Looking At The Options At Small Forward

There is a long list of small forwards available for the $1.9 biannual exception or even less, including Miami’s Jamario Moon (restricted), Phoenix’s Matt Barnes, Jerry Stackhouse (waived by Memphis Friday), Indiana’s Marquis Daniels and Stephen Graham, Atlanta’s Josh Childress (restricted), Dallas’s James Singleton (restricted) and Gerald Green, Detroit’s Walter Herrmann, Oklahoma City’s Desmond Mason, Golden State’s Rob Kurz, San Antonio’s Ime Udoka, and Minnesota’s Rodney Carney. While some may garner more money elsewhere, playing for the contending Celtics would be an added draw that could bring a discount.

Other names that Spears left out are Wally Szczerbiak, Joey Graham, and Keith Bogans.

I think some of the guys on the list are pretty unlikely to take the LLE, including Daniels, Moon, and Childress (and in the case of the latter two, their teams would almost surely match any LLE offer sheet signed). We all know the story with Gerald, and Kurz is a rookie with 40 games total of NBA experience. If you further limit the list to only include: 1) players 6'6" or taller; and 2) a three point percentage (career or last season) of over 33.3%, you're left with the six names: Carney, Herrman, Barnes, Singleton, Wally, and Udoka.

For the LLE, I'd be okay with any of those guys. Obviously, none of them are ideal, but that's what you get when you only have bargain contracts to offer. Of those players, I'd rank my wish list in the following order: Carney, Barnes, Udoka, Herrman, Wally, Singleton. Bruce Bowen also may get bought out, and if so, I'm sure he'd be considered, as well.

The small forward I really want, though, is Nocioni. If Sacramento has any desire to dump his salary, I hope Danny puts in a phone call, because he'd be a great fit here. Other potential trade targets for teams that are struggling finacially include Francisco Garcia, James Posey, Rasual Butler, Matt Harpring, Jared Jeffries, James Jones, Tim Thomas, and Ricky Davis (some are more likely than others).