody. They cannot defense me. I make my teammates better. If Tim Duncan is on my team, I get 20 assists per game. I just want the possibility to show everybody what I can do. I'm sure I could give help."
Pozzecco, along with his attorney, Cristiano Carugati, has been contacted by several interested teams. Pozzecco is a free agent and has held out from signing a contract in hopes an NBA team will come calling. They're telling everyone the same thing -- Pozzecco is willing to take a big pay cut to play in the NBA. With so many teams in need of a veteran point guard, could Pozzecco be the answer?
He has the quickness and floor vision NBA teams like. He also has a flair to his game that has made him a fan favorite in Europe over the past five seasons. He's not the greatest shooter, and size and defense will be big issues ... but as a back-up?
One NBA GM, who is considering making a run at Pozzecco and did not want to be identified, claims he should be in the league. "Our coaches always complain that we don't have enough guys who understand the game and how to run a team. This guys does. I've watched him mature over the past few seasons. He used to be out of control. But he's really come into his own lately. He could play 15 to 20 minutes a night on a good team. I think someone will sign him."
Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.
By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
The free-agent frenzy is over, and a number of high-profile teams have a lot to show for it. With NBA spending at an all-time high and trades going down at a frantic pace, there is a growing parity in the league that gives hope to franchises that have had little to cheer about the past few years.
From Boston to Utah to Orlando and even Cleveland, GMs can stand up credibly after a busy summer and tell fans hope is on the way.
With all the focus the past two months on what teams have done in an effort to improve, it's just as instructive to look at what some teams have left to do.
Training camps start in less than a month, and a handful of potential contenders -- including the Heat, Grizzlies, Kings and Rockets -- are heading into the season with major holes left unfilled.
Today, Insider takes a look 10 teams that still need to make another move or two before training camp begins. Do the Heat have enough depth to make Shaq happy? Can the Kings add enough depth to make a difference in the West? Will the Grizzlies finally get their hands on a big man? Here's our take.
Miami Heat
Holes: Power forward, small forward
Skinny: Shaquille O'Neal is big. But can the Big Aristotle play three positions? He might have to this year to compensate for the Heat's shocking lack of depth. Miami had to give up three starters for one in the Shaq trade. While Shaq is an enormous upgrade over Brian Grant at center, the team has yet to adequately fill holes at the four and three left by the departures of Lamar Odom and Caron Butler.
The team signed sharp-shooting Wesley Person (5.8 ppg, 2 rpg in '03-04) to play the three and goes into opening day with second-year forward Udonis Haslem (7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) as the starting power forward. Their bench players at that position, third-year forward Rasual Butler (6.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg), veteran big man Malik Allen (4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and second-round pick Matt Freije don't exactly inspire confidence on a team that has championship aspirations.
Miami's starting backcourt looks good, but there's little depth there, either. Dwyane Wade is a phenomenal talent, but is he really a point guard? He had better be. Damon Jones is coming off the best season of his career, but he's more of a gunner than a point. Keyon Dooling? He couldn't crack the Clippers' rotation. Eddie Jones has been great for the Heat the past four seasons, but he turns 33 in October and shot a career low 41 percent from the field last season. His backup, rookie Dorell Wright looks like he has a ton of potential. But when you consider he just graduated from prep school a few months ago, how much help is he really going to be?
Memphis Grizzlies
Holes: Center
Skinny: Brian Cardinal might be the hardest-working guy in the NBA, but he isn't going to be the player who puts the Grizzlies over the top next season. Jerry West has been looking for a legit big man for the past two seasons but still keeps coming up empty. Stromile Swift and Lorenzen Wright were good for the Grizz last season, but West still wants an upgrade. The Grizzlies were the front-runners to land Erick Dampier in a sign-and-trade earlier in the summer, but the Warriors weren't interested in what the Grizzlies were offering.
