An interesting guy has just been put on the 'wire' by Minnesota. He's almost certainly going to clear waivers because he's never stuck on a team for more than a year and he's 28 years old. He's a tweener F at 6'7 and 245 lbs but the only PF who rebounds at a higher rate per 36 is Reggie Evans and its close. He's a solid defender and blocks a fair number of shots. Jeff Adrien is his name. (He didn't play against us this evening because he was waived earlier in the day.)
Obviously he isn't going to make worlds of difference but it would be great to have a big, other than Len, who could hold his own in the paint. He also has the highest offensive efficiency rating on the Wolves so he doesn't hurt the team on the offensive end - ooops he 'had' the highest offensive eff. rating since he's now departed.
Why would we want him if Minnesota doesn't? We're hurting for muscle in the paint much more than they are and their roster is overflowing with young guys they are developing - Wiggins, Dieng, Bennett, Lavine, 'Bazz, and Glen Robinson. Meanwhile we are seriously hunting for a playoff spot. If we were in the same development mode as them I probably wouldn't suggest getting him - I might anyway just because I love to have a real dirt worker on the team. Saunders was rather complimentary of him as he cut him loose - saying they'd bring him back on 10 day contracts if they needed him.
He's 28 like I said but he has low mileage on him - about 2000 total minutes in his fifth year so if he worked out really well, he could play for several years - he doesn't have a lot of athleticism to lose...
I doubt the Suns will give him a passing thought since he'd, at best be a small cog. My philosophy is that if you want a strong defensive and good rebounding team then you fill out your bench with guys that fit that bill - it's relatively easy since they are not widely sought after. Then when you sub, the guys will still be solid on one end of the floor. The most important end, IMO.
