NBA Offseason: Breaking Down The Deals, Part 3

The final stragglers have chosen their teams and the rosters for the upcoming 2010-2011 season are essentially complete. Let’s look at the final free agent signings and how they’ll affect the upcoming season.


Ronnie Brewer—Chicago Bulls

Brewer is a solid perimeter defender with terrific athleticism and long arms. He’s excellent at playing passing lanes, but is also a disciplined positional defender. He’ll add some defensive punch to the Bulls, who with Brewer and Luol Deng, will have two solid defensive presences at the wings.

On offense, Brewer is an explosive leaper who will excel in transition and along the baseline whenever Derrick Rose breaks down the defense.

However, Deng is another player who operates mostly along the baseline and Rose also does most of his work going to the basket. With that personnel, it’ll be difficult for the Bulls to play to their roster’s strengths, while maintaining good court-balance.

A major reason for Chicago’s downfall last season was a lack of spacing.

Brewer’s chicken-wing release renders him an unreliable jump shooter, while Deng and Rose also aren‘t proficient long-range shooters. Defenses will be more effective at packing the paint when Kyle Korver isn’t on the court.

Brewer’s defensive chops and top-flight athleticism will help Chicago in the regular season, but he doesn’t do enough for an offense that will struggle against the better defenses in the league.

Grade: C+


Keith Bogans—Chicago Bulls

Bogans is a physical defensive presence and a respectable three-point shooter who adds some depth to Chicago at the wing.

He’s not quick enough to be a full-time defensive stopper, nor is he accurate enough from deep to be a difference maker. He does provide insurance should Ronnie Brewer go down with an injury, and he’ll able to slow down some of the league’s bigger wings.

He’s not the worst fourth swingman in a rotation, but he’s not the best either.

Grade: C+


Kurt Thomas—Chicago Bulls

Thomas is an instant defensive upgrade over Brad Miller, and lineups with Thomas and Joakim Noah will be difficult to score against. He’s still an effective back-to-the-basket defender, and as a help defender, he knows where to be and when to be there.

He’s still a solid rebounder, though his diminishing hops allow some opponents to steal rebounds away from him.

Offensively, he can still plug mid-range jumpers with regularity, though he needs teammates to create his offense.

However, Thomas will be 38 when the season starts and has logged major minutes over his NBA career.

With Taj Gibson’s solid defense, mid-range shooting, and younger legs, Thomas will be a fourth man in a three-man rotation, which is the perfect role for him. He’d play enough spot duty to keep his senses honed, but won’t be overtaxed by the strain of playing too many minutes.

A good situation for both Thomas and the Bulls.

Grade: B+


Brad Miller—Houston Rockets

Miller can stretch the floor with his perimeter shooting and he’s still a terrific passer for his size, but he can’t move, is a total stiff defensively, and is an awful rebounder. The Rockets can use some more movement in their offense and Miller can facilitate some scoring, but it’s impossible to hide him defensively.

Given Yao Ming’s injury history, the Rockets may be forced to give significant minutes to Miller. And the more he plays, the more his defense gets exposed.

It’s doubtful that Miller, who is 34 years old and coming off a miserable season, will contribute too many productive minutes for the Rockets.

Grade: D+


Tony Battie—Philadelphia 76ers

At this stage in his career, Battie is little more than a mid-range jump shooter who doesn’t provide much else. He’ll be the sixth big man on Philadelphia’s roster, and will mostly provide leadership for a frontcourt that is extremely young, excluding Elton Brand.

Grade: D


Luke Ridnour—Minnesota Timberwolves

Ridnour is a heady point guard who is excellent at running an offense and maximizing the capabilities of his teammates. He sees the floor well, makes good decisions, and has an excellent mid-range pull-up jumper when he needs to score.

He’s not a good finisher and, while he can apply some ball pressure, isn’t much of a defender either.

