Although this 2013 draft class is said to be weak, the free agent class is deep at certain positions.

Key: 
UFA-unrestricted free agent-able to sign with any team without consequence
RFA-restricted free agent-team previous player played for has team option or can sign qualifying offer this summer to retain restricted status
PO-player option-player has option to accept option and remain with team for pre-determined contract year amount or opt out to unrestricted status

PG-
1-Chris Paul-UFA-CP3 is one of the only guys in this class that will get the max deal this summer and it’s already a forgone conclusion that he’ll stay in Clipperland.  The concerns though, are that he doesn’t get along with his teammates and doesn’t want DeAndre Jordan around.  If I’m LAC, it’s a tough spot.  You have what appears to be the next up and comer, Bledsoe, on the bench behind CP3 and have concerns with injury issues to Paul but don’t want to lose out on him as a franchise piece which the Clips don’t just stumble upon often.  My guess is they’ll sign him to the max and trade him within a year and a half.

2-Jeff Teague-RFA-coming off a year where Teague’s numbers are up virtually across the board, he’ll be up for some big money as one of the top PG FA’s this summer.  He’ll be a RFA where the Hawks can match any offer, however which I expect them to do short of him getting an ultra-lucrative contract.  The case for him is his numbers have steadily improved every year on a team that isn’t lead guard oriented and is a slow down offense.  Give him the opportunity to open it up and he could flourish.  He’s also just 24 years old.

3-Brandon Jennings-RFA-the unpopular opinion of Jennings has grown stronger from within the organization of the Bucks, which grew to the local fans and now to the outside world.  In an NBA where advanced stats are as popular as a player’s height and weight, Jennings isn’t exactly high on anybody’s list in that regard.  Nonetheless, a case can be made to defend him where he can get hot, has been stuck with coaches that don’t fit his style and he’s still young.  What hurts his stock is he hasn’t shown any improvement since year 2 and other point guards in his age range have and are getting around $12 million a year.  Coupled with the fact he’s a RFA, I think anyone will be afraid to offer him more than $9 or $10 million a year.

4-Nate Robinson-UFA-who would’ve thought Nate-Rob had this post season run in him?  After playing for his 4th team in 3 years, “Little Nate” (thanks Novak), found a home in Chicago.  He’d be a great fit with Rose and I fully expect them to fight for every chance they get to bring him back, but they’ll have some tough competition with the point guard class being weak this year and guys of his caliber (heat check guys) being so few and far between.

5-Jarrett Jack-UFA-Jack, after suffering through many different phases of his career early on, came out of nowhere this season in GS to nearly steal the 6th man of the year award.  He’s a little fast and loose as a point guard, shoots more than he probably should and is already 29 years old, but will easily get the MLE from somebody this summer.

6-Jerryd Bayless-PO-Bayless has always been touted by his peers to be one of the most gifted players they’ve ever played against, but he’s never been able to put together the full point guard package making him more of a 6th man than a lead guard.  He’s a nice transitional piece for someone, I’m just not sure it’s where Memphis wants to spend its limited money this summer.  One caveat is that he has a player option for next season.  I fully expect him to opt out and become an UFA this summer since he has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but it’s worth noting.

7-Mo Williams-UFA-Mo, at 31, becomes an UFA coming off an injury plagued season in Utah.  If Utah looks to go a different route via the draft (likely), he could get some decent offers in the realm of 2-3 years for about $5 million a pop based on his shooting ability alone.

8-Devin Harris-UFA-Harris has positioned himself as a role player off the bench who can play multiple positions, defend and hit open shots.  He’s getting older (30 already!), but should get himself a decent pay day in the range of just under the MLE, say in the range of 3/12, for some team looking to add some versatility to their back court.

9-Jose Calderon-UFA-you know what you’re going to get with Calderon at this point.  He shoots at a high clip, dishes the rock, but can’t defend a sloth standing still.  At 32 years old, he’s on his last legs, but could get  a nice opportunity this summer for a team looking for his type of abilities.

