NBA Free Agents 2011: New Jersey Nets Should Avoid Glen 'Big Baby' Davis

One team on the New Jersey Nets' radar for the upcoming rapid-fire offseason is the Boston Celtics backup power forward, Glenn "Big Baby" Davis. Now, if you are an astute basketball observer, you might see that, do a Jon Stewart head shake and then ask "what?"

Davis to the Nets is not a bad idea—it's a really bad idea. Now you might ask, why is that? Well, I'll tell you why that is. 

The answer is because if you want to win basketball games you actually have to be able to get rebounds. Already they are hampered by one of the worst rebounding seven-footers in all of NBA history. In fact, only 17 players over seven feet tall in all of NBA history have a lower total rebound percentage than Brook Lopez's 10 percent. 

So what about Big Baby? His is a whole whopping one percent better. Last season of power forwards and centers that are at least 6'9" Lopez and Davis accounted for two of the six worst-rebounding power forward/centers in the NBA. 

So you see the dilemma here. It's hard to win without rebounding. In fact, the "four factors of winning" show that offensive rebound percentage is one of them. The entire strategy of defense for the best defenses in the NBA involve pushing the shot outside, making the opponent take a bad shot and then getting the rebound. 

On offense many of the best teams feature players like Joakim Noah, Tyson Chandler or Udonis Haslem, who can grab the offensive rebound and turn it into second-chance points.

On both ends of the court, if they have two players who can't grab rebounds, they really hurt themselves going after a guy like Davis. 

Rather, the Nets should try and go after a guy like Nene Hilario who has a great ability to score in the paint, but also has proven himself to be a solid rebounder. 

Failing that, they can always re-sign Humphries. We all know he's on the rebound now.