Thursday, July 05, 2007

Will the Griz get a Big Man?

The Commercial Appeal reported that the Grizzlies won't lure Andres Nocioni from the Chicago Bulls this summer. Nocioni is likely to re-sign with the Bulls and I'm disappointed. Nocioni is a nice player. He adds toughness, energy, 3 point shooting, and defense. However, I must admit I'm not too disappointed.

To get Nocioni, the Grizzlies would probably have to offer 8 million a year. That would put the Grizzlies at the salary cap and give Nocioni more than he's worth. What the Grizzlies don't need are overpaid role players. (Nocioni will never be an All Star.) They already have Brian Cardinal.

If Nocioni was 7 foot and averaged 4 more rebounds and 2 more blocks, he'd be worth 8 million to the Grizzlies even if he wasn't an All Star. He's not as tall as Brian Cardinal. Therefore, though the Grizzlies need to take risks on players that have the potential to be great, letting Nocioni slip is not terrible.

Now for the back-up plan - Anderson Varejao. Like Nocioni, Varejao is a nice player. Unlike Nocioni, Varejao could play center next to Gasol. He's not as dynamic as Nocioni, but he fills a void the Grizzlies need. If the Grizzlies can get him for a reasonable price (6 million?), they should go for him. That would still make him the 3rd highest paid player on the team, but what else is going to convince an average big man to move from the Eastern Conference Champions to the worst team in the conference with the best big men.

The problem is that after Varejao and Nocioni, there is no one left. The Grizzlies will then have to trade for a big man, and Stromile Swift and Damon Stoudemire aren't going to return much of a big man.

5 comments:

Lurch said...

Darko is a sevent footer who we could pay 8 mill a year for. From what I have heard, Varejo is going to resign with the cavs (Ferry will match any offer b/c he loves varejo). Darko can play center next to gasol and while they don't particularly suit a run and gun style offense Darko is only 21 and showed some decent improvement when he got some starting minutes last year. Actually if you look at darko to varejo stats straight up Darko almost looks like a better deal. I don't want to pay him 10 mill, but I don't think he will command that kind of money either. Thoughts?

Dave said...

do you really think if the Grizz get a big man they will be relevant this year? They should try again for the 1st pick this year...

David Jones said...

The idea of signing Darko doesn't excite me, especially if we have to pay more than the mid-level exception. That said, I'm not too excited about any of the prospects.

The stats don't look that different to me except that Darko has more points and Varejao has more rebounds.

Dave, I hope Ray Allen's ankle's hold up.

bkatz said...

the big men issue will not be solved this year. thank goodness the bulls paid nocioni and thank goodness ferry will match any offer thrown at varejo because they will be the next brian cardinal for the grizz guaranteed. and we definitely don't want darko (that's basically pau's twin). we need a tough big body and none of these guys are worth what they are asking for in the free agent market. speaking of BC, i'm sure everyone saw the story, but i thought this was hilarious...

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/07/04/brian-cardinals-stupid-contract-explained/

next year's draft doesn't look promising either considering almost half of the top prospects are guards. trade seems unlikely considering the above mentioned reasons of playing in the western conference.

i believe we have solved the PG dilemma with Conley, but the big men issue will remain a problem for at least one more season.

the butler said...

(crossing my fingers...)

"PLEASE DON'T SIGN CHRIS MIHM!!!"