Boo ya!

Since I’m guessing that players that make mid-level money that would stand to make much more if they were available (Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, etc.) are out of the question as well, I’m going to go with Raja Bell.

He as good, if not a better defender than DeShawn and he’s a more consistent outside shooter. As much as I like Stevenson, if Bell was available I wouldn’t hesitate to get him, even though he’s a little older.

And Battier makes slightly more than the MLE, so I don’t think he’d qualify.

But he is definitely too expensive (though he wouldn’t command near as much as he used to) and he needs the ball a bit too much to be on this team. Basically we need an Artest-type player who can guard 3 or 4 positions (RA guards power forwards as well as PGs), plays high-IQ basketball, can rebound, and is a tenacious defender. We don’t need the offensive game . We also don’t need the headcase. I don’t think we could handle him with the team we have now. So I guess my question is: who is Artest-lite? Name that player and that’s who I would give 5 mil.

Jake: Raja Bell
RamVA: Antonio McDyess
Pryme: Kurt Thomas? P.J. Brown?
Icantfeelmyface: Doesn’t know, but basically a cheap Artest

a motivated quentin richardson

he can play the 2 or 3, and i feel like hes tough and strong enough to even play the 4 in small lineups.

Hed bring 3pt shooting and rebounding and i think he could play defense in the right environment. Hes a tough player with some skills whos been lost in a terrible environment the last couple years but he was a good player on for the suns that one year and on the clippers before that. Ive always been a fan of q so my opinion might be a little jaded but i think if he was taken out of ny he could start playing well again.

im not sure what his cap number is this season, but hes on the knicks so ill assume hes overpaid but realistically hes worth about the midlevel

ps. this doesnt work for this scenario, but ive also maintained in personal circles that hinrich would be great in the backcourt alongside arenas. He has point skills enough to push arenas off the ball while also having enough skills and basketball iq to play off the ball if arenas wants to take over. Hes also a big guard who can guard effectively guard 1s or 2s to give arenas the easier matchup. He was in skiles’ doghouse and it seemed like a real possibility he would be on the way out, but with d’antoni coming in they might give him another chance.

He’s a restricted free agent this summer, he makes $2,636,695 now, he’s big (7’0” 240 lbs.), he’s very athletic, he runs the floor well, he’s a good shot blocker (1.2 bpg), and he’s a terrific rebounder (9.8 rpg in only 27.3 mpg). He’s also still very young (he just turned 22 last month).

Chances are he’ll command more than the MLE, and I don’t see Nellie letting him go without a fight, but if Ernie could somehow nab him he’d be a great acquistion for the Wizards.

Someone who knows how to play with intensity. I know we need someone to guard positions 1-4, but I’m hoping Taser progresses quite nicely in the offseason.

Then how about Francisco Elson? He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer, he makes exactly $3 million now, he’s also big (7’0” 235 lbs.), he also runs the floor well, and he’s had good playoff experience (was a member of San Antonio’s championship team from last season).

His numbers suffered a bit this season after his trade to Seattle, but he still averaged 9.3 points, 0.9 blocks, 0.7 steals, 1.1 assists, and 8.9 rebounds per 36 minutes. This despite only playing 12.9 minutes per game. His numbers with San Antonio last season were higher when he averaged 19.0 minutes per game.

My only concern was his knee injury he suffered a couple of months ago (strained right MCL). He did return to the lineup a week later, though, and was starting by the end of the season, so I don’t think it was that bad.

Both Kwame Brown and Juwan Howard are unrestricted free agents this summer. Maybe we can get a two for one deal? ;-)