Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The 2010 Free Agency: 10 difference makers at MLE

Here's the deal, it's the 2010 free agency, and as much as I'd love to add LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and/or Chris Bosh to the roster, frankly Spurs don't really have much in terms of cap room available.  I understand that there are more roster needs, but these are some names that I'm willing to spend a good chunk of the MLE on.  Generally speaking, I think we need bigs to play next to Timmy, so these 10 are those bigs I think we can make a run at in the FA.

1.) Brendan Haywood

Haywood is a starting caliber center, an above average defender, with a decent back-to-the-basket game.  He's a legit 7-footer who can fit well next to Duncan.  He probably doesn't have a great mid-range game to compliment Timmy's post game, but then, he's probably a step up from Nazr Mohammed.  Seriously.  I like Haywood here, but he could be pricey.

2.) Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Besides his age, Big Z is actually a fairly ideal player to play next to Timmy.  He's a decent mid-range catch-and-shoot face up shooter, for a big man, he's also a decent defender.  He's obviously not the most ideal candidate, and we know that he couldn't hack it as LeBron's second string.  However, he fits precisely the mold that the Spurs are looking for.

3.) Udonis Haslem

Kelly Dwyer from Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie blog calls Udonis Haslem one of the better defenders out there.  He's not a shot blocker, but he's a top notch rebounder and he and has a solid, legitimate offensive game.  For the pessimist, he's kind of an Antonio McDyess upgrade, but I trust Dwyer, and if he says that Haslem has got one of the stellar defensive games in the league, for a big man, then I'm sold.

4.) Channing Frye

A 6-11 Matt Bonner, who plays defense.  Frye torched the Spurs in the playoffs and did a decent job against Timmy on defense.  Another one of those players I'm not sure if we'd be able to get for the MLE, but someone I'm willing to take a swing at.

5.) Jermaine O'Neal

O'Neal is old, he's got no knees, but he's a decent center and defender.  If he's healthy.  Pretty big "if" but it's a risk I'm kind of willing to take.

6.) Brad Miller

American, druggy version of Big Z, minus the defense.

7.) Darko Milicic

Darko has to be among the most maligned big men in the league.  He's definitely up there next to the likes of Kwame Brown and Eddy Curry.  He at least tries on defense, while he had his shot at Minnesota, and he didn't seem like much, I still think he has a decent chance to be something, not a second overall pick, but something, under the influence and leadership of Timmy.

8.) Johan Petro

Petro showed some promise this past season with the Nuggets when Kenyon Martin got injured.  He's shown he's a solid defender and decent rebounder.  Not a bad take, could do worse, I might not spend the entire MLE on him, but he's worth looking at.

9.) Shelden Williams

A body that can produce relatively well, he had a couple of good games with Boston when he got playing time through Kevin Garnett's injuries.

10.) Chris Hunter

Another one of those Warriors D-League projects.  You have to take his production with a grain of salt as it was on the Warriors, but hey, I like his game.