FanPost

The FA Way

This post is a result of reading a recent post from T-Darkstar and today's mailbag featuring Storyteller regarding our salary cap situation this offseason. After reading those 2 posts I began to realize a couple of things. One of them is that we don't really have any valuable, roster defining trade pieces on this current roster and the other is that we don't really have much hope of getting much more than a mediocre bench player through the draft. All of the trade scenarios that are being thrown around in other posts just don't seem to add up. Because of our lack of assets, we really don't have much that we can offer for the pieces that we need. I see our hope lying squarely on our ability to maneuver the FA market this summer and bring in the missing pieces we need. Per Storytellers breakdown, these are the 8 guaranteed contracts we have coming in:

Aldridge, Batum, Matthews, Lillard, Freeland, Leonard, Claver, Barton.

This looks somewhat like this:

PG: Lillard / _____

SG: Matthews / Barton

SF: Batum / Claver

PF: Aldridge / Freeland

C: ____ / Leonard

It's actually a pretty balanced roster and only missing a solid rebound/defense first C and and low-minute back up at PG. Then, our concern would obviously turn to improving the second string and pushing maybe Barton/Claver/Freeland/Leonard further down the bench if possible. 2 mandatory positions, and 1-2 improvements, and we're in business. We will have 13 million in cap space (assuming we have a mid round draft pick w/a cap hold) and, from what I gather, a couple of exceptions. With those assets, and no trades (again considering our lack of assets to offer in return), what would our approach in obtaining the 3 missing players (assuming we keep a draft pick on our roster next year - bringing us to a roster of 12) look like? Who will be unrestricted this off-season (or possibly opted out of) that we could target. I'm sure we can fill the 2 mandatory holes and get a couple more pieces to shore up the bench - but who would we get? This is a little different than all of the trade scenarios we've been playing around with.

Who are the 3 FA's we'd target that would fit into the 13 mil + exceptions that we have to offer? Please vote and then explain your optimal player choices below!