Last month the Grizzlies turned their attention to landing a younger, but riskier big man -- Eddy Curry. The Grizzlies have a ton of assets to throw at the Bulls, and a trade that would send Bonzi Wells and a re-signed Swift to Chicago for Curry, Eddie Robinson and Chris Jefferies works under the cap. Bulls GM John Paxson has grown weary of Curry's inconsistency and lack of conditioning. He showed up at the Bulls' training facility 35 pounds overweight six weeks ago -- after vowing to get in the best shape of his career as the season ended. Since then, Curry has been working out consistently and has gotten his weight down below 290 -- svelte for Curry.
However, talks have cooled over the past few weeks since Curry began working hard. If the Grizzlies don't land Curry -- who's left? The Grizzlies have a ton of assets to work with. The team has an astounding 10 players on its roster who play guard. No one needs four point guards and six players who can play shooting guard, not even Hubie Brown. The team also has Swift, who's hoping a team works out a sign-and-trade for him.
Sacramento Kings
Holes: Depth at shooting guard, small forward and power forward
Skinny: Remember a happier time when the Kings sported one of the deepest benches in the league? Those days are now gone. The Maloof brothers had to spend so much money signing free agents like Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Brad Miller and Doug Christie that they can no longer afford to pay the role players that once made the Kings so successful. While Sacramento continues to have one of the most impressive starting fives in the league, its bench is going to be a big issue this year.
With the exception of Bobby Jackson, who is great backing up Bibby, and big man Greg Ostertag, who the Kings added to help Miller, the Kings are shockingly shallow this year. The team is looking for rookies and one second-year player to help out the rest of the team's starters. That's pretty scary considering the team's injury history. The best of the group is second-year forward Darius Songaila, who was solid in limited minutes backing up Webber and Miller last season. Given that Webber misses, on average, around 20 games per season, will Songaila be enough?
The rest of the group consists of first-round pick Kevin Martin (who lit up the summer league), second-round pick Ricky Minard and international free agent David Bluthenthal. Will he be able to bail them out if Peja Stojakovic goes down with an injury?
While we're at it, let's not forget that Stojakovic is publicly demanding to be traded, and Webber privately supports the idea. GM Geoff Petrie claims the team won't trade Peja, despite strong interest around the league. The Pacers have talked with the Kings about a Ron Artest for Stojakovic swap. Another one that could make some sense? Stojakovic and Christie to the Suns for Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson.
New Jersey Nets
Holes: Power forward
Skinny: The Nets have yet to recover from losing Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets this summer. They attempted, to no avail, to get Shareef Abdur-Rahim from the Blazers. After that, there was little left on the market that made much sense for them. Now they're stuck with perennial backup Aaron Williams (6.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg), third-year forward Brian Scalabrine (3.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and undrafted rookie Kyle Davis. That's a far cry from the All-Star caliber numbers K-Mart put up last season.
The Nets will get some relief if Alonzo Mourning is healthy enough to play 20 minutes a game. That will allow them to move Jason Collins and, at times, rookie Nenad Kristic to the four when they need help. But if the Nets are going to contend this year, they really need someone capable of grabbing eight or nine boards a game.
Houston Rockets
Holes: Center, small forward, point guard
Skinny: The Rockets pulled off the second-biggest trade of the summer when they swapped three starters -- Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato for Tracy McGrady and Juwan Howard. A combo of T-Mac and Yao Ming should easily get the Rockets into the postseason next year. But you don't make a blockbuster trade like this unless you're gunning for a championship, and the Rockets still have some glaring weaknesses.
Over the past few weeks the Rockets have made some solid moves. The team signed veteran guards Bob Sura and Charlie Ward to help out at the point. The trade for Dikembe Mutombo (to the Rockets for Eric Piatkowski, Adrian Griffin and Mike Wilks) should go through today. But is that enough?
Mutombo, when he's capable of actually playing, is the perfect back-up for Yao. But he hasn't been healthy in two years. There's a reason the 7-foot-2 former defensive player of the year has bounced around Philly, New Jersey, New York and Chicago in the space of two years. Teams aren't convinced Mutombo (who's generously listed at 38) has much left in the tank. Teams keep trading for him, hoping he still has some juice, but lately he has disappointed everyone. This is relevant to the Rockets, because they have no one else to back up Yao. Yao goes through a grueling offseason every year for the Chinese national team and has been incapable, in the past, of giving the team more than 30 mpg.
