Top Low Budget Free Agents

Everyone is focused on where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will land this summer. While a championship team needs superstar players, every team that has won a championship has had role players that have stepped up (think Steve Kerr for the Bulls and Robert Horry and Derek Fisher for the Lakers). Who are the low budget free agents this year that could make an impact next season?

J.J. Redick – was arguably the most consistent player in the Magic-Celtic series. He is a sharp shooter and has a high basketball IQ.

Raja Bell - tremendous defensively and can relieve the star player on his team on the defensive end.

Roger Mason - had a great 2008-2009 season with the Spurs. He is a sharp shooter and can spread the floor, allowing his teammates to operate more freely inside.

Amir Johnson - does the dirty work for his team (played behind Chris Bosh on the Raptors) and is one of the best pick-and-roll players in the NBA. A solid screen is undervalued in the NBA – it opens up easy scoring opportunities – wide open jumpers or a clear lane to the basket.

Nate Robinson - provided a huge spark off the bench for the Celtics in the NBA Finals with his confidence and energy. He also has the ability to score.

Impact of Dalembert

The Sacramento Kings were undoubtedly one of the biggest winners in the 2010 NBA draft, adding 6-11 DeMarcus Cousins with the 5^th pick and 7-0 Hassan Whiteside with the 33^rd pick. Cousins is a skilled big man, with great footwork and a 7-6 wingspan. He is also a winner – he comes from a successful and well coached Kentucky program where he played with the 1^st pick in the draft, John Wall. Whiteside has a 7-7 wingspan, had an 18 percent block rate - one in almost every five possessions, and has been compared to Marcus Camby. The Kings added size and are putting together the pieces to build around Rookie of the Year, Tyreke Evans. But one move the Kings made that should be getting more attention is the trade for Samuel Dalembert.

While Dalembert did not post huge numbers in the 2009-2010 season with 8.1 ppg and 9.6 rpg, he brings a defensive presence and seven years of experience to a young Kings team (average age is 25) that allowed its opponents to score over 104 points per game (6^th worst defensive team). The negatives that GMs have seen with Cousins are that he can be lazy on the defensive end and he lacks conditioning, while with Whiteside, the concern is lack of experience and maturity. These are all areas that Dalembert can serve as a great example for Cousins and Whiteside, pushing them to work hard and teaching them the ropes of the NBA.

The Kings have positioned themselves to be similar to the Oklahoma City Thunder of two years ago – a young team with all the right pieces. If they stay together, they have the potential to be a disruptive team in the Western Conference in the coming years.

Lakers Grind It Out In Game 7

Phil Jackson said it after the game: “The game was won by Ron’s effort.” Ron Artest was the MVP of game 7 of the NBA Finals - he carried the offense, played physical defense, and brought energy to the team. But two guys that quietly got it done were Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher.

Odom only had 7 points and 7 boards, but he was instrumental in keeping the Lakers in the game. When Odom stepped on the floor in the third quarter, the Celtics were up 49-37. After that point, seven field goals were made in the quarter – Odom created two of those shots by dishing out two assists, and made three shots, two of which were made after he grabbed offensive rebounds. By the end of the quarter, the Lakers were only down four, putting them in a position to take the lead in the fourth. The Lakers were +13 with Odom in the game – the largest point differential of his teammates.

Then Fisher made the play that was the turning point of the game – a three point shot that tied the game at 64. While it was only three points in the box score, it made the crowd erupt and brought confidence to the team. After that point, the Lakers took their first lead since the first quarter of the game and they never looked back.

Congratulations to the Lakers for winning a hard fought battle in a grind it out game 7. Kobe Bryant said this championship was the sweetest of his five because it was the hardest one – a huge testament to the toughness of the Celtics. If Jackson stays with the Lakers next season, he has the chance to complete his fourth set of back-to-back-to-back championships, an astonishing feat.

Bryant Working Too Hard on Offense

Ray Allen did not have his typical performance in game 5 of the NBA Finals, shooting 0-4 from three point range and scoring 12 points, but he was tremendous on the defensive end. While one might look at the box score and conclude that Allen’s defense did nothing to stop Kobe Bryant’s rhythm as he ended with 38 points and a 19 point explosion in the third quarter, the important thing to note is that Bryant had to work hard for each point. Allen forced Bryant to dribble all over the floor to create his own shot and run around screens to get open. He made Bryant expend a lot of energy on the offensive end which led to two problems for the Lakers. First, Bryant was frustrated and tired in the fourth quarter and scored no field goals in the last 7:58 of the game. Second, Bryant wanted to guard Paul Pierce as he was dominating all of the other Laker defenders that attempted to stop him. However, because Allen made Bryant work so hard on the offensive end, Bryant needed to conserve energy on the defensive end – as a result Pierce was guarded by a worse defender. It is clear that Bryant can't do all of the heavy lifting on both the offensive and defensive end. Someone else will need to step up if the Lakers hope to push the series to game 7.

Pierce Doing the Little Things

While the headlines for game 2 of the Celtics – Lakers series will undoubtedly be about Ray Allen’s finals-record eight 3's or Rajon Rondo’s triple-double, one guy that silently got it done was Paul Pierce. Pierce was only 2-11 from the field finishing with 10 points, but he contributed by doing the little things.

When Kobe Bryant was asked to guard Allen in the 2nd quarter in attempt to slow him down, Pierce set a screen on Bryant that gave Allen the split second he needed to release another three. Good screens allow shooters to separate from their defenders to get off a shot, but the screen that sets up the play is not tracked in the box score. Pierce was also effective on the defensive end although that is not obvious by his one block and one steal. If you look at Ron Artest’s contribution to the game, it is clear that Pierce successfully shut him down. Artest was 1-10 from the field with only 6 points - he also fouled out of the game (Pierce drew 4 fouls on Artest). At the end of the game when it was clear that the Celtics would tie the series, Pau Gasol had an open dunk. Instead of allowing Gasol to make the shot, Pierce fouled him, preventing Gasol from establishing a rhythm. Pierce sees the big picture - he knows this series will be a long hard fought battle and does not want the Lakers to have any momentum going into game 3 when the Celtics look to take a 2-1 lead.

Artest's Physical Play

In the 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers lacked toughness and were outhustled by the Celtics. This time around, the Lakers have a key new piece in the line-up: Ron Artest. We all knew that the Artest - Pierce matchup would be an important factor in the Celtics-Lakers series. Only 30 seconds into game 1 of the NBA Finals, Artest set the tone of the game and sent a message to Pierce – the game would be physical and points would not come easily. In a 13 point victory, the Lakers were +26 with Artest in the game. He brought defensive intensity and his aggressive play led to fast breaks and easy points for his teammates. With 6:26 left in the game, Artest blocked Glen Davis’ shot and kept the ball in play by tipping it to Jordan Farmar. This play led to a fast break where Farmar was credited with both a rebound and an assist, and Pau Gasol with 2 points – the crowd erupted and the Celtics were forced to call a timeout in attempt to stop the momentum. The reason this play happened was because of the aggressive play of Artest, but because the player that puts his teammate in a position to make an easy pass that leads to a dunk does not get credit in the box score, it is hard to measure the value of his presence on the floor. Kobe Bryant recognized the value of Artest - Bryant ran over to hug Artest after the timeout was called by the Celtics - he knows that Artest brings a toughness to the Lakers that the team lacked two years ago. If Artest and the Lakers continue to outwork the Celtics ( Lakers were +16 in second chance points and +11 in rebounding), the Lakers have a good chance of repeating.