Free Agency Movement v1.1

I am very tempted to put the LA Clippers acquiring Marcus Camby on a 2 year $10 million contract or something like that, but "technically" it was a trade. I don't care how much cap space you need to relieve, or how overrated Marcus Camby's defense is, you're still giving up a guy that's averaged like 13.4 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game for the entire season. Tack on 1.1 steal and 3.3 assists per game, and that's still pretty substantial, I mean yeah, it's only 9.6 points, but hey, he's playing next to Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, seriously, how many touches can you really expect him to get. I know, I know the stats don't tell it all, I'm just saying. Anyways, this is about free agency movement, not how LA managed another heist, so let's talk shop.

New Orleans Hornets

James Posey (SF)
$25 million for 4 years

A little above the MLE, and honestly, for the money someone like Posey is worth it. He's a battled veteran and has been there winning rings with Miami and recently with Boston. He's got a penchant for big shots like a next-gen Robert Horry, and he plays tight defense. There's nothing not to like. He'll definitely help the thin bench of New Orleans (significant upgrade from Rasual Butler), however, I believe that the problem with New Orleans remains the same. They have no front court depth. I had a hard time remember who they had behind David West and Tyson Chandler, and I could only come up with Chris Anderson. I decided to do some research and found out; Hilton Armstrong, Ryan Bowen, and Melvin Ely, uh.... who? It's like all those players that hang around the middle of the fantasy free-agency that you don't want to pick up unless you're desperate. If David West and/or Tyson Chandler go down with another injury I don't see New Orleans doing too well, of course, serviceable reserve big-men are hard to come by nowadays. All in all, Posey is a big plus.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Daniel Gibson (PG)
5 year contract (don't know how much he got)

So the Cavs get "Boobie" back. Seriously, I cannot think of a good thing to say about a guy who's called "Boobie", maybe it's me. I mean, yeah, he got like, second place in the 3 point shooting contest, but it's not a significant move for the Cavs. To me he's pretty identical to Delonte West, so there's not a huge upside to him. His game is kind of streaky, but then again, other than LeBron, the entire Cavs team has a streaky game. Honestly, if Mike Brown doesn't figure out a legitimate offense to run his team that doesn't begin and end with "Give LeBron the ball" I don't think the Cavs are really going anywhere. The problem isn't that they have all these cap space issues, what with Wally Sczerbiak and Ben Wallace sucking out any cap space that might be available, and being something of a contractual fixture in the books (meaning, they're almost impossible to move), honestly, I don't know that they CAN get anyone better than Daniel Gibson. I mean, they don't even have expiring contracts with which they can rob (I mean, trade with) Memphis.

Boston Celtics

Patrick O'Bryant (C)
I really don't know the details to this one

Uh... what happened here? I'm reading that he's supposed to replace James Posey, and I don't see how a 7 foot 250 pound center is going to stay in front of Big Baby in practice let alone Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in games. Of course, that might be why they're going after keeping Tony Allen as well. Seriously though, I don't know what they're going to do with this guy, they already have Leon Powe and Glenn Davis off the bench, I suppose he's supposed to be more of a PJ Brown replacement? I'm trying to think of how he fits but for some reason all I can remember is people having a problem with his conditioning. Understandably he doesn't fit with Don Nelson's small-ball Warriors, but I don't know if he'll even get to play in Boston. Maybe he'll surprise me. I suppose it never hurts to have an extra big man.

Houston Rockets

Brent Barry (PG/SG)
2 year contract (again, not sure for how much)

I was under the impression that Houston had TOO many guards. To say the least, at least they're consistent on the type of guards they get; those 3 point specialist types. Seriously, they already have Rafer Alston, Luther Head, and Aaron Brooks, alongside Shane Battier and T-Mac shooting all the treys they want, he seems kind of redundant. I suppose they could use his defensive tenacity, but then again Rick Adelman isn't really a defense kind of guy. Seriously, tack on Steve Francis again, and where the heck are these guys going? They are one of the few teams I see actively getting older. Are they going to move Head? Move Brooks? Bobby Jackson? Alston? What the heck is going on here? I don't know. I figure you could upgrade from Chuck Hayes, but I suppose Luis Scola and Brandon Bass are worth the risk. Another head scratcher, at least for me.

New Jersey Nets

Eduardo Najera (SF/PF)
Jarvis Hayes (SF)
Again, don't know the details

This off-season has been kind of confusing all around. For the Nets, I suppose it's a little less so, they're definitely in that "rebuilding" mode, which entails simply throwing together as many slap-dash pieces for two year contracts so that when the 2010 free agency rolls around they can throw legitimate amounts of money (meaning to us normal people obscenely outrageous sums) at some superstar, namely; LeBron James (also including, but not limited to; Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amare Stoudamire). So while it doesn't make a huge amount of sense, they're just trying to build a team around a player they don't have yet. Yeah, I don't get it either, but I guess they're that confident about it.