10-Beno Udrih-UFA-Beno bounced around this past season, but showed some ability late in the season for Orlando when Jameer went down with tanking, I mean, injuries.  He’ll get a deal for a few million, no more than 3 million per, as a back up.

11-Darren Collison-RFA-Collison had a rough year in Dallas after he was benched ¾ of the way through the season for the likes of castaway Mike James.  He’s destined to get another opportunity after showing such promise in New Orleans 4 years ago.  He’ll get an opportunity as a change of pace back up somewhere as the case can be made Indiana (whom he played for in 2010-2012) isn’t point guard friendly and Dallas had a down year.

12-Rodrigue Beaubois-RFA-Pronounced Rod-reeg-ay Bo-bwah.  RB came into the league as an exciting young French talent and drew comparisons to fellow French man Tony Parker, but after suffering injury after injury after injury, he never got into a solid rotation in Dallas.  He showed promise a few years back during a Maverick playoff run and became a fan favorite, but fell to the trainer’s table again.  If he can get healthy, there’s a case to be made for him as well, just not necessarily as a primary ball handling lead guard.  He’s more of a Nate Robinson than anything.  And at just 25 years old, this won’t be the last he’s heard from.

13-Pablo Prigioni-UFA-PP, one of the oldest rookies ever at 35 years old, going on 36, had a nice year for New York stepping up when injuries plagued Jason Kidd and Felton.  He’s a calming sense for a frenetic team, dishes the rock with confidence, plays obnoxious defense and can hit open jumpers.  Who knows how long he’ll play because of his age, and he’ll never get a multi-year deal, but is a nice third point guard for a team looking for his services at the vet minimum.

14-Chauncey Billups-UFA-Billups has had a great career.  One you would read in a book, but his time is likely past.  Short of a physical rejuvenation somewhere, he may be on his last legs.  I fully expect him to get a vet minimum deal somewhere and may fall into a player-coach type role.

15-DJ Augustin-UFA-Augustin, like Collison during his stint in Indiana, the same can be said for DJ in Indiana this season, where it seems point guards go to die.  He just hasn’t improved his ability to score off the dribble or defend enough to warrant being a starting point guard.  He saw a career low in every category across the board and shot a horrible percentage.  He’ll get on somewhere for probably another one year deal to give him a trial run.

SG-

1-Tyreke Evans-RFA-Evans is another guy who secretly improved himself rapidly this year showing some shooting ability and reigned himself in.  After he sky rocketed his rookie year looking to cement his place as a top SG in the league, he fell off his sophomore and 3rd year substantially.  He’ll get paid this summer, but he’s a RFA so the question for Sacramento will be, how much are they willing to spend to keep him?

2-Andre Iguodala-PO-AI has a player option of about $15 million next season, but I expect him to opt out even after a down year for him.  Everyone, myself included, expected him to flourish in Denver’s system.  He showed his true colors though, as a 3rd banana, defender, rebounder, passer and stand still shooter.  He’ll get paid handsomely this summer and I wouldn’t even mind him in Milwaukee, he’s just getting older (28, going on 29) and he relies heavily on his physical abilities.

3-OJ Mayo-UFA-Dallas put themselves in a precarious situation bringing in Mayo for pennies (something like $3.5 million) last summer on just a 1 year deal.  They wanted to keep their options open for this summer and next and have the ability to sign a marquee name, but in the process, found a stud on Mayo who lit up the league this year.  He will get rewarded this summer and the possibility of $12+ million per year isn’t out of the question.

4-Monta Ellis-UFA-Monta, I’m sure, dazzled some GM enough to get him a big pay day this summer, I just hope that team doesn’t start with Mil and end with ucks.  Look, he’s a talent.  He can score from anywhere and if you actually got him to play INTO A SYSTEM, he’d be fantastic!  But he’s such a dynamic person and personality that it just seems nobody can get through to him.  Mark Jackson even killed him during the playoffs by saying when Ellis was traded, the locker room changed for the better.  As long as I don’t have to sweat out rumors of the Bucks re-signing him, I’ll be watching this situation very closely, because he could fit….somewhere.