With Piatkowski out of the mix, Sura likely will be slotted as T-Mac's back-up at the two. That leaves Ward, Tyronn Lue and second-year guard Reece Gaines to battle it out at the point. The team is also thin at small forward, where veteran Jim Jackson will have to hold down the fort virtually by himself. Third-year forward Bostjan Nachbar and veteran Clarence Weatherspoon can both play the position, but neither has been effective lately.
Denver Nuggets
Holes: Depth at shooting guard, small forward
Skinny: The Nuggets, by all accounts, had a fantastic summer. They re-signed starting center Marcus Camby to a pretty reasonable deal, then went out and landed a potential all-star at power forward in Kenyon Martin. On paper, at least, the Nuggets look like they could be serious contenders in the West this season.
What they're still missing is any sort of depth at shooting guard and small forward. Carmelo Anthony and Voshon Lenard will reprise their starting roles there this season, but the Nuggets literally have no one behind them. They've talked to their own free agents like Jon Barry, Ryan Bowen and Rodney White, as well as a couple of the few free agents left on the market, such as Michael Curry. There isn't much out there, so the Nuggets may have to get creative with a trade or two to fill the holes. Nikoloz Tskitishvili is the bait. Will anyone bite?
Atlanta Hawks
Holes: Point guard, center
Skinny: The Hawks have made some progress this summer. They hired an up-and-coming head coach in Mike Woodson, made great trades for Al Harrington and Antoine Walker, and still kept their cap flexibility for next summer.
Still, this team has to play basketball, and cap space and a team full of shooting guards and small forwards -- they've drafted six in the past two years: Boris Diaw, Travis Hansen, Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Donta Smith and Royal Ivey -- aren't going to win them many games.
Tony Delk is the only guy on their roster resembling a point guard, and big guy Peja Drobjnak is the only guy who can play center. Both are career backups playing the two most important positions on the floor. There aren't any free agents left that make much sense.
The Hawks could try to use the remaining $7 million in cap space and make an offer for restricted free agent Stromile Swift, who spent most of his time last year playing center for the Grizzlies and played well. While his ideal position is power forward, in the East, he should be able to get along just fine as a center for one season. Once Walker comes off the books next year, Swift could move back to his natural position, and the Hawks could pursue a big in free agency with $15 million-plus in cap room.
The team has targeted free-agent point guard Kenny Anderson to help at the point. But how much does he really have left? He turns 34 in October and averaged just 20 mpg last season.
Toronto Raptors
Holes: Center
Skinny: New GM Rob Babcock knew the team had to upgrade the center postion this summer to have any real chance of competiting. They reached in the draft for BYU big man Rafael Araujo, then spent some of their free-agent money on journeyman Loren Woods. While, technically, this is an upgrade over what the team had last year -- nothing -- is it enough? Last season the team was forced to play rookie Chris Bosh at center. While he started strong, he wore down quickly and finished the season with a whimper. The Raptors want to move him full time to power forward this year, which means they probably need a lot more help at center. The team does have some assets to move. Donyell Marshall is in the last year of his contract and will be the odd man out if Bosh starts at the four. The team also can afford to move point guard Alvin Williams now that Rafer Alston is in the fold.
Seattle SuperSonics
Holes: Center, depth, talent
Skinny:The Sonics are in perpetual rebuilding mode. They made no significant improvements to a team that won just 37 games last year and lost their starting point guard, Brent Barry, to the Spurs. Danny Fortson should give the Sonics some needed toughness in the post, but there's a reason he couldn't get off the bench in Golden State and Dallas the past two seasons.
Stromile Swift would make some sense in Seattle, but the team knows the mid-level exception won't be enough to land him. There is significant trade interest in a number of Sonics, from Ray Allen to Rashard Lewis to Vladimir Radmanovic. However, the only guy they've been close to moving is backup point guard Antonio Daniels. Something has to give or the team faces the real possibility it will challenge the Clippers and Warriors for the worst record in the West.
