At this point, the free agent cupboard is pretty bare, and a number of teams have filled out their rosters anyway. Let’s just be honest — if you’re still on the free agent market there is a reason.
Still, there are a few teams still looking to add player 14/15 to the roster off minimum contracts… and there are still some guys whose names you know who do not have an NBA deal yet. Which makes us all want to play matchmaker, even when we shouldn’t (we remember the version of the guy from four years ago too often, not the reality of his play now).
Here are 10 guys who you know still looking for an NBA deal:
1. Richard Hamilton. Let’s be kind here and say Rip is not exactly at the peak of his powers anymore (he shot 42.9 percent last season and is not a strong threat from three). But he still got 9.8 points a game for the Bulls when healthy. As a veteran off the bench who would play limited minutes and has championship experience you could do worse.
2. Sebastian Telfair. He’s just 28 and is still kind of the player he always was — solid defender, not a great finisher in the paint, decent shooter from the midrange, not a special playmaker — but as a third guard in the rotation he could be a solid fit somewhere (interest from the Heat and Knicks faded).
3. Stephen Jackson. At age 35 we are seeing his skills fade (he shot 37.3 percent last season and had a PER of 8) and he couldn’t get along with Gregg Popovich. He’s had a couple bad endings with teams, which hurts his stock as much if not more than his play.
4. Marquis Daniels. What he brings is solid defense on the perimeter to the table. Not much on offense, but if you could use a defender off the bench you could do worse.
5. Dahntay Jones. He was a solid “3 and D” guy a couple seasons back but last season he shot just 22.4 percent from beyond the arc. At age 33, was that a fluke or just the way things are trending with him? Still he can defend and there are teams that could use that.
6. Shavlik Randolph. Only got in 16 games for the Celtics last season, but didn’t look too bad when he did (he shot 58.3 percent). You could do worse for a reserve big off the end of bench.
7. A.J. Price. The Wizards played him a lot last season (he started 22 games) because they had to, and he showed he’s not great at running a team. But he wasn’t a disaster (PER 12.4) and could fill a role if you brought him off the bench in a limited role.
8. Josh Howard. The question here is simply one of health — he has not played in more than 43 games (during the lockout season for the Jazz) in the past four seasons. With that his efficiency has dropped as well. Do you think he’s right now?
9. Tyrus Thomas. Has the former No. 4 pick fallen this far? That nobody is willing any longer to take a chance on his potential? Looks that way.
10. Cole Aldrich. He could barely get off the bench with the Thunder, then last season bounced between the Rockets and Kings without making many waves. Still, he has legit center size and is just 25, so he could get an end of the bench deal.