Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
For all those who think a free agent is going to make your favorite team a contender, heres a nice breakdown of the FA signings last year. (From Sheridan back in April)
One out of 44....and Stevenson's impact on the fortunes of the Wizards was minimal at best. You could also make an argument for Barnes and Wallace for what they did in the playoffs.
POSITIVE IMPACT
DeShawn Stevenson, Orlando to Washington
When Jared Jeffries signed a $29 million offer sheet with the New York Knicks, the Wizards decided not to match -- feeling they'd be overpaying -- and went out and found someone to replace him at one-thirtieth of the price. Stevenson cannot defend as many positions as Jeffries can, but he's a more disruptive defender on 2 guards than Jeffries is.
He's also a much better 3-point shooter (46 percent this season) and had been shooting above 50 percent overall until a recent mini-dip. The big loser in the Stevenson signing was Stevenson himself, who took the NBA minimum ($932,000) from Washington after opting out of a $3 million salary with the Magic in the mistaken belief he'd be a hot commodity.
NEUTRAL IMPACT
Ben Wallace, Detroit to Chicago
We won't be able to make any kind of a definitive judgment on this one until we see what Big Ben brings to the playoff equation, but for now we're feeling somewhat underwhelmed by Wallace's stats. His numbers are down from last season in scoring (7.3 ppg to 6.1), rebounding (11.3 to 10.4), field-goal percentage (51 to 44) and free-throw percentage (.416 to .410), and his blocks average has dipped from 3.5 five years ago to 2.2 this season. The Bulls knew they were overpaying for him, and the next couple of months will tell if they grossly overspent.
John Salmons, Philadelphia to Sacramento
It's a bit of a gift to put Salmons on this list instead of the negative impact list, but the Kings are getting about what they expected: a boost player off the bench. Salmons has had only one bright shining moment, putting up a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) against the player who used to torment him in practice, Allen Iverson. Salmons' relative value will be tested over the final six weeks of the season (especially if Ron Artest remains quasi-suspended) as Sacramento tries to push for the West's No. 8 playoff spot.
Jacque Vaughn, New Jersey to San Antonio
This was a bargain buy for the Spurs, whose $1.2 million insurance policy behind Tony Parker is turning out OK. Vaughn has been starting for the Spurs during Parker's injury absence the past two games after replacing Beno Udrih as the primary backup early last month. His assists-turnover ratio is above 4.0, but his shooting percentage is below 40 percent.
Greg Buckner, Nuggets to Mavericks
The only way he'll ever be judged as a true impact player is if he's able to shut down or at least lock up another team's best scorer in a playoff series. So we'll give him a crack at Kobe Bryant or Manu Ginobili before we go thumbs up or thumbs down.
Devean George, Lakers to Mavericks
His numbers are about the same as they've been throughout his career, and he's had pretty much one big game per month. He's due back this week from a knee injury, and again we'll withhold judgment until we see what he does in May and June.
Eddie House, Phoenix to New Jersey
After being of little consequence in the season's first three months, he's reached double figures in scoring in 12 of 16 games since his role increased following Richard Jefferson's knee surgery. His .414 3-point percentage is the best on the team.
Darrell Armstrong, Dallas to Indiana
We've been waiting for the inevitable annual Jamaal Tinsley injury breakdown to get a longer look, and we're still waiting. But we're also not convinced that Tinsley will still be the go-to guy at the point when the playoffs arrive, assuming Indiana holds onto its spot. Armstrong, who went to the Pacers via sign-and-trade, has 51 career playoff games under his belt.
Francisco Elson, Nuggets to Spurs
They're happier with him than they were with Nazr Mohammed and Rasho Nesterovic a year ago, but it's hard to say whether Gregg Popovich will keep the faith in Elson during the playoffs or turn instead to Fabricio Oberto and/or Matt Bonner.
Jannero Pargo, Chicago to New Orleans
He's making only a little more than 33 percent of his 3s, but the Hornets have benefited from his nine points per game as they've stayed in playoff contention despite a slew of injuries to Peja Stojakovic, David West and Chris Paul. He's been far from great, but he hasn't been a negative.