Charlotte Bobcats
Holes: Point guard, shooting guard, small forward
Skinny: If the Bobcats go into opening night with the roster they currently have, the honeymoon's going to be over quickly in Charlotte. The Bobcats have a plan, and it's a good one. The team isn't overspending and has, instead, decided to focus on developing a number of young players, hoping to strike gold with one or two. However, their opening night roster is pretty miserable.
Emeka Okafor is the only legitimate NBA starter on the team, and he hasn't played a game. Jason Hart, Gerald Wallace, Jason Kapono, Melvin Ely, Brandon Hunter, Theron Smith, Tamar Slay, Primoz Brezec and Jamal Sampson are all intriguing prospects. But on most NBA teams, none of them would be getting more than 10 to 15 minutes a night. This is the Bobcats' core.
I'm not saying the Bobcats should do anything differently at this point. I think it makes some sense to make a run at Stromile Swift, though the Bobcats haven't shown any real interest so far. But after that, the team is probably better off hoping one or two of these guys pans out. Still, it's going to be ugly, Bobcats fans. As far as holes go, the Bobcats are the Grand Canyon of the NBA.
'Atomic Fly' Looking for Work
With so many teams needing to fill holes and so few quality free agents left on the open market ... what is an NBA GM to do? Several GMs, impressed with the play of some veteran international players in the Olympics, have been quietly probing around Europe hoping the missing piece to their puzzle might reside overseas.
So far, teams are coming away empty handed. Many of the players they now want -- like Lithuania's Sarunas Jasikevicius and Arvydas Macijauskas, Argentina's Fabrico Oberto and Greece's Lazaros Papadopoulous -- were available earlier in the summer but since have signed contracts or had their NBA escape clauses expire. Jasikevicius agreed on a three-year contract with Spanish club F.C. Barcelona that will commence after his contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv expires at the end of the coming season. While the contract does have an NBA escape clause, Barcelona is on the verge of making Jasikevicius one of the highest-paid players in Europe. NBA teams will no longer be able to get him cheap.
A couple of top international players are available however ... and some of them are willing to work cheap.
Gianmarco Pozzecco had no problem getting by Stephon Marbury in the Olympics
At the top of the list is veteran Italian point guard Gianmarco Pozzecco. Known as the "Atomic Fly" in Europe, Pozzecco is one of the quickest, most exciting players over there. He's also one of the wildest, which is why he has never gotten a serious look from NBA scouts. However, over the past two seasons, he's settled down considerably and was the biggest reason an underdog Italian team won the silver medal in Athens.
Pozzecco's age -- he turns 32 in a week -- and his size -- he's listed at 5-foot-11 -- are both major obstacles to overcome. But he called me over the weekend and claims he's willing to come off the bench and play for the NBA minimum just to get a shot at the NBA.
"I have this dream of being an NBA player," Pozzecco told Insider. "I think that the NBA teams they see that I can play against anybody. They cannot defense me. I make my teammates better. If Tim Duncan is on my team, I get 20 assists per game. I just want the possibility to show everybody what I can do. I'm sure I could give help."
Pozzecco, along with his attorney, Cristiano Carugati, has been contacted by several interested teams. Pozzecco is a free agent and has held out from signing a contract in hopes an NBA team will come calling. They're telling everyone the same thing -- Pozzecco is willing to take a big pay cut to play in the NBA. With so many teams in need of a veteran point guard, could Pozzecco be the answer?
He has the quickness and floor vision NBA teams like. He also has a flair to his game that has made him a fan favorite in Europe over the past five seasons. He's not the greatest shooter, and size and defense will be big issues ... but as a back-up?
One NBA GM, who is considering making a run at Pozzecco and did not want to be identified, claims he should be in the league. "Our coaches always complain that we don't have enough guys who understand the game and how to run a team. This guys does. I've watched him mature over the past few seasons. He used to be out of control. But he's really come into his own lately. He could play 15 to 20 minutes a night on a good team. I think someone will sign him."
Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.