Extreme Makeover: Dallas Mavericks' Center Edition: Part I

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Zaza Pachulia:  An unrestricted free agent. His salary last season was worth $4.0 million. 

Alex:  Zaza Pachulia is pretty good, though he doesn't play much, so it's hard to tell if he could be a legit center. He's 25, pretty athletic, a good shooter, and good on the boards, and I think he's 7 feet.  Although, when he started for Atlanta in 05-06 and 06-07, he averaged about 12 PPG, but only 7-8 rebounds.

Janet:  Pachulia has been the Hawks' primary backup to starter Al Horford. He has made it known that he wants to stay with the Hawks. He's a nice young, athletic seven-footer. Just don't think he is the rebounder we are looking for.

Mikki Moore:  An unrestricted free agent. His salary last season was $5.784 million.

Alex:  I've always liked Mikki Moore back to his days in New Jersey. He is 33 though, so I don't know if he could play starter's minutes anymore. He certainly didn't this year.

Janet:  Playing behind someone like Kevin Garnett won't get you a lot of playing time anywhere. I tried looking at games where Moore had good minutes, I just don't see an improvement over Dampier. Who's next on the list?

Brian Scalabrine:  Unrestricted with one season left on his $15 million contract.  Last season paid him $3.2 million.

Alex:  As far as Scalabrine goes, I would stay away from him. Aside from his obvious deficiencies (he's a big, slow, red-headed whitey), he can't do much other than take up space on the floor. I don't think he rebounds or shoots very well. The Celtics used him last season as their "human victory cigar" he used to come in during the garbage
time. I know he played some meaningful minutes for the C's in the  play-offs with KG out, but I don't think he's worth trading anyone away, not even Matt Carroll.

Janet:  Ooo, that's really strong Alex. Apparently the Celtics are thinking the same thing too (almost). According to their team site, they're willing to put up Scalabrine, Allen, and Giddens for a good backup for Paul Pierce. He is definitely not what we are shopping for.

Nazr Mohammed: Unrestricted, and on his final year of contract that netted him $6 million last season. 

Alex:  I think Mohammed is a decent enough center. His numbers look pretty similar to Dampier, though I think he's pretty good on the offensive glass. He's 31, so he's slightly younger, but he didn't play much this year, I'm not sure if that's a reflection on him, or the Bobcats' big men. He's got good FT numbers for a big man though.

Janet:  Mohammed has made it clear to the Charlotte front office: Play me or trade me. He'll be 32 at the start of training camp. I don't know, only slightly younger than Dampier.  Looking past last seasons stats, they are no better than Dampier's. Let's keep shopping Alex.

Jerome James:  An unrestricted free agent. Last season salary was worth $6.2 million.

Alex: Jerome James is one of those players that you can't believe pulls down $6.2 per year. He's 33, and 7'1", but he only played in two games this season. his best year was 2004-05 with the Sonics, when he averages 24.9 PPG and 10.2 RPG. Since then, he hasn't averaged more than 10 minutes per game, and hasn't averages more than three points and two rebs per game.

I'm not really sure why the drop-off, apparently he was in a contract year in 04-05, and once the Knicks signed him to a big deal, he showed up out of shape, and hasn't done anything since then.

Side note on James, he also played in only two games in 07-08, but made one field goal and two free throws in the game, giving him a 1.000 FG% and FT% for the season. Also, he was paid $5.8 million that year, meaning he got around $1.45 mil per point. Not a bad gig.

Janet: He's been injured the past three seasons. His last injury may be career ending; he ruptured his Achilles' tendon. Also his age is a factor, he is 32. I would stay far, far away from this guy. There is still a lot of shopping to do.

Zyndrunas Ilgauskas: Unrestricted free-agent, with a player option. His last season salary netted him $10.8 million.   

Alex: Zyndrunas used to be one of my favorite players to watch. He could shoot the mid range jumper like crazy, and he was always a decent rebounder. This season, however, he has been like a corpse, plus he's pretty injury prone being so big, and I believe he exercised his player option for something around $11-12 mil.

Janet:  This 34 year-old has made it known he wants to stay in Cleveland. He is fun to watch, with nice scoring numbers. His rebounding numbers aren't much better than Dampier's, though. 

Oh well, I don't think we'll see "Big Z" in a Mavericks uniform anyway. Who's next?

Stay Tuned for Part II...

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