By Sean Deveney - SportingNews
Of all the free agents left on the NBA market, no one is quite as intriguing as the just-waived guard from Southern Illinois, Troy Hudson. He is 31 and two years removed from his last productive season with the Timberwolves. His problems started with an ankle injury in 2003 and then came Timberwolves' point guard pile-on -- with playing time for Mike James and Randy Foye a priority (and with Marko Jaric third on that list), Hudson was left on the bench.
But, if nothing else, last year amounted to a year off for Hudson, who should at least be well-rested and fully past those persistent ankle issues. And if that's the case, it's difficult not to imagine Hudson returning to the form he showed before the ankle problem. Remember, it was during the Timberwolves' six-game loss to the Lakers in 2003 that Hudson blossomed, averaging 23.5 points in the series, including 37 points and 10 assists in Game 2. It's been four years, of course, but, says one Western Conference scout, "He relies on his quickness so much. If he shows he still has that, he's going to be a nice pickup for someone."
What should really intrigue teams about Hudson is that he can be had for next to nothing. He was bought out by the Timberwolves at 80 percent of his remaining two-year salary, according to his agent, Bill Neff. That should put Hudson's intake at about $9.5 million. He's not scouring the market for the big money.
Hudson's focus now is to resurrect his career, and he is not looking to do that by logging big minutes for a bottom-feeding team. He wants to take a Speedy Claxton-type route, by being a key bench guy on a contending team. Claxton, remember, didn't show much in two injury-plagued years in Philadelphia before he was acquired by the Spurs before the 2002-03 seasons. But, in San Antonio, Claxton was able to help the Spurs to a championship by knocking down big shots in the Finals. He wound up with a six-year contract because of it.
Hudson could do likewise (a six-year deal is unlikely, but he could warrant a nice contract next summer) and is hoping to join a contender. Fittingly, San Antonio was among the first teams to contact him. Cleveland, too, is a possibility, as are the Mavericks and Celtics. There are others, but Neff says it is far too early to make any predictions on where Hudson would wind up -- he only cleared waivers Friday. The Heat's signing of Smush Parker probably eliminates Miami, and I did ask specifically if there had been interest on the part of the Lakers. Neff said there was not.
Hudson is one highlight in what is a pretty underwhelming remaining free agent group:
1. Anderson Varejao. He is going to stay in Cleveland, but the only question is whether he'll be staying there for this year -- or for longer. He is a restricted free agent, and the Cavs can either sign him to a long-term deal or let him take the one-year qualifying offer. If he takes the qualifying offer, he probably will leave Cleveland next year.
2. Earl Boykins. Like Hudson, Boykins is a high-energy bench scorer and will be a bargain for someone. He is a good guy in the locker room. It seemed that the Cavs would be a natural fit -- Boykins is from Cleveland -- but there has been no interest from his hometown bunch.
3. Ruben Patterson. Patterson has had some pretty nasty off-court issues, but don't overlook the fact he was a model soldier for the injury-wracked Bucks last year. He came off the bench, started at small forward, even played a fair amount of power forward. He averaged career highs in points (14.7), rebounds (5.4), assists (2.9) and shooting percentage (54.
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4. Chris Webber. Webber is putting off retirement and is considering the Pistons and Mavericks. Dallas is considering trades as well as P.J. Brown, so Webber is in limbo. No one seems to be in much of a hurry to resolve this, and it might not get done till early next month.
5. Sasha Pavlovic. Pavlovic is in the same boat as Varejao. Will the Cavs pay? Or will he take the qualifying offer and split next year? Both sides are pretty confident a deal will get done.
6. Mickael Pietrus. This one, too, is taking some time to work out. Teams have shown interest in Pietrus -- and sign-and-trade possibilities involving Miami or Dallas have come up -- but all that has the Warriors thinking they might be best off just signing him themselves and trading him sometime during the season.
7. James Posey. He seems locked in the same Dallas-Miami-Golden State triangle as Pietrus.
8. P.J. Brown. He doesn't move well and is not going to give you 12 points a night. But he is smart and is a calming influence on the floor. The Bulls did all they could to bench Brown over the course of last season, but the fact was they were just a much better team when he was a starter. He wants to latch on with a title contender like the Mavericks or Suns.
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Hudson is definately an option as backup PG, as most teams likely will not want him as their starting PG. He can be had for cheap and if he is healthy, is the best PG still available. Interesting that Posey and Pietrus are said to be likely to be traded and yet, though Riley is interested in Pietrus, a swap of the two hasn't happened. This might well be because Posey is outpricing himself (likely the reason) but if he realises he is worth no more than 2.5-3 million a season, Mullin should and probably would get him for Pietrus immediately
