5 Teams Nene Hilario Should Consider

In an era of NBA basketball where legitimate centers are hard to come by, teams will do whatever necessary to acquire one.

Nene Hilario is the best free agent center available this offseason, and his combination of defense, shot blocking, and veteran leadership would be beneficial to any team, especially a contender.

Nene could return to the Denver Nuggets, but this seems unlikely.

The current NBA lockout situation is preventing free agents from exploring the market, but when normal league activity resumes, Nene will be one of the most sought after players.

Let's look at five teams Nene should consider.

Nicholas Goss is an NBA and Oklahoma City Thunder Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter for NBA news and analysis. Follow @NicholasGoss35

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs window as a legitimate championship contender has closed, but adding new talent to surround veterans like Tim Duncan could open that window of opportunity again.

Adding Nene would give the Spurs interior defense a much needed boost of rebounding and toughness, and he would be a nice replacement for Matt Bonner, who is not a real center and is more of an outside shooter.

A sign-and-trade may be the best way for Spurs to acquire Nene, and Tony Parker may be a player Denver would covet in return.

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors play absolutely no defense, so adding Nene who is a solid defender and rebounder is an obvious choice for the Warriors.

The Warriors frontcourt of David Lee and Andris Biedrins is good offensively, but both are inconsistent and Biedrins has been injury prone the last few seasons.

Acquiring Nene via a trade may be the only way for Golden State to acquire Nene, unless they free up some cap space, but they do have plenty of offensive firepower to offer the Nuggets.

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks have not been able to get past the second round of the NBA playoffs the past few seasons, and not having a legitimate center is the biggest reason for their playoff failures.

Nene would allow current Hawks All-Star center Al Horford to move to power forward, which is his natural position.

Nene would also add shot blocking to Atlanta, and he and Josh Smith would give the Hawks one of the premier shot blocking duos in basketball.

A real center would be a huge improvement for Atlanta, and they could finally have a chance to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Utah Jazz

Current Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson is a very good offensive player but is not a reliable defender.

The Jazz have lots of young talent to offer Denver in a trade for Nene, and Nene would give the Jazz a toughness and shot blocking ability they don’t have.

Utah also has lots of power forwards to offer Denver in a trade for Nene, and with the possible departure of Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets could need depth at the power forward position this season.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers don’t need a lot of frontcourt depth, but the possibility of young center DeAndre Jordan leaving has caused some concern in Los Angeles.

Jordan is a young center, and there could be a team willing to overpay for the athletic big man.

The Clippers may also look to trade Chris Kaman, who has been an underrated center for most of his career, but injuries have slowed his performance the past few seasons.

The Clippers are very close to being a playoff team, and adding Nene may be the piece that gives them the leadership and defense to take the franchise to the next level.