However, he’ll be a veteran mentor to Jonny Flynn, and will provide some stability off the bench to an extremely inexperienced team. Ridnour’s value will be that he’s one of the few players on Minnesota who knows how to play more than one-on-one or two-on-two basketball.

Grade: A


Royal Ivey—Oklahoma City Thunder

Ivey is a terrific defensive point guard who doesn’t bring much to the table offensively. Given that the Thunder are stacked with offense throughout their roster, Ivey will fill a niche as a spot defender over Eric Maynor.

Also, should Maynor go down with an injury, the Thunder would be fine with Ivey playing six minutes a half backing up Russell Westbrook.

Grade: B


Matt Barnes—Los Angeles Lakers

Barnes is a rangy forward who plays disruptive defense and can run the floor, which makes him a useful player off the bench. However, he’s also a poor three-point shooter who doesn’t space the floor, which will be problematic in the Lakers’ triangle.

He’s not an ideal signing, and the Lakers won’t operate at peak offensive efficiency with him on the floor, but he does bring some defensive chops and athleticism to Hollywood.

Grade: C+


Theo Ratliff—Los Angeles Lakers

The ghost of Theo Ratliff can still bang in the post, commit six hard fouls, and grab an occasional rebound, but the more that’s asked of him, the worse off you are. On the other hand, he’s an improvement over D.J. Mbenga.

Grade: C-


Antoine Wright—Sacramento Kings

Wright is an average defensive player whose reputation is better than his game. Offensively, he isn’t a terrific shooter and can’t pass or create his own offense. For a Kings team building around young talent, signing a player like Wright, who doesn’t have a treasure chest of experience or upside, doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Grade: F


Josh Powell—Atlanta Hawks

Powell has good athleticism for a power forward and he can hit his share of mid-range jump shots, but if he couldn’t take advantage of the multitude of open looks he was afforded as a Laker, what can reasonably expected of him on the Hawks? He’s not a defender, rebounder, or playmaker either.

Grade: D


Eddie House—Miami Heat

House can’t handle the ball, he’s a mediocre defender, and he’s not good at finishing in the lane. What House can do is change the outcome of games with his three-point shooting.

He shoots the three at roughly 40% for his career, and isn’t shy to make them in pressure situations, excelling from deep in the 2008 Finals and 2009 playoffs. He gives the Heat a reliable shooter when teams focus on Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, and his lack of a handle is mitigated by Wade and James’ ball-handling abilities.

His strengths play well to what Miami can use, and his weaknesses are mitigated by his surroundings. He’s a smart signing.

Grade: A


Tracy McGrady—Detroit Pistons

Because the Pistons didn’t already have too many wings, they signed Tracy McGrady.

T-Mac has lost much of his explosion and is almost strictly a perimeter player, so much so, that most teams backed away at signing him even for a bargain-basement contract.

While he’s still an above-average playmaker, there’s a high level of redundancy between McGrady, Ben Gordon, and Rip Hamilton all playing the same position, none of whom are adept at creating their own offense consistently anymore.

Is McGrady there to simply sell tickets? Asking if he’s part of a future plan implies Detroit actually has a future plan.

Grade: D


Shaquille O’ Neal—Boston Celtics

Shaq is certainly going to be an interesting fit with the defense-oriented Celtics.

First of all, let’s get the Shaq screen/roll talk out of the way. Of course Shaq is going to be a screen/roll liability, and he’ll certainly give up some baskets based on his inability to shown or recover on screen/rolls and screen/fades.

The hope is that Boston’s coordinated help defenders can rotate in time to cover for Shaq’s statuesque defense.

On the other hand, Shaq’s hulking mass takes up an enormous amount of space in the paint, where the specter of painful contact deters some players from attempting to drive down the middle.

Shaq’s big enough to rough-up the roughhouse post scorers, and sometimes people fail to comprehend that being that big is good defense by default.

Still, the prospect of Shaq defending in space will surely turn Doc Rivers’ hair white.

Shaq makes up for his defensive deficiencies by continuing to be a solid post performer.

