If the Magic sign Turkoglu to an extension, then their lineup will stay intact for a little while, and their success will depend on the development of Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. I fully believe in Howard, but the jury is still out on Nelson living up to the ridiculous extension the Magic gave him last year.
The Magic could decide to trade Turkoglu for a power forward or point guard, depending on how well Tony Battie and Nelson play next season. Turkoglu had a great season, but he plays the position that Rashard Lewis is best at, and Lewis' contract might be the NBA's most untradeable.
The 76ers are currently working on a contract extension for free agent Andre Igoudala. From there, their only significant free agent will be Andre Miller next summer.
Miller seems happy in Philadelphia, and the Sixers signing of Elton Brand has proved that chairman Ed Snider is not afraid to spend money to win. The future success of the team will now depend on the development of Thaddeus Young, and management's ability to replace the outside shooting they lost when they trade Kyle Korver.
The only team from that group that doesn't have to worry about upcoming free agents is New Orleans. They won't have a lot of money to spend in free agency, but they will have the ability to add another free agent at the mid-level without going over the luxury tax.
The third group of teams I'll call "The Wishful Thinkers". This group is made up the nine teams that will either have plenty of cap space in 2010, or are jockeying themselves to have maximum cap space to make a run at the bigger names.
The majority of those teams will strike out in free agency, but their abundance of cap space will allow them to absorb contracts from other teams in the same way the Clippers stole Marcus Camby from the Nuggets.
Here's the list:
- New Jersey Nets
- New York Knicks
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Toronto Raptors
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Miami Heat
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Oklahoma City Thunder
The newest member of this list has to be the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers didn't expect to be part of this club—but with the unexpected departure of Elton Brand, they are suddenly one of the more attractive teams on the list.
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