NBA Free Agency 2012: 10 Players Teams Must Roll the Dice on to Improve

During the free-agency period, NBA teams must take chances if they truly want to improve. For the teams that fail to land the big fish and known commodities, these are the players to target. 

These 10 players might be coming off season-ending injuries. They might be high-upside players who have yet to prove themselves over a lengthy period of time. They might even be backup players who are blocked by a firmly entrenched starter. 

None of these players are safe bets, but they could very well be players capable of putting a team over the top. 

Read on to find out who they are. 

Omer Asik

Team: Chicago Bulls

Position: Center

Age: 25

Type of Free Agency: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 3.4 points, 0.5 assists, 5.2 rebounds

It's tough to earn much playing time for the Chicago Bulls while backing up Joakim Noah, but Omer Asik has looked more than capable when he's gotten opportunities. 

Just 25 years old, the backup center has remarkable quickness for a seven-footer and never hesitates to display his great defensive instincts by swatting shot after shot when he's on the court.

But the offensive end is an entirely different story, one in which Asik's lack of experience with the ball in his hands is easily visible. 

In a center-starved league, though, some team trying to pry the Turkish big man from Chicago is almost a given. 

Nicolas Batum

Team: Portland Trail Blazers

Position: Small forward

Age: 23

Type of Free Agency: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 13.8 points, 1.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds

If it seems as though we've been calling for a big breakout from Nicolas Batum for an eternity, it's because we all have. The French forward took a massive step forward this year, elevating his PER from 14.85 during the 2010-2011 season to 17.49 during the current campaign. 

But he's still nowhere near his ceiling. 

At 6'8" and in possession of long arms, Batum has the tools necessary to be an elite defender, but he still hasn't taken that step forward. When you couple that with a decent jump shot and great skills at the rim, you can see why Batum is still thought so highly of in some circles. 

Chauncey Billups

Team: Los Angeles Clippers

Position: Point guard

Age: 35

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 15.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds

Now 35 years old and turning 36 before the start of the 2012-2013 season, Chauncey Billups has seen his time as an elite point guard in the NBA expire. That said, he still remains a high-upside free-agency pickup because he'll be coming off a torn Achilles tendon that might keep him out for the start of the next season. 

Despite little practice time with his new teammates on the Los Angeles Clippers, Billups still managed to average 15 points and four assists per game with an above-average PER while bringing veteran leadership to the squad before he went down with an injury. 

There's a chance that Billups will never truly recover from this most recent fall, but he has vowed to return to the NBA, and he'll be as motivated as ever to play well for his newest team. 

Goran Dragic

Team: Houston Rockets

Position: Point guard

Age: 25

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 9.5 points, 4.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds

Goran Dragic was floundering away as a backup point guard for the Houston Rockets, wasting his talent on the bench as Kyle Lowry did his thing on the court at the start of the season. But since Lowry has been unable to play, Dragic has taken over for the time being. 

Over his last 10 games, the 25-year-old Yugoslavian guard has blown his season numbers out of the water, averaging 16.1 points, 9.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. 

We only have a very small sample size when Dragic has started games, but he's looked good enough that quite a few teams should be willing to role the dice on him this summer. 

Landry Fields

Team: New York Knicks

Position: Shooting guard

Age: 23

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 9.1 points, 2.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds

After a terrific start to his rookie season, Landry Fields slowly started to run into the rookie wall and his level of play dropped little by little. The lockout didn't put a stop to that as the former Stanford Cardinal has been worse as a second-year player than he was during his first year with the New York Knicks. 

Fields' biggest claim to fame was his rebounding ability, which seemed vastly superior than most other guards thanks to both his 6'7" frame and his knack for correctly reading the bounces of the ball.

This season, though, his rebounding percentage has plummeted from 11.7 percent to 8.4 percent. 

While his shooting has also declined, there are going to be a few general managers out there who are convinced that this dip in play has been a result of the system that the Knicks run with Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and now Jeremy Lin all out on the court. 