Darius Songaila, Bulls to Wizards
He's only been back 13 games after undergoing back surgery, and he currently has more fouls (27) than field goals (23). But again, his impact will be best judged after we see how the Wizards do in the playoffs.
Adrian Griffin, Mavericks to Bulls
The Bulls like him as a locker room leader, if not as a player, so we'll judge his impact by waiting to see whether Griffin keeps things calm -- or if there's another public flap between Chicago's coach and star player (see Big Ben vs. Skiles Headbandgate from earlier this season).
Derek Anderson, Heat to Bobcats
He's a less-than-stellar starter for a less-than-stellar team, but at least he's given Charlotte something (6.5 points, 2.4 assists) as the starting 2 guard. Can't demote him to the losers list for that.
Matt Barnes, 76ers to Warriors
He was Don Nelson's flavor of the month back in November, December and early January, but has dropped in the rotation since producing double-figure scoring efforts in 14 of 17 appearances from Dec. 22 through Jan. 27.
NEGATIVE IMPACT
Peja Stojakovic, Pacers to Hornets
You'd have thought alarms would have gone off around the league when Stojakovic sat out the end of the playoffs last season with a mysterious sore knee, but the Hornets paid no attention and gave him a five-year deal. So now they have a $64 million investment, now recovering from back surgery after playing only 13 games, almost certain to be sitting on the shelf for the rest of the season. Has anyone's stock dropped further more quickly?
Tim Thomas, Suns to Clippers
Maybe we're being a little harsh putting him down here instead of one notch above, but the Clippers thought they were getting the Tim Thomas who averaged 15.1 points and shot nearly 45 percent on 3s in the playoffs, not the Tim Thomas shooting just 40 percent and averaging only 10.6 points. Didn't they check his career resume? Thomas only excels when he needs a new contract.
Vladimir Radmanovic, Clippers to Lakers
He was a major disappointment even before he ventured off to Park City to take up snowboarding over All-Star Weekend, separating his shoulder in a fall and then lying to the team about it. If we were the Lakers, we'd have voided his contract rather than merely fining him $500,000. By the way, Vlad's 40 3-pointers this season are fewer than the Lakers have gotten from Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic.
Bobby Jackson, Grizzlies to Hornets
He's missed 22 games due to injury and scored 20 or more points a grand total of once. He's shooting 39 percent overall and 31 percent on 3s, making the former Sixth Man Award winner surefire loser list material.
Speedy Claxton, Hornets to Hawks
After Atlanta lavished $25 million on him, Claxton has been such a failure at the point for the Hawks (seven double-figure scoring outputs, three double-figure assist games), they went out and sacrificed a high second-round pick to acquire Anthony Johnson as their playoff push playmaker.
Marcus Banks, Timberwolves to Suns
In a crowded, crowded field, we're anointing this signing (five years, $21 million) as the winner of the annual Jim McIlvaine award. Phoenix couldn't give him away at the trade deadline, and the signing is even more preposterous when you realize the Suns could have drafted Rajon Rondo and gotten a better backup for Steve Nash at one-twentieth of the price.
Mike James, Raptors to Timberwolves
Far be it for us to criticize Forbes.com's No. 1 general manager in any sport, so we'll lay off Kevin McHale on this one. Yes, it was a brilliant, brilliant move to fall in love with yet another of college teammate Bill Duffy's clients -- just like McHale did when he surrendered a No. 1 pick along with Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric.
Nazr Mohammed, Spurs to Pistons
Well, Joe Dumars needed to find somebody to replace Ben Wallace in the middle, but he made a mistake overpaying (five years, $29 million) a player the Hawks, Knicks and Spurs had all given up on in the span of less than 30 months. The Wolves wanted a No. 1 pick just to take him off Detroit's hands at the trading deadline.
Al Harrington, Hawks to Pacers
We spent what seemed like half the summer waiting for the Hawks and Pacers to work out the details of the sign-and-trade that sent Big Al back to Indiana, and then the Pacers went and sacrificed him to Golden State just so they could get rid of Stephen Jackson? We're hoping Donnie Walsh decides against retiring this summer, because we don't want to remember the Harrington dump as his legacy trade.
