The Free Agent Class of 2010

It might be a bit early to be talking about it, but since everyone else is, I’ll drop in my two cents on the NBA free agent class of 2010. Here is a pretty good list of the 2010 free agents (I’m taking this off the of the Dime Mag’s post – http://dimemag.com/2008/11/examining-the-knicks-2010-options/).

LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Chris Bosh
Yao Ming
T.J. Ford
Amare Stoudamire
Dirk Nowitski
Paul Pierce
Michael Redd
Tyson Chandler
Steve Nash
Tracy McGrady
Manu Ginobili
Joe Johnson
Ray Allen
Shaq O’Neal
Mike Miller
Marcus Camby
Brad Miller
Larry Hughes
Tyrus Thomas (R)
Rip Hamilton
Amir Johnson
Rafer Alston
Luis Scola
Brent Barry
Derek Fisher
Jermaine O’Neal
Jordan Farmar (R)
Darko Milicic
Rudy Gay (R)
Kyle Lowry (R)
Dorell Wright
Luke Ridnour
Ryan Gomes
Sebastian Telfair
Craig Smith
Rasual Butler
Hilton Armstrong (R)
Earl Watson
J.J. Redick (R)
Raja Bell
LaMarcus Aldridge (R)
Travis Outlaw
Brandon Roy (R)
Bruce Bowen
Kurt Thomas
Fab Oberto
Roger Mason, Jr.
Matt Bonner
Andrea Bargnani (R)
Ronnie Brewer (R)
Darius Songaila

 

Some of these names are no-brainer re-signings (i.e. Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, maybe Dwyane Wade).

But taking a closer look at the available players, I notice something quite interesting. The Rockets are going to have some cap space available. Look at the list. They have expiring deals with Yao Ming, T-Mac, Luis Scola, Rafer Alston, and Brent Barry. I’m going to go ahead and say that T-Mac won’t be on the Rockets in 2010. There have already been trade rumors (I heard one where he was getting traded for Vince Carter). I could see the Rockets resigning Yao (he is popular and gives the team good exposure as well as a top center – when healthy). I could see them go after Chris Bosh with their T-Mac money. Bosh is a native Texan, and one of the elite players in the league. Also, Bosh has indicated that he would like a change of scenery (I’ve seen a couple of trade rumors with him. One had him going to Golden State for Andris Bierdrins. Another had him going to the Bulls for Ty Thomas. Even if he doesn’t get traded, he has said that he won’t resign with Toronto). If they could add a knock-down three point threat (your choice of Michael Redd, Ray Allen, or the Ghost of Mike Miller), they would be a force.

The 2010 Houston Rockets could look something like this:

C- Yao Ming

PF – Chris Bosh

SF – Shane Battier

SG – Ray Allen

PG – Aaron Brooks/Some one they pick up in 2009 free agent class (Ron Artest’s contract expires).

Let’s look at who are some of the available free agent PGs are in 2009:

Jason Kidd

Jamal Crawford

Andre Miller

Mike Bibby

Stephon Marbury (ha)

Raymond Felton (restricted)

Ramon Sessions (restricted)

Nate Robinson (restricted)

If you were to plug in one of those guys into the Rockets line-up above, could that team contend for a title? I would have to say it could. It’s a decent blend of offense, defense, stars, second bananas, and chemistry guys. The only downside is the Yao injury factor.

Take a look at ESPN’s list of 2009 and 2010 NBA free agents. You could spend all day coming up with various scenarios for the next couple of years. It should be fun to see how it plays out.

I know there are some Raptors fans out there, so I’ll go into the possible scenarios for the team. I think the Raps have to try and trade Chris Bosh right now. Let’s say they could work a deal with the Bulls to get Ty Thomas and/or Luol Deng or Ben Gordon. That would net them a team as follows:

C – Andrea Bargnani

PF – Ty Thomas

SF - Shawn Marion (expires in 2009)

SG – Ben Gordon (expires in 2009)

PG – Jose Calderon

The question then becomes, what can we do in the 2009 offseason? The answer, go after Carlos Boozer. He provides a strong offensive/rebounding force to balance out Andrea Bargnani as center (kind of like how he does with Memo Okur in Utah).  Also, if they can resign Ben Gordon, I think he works here, if not, the Raps can go after Allen Iverson, Jamal Crawford, Ron Artest, Ramon Sessions, or Marquis Daniels.

Right now, the Raptors would have a top 10 draft pick in 2009. If they get the #1 overall, they can take Blake Griffin and forget the Carlos Boozer strategy. If not, they can draft a SF/SG that can step in and add something to the team. Looking at a mock draft on ESPN, it looks like Al-Farouq Aminu from Wake Forest would be the best fit.

So, the 2009-2010 team could look like this:

C – Andrea Bargnani

PF – Carlos Boozer

SF – Al-Farouq Aminu

SG – Ben Gordon/Ron Artest/AI

PG – Jose Calderon

Would they win a championship? I don’t know, but at least they would have a good team to make a playoff run.

Note: if they get Blake Griffin, they could have a great team.

C – Bargnani

PF – Blake Griffin

SF – Shawn Marion/Ron Artest/Lamar Odom/Jamario Moon

SG – Ben Gordon/Ron Artest/AI

PG – Jose Calderon

But all this depends on whether Toronto can trade Chris Bosh. If they don’t, then they are stuck building a team around a guy who won’t be there at the end of 2010.