I would at least want someone that can play at the beginning of the season. Powe can't...
How about Ryan Hollins. He's young, only 24 years old and he's 7 foot. Or, as someone mentioned before, Joel Anthony. 6'9" and 27 years old. He played well last year and blocked a lot of shots.
If were leaning toward was injured and now ready to play, how about Robert Swift. 7'1" tall, and who blocked 7 shots in yesterdays summer league game. He's only 23 years old. He had torn meniscus in his knee, and apparently is recovered. Having had torn meniscus myself, I can attest that its not as serious as other knee ailments.
Steven Hunter is another 7 footer thats out there. He's a pretty good defensive player and only 27 years old. However he is coming off surgery on his knee, which has been plaguing him for the last couple of years. So he would be a little risky..
The best of the rest would be Pops Mensah Bonsu, Chris Mihm (another knee injury player), and Good old dirty been around the league at least once Jamaal Magloire. Pops is only 25 years old, so he would hold the most interest for me, but he would probably be the most expensive.
These are all guys the could fill a need for us in one way or another and most of them could be had for a reasonable price. Under the new cap, if I figured right we have $6,255,775.00 to work with. My thought is use as little as possible and save what we can for next year when Mikki Moore's 2 mil plus KT's 8.5 mil come off the books. Sergio would also come off the books if we decide we no longer need his services..
Hollins always struck me as raw clay, and he still is. I thought I saw him trying to turn the corner with Dallas, but at the end of the day his season still wasn't that impressive. He's 24 years old, at some point his potential (height/length/speed/athleticism) needs to translate to production of some sort. But I'm seeing Dan Gadzuric sort of upside at best (assuming that he even reaches it), so I'll pass.
Joel Anthony is terrible--it's rare to say this for a big man, but he's one-dimensional in...blocking shots. He can't even rebound, he's worse than Ben Wallace offensively, and is extremely clumsy. My honest opinion is that he's not an NBA player.
Swift is a guy who's living off that ever dissipating halo of being a near lottery pick. He came out of high school and therefore is still young, plus he's a big man who supposedly had shooting touch and can block shots, so there's always that intrigue. Boston already snatched him up to see what he has, but with his constant injuries I sort of doubt he can gain traction in the league. But if he were available, a guy I would be mildly interested in for training camp.
I actually like Steven Hunter more than most people--but that's not saying much. He's 27 and at this point many teams have experimented and tried to get him to work, so he is what he is now, which still makes for a solid role player. He's not a real offensive threat, is clumsy and not a terribly good rebounder, but he's long, athletic, 7 feet and can block shots.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu really impressed me especially with his rebounding, energy and athleticism in his few games with the Raptors, and I actually won't mind getting him. Has good defensive potential as well. That stuff will endear teams to him. The best of the bunch here, which is surprising since he wouldn't even be on this list had he not joined the Raps midseason, but that's a testament to how terrible the rest of the guys are, and how much of an impression he made on me.
