NBA Free Agents 2012: 5 Most One-Dimensional Players Still on the Market
Sharpshooters, rebounders, defenders—the NBA is becoming increasingly compartmentalized.
Certain players fit certain niches, certain teams need those players to fill those niches.
Unfortunately for a lot of these players, teams would rather have well-rounded talents who can contribute in more than one area when they’re on the floor.
Here are the five most specialized, one-dimensional players still available in free agency.
5. Kwame Brown
1 of 5Kwame Brown still has one skill—being big.
To his credit, he’s parlayed his size and relative lack of talent into an 11-year NBA career.
The downside is that at 30, he doesn’t seem willing or able to improve on anything other than being able to grab a few rebounds each game.
4. Rudy Fernandez
2 of 5Rudy Fernandez established himself as a three-point specialist while playing with the Portland Trail Blazers. In Denver last season, his three-point percentage dipped to .328.
That leaves him as a specialist whose specialty isn’t very special any more.
3. Michael Redd
3 of 5The veteran Michael Redd can still score efficiently at age 32, but he can’t do much else.
His shooting percentages dipped last year, during his 12th NBA season. But a team who needs offensive production deep off the bench can still get some buckets out of Redd in limited minutes.
2. Derek Fisher
4 of 5Derek Fisher’s on-court performance has slipped with his advancing age. The 37-year-old still possesses an invaluable trait—leadership.
Any team who signs Fisher picks up a locker room leader. Fisher has evolved into the late-career, player-coach type of guy.
He won’t help much when he’s on the floor, but he is a big boost off the court.
1. Gerald Green
5 of 5Gerald Green has the one dimension nobody can teach—raw athleticism.
The 6’8”, 200-pound swingman can do things on a basketball court most people can’t. Like this.
If the 26-year-old can learn to harness that freakishness and learn the game of basketball, he could blossom into a star. But at 26, it’s not easy to learn new tricks.
