The NBA season is about to enter the month of January and teams are accumulating not only more mileage, but more of a sense of where they need to get better and shore up some weaknesses. There are a few key free agents on the market. Let’s do some matchmaking and see where they should go.
Jermaine O’Neal, Forward
This is a 20- to 25-minute-per-game player you want on your roster for low-post defense, energy, and maybe a small bit of scoring. Jermaine O’Neal averaged 7.9 points and 5.5 rebounds last year, far below his prime. However, he still has the value of a guy who can add depth to a roster and offer a bothersome defensive presence, enough to slightly change a game in a positive direction. The Dallas Mavericks might be interested in O’Neal, but that move doesn’t seem to be the best place for him to go. With Anderson Varejao out for the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers could be the right destination for O’Neal.
The Cavs have been a team stuck in neutral for a little while now and they just received some tough news with LeBron James set to miss a couple of weeks. The expectation in Cleveland was an NBA Championship but, right now, the path to that goal simply looks unclear.
However, adding a guy like O’Neal will revitalize them a little bit and will provide a fresh body in the frontcourt and aid their disappointing rebounding averages (23rd in the NBA).
The Cavaliers have struggled to use Kevin Love properly, so having O’Neal as a post defender might be the thing that will enable them to reconfigure their lineup.
Ray Allen, Guard
It is true that Allen had been considering the Cavs for a period of time, but it really doesn’t seem this is the player Cleveland needs to improve. The Cavaliers’ issues are more related to their forwards and centers and their level of play in the post, closer to the basket.
Allen’s jump-shooting ability and his capability of being able to score bunches of points in a short period of time is something that an offense-poor team needs more than anything else. That being the case, we’re going to go a little off the map and make the match of Allen with the Memphis Grizzlies. While the likelihood of this deal getting done is minimal, it’s still a landing spot that makes sense.
The Grizzlies are third in the Western Conference, just 2.5 games out of first place. In terms of Allen’s wishes to play for a contender, Memphis is just that. The Grizzlies are a team that has arguably the best starting frontcourt and what many consider to be the best defense. Where they seem to be limited is scoring. They are 11th in the NBA in scoring with 102.1 points per game, which is bad, but little of that comes via three-pointers. They make just 5.7 threes per game, which is 28th in the NBA. Only Sacramento and Minnesota make less.
Currently, the Grizzlies employ the likes of Courtney Lee, Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince and Vince Carter and their twos and threes. There’s room for a guy like Allen to get in, play about 20 minutes a game and hit some clutch shots.
It’s an unlikely match in reality but it’s one that makes sense on paper.
Rashard Lewis, Forward
The defense of Lewis and his occasional three-point shooting make him a valuable role player for a team in a playoff push. The Portland Trail Blazers have needed bench help and although the Blazers are doing well right now, they did fall off the pace later in the 2013-14 season. They can use more bodies in the post and if those bodies can occasionally step outside and hit the three, so much the better. The Trail Blazers are currently third in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage but the little of that work is put in from the power forward and center positions. With recent – albeit temporary – injuries to LaMarcus Aldridge and Chris Kaman, the Trail Blazers might want to give Lewis a look.
