[AOL] With tight offseason window, expect a wild free agency period

Sadat X · Dec 4, 2011

When considering this year’s batch of NBA free agents, consider just how bizarre this offseason figures to be.

Thanks to the 149-day lockout, teams were not able to contact players until Monday and can’t officially sign them until Friday. Of course, most general managers are still learning the ins and outs of the collective-bargaining agreement under which they’ll be signing players.

What usually takes about six weeks—free agency typically beings July 1, and most players are signed by mid-August—will be condensed into two. Not that anyone is caught off-guard by all this. Teams were making post-lockout contingency plans even as the league was canceling games. But that doesn’t change the fact that, lacking time and being uncertain about the rules, teams will have to make some pressure decisions in the coming days.

“People talk about it being easier over the summer,” Rockets GM Daryl Morey said. “Actually it made the preparation harder. Usually you get some time to react, like, ‘Hey we’re not going to get that guy so we’re going to get this guy.’ So we’ve had to plan, along with the coaching staff, for every sort of contingency for different guys that we might get and react rapidly. But we’ve done all that planning, so right now it doesn’t feel any different. It’s just a shorter number of days.”

Morey could be one of the more active front-office executives this month. With center Yao Ming retired, the Rockets are looking for a big man, and if there is a strength of this class, it is in the frontcourt. That’s because the four biggest attractions on the market are centers Tyson Chandler and Marc Gasol, center/forward Nene and power forward David West. The Rockets figure to be in the hunt for all three of the top center options on the board.

But they’ll have company. This will be a critical free-agency period for three teams with cap space—the Pacers, Warriors and Nets. The Pacers are sitting on about $21 million worth of cap space, and after showing improvement under coach Frank Vogel, they’re eager to add a veteran frontcourt piece.

The Nets, too, have plenty of cap space and are under the gun with point guard Deron Williams, who will be a free agent next summer and will re-sign with the Nets only if they show improvement.

The Warriors are in an interesting position, too. They’re a talented group, but with new owners and a new coach, Mark Jackson, they’re looking to emphasize the defensive end and earn a playoff spot in the West. That puts them in the mix for Chandler and Nene.

There are also good teams seeking to make upgrades this offseason. The Bulls, who won a league-high 62 games last year, are in position to bolster their weak shooting-guard spot with the likes of Caron Butler, Jason Richardson or Josh Howard. The Thunder would also like to build on last year’s success—including a trip to the Western Conference final—and have a moderate amount of cap space available to do so. Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant has been openly recruiting small forward Shane Battier on Twitter, though the Thunder will have challengers for Battier's services.

Other contenders are seeking to add to the roster on the cheap, including the Heat (looking for a center), Celtics (size), Spurs (scoring punch) and Lakers (depth). They will all be making a run at the Mavericks, who face an uncertain future with Chandler, Butler, J.J. Barea and DeShawn Stevenson all hitting free agency. Figuring out how to catch Dallas would, in normal circumstances, be difficult enough. But having only about a week to do it makes it even tougher.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/sto...xpect-a-wild-free-agency-period#ixzz1fd5hXBcL
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Cant wait

RMGEEGEE · Dec 4, 2011

Sadat X said: ↑

Cant wait
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A_3PO · Dec 4, 2011

I wonder if agents will publicly announce agreements with teams before Friday.

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[AOL] With tight offseason window, expect a wild free agency period

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