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Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: DC Area
Age: 33
Posts: 17,152
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Looking on to free agency (get Gil Arenas)
Where do we stand.
The most important issue seems to be the status of Jerry Stackhouse. He has a player option allowing him to become an FA if he wants at the end of the year. But the more I see, it's looking to me like Stack isn't going to opt out. I mean, why would he? He stands to make $6.5M next year and $7M the year. Would he make more than that on the open market? I don't see one team out there that would pay him significantly more.
I belive if he stays with his current contract, we'll have $7-8M in cap space to acquire a new player or two. That's certainly not enough for a guy like Kidd, O'Neal, or Duncan, so they're out of the question.
Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Rip Hamilton, Jason Terry, Gilbert Arenas, Andre Miller, and Corey Maggette are all restricted free agents, meaning we could make any of them an offer and their current team could match it up to the MLE if they are over the cap (Pistons, Hawks, Warriors), or completely match it if they were under the cap (Clippers).
Looking at our returning backcourt players, Hughes, Stack, Russell, Dixon, and possibly JJ, it's apparent that we've got several guys who can handle the ball but none of them are what I'd consider primary ball handlers. I think that's our biggest weakness.
What's more is we need a guy with upside. I firmly believe that it takes at least one two truly star level players and then a third guy who's close to that level in order to be a championship level team. Right now we have one potential star in Kwame (keeping my fingers crossed) and Stack, who I see more as that third guy. In other words, we need a guy who could possibly become a high level star. We need a guy who has at least a chance to step up.
Looking at what's available, I see Odom, Terry, Miller, and Arenas. Out of those guys, is there any doubt that Arenas would be the best to have? Miller has been a major bust for the Clippers. I think we could have him for 4-5M if we want him, but he's not a good shooter and we're already a team of not very good shooters. And he's not much of a defender. He's had the chance to step up and he hasn't.
Jason Terry might be available for about the same price or a little bit more, and he can certainly produce on offense, but defensively the guy's a sieve. Maybe that could be rectified by putting him in an otherwise pretty strong lineup where he won't have to guard bigger players (ie, he could play the PG on defense, Hughes could play the SG), but I see that as a risky proposition. Can he step up and lead?
The fact that Odom has battled injuries and drugs makes him a bigger risk but potentially a bigger reward. The fact that he hasn't been on the court as much suggests that maybe we haven't seen his best. A lineup of him, Stack, and Hughes would match up very well against almost every team I can think of if Lamar could play up to his enormous potential. But if he smokes it all away, we'd be doomed. That's a pretty big risk.
The Warriors can at best match a MLE offer for Arenas, but Denver and perhaps other teams are going to offer him more. Our maximum possible offer of $7-8M might put us in the ballpark though, and my first choice would be a full-court PR press to get him here. I think his game is a like like Steve Francis. Not quite a pure PG, but he's a big and strong one and he handles well enough that in addition to Hughes, Stack, and Dixon, I think we'd be fine.
There's still a ways to go, but he looks like the best bet out of all the guys who are even remote possibilities. I could see a lineup of Arenas, Hughes, Stack, Kwame, and Haywood being a contender in a couple of years, and I have trouble seeing any of those other lineups doing that.
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Looking on to free agency (get Gil Arenas)
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