5-Gerald Henderson-RFA-Henderson is one of the least talked about and most underrated players in the league since he’s played in Charlotte so long.  He plays an old man’s game playing primarily in the post at just 6’4”, but having the physical tools to blow by guys and pull up from mid range.  He’s not a great outside shooter, but definitely a starter and could be a sneaky steal for someone this summer.

6-Kevin Martin-UFA-Martin was the crucial piece to the Harden trade (which I stupidly defended) and although he had a solid season for a 29 year old spot shooter, he got a bad rap for most of it because he was the replacement to Harden.  He’s another guy who can last in the league and teams won’t be afraid to give him a 4 year deal because of his shooting ability but I expect him to stick in OKC.

7-JJ Redick-UFA-for the last few years, people have been waiting for Redick to break out.  Now, at 28 years old, he’s entering free agency with probably one of the toughest years behind him.  To his credit, he was in a terrible situation in Milwaukee playing alongside shoot first guards, got jerked around by his coach and when he did get the ball which was rare, had to hoist it just to get a touch.  I think teams have cooled on the possibility of him getting a 4/40 deal and I truly hope that was just a rumor that he got that offer in a backroom handshake with Kohl and Hammond .  He’s somebody who can get hot and light it up but only in the right system.

8-JR Smith-PO-JR had such an up and down year in New York.  He looked, at times, to be a top 5 SG in the league, then the playoff games and the wheels completely fell off.  You know what you’re getting with JR-a bit of a headcase, the definition of a streakshooter and average at best defensively, but another guy, who, in the right system can flourish.  Just don’t expect Poppovich to come begging for his services.

9-Tony Allen-UFA-on the right team, like Memphis, Allen has a huge place in the league.  He’s getting older, but with every year, is just getting better.  He can’t shoot and is inept offensively, but is 200% the player defensively which makes up for it.  Somebody will reign him in for the MLE this summer and I expect Memphis to fight teams tooth and nail for him.

10-Ben Gordon-PO-Gordon is a stat sheet stuffer who puts up more empty ones than fulfilling ones, but this could be a case of him playing on bad teams (Detroit and Charlotte) for the last few seasons.  I think he’ll get sneaky paid this summer and get on with a team who needs his abilities in a 6th man role.  At just 30 years old, he’s still got physical tools to put it back together for a twilight run.

11-Manu Ginobili-UFA-the downfall of Manu showed this year when he had to take every other game off, looked out of shape at times and a lot of young guys got bumped ahead of him, but at 34, he still has talent as hes shown in the playoffs and I expect him to give SA a hometown discount to stick around.

12-Marco Belinelli-UFA-Belinelli showed off his ability to shoot the ball for the Bulls this summer and was a nice tryout for many teams this summer.  He’s not a starter in the league, but a shooter off the bench who can rain them in at times.

13-Ray Allen-PO-Ray Allen, at this point in his career, isn’t interested in exercising his player option to become a free agent again.  He’ll stay in Miami and that’s the end of that conversation.

14-Randy Foye-UFA-Foye had a career year shooting in Utah and will get paid this summer for it as a reserve man off the bench when a team needs buckets.  He is an undersized 2-guard who isn’t a great defender, but can score in a hurry.

15-Nick Young-UFA-NY had all the potential in the world and showed it off in Washington, but was jettisoned to Philadelphia and was quickly benched.  He’ll stick somewhere this summer as a bench shooter, but probably not on a good team and probably not for good money.

SF-

1-Corey Brewer-UFA-you know it’s a rough free agency class when Brewer leads a ranking in his position. Nonetheless, Brewer has proved himself to be an extremely versatile player who can be the 5th starter on a strong playoff team.  He stepped up big this season during injuries, and at 6’9” with his abilities, he can play any position 2-4.  He’s just 26 years old, is improving his jumper (yet you still cringe when it goes up) and thrives defensively.  He’ll get a multi-year deal and if the Nuggets choose not to try to keep Iguodala, I bet they make a strong push to keep Brewer.

