NBA off-season: Top 5 under the radar pickups

This was a fairly entertaining NBA off-season. Boston Celtics finally got into the rebuilding mode, trading Kevin Garnett, Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce.

The “Dwightmare” ended with the Lakers losing Howard to the Rockets. The 76ers traded their all star point guard for an injured rookie. Andrew Bynum signed with the Cavaliers before playing any game with the 76ers and The Nets somehow managed to get the biggest payroll is NBA History.

In the midst of all these franchise defining moves, there were some really good pickups that went under the radar. So in order to shed some light on them, here are, in no particular order, 5 great pickups of this off-seasons:

Pacers trade Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and a 2014 lottery protected first round pick to the Suns for Luis Scola

Luis Scola (L)

In the last NBA playoffs, the Pacers took the defending champs Heat to a tenacious seven game series, and that was without their star Danny Granger and with one of the league’s worst bench.

But this year won’t be the same. Danny Granger would be back, though it’s still questionable whether Frank Vogel will get him in the starting lineup or make him the sixth man. Anyway, he’s going to be a great addition to the team.

The Pacers picked up CJ Watson from Brooklyn Nets and Chris Copeland from the Knicks, both of whom would provide them the one thing the Pacers seriously need – 3 point shooting.

Watson is a 40 percent 3-point shooter throughout his career, and Copeland who played 56 games for the Knicks last season, shot 42 percent from the 3-point stripe, showing that he could hit the long ball. They would also be great off the bench players.

The Pacers though did lose Jeff Pendergraph (Spurs) and Tyler Hansbrough (Raptors) in the free agency and to make up for that loss, Larry Bird, who was reinstated as Pacers GM this season, traded Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and a lottery protected 2014 draft pick to the Suns for veteran Luis Scola.

Now this was a remarkable trade. Bird managed to trade Gerald Green who posted field goal percentage of 36 and 3-point percentage of 31, Miles Plumlee, who only got 55 minutes of action last season, a trade pick which is projected to be in the lats 20s for an Olympic Gold Medalist who averages a near double-double if his stats are adjusted to per 36 minutes.

Scola is a team first guy and would thrive in the in a limited role, he could provide significant rest to starting PF David West and would get really nicely fit the lineup if any of their big men get injured.

Does it give them the edge over Miami? I’m not sure, but it certainly makes a better team as whole and a much tougher team then last year.

For the Suns, they made the right rebuilding move by trading a veteran who never did exactly fit in their system for two young guys and a draft pick. On the flip side it also meant that their next year line-up would be a total disaster.

Brooklyn Nets sign Andrei Kirilenko for a 2-year $6.5 million deal

Andrei Kirilenko

Although the second year is a player option, this a fantastic pickup by the Nets who are in full ‘win now’ mode right now.

In the beginning of the off-season, Kirilenko decided to opt out of his $10 million contract with the T-Wolves in bid to find a good priced long term deal. Instead somehow he changed his mind and decided to sign with the Nets for just $3.18 million per season, which is the bargain of all bargains.

In an injury-struck Minnesota squad last season, Kirilenko averaged 12.4 points (his best since 05-06) while shooting over 50 percent from the field. He also averaged a single block and steal per game which marked the 11th straight season he has achieved the feat.

Whether he would start over Pierce is still a question but whatever his role will be, he is going to help the Nets a lot more then he is getting paid for.

Clippers sign Darren Collison for a 2-year deal

Darren Collison

Before signing Darren, the Los Angeles Clippers already was having an A+ off-season, trading Caron Butler and Eric Bledsoe for Jared Dudley and JJ Redick, re-signing Matt Barnes and Chris Paul and appointing Doc Rivers as the team coach.

Signing Darren Collison to a 2-year deal that would only pay him $1.9 million the first season was a freakishly good move by the Clippers. They got a more than able backup point guard to replace Eric Bledsoe and for only $1.9 million, and Darren’s only 25!

Darren Collison has been a starter for all the teams he has played for (Pelicans, Pacers and Mavericks) and has been a solid player throughout his career. He would be a really nice backup for Chris Paul and would also act as a change of pace player as he loves to show off his speed. Put in the fact that he’ll be learning from Paul and Doc, and he could really elevate his game to the next level.

Mike Dunleavy signs with the Bulls for a 2-year $6 million deal

Mike Dunleavy

The Chicago Bulls made up for the loss of Marco Belinelli (Spurs) by signing veteran Mike Dunleavy to a 2-year $6 million deal.

Chicago Bulls was a poor 3-point shooting team last season, so poor that only the Memphis Grizzlies made or attempted shots from downtown with less frequency in 2012-13. As he grew older, Mike started to become an elite marksmen. In his past three seasons, Dunleavy Jr. has made 41% of the 3s that he attempted which ranks him as the 4th best shooter (minimum 700 attempts) in that time-period.

Also, he played two of those 3 seasons in a fairly depleted Bucks quad. With the return of Derrick Rose and the plethora of big men the Bulls have, Mike is surely going to get good looks and all the signs points that he is going to convert them. After all, Kyle Korver thrived so well in this Bulls system, so why not Mike?

Bulls finished tied for 20th in the league with a 35.3 shooting percentage from 3-point range and getting an elite marksmen to help them at what they are worst for $6 million is just pretty much amazing.

The Hawks sign Paul Milsap for a two-year $19 million deal

Paul Milsap

Although the ideal off-season scenario for the Hawks was to sign both Paul and D-12, I’m pretty sure Atlanta fans wouldn’t mind getting a player of Paul Milsap ilk for just $8.5 million per season. They now have one of the most skilled front-courts in the league.

The Atlanta Hawks fans are going to love Paul’s hard-working and smart play, something they never got from Josh Smith. Also, Milsap’s contract turns into an expiring contract next season, so the Hawks could trade him for a bigger move, although that seems highly unlikely.