He's still too massive for many centers to guard, he’s still enough of a scoring threat to force double teams or at least increased defensive attention, and he still assaults opponents with foul trouble that wouldn’t be accrued against other centers.

The hope is that Shaq can provide some post scoring for a Celtics team which, with Kevin Garnett playing more and more on the perimeter, doesn’t have much of a post threat.

He’ll also set massive screens allowing teammates the extra space needed to turn the corner or pop an open jumper.

Most importantly, by the time Boston rolls into the postseason Kendrick Perkins should be healthy, allowing Rivers some liberties in choosing Shaq for his post offense and defense or Jermaine O’Neal for his jump shooting and more rangy defense.

There’s still some gas left in Shaq’s tank, particularly since he won’t have to abuse his engine with the teammates he has.

Grade: B+


Von Wafer—Boston Celtics

Wafer is a streak-shooting guard who can create his own offense, but displays poor shot selection and fails to comprehend his own limitations. He’ll either fall into place in Boston and provide some punch off the bench, or he’ll wind up in Doc Rivers’ doghouse.

Grade: C-


Earl Boykins—Milwaukee Bucks

The diminutive Boykins used to be as quick as a shadow, allowing himself to scoot and shoot from anywhere on the court.

Court vision and running an offense were never his strengths. And despite being better than you think at defending the post, his small stature made him a defensive liability. Still, he had enough juice in his legs to be an effective backup guard on an uptempo offense.

Nowadays, Boykins isn’t as quick as he once was, which limits his ability to get to openings on the court and magnifies all his weaknesses.

In short, Boykins is a less-than-satisfactory backup and will likely be the third-string point guard on Milwaukee’s roster. As a backup to the backup, though, Boykins is certainly a better option for a playoff-destined team like Milwaukee, than a project guard, a D-League call-up, or a head case.

Grade: B-


Kwame Brown—Charlotte Bobcats

Brown’s stock-in-trade is post defense and rebounding, but his lack of offensive skills and his bad hands leave him a one-dimensional player. For the Bobcats, who lost Raymond Felton in free agency, scoring is going to be a season-long problem.

This is a problem Brown won’t alleviate. The hope is that Brown can help anchor an elite defensive unit, but with Charlotte’s roster the best they can hope for is another early playoff exit.

Grade: C


Delonte West—Boston Celtics

The hope is that West’s personal issues stemming from bi-polar disorder can be smoothed out, allowing him to put aside a disastrous 2009-2010 season and return to being the tough, smart, bulldog of a player he was prior to last year.

However, with personality disorders like bi-polar disorder it’s difficult to anticipate how West will perform. His downside is as a useless third-string point guard who contributes little to the team. His upside is a gritty, championship-caliber third guard who can get into the paint, make plays off the bounce, pass, shoot, and defend.

Given the low-risk, high reward associated with picking him up, signing West is a smart move.

Grade: B-


Rodney Carney—Golden State Warriors

Carney is a good athlete and a decent shooter who doesn’t have a high basketball IQ.

Now that Nellie-Ball is officially done by the bay, the Warriors will return to more of a conventional approach to basketball. Still, the Warriors roster is shaped to run, just as Carney is best off in a running offense.

Should Golden State get enough defense and rebounding to fuel their open court attack, Carney could be a useful player off the bench.

However, given that Carney’s a very ordinary halfcourt player and the Warriors still don’t project to being a respectable defensive team, Carney likely won’t contribute many wins to this year’s Warriors.

Grade: D


Louis Amundson—Golden State Warriors

Amundson makes an impact on a basketball game despite not being able to create his own offense.

He’s an energetic defender and shot blocker with a perpetual motor and non-stop hustle. He moves well without the ball, has a soft touch around the rim, and runs the floor as well as any big man.

With success in Phoenix and how he helped the Suns reach the conference finals, Amundson proved he is the perfect fit for a madcap offense with runners and scorers lacing the roster.

Grade: A+