Gortat leads list of frontcourt free agents

June 30, 4:14 PMWashington Wizards ExaminerGeorge Panagakos

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Gortat (left) matches up with Ilgauskas.  With Shaq back in
the East, Gortat's stock just went way up.  (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The NBA's Free Agency period begins tomorrow, July 1st, and the Washington Wizards are still in need of some frontcourt depth.  Of all the impact bigs available, my pick is Poland's Marcin Gortat.

6'11" without shoes, Gortat came into the league with a recorded 36" maximum vertical jump, more jump in fact than Orlando's Dwight Howard, who started in front of Gortat last season at the center position for the Magic.

Sure, Draft Express could be smoking.  Of course, Howard, the 6'9" monster center and cover athlete of the NBA Live 2010 this fall, has worked so hard since those pre-draft workouts that he now owns around a 40" vert.  Gortat won't likely tap that same potential, but if you watched Orlando over the 2009 Playoffs, you could tell Gortat's speed, strength, and inside game allowed Orlando to run the same kind of plays and alley-oops they would have issued Howard.  Perhaps not with the same ceiling, but just as effective. 

Gortat's main weakness, however, is his lack of solid post moves and also his non-existent outside game.  He needs someone to pass to him.  As a non-traditional European baller, Gortat wouldn't be a cheap Darius Songaila for Washington, nor can he pass like Andray Blatche, but he could provide the Wizards with a little size, basketball IQ, and experience.  Gortat has battled toe-to-toe with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the Cavs (and the Wiz are going to need bodies to deal with Shaq as well), he knows Orlando inside and out, and he would help give Washington the edge in the battle for the East. 

However, I also think Wizards' president Ernie Grunfeld is set with Blatche, so here are a few more bigs available starting tomorrow (contracts are speculative):

• Paul Milsap: PF, Utah; 13.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.8 apg.  Last contract: $797,581.  Analysis: A better Dominic McGuire.
• Charlie Villanueva: PF, Milwaukee; 16.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.8 apg.  Last contract: $3,448,050.  Analysis: Better shooter than Blatche but not as versatile as Antawn Jamison; unlikely to want to play bench.
• David Lee: PF, New York; 16.0 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 2.1 apg.  Last contract: $1,788,033.  Analysis: Double-double machine, played on the bench for the Knicks and as a starter.  More value than Blatche, but an unlikely pick-up if Knicks are smart.
• Shawn Marion: PF, Toronto; 12.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.0 apg.  Last contract: $17,810,000.  Analysis: I can't see many teams signing Marion due to his cost.  Either he is going to take a serious pay cut to play for a contender (like Washington) or he is going to end up on a poor team (Sacramento).
• Zaza Pachulia: C, Atlanta; 6.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.7 apg.  Last contract: $4,000,000.  Analysis: A tad expensive, but this big wrecked havoc on the Wiz last season.
• Brandon Bass: PF, Dallas; 8.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.5 apg.  Last contract: $826,269.  Analysis: Much like Dominic McGuire with a better inside game, but can't handle the ball as well.

It's quite possible Washington will stick with the four bigs they have right now and not spend any money unless needed half way through the season.  Most teams rotate maybe 10 players at the most, some teams rotate as few as 7, and while a 15-man roster is nice to have, you usually end up with a few guys like Oleksiy Pecherov that pretty much never play.  However, Gortat, and some of the others listed above, are impact players Washington should consider, and with that agile Shaq back in the East, you're going to want as many bodies as you can field.
 

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