With most of the superstar free agents all signed up (except for Lebron James and Marc Gasol), there is still a bevy of impact players who have yet to ink a deal with a team. Here are the top five impact players and where I think they should go.
1) David West - He supposedly left he Pacers because he doesn't believe they're ready to compete for a championship any time soon. Which means he's looking at the NBA's upper echelon, for teams that believe they're one veteran big man away from a ring. He's been linked to the Wizards, which is certainly a team on the rise but not a team one piece away from a championship. If West is truly about winning, he should make his way to the Chicago Bulls, whose frontcourt needs help if they ever want to come out on top of the East. Right now, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson man the trenches but as we saw in the post season, any significant injury to any of these three will cause their championship dreams to crumble. West as a contributing big man may be enough to put the Bulls on top, as he will test the bench of teams like the Cavs, Hawks, Spurs, and Warriors.
2) Josh Smith - Josh Smith wants to return to the Rockets. The Rockets don't need him but could certainly use him. And yes, Houston is the best place for him. Not only because it's a championship caliber squad trying to put the final pieces of the puzzle together but also because it's a team with a clear player hierarchy. Smith knows Harden is top dog, with Howard close behind, so he's able to play within the system, knowing he's not going to be top dog. If he goes to a team like the Kings, he might get it in his head to challenge DeMarcus Cousins for alpha dog status and that's going to ruin not just the Kings but also Smith.
3) Jeremy Lin - Lin is looking not just for a team but for a system that utilizes his talents to the maximum. Right now, that means the Mavericks. For a team whose only other options at the point are JJ Barea, Devin Harris and Raymond Felton, Lin provides a ray of hope that they can survive the loss of Rajon Rondo (easy) and Monta Ellis (not so easy). Lin is a good assist man who can find Wes Matthews, Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki for jumpers and long range bombs while serving up lobs for DeAndre Jordan. It's an "everybody wins" situation for Lin and Mavs.
4) Jordan Hill - Jordan Hill was solid for an extremely bad Lakers team last year. This year, he should move across the hall to the LA Clippers locker room and fill the void left by DeAndre Jordan. Hill averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds with the Lakers last year and if he should ever move to the Clippers, expect his scoring numbers to jump significantly, with Chris Paul throwing him those lobs that Jordan used to get. Hill will also benefit from lots of playing time, seeing as the Clippers don't really have a lot of options at center, with only Glen Davis (not really a center) and Ekpe Udoh (not really a good center) competing for the position.
5) Enes Kanter - An offensive-oriented big man, Kanter loved playing for the Thunder. However, his truly terrible defense is just too much to pay for his above average offensive skill set, especially for a team who isn't lacking in firepower at all (Durant, Westbrook, anyone?). A better place for him would be the Boston Celtics, whose options at center (Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller) are not exactly setting the NBA on fire offensively. I think the Celtics would gladly live with Kanter's defense if they can get his offense and try to make up for it with Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko's defense. With the Celtics, Kanter might actually end up as one of the higher scoring centers in the league.
Next week, we'll sift through the entirety of the NBA free agency and see which teams won and which sucked.
No comments:
Post a Comment