Atlanta Hawks
9/2 Signed Etan Thomas
Only 32, Thomas hasn’t been healthy or very good since 2006-07. While he was a nice player at one point, it’s hard for me to believe that he can get back to that level from four years ago. The Hawks have plenty of big bodies already so Thomas will just be another six fouls and if he still has some skills it’ll only be gravy.
Boston Celtics
9/1 Signed Delonte West
On the surface, West’s return to Boston is a nice bench player for a contending team. But this represented a nice decision for the Celts. Boston has opted to let Tony Allen go for West. Allen is more athletic and a better defender than West but West is also a nice defender and is much more effective in the half court (he has a surprisingly good post up game too).
In terms of cash, Allen received three years and $10 million while West is on a one-year $1 million deal. There is a pretty good argument that West is better than Allen without considering money issues. Given the cost disparity, West over Allen makes all the sense in the world.
Charlotte Bobcats
8/24 Signed Kwame Brown
9/14 Waived Erick Dampier
9/27 Signed Javaris Crittenton and Darius Miles
As a manager of rosters, Michael Jordan seems to gravitate towards players he have tried out before. In the case, bringing back Kwame Brown is not a great idea. Brown is still only 28 but it’s become clear that he is nothing more than roster filler, a big body who doesn’t do anything particularly well. His particular inability to score does not mesh with the Bobcats’ offensive issues either.
Miles is a little more interesting pick up. He may not be healthy but he played pretty well last time someone gave him a chance in 2008-09. I don’t know the state of his knees but if there is even a chance that he’s can play without pain, he could be helpful to the team.
Chicago Bulls
9/27 Signed John Lucas III and Brian Scalabrine
Yikes. Scalabrine has squeezed a ten-year career despite the fact he’s coming off of a brutally poor season (1.5 ppg, .341 FG%, 3.6 PER). He’s a hustler and seems likable, which has taken him a long way in the NBA and is lesson for anyone that personality and effort matter. His contract is non-guaranteed, so his roster spot is tenuous.
Lucas also has a shot to make the team. He has been out of the NBA since 2006-07 but showed solid enough skills back at that time he might stick again at some point. This will be a tough spot, however, since there are very few minutes to go after Derrick Rose and C.J. Watson.
Dallas Mavericks
8/19 Re-signed Tim Thomas
9/23 Signed Steve Novak
9/28 Signed Brian Cardinal and Waived Tim Thomas
Cardinal is best remembered for parlaying a big contract from Memphis after his excellent 2003-04 season. He’s been pretty bad the last three years but plays hard and is the kind of player coaches really like. In terms of talent, however, I can’t see a reason for keeping him around.
One of his competitors is Novak, a better shooter with a Matt Bullard vibe (big guy who can make a three from the spot up) and is six years younger. I expect Cardinal to win this battle since he works so hard but Novak may have more upside (relatively speaking).
Detroit Pistons
9/27 Signed Ike Diogu
Diogu missed all of last year with injury. When healthy, Diogu is an effective low post scorer but weak in most areas. He’s also the paradigm for the type of player who looks great on paper but doesn’t always pan out, the undersized power forward. Paul Millsap has played well but others small scorers like Mike Sweetney and Brandon Bass have struggled to get playing time (for different reasons). Diogu ideally is not a starter but a scorer off the bench. Detroit is actually a nice location since they have so few scorers and could use Ike.
Golden State Warriors
9/8 Signed Rodney Carney
9/13 Signed Louis Amundson
9/24 Signed Aaron Miles
The Warriors did a very nice job picking up role players on the cheap. Amundson was one of the potentially hot free agents but was ultimately left standing without much in the way of suitors. Carney is also an underrated and solid role player. In a world where James Posey and Mo Peterson get big bucks, the Warriors have picked up younger, better bench players for less money. It remains to be seen whether Golden State can make the correct decision on the big moves but this is a good start.
Los Angeles Clippers
9/27 Signed Jarron Collins and Jake Voskuhl
Just for fun, let’s compare Jarron with his twin Jason from last year. Here are their stats per 36 minutes:
| Brother | G | MPG | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | PER |
| Jason | 24 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 7.2 | 0.348 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.000 | 4.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 0.9 |
| Jarron | 34 | 7.6 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 0.387 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 0.400 | 8.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 3.8 |
So, Jarron has surpassed Jason as a player at this point. Funny thing is that Jason was the first round pick and the one who received some acclaim earlier in their careers but Jarron has been slightly better. Jarron has a career 9.5 PER to 7.6 for Jason. Some other fun facts on the twins:
-Jason’s career high in ppg is 6.4 in 2004-05 and Jarron’s is 6.4 in 2001-02.
-Jason’s career high in PER was 10.7 in 2001-02 (his rookie year) and Jarron’s was 11.5 in 2001-02 (also as a rookie).
-Jason’s career high in minutes is 31.8 mpg in 2004-05 and he had five seasons over 23 mpg. Jarron has never exceeded 21.9 mpg.
-Jason’s career earnings are $30.1 million and Jarron’s are $14.4 million.
Basically, Jason benefitted from coming up with Jason Kidd and a hot Nets team in the early 2000s but they are the same player. Actually, Jarron was and is a little better, though neither can score at all. Incidentally, Voskuhl hasn’t played since 2008-09 and he put up a whopping 2.7 PER as well, so Jarron is actually a better option out of those two.
Memphis Grizzlies
9/28 Signed Luke Jackson, Damien Wilkins, and Kenny Thomas
Not terrible for filler. All three are, at best, average players but none are complete duds. Of the group, Thomas fills the biggest need, since two guard/small forward is well covered by O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Xavier Henry, and Tony Allen.
Milwaukee Bucks
8/19 Signed Earl Boykins
Boykins can still score a bit but he is very much not a Scott Skiles type of player. Milwaukee will need scoring but I tend to think that Boykins will get buried behind Keyon Dooling because Dooling’s skill set meshes with Skiles. Still, the cost of bringing in Boykins is minimal ($1.3 million) and he could help in a pinch and this has to be described as a solid move.