The Top 75 Free Agents: #21 - #50
Here's the next group of FA talent. The key to this list is trying to find the bargain and not overpaying for a good but not great player. In many cases, teams might be better off signing the lesser talent because they aren't much worse but will make half as much. It's possible that a team could sign a couple of players ranked in the 40's for the same it costs to get someone ranked in the mid-to-late 30's.
21. Louis Williams: I doubt he'll ever live up to his HS hype but Williams still has a lot of potential and sees to be improving each year. He has a chance to be a Barbosa-type off of the pine.
22. Sasha Vujacic: I wouldn't pay Sasha too much but he's a solid player off the bench, bringing a fiery attitude, nice shot, and better than expected defense.
23. Devin Brown: I've alwards been a fan of Brown, a poor man's Posey who can keep defenses honest and also bring some tough defense.
24. Kurt Thomas: Much like PJ Brown for the Celtics, Thomas won't wow you with anything but he'll always seem to be in the right place at the right time and can hit the big shot/make the key stop when need be.
25. Robert Horry: Big Shot Bob's days are coming to a close but he's still a very nice asset to have coming off the bench.
26. Jason Williams: Williams is a tough call because he's either going to plummet as a many 32 year old guards do or he could just as easily make a James Posey-esque Escape from Miami type comeback. He's not someone you'd want to invest in long term but he's still a starting PG in this league and is worth a look.
27. Robert Swift: If he's angling towards anything close to the MLE, his stock moves down. But as a cheapie, 2 or 3 year contract, Swift could be one hell of a catch. He showed some signs of being a starting NBA center a year ago before going down with injuries yet again.
28. Maurice Evans: Evans is a steady-as-she-goes swingman who can is a notch below the likes of Posey, Pietrus, and Childress. He's a solid 6th man but he doesn't seem capable of really stepping up at all. He'll give you what he gives you and nothing more.
30. Matt Barnes: Of all the players in the Warriors system, I think Barnes benefitted the most from the Nellie ball system. Still, he's a solid player who should be able to help a team off of the bench.
THE POINT GUARD PILE
31. Daniel Gibson
32. Delonte West
33. Lindsey Hunter
34. Keyon Dooling
35. Tyronn Lue
36. Eddie House
37. Chris Duhon
38. Carlos Arroyo
There are a lot of solid backup point guards on the market, all of whom can help a team and none of whom are really worth more than a couple million a year. Each of the guards has their flaws and there's no one player who I think is a great fit for every team.
39. Bostjan Nachbar: Nachbar has some impressive games
40. Tony Allen: Tony can be extremely frustrating to watch but the fact remains that he is a talented player who also does some solid work on the defensive end.
42. Salim Stoudamire: I've always been a fan of Stoudamire and think he could turn into an Eddie House type sparkplug off of the bench. The key difference though is that Eddie is a great locker room guy whereas Salim doesn't seem to bring much to the table in that department.
43. Craig Smith: An undersized big man who could start but probably shouldn't, Smith would help almost any team off of the bench.
44. Kwame Brown: For all of his faililngs, Kwame is actually a solid enough defensive player. Unfortunately, he just doesn't seem to like basketball and he can't be counted on to catch the ball on offense, let alone score.
36. Eduardo Najera: Najera's adds toughness and some range off of the bench.
45 Jannero Pargo: Pargo had a breakout season but I'm still not a huge fan. Still, he's a viable option for backup PG minutes.
46. Brent Barry: He's only got a couple of years left but Barry is still a great weapon to have coming off of the bench.
47. Sam Cassell: While he was very annoying to watch at times in the playoffs, most teams could still do a lot worse than having the Alien as their backup PG.
48. Ryan Gomes: Gomes's problem isn't that he's a tweener, it's that he isn't able to use his in-between game to create mismatches. He's not going to blow past many PF's nor is he really going to post up SF's.
49. Paul Millsap: If Millsap could add some of Gomes' SF skills to his repertoire, he's be a hell of a player. As it is, he's a great big man off of the bench but he can't shoot and turns the ball over too much.
50. Sebastian Telfair: Point guards always take longer to mature and I still think Telfair has a place in the league. If he could settle into a backup spot in Toronto or Atlanta, he could flourish.