Ron Artest is headed for the Lakers.
Marcin Gortat is gonna hook on with the Mavs.
And Trevor Ariza is closing in on an agreement with the Rockets.
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The Bobcats need to add two players, and, ideally, they will both be better than the current options. At PG, assuming we keep Felton, that would be a player that's better than Dontell Jefferson. Various guys out there who have no business starting, but can back up, include:
Anthony Carter
Jason Hart
Fred Jones
Mike Wilks
Keith Bogans
Kevin Ollie
Tyronn Lue
Bobby Jackson
Ronnie Price
For the backup PF slot, there are, again, plenty of low-cost options who would be better than the current player, who is "no one". Guys who can simply soak up minutes. Expand it to "backup big man", and there are even more options, like Brian Skinner.
Ike Diogu
Shavlik Randolph
Channing Frye
Rob Kurz (more of a SF, I guess)
Walter Herrmann
Joe Smith
Sean May
Leon Powe
I'm pretty sure none of these guys will get paid anywhere near $5.5 million this upcoming season, which kind of illustrates why giving Felton the QO looks like a bad idea. Not only were a bunch of guys available at both positions for less than $5.5 million combined, but other teams aren't going to want to trade for Felton unless they want him to start for them this year. That said, now that we're committed to Felton's money, it might make sense to trade him for a PF who would cost that much, since we, literally, have no one to back up Diaw adequately.
We can offer the bi-annual exception or the mid-level exception to free agents, but that would push our payroll ever higher, and at the point, I think there's a real question over whether or not it's worth it to spend extra dollars on backup positions, as those are real dollars going out of investors' pockets and into players'.
What say you? Which players does it make most sense to target?
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