There hasn’t been much discussion over the non-headliner free agents this summer, many of which are important to contending teams inasmuch as they bring a variety of talents to the table, which can act as upgrades to our current roster, or bring skills not yet featured here.

There are two in particular that I’d like to address:

First, Brendan Haywood. This is a guy who came off of a disappointing playoff and regular season showing with Dallas, and has not been a high-level player in DC for a while despite being paid like one. With that in mind, my thoughts are that he could go for something like the MLE. What do you guys think about him as the backup to Yao; he is not a scorer, but can rebound and the block shots as well as anybody in the league, something the Rockets desperately need.  I have gone on record as saying I think Joel Pryzbilla is the guy we need, and I stand by that, but if a team like Denver nabs him, what do you think about the possibility of signing Haywood to something like 5ish million a year for 3 years?

Second, Raja Bell. There is a lot of talk about the desire to trade a Battier, Ariza or Jeffries (or 2 out of these 3 guys) for one dinosaur-looking fella. This is a questionable move if we get rid of 3 inasmuch as we are sacrificing whatever perimeter defense we currently have; sure, Brooks , Martin, Budinger and co. can become better team defenders in the off season, but these 3 have a reputation now as above-average on the defensive end. If one or two were to go, how would you guys feel about adding Bell this offseason? He, like Battier, is known for two things: 3’s and D. Coming off of a crippling injury (of the freak variety, not known as an injury magnet) that cost him playing most of this past season, is it reasonable to think about adding him to our team? Let me condition this by saying I would say this is only a good idea if we do indeed trade one or two of our defensive centerpieces for Bosh.

And for good measure, VAMOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, VAMOS MEXICO!!!