2-Chase Budinger-RFA-Budinger was a forgotten man after missing most of the season due to injury, but was brought in to be the savior to the Wolves shooting woes.  He played a few games early in the season, then came back for 15-20 MPG late in the season and didn’t particularly shoot well, but his talents are known.  He’s never scored over 9 points per game in a season, but was a 2nd round wonder the Rockets found a few years ago, which they are very good at finding, and is still learning at just 24 years old.

3-Matt Barnes-UFA-At 32, Barnes is looking for a contract to keep him with a team after never playing for one for more than 2-3 years.  He’s a versatile defender and tenacious personality.  Although he’s aging, it seems as though he’s only getting better and will be a good get for a playoff caliber team looking for his talents.

4-Earl Clark-UFA-Clark came out of nowhere this season when the Lakers were desperately looking for a stretch 4 to fit alongside Dwight.  Clark, at 6’10”, can stretch the floor and really shoot it and guard positions 2-4, sometimes even a few centers.  If he gets on with a team with a defined role and consistency, he could blossom.

5-Al Farouq-Aminu-UFA-AFA hasn’t improved his game as some thought after being picked 8th overall in 2010, but he’s a tenacious rebounder and defender.  He succeeds in New Orleans because he has a big (Ray Anderson) to stretch the floor.  You play him at the 3 with two conventional bigs, he, and the team offense, will struggle.  He is a fit for certain teams, but not all.

6-Andrei Kirilenko-PO-AK47, after spending two years overseas, came back to the NBA in a surprise move to Minnesota and seemingly hasn’t missed a beat.  At 33 years old, he shot 50% from the field (but too many 3’s), 3 assists, 12 points 1.5 steals and a block per game.  He has a really interesting scenario to play out.  Does he opt out of the $10 million player option for 13-14’ hoping for a longer contract with more guaranteed money, or take the $10 million, risk injury and maybe just get a few vet minimums before retiring?  I bet he accepts the player option in Minnesota.

7-Kyle Korver-UFA-KK had a resurrection year in Atlanta shooting the lights out, shooting a scintillating 45% from deep and at 32 years old, it seems he’s actually getting better.  He’ll get a multi-year deal, likely to stay in ATL but some teams will make the chase tough for them.

8-Martell Webster-UFA-Webster has had an interesting career being traded to a few different teams after being labeled a bust after being drafted 6th overall in the 2005 draft.  It seems so long ago, but Webster is still only 26 years old!  He had an unbelievable contract year in Washington especially after Wall came back shooting 42% from deep putting up nearly six threes a game.  He really played himself into some nice money this off-season and for a team looking to fill a hole at the 3 (ahem, Milwaukee?) , he could get a nice chunk of change for a multi-year deal.

9-Shawn Marion-PO-I’d be hard pressed to believe Marion would opt out of a guaranteed $9 million next season especially at 35 years old, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility after putting up great numbers last year in Dallas.  He’s not the ultra-versatile player he once was, but still has some of those abilities at 35.

10-Metta World Peace-PO-MWP, in the same category as Marion, has guaranteed money sitting on the table in LA to opt into, and is aging so he may not get that kind of money anywhere else, but he did have a nice bounce back year in LA and if he doesn’t like the direction the Lakers are going, he could opt out…or he could wait for LA to amnesty him, go somewhere else and earn two contracts.

11-Mike Dunleavy-UFA-I love Mike, I love how he played for Milwaukee, I give him credit for remaining so positive in Milwaukee after suffering through some bad seasons even though he still had veteran talent, but he really lost his legs this year.  He’ll get on somewhere for the vet minimum and play some minutes as a shooter, it could even be in Milwaukee as he said he wanted to stay here, but will Hammond want him back?

12-Corey Maggette-UFA-suddenly the talent pool has fallen off, much like Maggette’s career.  He was labeled an enigma a few years ago, before he was benched on two different teams and saw very little of the floor.  I’ll be interested to see if he even gets a contract or if he just goes overseas.

