Check one of my previous posts. I named 5 big men we coulda got. I bet you I can name at least 4 more. And most of them come at much less than the MLE. I think Bradley is crap too. But he can take Skinner's crap minutes just fine and give us a couple boards and a couple points or whatever Skinner is producing. You don't think if we brought in a Chris Anderson or Othella Harrington, that they couldn't get what we need? Our so-called "depth" in the frontcourt isn't being utilized so even IF KT/Skinner are better than Bradley/Anderson or whoever, there won't be much difference at those minutes. KT/Skinner will need substantial minutes to win out. And neither pair of scrubs are going to get those minutes behind SAR/Miller or Webber/Miller so what's the point?
Also, if we spent the full MLE on a reserve like Marshall or Haslem, then it's clearly an upgrade over KT/Skinner. And I never compared Barnes to KT/Skinner. I was comparing him to Corliss. Barnes has a higher ceiling and so did Evans for that matter. If we were to develop talent, I'd rather have gone with them over Martin.
One more thing. With Webber, we woulda have more clout to attract free agents on the level of Marshall. Forget Cuttino if he won't come back. What about a Antonio Daniels, Chris Duhon, or even the Finleys, Van Exel, and other cheap cutoffs. We would have a legitimate shot at luring them.