Jared Jeffries, Wizards to Knicks
Yes, he can defend three positions, but he doesn't defend any of those positions very well. And since he can't shoot from far or near (2-for-17 on 3s, 16-for-40 on free throws), we're wondering exactly how Isiah Thomas sold James Dolan on this $58 million investment (five years for $29 million, plus another $29 million in luxury taxes).
Fred Jones, Pacers to Raptors
At least the Raptors found a way to cut their losses on this ill-advised signing, shipping Jones to Portland two weeks ago for Juan Dixon, who made 20 field goals in his first five games for Toronto. Jones, by comparison, had eight FGs total in his final 26 games for the Raptors.
Flip Murray, Cavaliers to Pistons
We're guessing Joe Dumars isn't going to list this signing high on his list of career accomplishments. Same goes for the Mohammed signing, and we're wondering whether we'll ever laud Dumars for his other move last summer: trading Maurice Evans to the Lakers for the draft rights to Senegalese prospect Cheick Samb.
Keith Bogans, Rockets to Magic
On his fourth team in four seasons, he hasn't been all that bad despite scoring a career-low 5.2 points. Having more fouls (87) than field goals (86) keeps him off the neutral impact list.
David Wesley, Rockets to Cavaliers
Did someone forget to send the memo to Danny Ferry that Wesley hasn't been a player since Ferry was a player? At least he didn't go after …
Eric Piatkowski, Bulls to Suns
Piatkowski was a player once, too. But that was in the early '90s when he played for Nebraska. Really nice guy, but how he's lasted 13 years in the NBA is beyond rational explanation.
Scot Pollard, Pacers to Cavaliers
The Erik Piatkowski of oddballs -- and that was even before he unveiled this season's gold Mohawk haircut.
Kelvin Cato, Pistons to Knicks
Has made seven buckets all season, taking up space on yet another roster. Next year, we'll be saying the same about Jamaal Magloire.
Lorenzen Wright, Grizzlies to Hawks
Thanks to the Claxton signing, this was not Billy Knight's worst offseason move.
Jumaine Jones, Bobcats to Suns
Keeps Piatkowski company on the end of the bench in Phoenix, no doubt reminding him how he has 14 FGs on the season while Piatkowski only has five.
Sean Marks, Spurs to Suns
When Jones and Piatkowski need someone else to pick on, they point to everyone's favorite New Zealander and his grand total of two FGs this season.
Jackie Butler, Knicks to Spurs
Six games, seven points, five fouls. And Larry Brown wants to trade for him in Philly. 'Nuff said.
Aaron Williams, Hornets to Clippers
Wanna feel old? This is his 13th season and 10th NBA team. Giving the Clips 2.1 points and 2.3 rebounds, about what they used to get out of Keith Closs.
Ronald Dupree, Timberwolves to Pistons
Has appeared in only 16 games, going 1-for-7 at the free-throw line. That'll get you a ranking way down here.
Jamal Sampson, Kings to Nuggets
In his fifth season with his fifth team, he's shooting 73 percent only because he's 8-for-11 total on the season in 15 mostly garbage-time appearances.
Othella Harrington, Bulls to Bobcats
One of our all-time favorite guys, but the praise ends there. Cannot for the life of us figure out what either side was fathoming here.
Alan Henderson, Cavaliers to 76ers
Philadelphia got rid of him two weeks ago to get beneath the luxury tax threshold, and the team that acquired him, Utah, told him to not even bother showing up. So ends, in all probability, his 12-year career.
Loren Woods, Raptors to Kings
Didn't make it through training camp, but had a $400,000 guarantee.
Lamond Murray, Nets to Clippers
The seventh pick in the 1994 draft, he lasted 16 days in Clippers training camp.
Andre Owens, Jazz to Warriors
Signed and traded as part of the Derek Fisher deal, he was cut in camp but pocketed a guaranteed $675,000.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Suns to Knicks
Was cut during training camp, not long after his cell phone rang during a team meeting, forcing the whole team to run wind sprints as collective punishment.
One out of 44....and Stevenson's impact on the fortunes of the Wizards was minimal at best. You could also make an argument for Barnes and Wallace for what they did in the playoffs.
