Some thoughts on this year's free agents by David Aldridge from the Philadelphia Inquirer and formerly of Espn and TNT. There is a link below.
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On the NBA | Debunking free-agency myths By David Aldridge
Inquirer Columnist
Conventional wisdom is conventional for a reason: It's easy. Doesn't require any deep thinking. Often, it's correct, but many times, it's just lazy.

We try very hard around here not to just blithely accept the CW, whether it's about politics, movies or sports. And in our neck of the woods, the first week of free agency offers the opportunity to either accept the NBACW being thrown around, or see things differently.

We always believe in differently.

NBACW: Detroit is grievously wounded over the loss of center Ben Wallace to division rival Chicago, and will fall to the back of the pack next season.

Don't buy it. Losing Wallace hurts the Pistons; there's no doubting that. Few teams took their emotional cue from a single player as the Pistons did from Wallace. He was the linchpin of Detroit's half-court defense, making OK but not great defenders such as Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton look better than they were.

But Detroit might have lost Wallace at exactly the right time.

He clearly did not mesh with coach Flip Saunders, despite what the local media in Detroit tried to sell as isolated incidents. The Pistons imploded against the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals because they had no answer for Dwyane Wade, but also because Wallace checked out emotionally for much of the series.

Going forward, the Pistons were going to be more of an offensive team; that's Saunders' specialty. And with the new rules and enforcement of same tilting the balance toward offense, they probably had no choice, anyway. With Billups, Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess, Detroit's top five players are excellent one-on-one scorers. Ben Wallace doesn't fit that description, by a long shot.

Now, Saunders is freed up to use all five players on offense. And team president Joe Dumars won't have $15 million annually tied up in an aging, one-dimensional center.

If Dumars goofed in 2003 by taking Darko Milicic second overall, it's not because he should have taken Carmelo Anthony; it's because he should have taken Chris Bosh, or Chris Kaman, or somebody he could now plug in to replace Ben Wallace. But that's hindsight. With foresight, it says here, the Pistons still will win 50 games next season and be a factor in the playoffs.

NBACW: LeBron James will agree to a contract extension and stay in Cleveland.

This one happened. James agreed yesterday, but what in blazes took so long?

NBACW: The Mavericks will stand pat for the most part and won't touch the core group that got to the Finals.

Maybe. So why are they trying so hard to get Kenyon Martin from Denver?

They won't be able to acquire Martin for D.J. Mbenga, let's just put it that way.

You hear that the Nuggets are interested and wouldn't mind dealing Martin within the Western Conference. The problem is that Denver covets Jerry Stackhouse in return, and Dallas is loath to move its aggressive sixth man in any deal at the moment. The Mavericks did just get Austin Croshere from Indiana for Marquis Daniels, but they can't trade Croshere again as part of a package for two months under existing rules.

(You also hear that even though Nenê has agreed to a contract extension in Denver, it's not guaranteed that he might not ultimately be moved by the Nuggets. But that's another story.)

NBACW: Free-agent guard MikeJames, the best point guard available this summer, will end up with Houston, Dallas or Minnesota.

Could be true. But don't forget one other team: Miami, which is making an effort to repatriate James to South Florida, where he broke into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2001.

The Heat have at least a puncher's chance for four reasons:

1. Miami's now the defending champion, and never discount that as a factor for a player.

2. James immensely enjoyed playing for Pat Riley when he was with the Heat and often has said that Riley helped him believe he could play in the league.

3. With Gary Payton on his last legs, Miami needs a third guard to rotate with Wade and Jason Williams.

4. The Heat owe James' agent, Bill Duffy, a monster favor.

Three years ago, Duffy's office failed to inform the Heat that his client, then-Heat guard Anthony Carter, wanted to exercise a player option in his contract. That mistake cleared more than $4 million in unexpected cap room for the Heat that summer, which allowed Miami to make a play for Clippers free-agent forward Lamar Odom.

Odom signed with Miami. And without Odom, there's no way the Heat could have put together a package attractive enough to the Lakers to acquire Shaquille O'Neal in the summer of 2004.

General managers rarely forget when player agents help them out, willingly or unwillingly. Lord knows Duffy probably hasn't.

NBACW: The Hawks will execute a sign-and-trade with free-agent forward Al Harrington, either to the Pacers or, perhaps, to the 76ers.

Problem: A Maryland judge who's handling the ownership dispute between the team's current owners and forced-out owner Steve Belkin ruled Thursday that the Hawks (and their NHL cousin Thrashers) can execute only one-year contracts with players until the final decision on who runs the team is made.

That wasn't a problem with existing negotiations such as those with free-agent guard Speedy Claxton, who agreed to a contract in Atlanta earlier in the week. But it might well make it near impossible to trade Harrington for anything approaching market value, since the Hawks could take back only players with a year remaining on their deals.

For example, it would be impossible for Atlanta, if it so desired, to get Jamaal Tinsley (who has five seasons left on his contract) or Stephen Jackson (four seasons) - two players the Pacers have been shopping - in any sign-and-trade for Harrington.

The Hawks' universe would be limited to veterans such as Lakers center Chris Mihm, Bucks forward Joe Smith, Knicks forward Mo Taylor, and Grizzlies guard Eddie Jonesin potential sign-and-trade deals.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/14995597.htm

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