5. Shaun Livingston G Oklahoma City Thunder: A career thus far plagued by injuries, most notably the one suffered in February 2007 against the Charlotte Bobcats in which he suffered a debilitating knee injury, dislocating his left kneecap after landing awkwardly following a missed layup, resulting in the left leg snapping laterally. Livingston injured almost every part of his knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament, the posterior cruciate ligament, and the lateral meniscus, badly spraining his medial collateral ligament, and dislocating his patella and his tibia-femoral joint. Ouch. During a brief stint late in the season, Livingston averaged 7.8 points on 53% shooting with 3.3 rebounds and 2 assists in 23 minutes per game. Will see time off the Thunder bench to make up a solid three-guard-rotation with rookie James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Landry is a strong defender of the paint and a rebounding force (Credit: picapp.com)

4. Carl Landry F Houston Rockets: A solid rebounder and finisher in the paint. With Ron Artest gone, and Yao Ming done for the season, Landry will see the floor much more. Averaged 9.3 points and 5 rebounds in only 21:18 minutes a game. If he’s on the floor for 30-35 minutes per game, his numbers should flourish. Landry attacks the rim, shooting a solid 75% from the line. The bottom line is this guy is just flat out tough. How many people do you know who could evade assailants in a foot race after being shot in the leg? That is exactly how tough Landry is.

3. Ryan Anderson PF/C Orlando Magic: He is the one of the reasons Courtney Lee was shipped to New Jersey.  The Orlando Magic love their 3-point shooters, and Anderson will fit right into their system with his ability to launch from deep. Anderson is fierce on the offensive glass, and has been tearing up the NBA Summer League competition. With Rashard Lewis being slated to move back to small forward after Hedo Turkoglu’s departure, Anderson could open up the middle for Dwight Howard by forcing big men out of the paint to defend his shooting. Will improve the Magic’s spacing. Few sets will be run for Anderson to score, but his offensive rebounding will get him many easy buckets.

CDR will have a solid year with Carter gone (Credit: picapp.com)

2. Chris Douglas-Roberts G/F New Jersey Nets: CDR must be one of the happiest player in the NBA now that Vince Carter has departed for Orlando. It is obvious New Jersey is going young, and Douglas-Roberts is a superb talent. He displayed potential late last season, and averaged over 12 points in the games he started. In April he averaged 10.8 points with 2.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds in almost 27 minutes a game. As his minutes increase we expect CDR to settle into his role, and be a solid performer at the NBA level.  At 6’7”, he has the athletic ability to move to the 3 if Courtney Lee is the starter at off guard. CDR was the leading scorer (18.1 points a game) on the Memphis team that went to the NCAA Title game in 2008. Too bad about those free throws. Carries a heavy chip on his shoulder, and look for him to do something about it this year.

"See what happens when I get minutes Nellie?" (Credit: picapp.com)

1. Anthony Randolph F Golden State Warriors: The youngest player in the NBA last season didn’t get consistent minutes until the team was eliminated from playoff contention and decimated by injuries. Don Nelson isn’t the most nurturing of coaches with young players and chances are Randolph would have blossomed sooner under the tutelage of a different coach. Scored 24 points and 16 boards against Tim Duncan and the Spurs in one of the final games of the year. Could one day soon be considered the best player from the 2008 Draft. Lamar Odom had nothing but praise for Randolph after they faced off last season, stating he could be a HOF caliber player.

This past week we have seen Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva join Detroit.

Ron Artest took a pay cut and is hoping to get his first ring playing for the world champion Lakers.

Hedo Turkoglu reneged on a Portland offer, selecting the Raptors instead.

Rasheed Wallace is now alongside Kevin Garnett in Boston.

Trevor Ariza maxed out his contract value and is Houston-bound.

And Finally, Jason Kidd is staying in Dallas instead of going to New York.

The free agent signings become official today, the first day that players are allowed to ink their verbal agreements. There are more deals to come involving free agents, and it is going to be interesting to see where everyone ends up.

We here at Protect the Paint will list some of the rumors/moves involving the available free agents.

REMAINING FREE AGENTS

Lamar Odom

Odom might be hugging members of the Blazers soon. (Credit: daylife.com)

Lamar Odom doesn’t seem to be thinking repeat. Instead he and his agent want to be shown the money in the neighborhood of $10 million per season. Odom appears to be going the Trevor Ariza route, cashing in elsewhere now that he has the ring. He sacrificed his stats to win and now wants to sign with a team that could offer him a starting position and big bucks. Should have a different address in 2009-10. The Blazers are reportedly interested. Championship experience on an up and coming squad never hurts.

Andre Miller

Looks like Miller is heading to Portland. Gives the Blazers the floor general they lacked last season and gives Miller a chance to win. Good match all the way around.

Brandon Bass

Bass would make a mistake going to Detroit. (Credit: ocregister.com)

Bass could be staying in Dallas, heading to Orlando, or possibly ending up in Detroit. It makes absolutely no sense for him to sign with the Pistons. With rumors circulating of Carlos Boozer being shipped there for Rip Hamilton, and Charlie Villanueva signing a 5-year deal, he would essentially be the third option at power forward. The Magic need help up front. Orlando would be a good fit.

Antonio McDyess

McDyess could get a ring if he heads to San Antonio. (Credit: ugplay.com)

McDyess is leaning towards San Antonio in the most recent rumor involving the veteran which would provide more depth in the Spurs front court. He’s a solid shooter and depenable on the glass averaging 9.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg last year for the Pistons. The Spurs would have a solid 1-2 post punch with McDyess and Tim Duncan giving them the size to contend with the Lakers huge frontline.

Marcin Gortat

Marcin Gortat is going to get paid big bucks this summer. (Credit: mlive.com)

Most likely headed to Dallas. We’ll see how he responds to more minutes and more responsibility. This is a huge loss for Orlando who now have lost the majority of their front line not named Dwight Howard–Tony Battie via the Vince Carter deal, Hedo Turkoglu to free agency, and Gortat. The Magic better hope Ryan Anderson is as good as Pat Williams thinks he will be.

Grant Hill

Hill should go to a contender rather than a pretender. (Credit: offsideswithfletcher.com)

There are rumors of Hill heading to the the Knicks. Finally healthy, his game resurfaced playing with Phoenix. He appeared in all 82 games for the Suns last season. It’s unfortunate that he would want to make the move to New York, especially when he could most likely ink himself onto another team with better chances of winning a title. Seems like he and fellow 1994 co-ROY Jason Kidd have more in common then we thought: Take the money, not the chance for a championship ring.

Channing Frye

Frye could play minutes that matter for the Cavs. (Credit: nike.com)

Frye is very interested in signing with Cleveland. The guy has been marred with the “wrong place, wrong time” syndrome during his career. He was buried behind David Lee in New York and then behind LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland. If Cleveland loses Anderson Varajao, Frye will have an immediate chance for big minutes at power forward for the Cavs. This is a good opportunity for both sides. Frye has showed he has a lot of game and could be a late bloomer if given the chance.