The Last Call

Six hours and counting til free agency commences.

I wanted to trim the crop down to 10 and was able to whittle it down to 12. One of the guys at Canishoopus.com suggested some other good options and two of them are viable options that meet my basics. So while it's a bit of a failure with regard to getting down to 10, having as many options as possible can't hurt anything.

The list is:

• Harrison Barnes
• Ryan Anderson 
• Jordan Hill 
• DJ Augustin
• Jeremy Lin 
• Cleanthony Early 
• Kent Bazemore
• Ty Lawson 
• Randy Foye
• Nic Batum
• Marreese Speights 
• Dion Waiters 
• Courtney Lee 
• Marvin Williams

With the salary cap increase I can't get a handle on how this year's set of contracts will shake out. Joakim Noah's rumored deal with the Knicks is all the proof I need of that!

The Top 10: 8 & 7

Well, as the Finals are on the verge of reaching game seven, it's time to keep going through my list of potential Timberwolf free agents. You can find number's nine and ten by going to the main page of the blog.

Thanks for taking a look. Let me know what you think!

The Top 10: 10 & 9

8 days ahead of the NBA draft and 16 from the opening of free agency so it's time to talk additions to the team for next season.

The possibility of trading #5 and/or some of the players looms over the process but I'm not in favor that, at least as far as the pick goes. Dumping Rudez, Prince, Pek and Payne would all be acceptable first steps. I'm on the fence as far as Garnett and Bjelica being on the team goes. The remaining eight could loosely be considered the current core of the team, though that may be a stretch for Jones and Greg Smith.

The best teams are able to go 10 or even 12 players deep, as needed. That's a gap of at least two but as many as six players. Even if the team were to add six to the eight player core there would be one open spot on the roster, not a bad possibility, just a fact.

I hope that one of those six is Buddy Heild, via the draft. It's also quite possible that a second round pick or undrafted free agent gets brought into the fold but that's extremely speculative so I'm going to dispense with that possibility as of now.

There is a list of more then 150 free agents to be on NBA.com. I'm going to try to whittle that list down to the ten players I'd most like to see added.

After scanning through the list, I identified 12 players. Obviously that's two more then 10 but I'll put the also rans before I jump in.

None of these guys will merit anywhere close to max contracts because it's not too early to start planning for the eventual big money that some of our guys are going to get in a few years.

#12: Jordan Hill

I would like any forward that the Wolves sign to be a passable three point shooter, which Jordan Hill has not been during his career. In spite of that, on a one or two year deal, worth like three million per year he would be a decent addition to the bench. 

#11: DJ Augustin

Not the best point guard of the bunch, but would probably be signed for a reasonable contract, is an experienced player to help Tyus develop and could serve as the backup in the interim. Didn't find out any info regarding his play on both ends but guys who aren't at least passable on defense don't usually make it at the pro level for eight years.  A two or three year contract at four million per year would be a good addition.