Jeff Green

Team: Boston Celtics

Position: Forward

Age: 25

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: Has not played

Jeff Green was supposed to be the next big thing for the Boston Celtics after Danny Ainge decided to ship off Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire his services.

The forward didn't do much that season in his new uniform, but he didn't exactly receive the opportunity to prove himself as he was blocked by Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. 

He became a restricted free agent and signed a one-year deal with the C's, but an aortic aneurysm caused him to fail his physical, meaning that he'd become an unrestricted free agent while sitting out for the duration of the 2011-2012 season.

If Green is fully healthy and ready to go, he could become a steal for whichever team signs him. We're not too far removed from his seasons in Oklahoma City when he peaked at 16.5 points per game.  

J.J. Hickson

Team: Portland Trail Blazers

Position: Power forward

Age: 23

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 5.4 points, 0.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds

J.J. Hickson is an infuriating basketball player. His ceiling seems to be through the roof but he never lives up to that potential and bounces around from team to team as a result. 

It's hard to remember that Hickson is only 23 years old and in his fourth year out of N.C. State because he's already played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers. 

Hickson began to realize that potential during the 2010-2011 season when he averaged 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game with a PER of 15.6, but this year he's been bought out by the Kings thanks to his reversion to shooting jump shots and forgetting how to use the post moves he's developed. 

Giving him a lot of minutes and a long leash might result in Hickson becoming a dominant power forward, but it's a risky proposition at best at this point in his career. 

George Hill

Current Team: Indiana Pacers

Position: Shooting guard

Age: 25

Type of Free Agency: Restricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 9.5 points, 2.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds

If I had to guess, I'd say that George Hill would end up signing a contract with the Indiana Pacers and staying in the town he grew up in. After all, the backup shooting guard was born in Indianapolis, went to high school in the city and then stayed at IUPUI for the rest of his education. 

Hill has been a solid player since he entered the league, but he's still only started 55 of the 264 games he's appeared in and hasn't had his name called out during the introductions since Apr. 12, 2011. 

With the Pacers this year, Hill has taken a massive step forward thanks to small improvements in almost every area of advanced statistics. Improvements include the following percentages: eFG (51.4 to 54.4), ORB (1.3 to 2.7), DRB (9.2 to 10.8), TRB (5.4 to 6.7), AST (13.6 to 14.8), STL (1.6 to 2.1), BLK (.7 to .8), TOV (11.6 to 10.6), ORtg (116 to 118), DRtg (108 to 103), WS/48 (.136 to .166) and PER (14.6 to 16.1). 

That type of across-the-board improvement, which isn't at all based on playing time, increases since each of those stats is rate-dependent, is quite rare and suggests an upcoming breakout if he receives a larger role. 

Jodie Meeks

Team: Philadelphia 76ers

Position: Shooting guard

Age: 24

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 8.7 points, 0.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds

I've been a fan of Jodie Meeks ever since he managed to score more points than any other Kentucky Wildcat in college basketball history by dropping 54 against the Tennessee Volunteers on Jan. 13, 2009 in a performance that included 10 made three-pointers. 

Meeks is now in his third season in the NBA, but he has yet to make that kind of impact at the professional level for any consistent period of time. 

The shooting guard does display a remarkable ability to light up the scoreboard, though.

He recently put that on display by knocking down seven three-pointers and putting up a career-high 31 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers while filling in for Andre Iguodala. 

Meeks might not have the upside necessary to be a starter in the NBA, but you could do a lot worse if you're looking for a backup 2-guard or a sixth man who can come in and score a bunch of quick points. 

Ian Mahinmi

Team: Dallas Mavericks

Position: Center

Age: 25

Type of Free Agency: Unrestricted

2011-2012 Per-Game Stats: 6.4 points, 0.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds

If Ian Mahinmi received consistent minutes, he'd be a double-double threat each and every night. After all, the 25-year-old French big men is averaging 11.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per 36 minutes this season—and those numbers are actually below his career marks. 

Mahinmi isn't a great defender and he needs to both add strength and limit his fouls, but he's big and athletic and that can't be taught. 

A team who's willing to give him a chance to prove himself could reap the benefits. 

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