By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

Updated July 19, 2004
That was fast. A flurry of signings and agreements the first two days of free
agency has left the cupboard nearly bare.
Only a couple of teams have any real cap room left. The Bobcats and Clippers
have the most, with a little more than $14 million remaining each. The Hawks
have a little less than $13 million in room. No one else has significant space
to speak of. That's bad news for several top free agents, including like Erick
Dampier, Stromile Swift, Jamal Crawford and Darius Miles. All four players are
coveted, but the teams that love them just don't have the cash to sign them.
Here's an updated look at the best free agents left on the board.

Top 10 free agents
(R) = Restricted free agent

1. Rasheed Wallace, F, Pistons
The skinny: Don't get your hopes up. The Pistons were on the verge of re-signing
Wallace over the weekend are expected to have him wrapped up soon. Look for it
to be a five-year deal between $55-60 million.

2. Erick Dampier, C, Warriors
The skinny: Dampier and his agent, Dan Feagan, met with Isiah Thomas over
the weekend. Thomas reportedly offered Dampier a contract starting at $9 million
per season. To afford it, Thomas is offering the Warriors Nazr Mohammed and
Othella Harrington in a sign-and-trade. Dampier also has received interest from
the Hawks and Grizzlies. The Hawks can pay more for Damp straight up. The
Grizzlies appear to be balking at Damp's price tag and the Warriors' insistence
that Stromile Swift be included in the deal.

3. Stromile Swift, PF, Grizzlies (R)
The skinny: Swift expected to be a hot commodity this summer, but the Grizzlies
made it known they planned to match any offer, and the market cooled pretty
quickly. The Hawks and Bobcats could use him and have enough cash left to make
the Grizzlies sweat. The Warriors are asking for Swift in return for Erick
Dampier in a sign-and-trade.

4. Jamal Crawford, G, Bulls (R)
The skinny: The Bulls and Knicks have been talking about a
sign-and-trade for the past two weeks. With the Knicks set to send Othella
Harrington (who was part of their original discussions) to the Warriors for
Erick Dampier, talks may be dead. The team could agree to swap Crawford, Jerome
Williams and Eddie Robinson to the Knicks for Shandon Anderson, Dikembe Mutombo,
Frank Williams, Cezary Trybanski and Mike Sweetney. But Crawford would have to
take much less than the Knicks are willing to offer to make that work under the
cap. However, that's an awfully high price for Isiah Thomas to pay. He's been
trying to sell the Bulls on taking back either Penny Hardaway or Tim Thomas and
their two year deals, but the Bulls aren't budging.

5. Darius Miles, F, Blazers (R)
Miles was a breakout performer for the Blazers over the last two
months of the season, averaging 12.6 points and 4.5 rebounds after being
acquired from Cleveland. Moreover, his production was going up as the season
wound down, and he was a big part of the team's late playoff push. Portland will
absolutely try to re-sign him, but its original offer sheet was pretty low,
causing Miles to look elsewhere. Unfortunately for Miles, unless the Hawks,
Clippers or Bobcats come through, he's not going to be able to cash in on the
free-agent bonanza the way some were. That's the curse of restricted free
agency.

6. Andres Nocioni, G/F, Tau Ceramica
The skinny: Nocioni, a native of Argentina, is widely considered the best player
not currently in the NBA. The 25-year-old, 6-foot-6 swingman is a strong,
athletic and aggressive player who has shined on the Argentine national team and
in Europe. He's averaging 13.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg in 25 minutes per game for Tau.
Nocioni is a solid perimeter shooter with NBA 3-point range, but he shines
posting guys up and playing the mid-range game. Teams have wanted him for some
time, but a big buyout with Tau has prohibited him from making the leap. The
Bulls brought him in Tuesday and were close to finishing a deal that would pay
him roughly $10 million over three years. However, nothing can become official
until Nocioni works out his buyout with Tau (it's reportedly a whopping $3
million).

7. Vlade Divac, C, Kings
The skinny: The Kings wanted to re-sign Divac, but at a home-town discount.
Instead, it appears that Vlade is heading back to the Lakers for their full
mid-level exception. The Lakers beat out the Suns and Clippers, who also made
bids for the big Serbian. Vlade may be 36, but he's still the best-passing big
man in the league. As long as teams realize he's only going to give them 20
minutes a night, he's a great pick-up.

8. Fabrico Oberto, C, Parmesa Valencia
The skinny: Oberto is widely considered the best established center playing in
Europe. He's a native of Argentina, and at 29, he has plenty of experience. He
won't be a star in the NBA, especially not at his age, but he could provide
valuable minutes off the bench for a playoff contender. He could have a similar
impact to that of Zeljko Rebraca in Detroit (7 ppg, 4 rpg in 16 minutes off the
bench in 2001-02) before his heart problems. A team like the Pacers, Rockets,
Suns or Lakers would make some sense. However, he has a huge buyout, making his
asking price a little high right now.

9. Trenton Hassell, G, Timberwolves
The skinny: Hassell was the starting two guard on a team that reached the
Western Conference Finals. He doesn't have much of an offensive game, but
defensively he's great. The Wolves want to re-sign him, but they're getting
competition from the Nuggets.

10. Greg Ostertag, C, Jazz
The skinny: Ostertag may be the very definition of a big, giant stiff, but in a
market devoid of centers, someone is going to pay him. The Jazz would like to do
it themselves, but with the signings of Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer, they're a
little strapped for cash. The Mavericks are interested, but they spent all of
their mid-level exception on Marquis Daniels.

Best of the Rest
Unrestricted: Karl Malone, F, Lakers; Eric Williams, G/F, Cavs; Keon Clark, F,
Suns; Jon Barry, G, Nuggets; Rodney White, G/F, Nuggets; Slava Medvedenko, C,
Lakers; Toni Kukoc, F, Bucks; Bob Sura, G, Hawks; Marcus Fizer, F, Bobcats; Ron
Mercer, G, Spurs; Joel Przybilla, C, Hawks; Keyon Dooling, G, Clippers; Zeljko
Rebraca, C, Hawks
Restricted: Mo Peterson, F, Raptors; DeShawn Stevenson, G, Magic; Jake
Tsakalidis, C, Grizzlies; Chris Mihm, PF, Celtics; Courtney Alexander, G,
Hornets.
International free agents: Arvydas Macijauskas, G, Tau Ceramica; ; Sarunas
Jasikevicius, PG, Maccabi Tel Aviv; Ognjen Askrabic, F, FMP Zeleznik; Demos
Dikoudis, PF, AEK (Greece); Walter Hermann, PF, Argentina; Nikola Vujcic, PF/C,
Croatia.
Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

" The team could agree to swap Crawford, Jerome
Williams and Eddie Robinson to the Knicks for Shandon Anderson, Dikembe Mutombo,
Frank Williams, Cezary Trybanski and Mike Sweetney. But Crawford would have to
take much less than the Knicks are willing to offer to make that work under the
cap. However, that's an awfully high price for Isiah Thomas to pay."



Ford is in a idiot for even suggesting that we could put Sweetney and Frankie in the same deal for Crawford.

Posted by nyshakespeare:

Imagine a frontline rotation of Dampier/Swift/KT/Sweetney.

I just can't. It would be totally insane.