13-Richard Jefferson-PO-a couple of failed Bucks experiments in a row here.  Jefferson just flat out won’t opt out of his guaranteed $9 million player option in Golden State next season.  End of discussion.

14-Francisco Garcia-TO-Garcia seemed to be a lost man after being included in a few different trades, discussed being amnestied and was lamented to the bench, but he played some nice emergency minutes for Houston.  The Rockets are discussing bringing him back on the cheap as a bench guy which is what he’ll likely be unless he develops some deadly corner shooting.

15-Dorell Wright-UFA-Wright is really low on this list for putting up some decent numbers in Philly last year, but he’s a bit of a black hole, he doesn’t see a 3 he won’t shoot and is limited in just about every other facet of the game.  He’ll sign somewhere on the cheap, probably for $2 million for a year or two as a bench guy.

PF-

Josh Smith-UFA-J-Smoove will be looking for the max this summer and will likely get it, but from who?  I could see the Cavaliers if they don’t feel they can make a run at a top free agent in 2014 or are getting antsy and want to win again.  Look, Smith is a nice player.  He’s a stat sheet stuffer, but he’s a better fantasy player than real life.  He’s the third best player on a championship caliber team and you’re not winning with him as your best, highest paid player.  It smells of Rudy Gay contract/trade situation.

Paul Millsap-UFA-Millsap will command some attention this summer as a top tier free agent because he isn’t likely to get a max contract, because, quite frankly, he isn’t a sexy player.  He’ll get around $12 million per and deserves that at the top end.  If he can stay healthy, he’s a legitimate addition to any team.  I like him as a fit for the Cavs.

David West-UFA-West is aging, but is still extremely effective by virtue of his style of play.  He’ll get you tough rebounds and put backs, but likes to play face up to the basket, run some pick and roll and be a solid teammate.  I’d be surprised if the Pacers let him walk, but it’s a possibility if his asking price is high and the Pacers look for a younger player of his caliber.

Carl Landry-PO-like Jarrett Jack, Landry had a coming out party with the Warriors.  He’s still the player he’s always been, but he’s doing it on a bigger stage with better players around him.  If the Warriors don’t bring him back, they’ll need to add some front court depth in a hurry to replace what he brings to them.  

Tiago Splitter-UFA-the Spurs tend to find these diamonds in the rough each and every year and he’s such a Spurs type player.  He doesn’t do anything sexy, he’s not going to fill a stat sheet, but he’s big, strong and effective on both ends of the court.  He’s relatively young yet, around 27 or 28 and will get around the MLE from someone.

Andray Blatche-UFA-after a laughable start to his career in Washington, Blatche was resurrected in Brooklyn this year as a pick and pop player who will hustle when he wants to, needs a defensive big man next to him, but can play some small ball 5.  He’s playing under the amnesty rule, so I’m not sure exactly how his contract situation works from here, but I believe he’s completely unrestricted.  He, by all accounts, loves playing in Brooklyn though and I expect him to stay there.

Byron Mullens-RFA-Mullens struggles and style of play is tough to dissect.  He shoots it from deep WAY too much, shies from contact and isn’t a great rebounder or defensive player.  He’s turned himself into a stretch 4, but if you get him to a coach who can use him effectively in the right system, he can be much more efficient.  The Bobcats have the opportunity to sign him to the qualifying offer and make him a RFA, which may scare teams away from him because nobody wants to offer him big money the Bobcats can’t or won’t match based on a streak year.

Elton Brand-UFA-Brand found himself in the perfect position in Dallas playing behind Dirk, getting 20 minutes a game, spotting up from mid range.  This is his game as he ages and, depending on what he wants, he could garner a lot of interest from championship caliber teams, but he’d have to play for cheap.

Antawn Jamison-UFA-Is Jamison on his last legs, or was his down year a product of playing in the debacle of the Lakers this year?  He was suppose to be the perfect fit alongside Dwight and Gasol, but it just didn’t work out.  He, like Brand, is likely to garner some interest, but for the vet minimum.

