Griz just waived Haddadi. I think he's worth the offer. I know we just signed Brown, but I think he'd fit in here pretty well off the bench.
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer I'm all for adding cheap young bigs but the few times I've seen this guy he looked hopeless. Rather go after Fesenko or Ajinca.
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer I heard Haddadi only has standing reach and can dunk tippy toe, but has absolutely nothing in the way of basketball fundamentals. I also heard that Fesenko plays more like an Andris Biedrins only 40 lbs heavier and slower, but has great hands and aggressive play. Ajinca supposedly has the best potential out of all these bigs because he's quick, long, he can face up to the basket, and is a good passer, but he's not really a heavy center.
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer Fesenko can shoot better than any of these guys (incl. Biedrins). I'd go for him. Haddadi is Jack Haley. Just another guy who is tall.
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer Can Fes shoot? I haven't seen much of him but I thought he was just a big ass 7 footer with decent athleticism and a good motor. Andris Biedrins +40 lbs. on a tiny salary sounds good to me. Worth a flier IMO especially since raw bigs tend to develop later in their careers. Ajinca is probably really more of a PF as far as athleticism, skill, etc. goes. Hes really tall though. Also worth a flier IMO.
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer Fifth-year center Kyrylo Fesenko has agreed to a one-year, $1.07 million deal with Golden State, league sources told SI.com. The Warriors signed veteran big man Kwame Brown to a one-year, $7 million deal recently but are clearly concerned about their frontcourt in the oversized Western Conference. Veteran center Andris Biedrins has been subpar in recent years and Brown was expected to push for the starting center role, but he entered the season out of shape and was off to a slow start before playing well in Monday night's win over Chicago. Fesenko -- a 7-foot, 280-pound center who spent his first four seasons in Utah -- was reportedly being pursued by Dallas, Miami and Toronto. He has never averaged more than eight minutes in a season but was key for the Jazz during the 2010 playoffs in which they were forced to play without center Mehmet Okur. Fesenko was a second-round pick by Philadelphia in 2007. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../27/fesenko.warriors/index.html#ixzz1hmlLADQO
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer Wow...we actually have a decent-sized team...when has that EVER been the case?
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer We still lack skilled, talented front court players but we can more than compete size-wise. Kwame is one of the strongest guys in the league, I've read, and Fes is one of the biggest/strongest/craziest as well. Here's some highlights of him. Note how he makes Nene, Bynum, Gortat, etc. look tiny and weak. [video=youtube;b9D2PQdRPiw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9D2PQdRPiw[/video]
Re: UPDATE: W's sign Kyrylo Fesenko (post #6) This is another small signing that I am a big fan of. The second center we've outbid Miami for (Kwame being the other) and we also beat out the Clips to get him. Ownership showed a willingness to spend the extra little bit of money to land him, I presume other teams were hard lining him around the minimum. It would appear that he is our 3rd string center at best right now. Wonder if this means Tyler is headed to the D-League? It would be odd to sign this guy just to have him not on the active roster most of the time but where is there room for him with Beans/Kwame and Udoh/Lee probably get C minutes in certain situations before Fes would. Would they move Beans with faith in a Kwame/Fes tandem? Although Fes has shown some effectiveness out there it seems that hes done nothing to show he can stay out of foul trouble for any length of time. Despite the short season, most think depth will be key as there is little time between games and back to back to backs. He'll give us more injury insurance or allow us to give Beans/Kwame a break. An added bonus is that this would allow us to move Kwame at the deadline and still have a decent, large backup C if we're in the hunt for the playoffs. What I love most about this is just that its us making another small gamble that could pay off down the line. Management hasn't been able to make a big splash but they've paid that little extra to get guys like Tyler, Fes, Lin and Amundson last offseason instead of settling for the Mikki Moore's, Austin Croshere's, Troy Hudson's, etc. that we've been accustomed to rounding out the roster with. We're adding assets and talent where we can and spending the extra million or adding a year to a small deal is such a small price to pay. Lin didn't work out, but it cost us only a little money to gamble on him. Amundson played decently and the fact that we spent the money on a well-known role player allowed us to move him for Brandon Rush. You think Indy wants Austin Croshere for Rush? Fes is a 25 year old massive C with a good motor and hes pretty nimble for his size. Very raw and very physical, has a "eurothug" reputation and some think hes a little crazy. He can't stay out of foul trouble but his limited minutes out there suggests hes a good defender (I'll post the scouting report below). No one expects him to become an all-star but with raw, foul prone bigs it often takes them into their mid-late 20's to reel it in and learn to play steadily. The coaching staff can work with him this season and perhaps hope to groom him to replace Kwame when he leaves after this season. Hes got the type of body to compete with even guys like Nene, Bynum, Perkins, etc. which is crucial in the playoffs. Like I've been saying we may not have the most skilled frontline but with Udoh at PF and brutes like Kwame and Fes we've got size, strength, and scrappy defensive play that make it damn tough to score inside. This signing is another step toward a roster overhaul that is creating a culture change in GS. Our starting 5 is the same marshmallowy unit as its been for a few seasons now. Plenty of shooting, ball movement, etc. but not enough physically imposing and defensive minded players. All of a sudden our bench unit is big, athletic, and physical; Kwame, Rush, McGuire, Udoh, and Fes are all very defensive minded with good size for their position. When I see the 5 man units with a lot of these guys playing it makes me wish we swapped out some of our starters for better defensive players. We're still under-talented by my estimation but I like all these relentless, big defensive guys to neutralize more talented rosters.
