Free Agent Frenzy

Within the last 48 hours, the free agent market has been burning up and already their have been some signings that have changed the landscape of the NBA.

First off the PG market has exploded with Jose Calderon resigning with the Raptors and Beno Udrih resigning with the Kings.
Baron Davis has made the biggest noise in free agency by opting out of his last year with the Warriors and going to the LA Clippers. This was obviously a move that he had talked to Elton Brand about as both unexpetedly opted out of the last year of their deals with their respected teams. This obviously was so that Davis would be able to sign with the Clippers as a free agent and then Brand would just resign with the team. This suddenly changes the landscape of both the Clippers and Warriors.

The Clippers are basically set now at PG/PF/C and will be looking to add depth now through veteran minimum singings, so they will continue to stay quite through the rest of free agency, just picking up leftover players when available. It's safe to say that Shaun Livingstons time in LA is done.

The Warriors now have a lot of cap room and can resign some of their own free agents. Monta Ellis is now a lock to return to the team and Andris Biendrins could get a long term deal. This also gives them a lot of money to go after any other free agent they may want to target on the market. Look for them to make one last run at Gilbert Arenas, but Arenas will most likely return to the Wizards.

This also is good for every other free agent PG on the market, instead of having a tier 1 then 2 and so forth of players, that tier is already moved to 2. Level 2 guys are you best chance now if you need a PG increasing the money they could receive as their could be more urgency there. In the mean time, most of the players left at PG are going to be backup PGs at best and so they should not get paid more than what they are worth. But this is the NBA and that happens more often than not.

Other News and Notes
Dallas has signed Gerald Green to a one year deal. He might not even make it to training camp with the team but he is at least worth the risk to see if he has worked on his game in the off season. It's rumored that they will also sign DeSagana Diop to a large 5 year deal using the full midlevel exception. Matt Barnes has been rumored to be heading to Dallas but if they use their full midlevel on Diop, it will be interesting to see if Barnes is happy taking the minimum to play.

Deron Williams doesn’t look like he is in a hurry to sign a new contract with the Jazz and that should really scare Jazz fans. Deron still has a chance of leaving the Jazz and that would destroy the franchise. It really depends on where the Jazz are at the end of next season and if Deron is happy with the results.

The next group of young PGs that teams are interested in include Chris Duhon (Linked to almost every team in the NBA with the Knicks most likely to sign him), Monta Ellis (a lock to get a long term deal from the Warriros), Shaun Livingston (a huge risk if he will return to pre-injury playing condition), Sebastian Telfair (Miami) and Jannero Pargo (Nuggets and a return to the Hornets).

There is also a group of veteran PGs that could also be part time starters incase of injury. This group includes Jason Williams (Magic), Damon Stoudamire, Sam Cassell (linked to Denver and a return to Boston), Tyronn Lue (Suns and Miami), Carlos Arroyo (Denver linked) and Anthony Johnson (Suns).

The Jazz are looking for backup Cs and wingmen. Ronny Turiaf and Kwame Brown have drawn interest as well as Devean George and James Posey. If the Jazz really want to swing for the fences and make a bold move, try to steal Omeka Okafor away from the Bobcats, offer him a big deal and see if they would match. He would be a perfect fit with the Jazz’s system, finally giving the team a big man that is willing to rebound and defend the paint. It would allow Okur to come off the bench and fit in at either PF when Boozer sits or C when Okafor is out.

The Suns have been linked to back up PGs like Lue and Johnson. Both would be a great boost to depth of the team. Also look for them to pick up a SF if one falls into their laps and a backup big. It is likely they will not spend their midlevel exception and will just be looking for minimum salary players.

Boston has made offers for both James Posey and Corey Maggette and are just waiting to see which one takes the offer. They have also had fan favorite Chris Anderson in. He could easily take the place of Scot Pollard on the end of the bench.