Josh McRoberts-UFA-another example of the enigma that is the Bobcats.  McRoberts got significant playing time for the Bobcats this season and showed flashes of his ability as an uuber athletic big who can block shots, throw down a flashy dunk and hit the mid range, but he’s good for anywhere between three and seven boneheaded plays a game.  

Tyler Hansbrough-RFA-you know what you’re getting from Psycho T.  He’ll make all the hustle plays, body up on guys, get a technical every now and again, spark some controversy and make your opponent hate him (ask Larry Sanders).  With West an UFA, I bet the Pacers work to bring him back again as their first big man off the bench.

Marreese Speights-PO-Speights has always been a guy that had intrigue around him, because he’s big and physical, he can score around the rim and rebound, but he’s never put it all together anywhere after being jettisoned from Philadelphia to Memphis and then to Cleveland.  Even when he was gathering garbage minutes late in the season for Cleveland, he put up pedestrian numbers.  I think the intrigue is running low, quickly, but will get picked up somewhere along the way.

Kenyon Martin-UFA-K-Mart was supposed to come in in New York and be the player he was in LAC the year prior, but he was about 60% of that.  He’ll get a big dunk or block occasionally and can still defend the 4 and small 5’s, but he’s aging quickly.  

DeJuan Blair-UFA-the man with no knees just never got in the good graces of Gregg Poppovich after he was supposed to be the perfect fit alongside Duncan, but it never happened.  He was passed up for the likes of Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner.  There has always been interest in the league in Blair after being discussed at the last two trade deadlines as a piece definitely on the move, but it never happened.  I expect him to get a 1 year deal from someone on a trial basis to see if he can stick somewhere, but his major hurdle may be the pre-contract medical evaluation.

Boris Diaw-UFA-the aforementioned Boris Diaw, or Fat Boris as he was referred to when he showed up for the Bobcats this season about 30-40 lbs overweight found an unlikely home in San Antonio and is playing major minutes for them in their championship run this season.  I have him this low because of his age and his size.  His motivation has to be called into question, especially if he gets paid again by a team that may not have be as hard on him as San Antonio is on their players.

C-

1-Dwight Howard-UFA-the big prize this summer is Dwight Howard, if you want to call him a prize.  The Dwight saga will draw so much media attention and will put the most pressure on Lakerland since the Shaq trade.  A number of teams will be vying for his services like Dallas, Houston and Atlanta.  There are a lot of scenarios the Lakers could go with-signing and trading Dwight, amnestying Kobe, amnestying Gasol, or trying to bring them all back and go at it again.  I’d be shocked if Dwight actually leaves LA.  He may believe that this could very quickly be his team and does he really want his legacy to be, at or near his prime, he’s played for three different teams in two years?

2-Nikola Pekovic-RFA-a healthy front court of Pek and Love is really good, but in a small man’s game, the Wolves are completely outmatched on the perimeter.  Their biggest dilemma will be, do they save the money for a perimeter player, or do they match a giant offer Pek is going to get, and if Love does leave after next season when he has an opt out clause, Pekovic can be their big to build around going forward.

3-Al Jefferson-UFA-you know what you’re getting from Jefferson.  Post scoring, below the rim play and mediocre defensively.  In the right system, he can thrive though.  The biggest issue in Utah was, they had two really good big men, neither of which were all that interested in defense.  The Jazz are set moving forward with Favors and Kanter who each have shown they’re ready to start right now and be effective, but by all accounts, the Jazz are looking to bring back one of Jefferson or Millsap.  Signs point to it being Millsap and Jefferson will be the one left getting paid handsomely.  He would fit in really well in Houston if they can make some moves money-wise alongside Asik, but Jefferson isn’t really an advanced metric coaches dream.

4-Andrew Bynum-UFA-Bynum being the 4th best center in this free agency class shows how deep the center position is this summer.  He would be the #1 center on this list if it wasn’t for his knee injury and subsequent attitude.  One of the most underrated stories was how bad this worked out for Philly this season.  They seem to have a positive attitude about him though through all of this and still want to give him max money and make him their franchise player.