Re: UPDATE: W's sign Kyrylo Fesenko (post #6) I just recall that he was pretty effective in 2010 in the playoffs against the Lakers; its not like he was some stiff in there during garbage time. Listen, anyone looks like a good shooter when compared to Biedrins.
Re: Haddadi...worth a cheap offer This is great news especially if one of the centers go down. I'd hate to see Epke Udoh forced to play 20 lbs underweight for the center spot. It will take a toll against more physical centers in this league. Great pick-up! Thanks for the news, guys! http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/34064917 BTW, I wonder if we couldn't get Fesenko we could get Joel Pryzbilla instead?
Re: UPDATE: W's sign Kyrylo Fesenko (post #6) I think Fesenko could give Biedrins a run for his money in the missed free throws contest. I'm excited though. We have two centers that have presence. Kwame and Fesenko are humongous.
Re: UPDATE: W's sign Kyrylo Fesenko (post #6) Isn't Przybilla pretty much donezos? Didn't follow him after he got traded to Charlotte but that seemed to coincide with Kwame getting the starting job. From my occasional visits to the T'Blazers' forum on here it seems like Joel had one too many knee operations and pretty much lost it.
Re: UPDATE: W's sign Kyrylo Fesenko (post #6) Oh that sucks. So he's like Brandon Roy, pretty much? He can't go or otherwise he'll get injured again or have trouble walking
Re: UPDATE: W's sign Kyrylo Fesenko (post #6) Not sure if hes signed to play anywhere this year but I jut get the impression hes not the shotblocker/rebounder he once was. I like the Fes signing because hes got the size and mobility to have a tremendous impact but theres also a chance he figures out how to lower the foul rate and turn into a nice backup C, perhaps in the mold of Kwame. A big C is invaluable in the playoffs, even if they lack skill. Its a thing of beauty watching Kwame throw Noah, Amare, Chandler, etc. around down there and Fes is even bigger and perhaps more physical.
https://twitter.com/#!/Rusty_SFChron/status/152853635380940801 Wonder if his physical didn't go well or something. Many sources reported he had signed, I read hes been recovering from a knee issue or maybe hes just out of shape. Other top FA still out there: Kirilenko, Gilbert Arenas, Nate Robinson, Leon Powe, James Posey. Kirilenko probably well out of our price range. Wouldn't mind picking up a better backup PG although Gil and Nate aren't really ideal fits. Powe wouldn't be bad too- IMO we could use a bit more scoring off the bench. Ajinca still out there too.
Not sure if AK47 will get much burn with the amount of small forwards we have (D. Wright, McGuire, Rush, Chris Wright). I'm guessing he is holding out for more money or possibly he'll get a long contract and finish out his career in Europe. Would you want Arenas? The guy is kind of washed up and he's a head-case. No thanks. He is a big name, no game right now. Could be wrong if he manages to return back to form. I still wouldn't want him given his track record. If we're pursuing a center, what about Franciso Elson? The dude could play PF or C. Pryzbilla is trying to go for one more year before retiring. If we want a younger center instead of veterans, we'd probably have to look at D-league. Wow, I looked at the nbdl players by position and apparently Greg Ostertag is still playing.
I'd take Arenas on a one year contract to come off the bench. Why not? Nothing more though. To be honest, I'd pick up any of the guys on a one year contract that Run mentioned.
I think at this point I'd just go after Ajinca. AK47 is too expensive and we're fine on the wing. While I think we could use more scoring punch, Nate Robinson and Arenas are too similar to Curry/Monta for my tastes and I think we're better off gutting it out with Ish Smith and then trying to make a trade for a more ideal backup PG near the deadline should we need it. Posey isn't going to add anything we don't already have. I like Powe but why mess with the rotation? Powe can play solid positional defense but Udoh is the better defender in all aspects. Powe might still be slightly ahead of Udoh as far as scoring but Udoh has shown some ability to score on the block recently. If he continues to score with success in the right match ups and can be relied on for a few buckets from the low post then I can't see how Powe would be better in any way. Ajinca is sort of like Fes in that hes young and may not require a spot in the rotation as a condition of signing. With Beans, Udoh, and Kwame there may be situations when we want another skilled big besides David Lee. We can continue to use our current rotation while hopefully developing Ajinca, he could be used as a throw in in a trade as well and even cut outright if need be down the line. Another low risk young big that could reward you in some way down the line. If not, then no harm done to our roster either.
