January 18, 1999
The free agent
signing period was preceded by the dramatic
retirement of Michael Jordan. Jordan's retirement
should prompt many of Chicago's free agents to go
elsewhere as Steve Kerr reportedly will do. When
the preseason is over, Chicago's roster will be
filled with many new players with roles much
different from their past. While no one will be
able to score as much as Michael, someone in a
Bull's uniform will be scoring. Perhaps it will be
Scott Burrel or a free agent who signs such as
Jerry Stackhouse. Whoever it may be, they will
probably have a fantasy value greater than their
past years making the 1999 Bulls an interesting
place to look for fantasy steals.
Free agents can
officially sign as of Tuesday, January, 19, but
there are reports that some deals are just waiting
to be signed.
The Philadelphia
76ers will reportedly sign Matt Geiger to a deal
paying him around $9 million per season. Geiger has
spent the majority of his career as a backup
registering a career high of only 30 minutes per
game in the 1995-96 season. The Sixers are willing
to offer Geiger his first full time starting
position. This offer should guarantee that Geiger
plays more than the 24 minutes per game he played
last year as a backup to Vlade Divac and will
increase his fantasy value. In the past Geiger was
a hacker who could not play extended minutes
because of foul trouble but last year he greatly
improved his fouling tendencies. Expect Geiger to
average 35 minutes, 14 points, and 10 rebounds for
Philadelphia. His inability to score more and his
average shot blocking abilities will make him only
a mid-round draft selection, but that it an
improvement from previous seasons. Those who do not
realize his increased role, might let a productive
center past them by in their draft.
Derrick Coleman
is reportedly set to sign with the Charlotte
Hornets for $6 million per year for six years. This
is many million more than I thought anyone would be
willing to pay for DC. In eight seasons Derrick has
averaged less than 60 games played and now with a
long term lucrative contract he will have little
incentive to rack up numbers like he did last year.
With Charlotte unwilling to pay for a center,
Coleman may be playing out of position frequently
with Mason at power forward. As in the past, it
would be wise to continue to pick around DC in a
fantasy draft.
The San Antonio
Spurs needed an outside shooter to compliment Tim
Duncan and David Robinson and it looks as if Steve
Kerr will sign to solve this problem. Last season
Jaren Jackson was one of the Spurs main outside
weapons and he hit a respectable 38 percent from
beyond the arc but his overall shooting was a
dismal 39%. Kerr hits an impressive 44 percent from
beyond the arc. In San Antonio Kerr should have
slightly more fantasy value as he will be a little
more than the role player he was for the
Championship Bulls. Kerr's main competition will be
Vinny Del Negro (who is Italy now) and Jaren
Jackson, both of whom are free agents. If Jackson
and Del Negro go elsewhere, it could guarantee a
starting role for Kerr. But even as a starter, Kerr
will still have marginal fantasy value since the
three point shot is the only area he can contribute
- but this would be an improvement from his Bull's
years when he had no fantasy value.