5-JJ Hickson-UFA-Hickson was surrounded by trade buzz at the deadline in February, but nobody thought they needed to give up the assets Portland wanted for him when they can sign him in the off-season.  Besides, who would be stupid enough to make that move?  …wait who?  JJ Red….oh.  Moving on…Hickson is undersized as a center, but fit pretty well next to Aldridge, they just didn’t have the combination of size and physical play and shot blocking to be effective.  I think Hickson can be gotten on the cheap because of the strength of the front office in this free agency class and could be a really nice pickup.

6-Emeka Okafor-PO-Okafor has questions to answer this summer.  He has a player option for $14+ million next season in Washington and it’s unfathomable for him to turn down that kind of money, but he would then become unrestricted next season if not offered an extension in a class of strong free agents in 2014.  I think he accepts the option and makes a push in a contract year for the upstart Wizards and garner some positive buzz about him.

7-Chris Kaman-UFA-Kaman has really fallen off the last few years and has been injured for much of the last 5-6 years.  He put up pedestrian numbers in Dallas and, although still got the start when healthy, was quickly benched early in games for the more effective Brand and hyper-active Brandan Wright.  He’s not 31 years old going on 46.  He’ll catch on with someone likely for a few million per season, but may be more of a backup at this point in his career.

8-Chris Andersen-UFA-Andersen became an ESPN and Youtube sensation this season after signing with the Heat and instantly becoming one of the best defensive centers in the league.  There isn’t a chance he bolts Miami and he’ll resign for the vet minimum which isn’t a bad gig for him.

9-Timofey Mozgov-RFA-Mozgov came out as the low man on the totem pole in the three headed monster in Denver alongside McGee and Koufus.  It’s likely the Nuggets won’t sign his qualifying offer making him an UFA especially with the money invested in McGee and the cheaper, better Koufus getting the start.  He’s still relatively young, 26 going on 27 this year, and at 7’1” and a competent center, will get signed as a primary back up.

10-Brandan Wright-UFA-Wright was drafted 6 years ago which seems like an eternity ago in NBA years, but he’s still only 25 and had a break out year in Dallas as a shot blocker.  The Mavericks have some questions to answer in their frontcourt with Wright, Brand and Kaman all free agents this summer, but for my money, if they were to bring one of them back it would be Wright.

11-Zaza Pachulia-UFA-he’s tall, he’ll fight you, he yells really funny things during the playoffs and rebounds.  He’s older now, but will sign on somewhere, likely as a towel waver and emergency back up.

12-Samuel Dalembert-UFA-Fat Sammy was supposed to resurrect the Bucks front court this year, but when it didn’t happen coupled with the upstart of Larry Sanders, along with the bad relationship he had with coaches, his post game dissing of the team and the fact that he sat with Drew Gooden at the end of the bench every single game, he was bound to fail.  Did I mention he got fat?  Like, really fat?  Somebody will get suckered in to giving him a couple million based solely on his 35 point, 12 rebound game in Denver this season and will immediately be disappointed.  Count on it.

13-Jermaine O’Neal-UFA-whatever they shoot players up with in Phoenix to give them super powers needs to be added to Walgreens pharmacies.  O’Neal came out with a fury in Phoenix this season!  He and Dragic were the lone bright spots if you want to call him that after it seemed he was bound for retirement after his stint in Boston.  Amazingly, he’s still only 34 years old meaning he’ll get a contract with a whole bunch of non-guarantees.

14-Nazr Mohammed-UFA-obviously there has been a huge drop off, but Mohammed stepped up when Noah got hurt for the Bulls in the playoffs.  I’m not sure he’ll get a contract with younger options out there, but he could be a good locker room guy.

15-Jason Collins-UFA-Collins isn’t on this list because of his ability, but because of him coming out of the closet.  This will be a close watched situation this summer to see whether the Wizards bring him back.  By all accounts, he’s the best locker room guy you can have and although I don’t think it was a ploy to get another contract, it was really good timing for him.  On a related note, he will be known as a transcendent player being the first to come out.  He will definitely have a career after his playing days are done whether its in writing or in media.


cc 5/17

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