With Free Agency only being about 3 days away now, I'm going to look at the top possible (realistic) bigs that the Nuggets might be looking at. I'm going to look at scoring, rebounding (offensive and defensive), assists, turn overs, blocks, and steals all per 30 minutes. I do 30 minutes because that's a reasonable amount of time for starters in the league. I'll look at David Lee, Udonis Haslem, Brendan Haywood, Hakin Warrick, Amir Johnson, Brandan Wright (stats may be deceiving since he only played 121 minutes last year), Jason Maxiell, Chris Wilcox, Tyson Chandler, Drew Gooden, and Andris Biedrins. If you have any other players that you would like to see up here, just ask!
Size
Tyson Chandler, 7'1", 235 lbs.
Brendan Haywood: 7', 263 lbs.
Andris Biedrins: 6'11", 240 lbs.
Drew Gooden: 6'10", 250 lbs.
Chris Wilcox: 6'10", 235 lbs.
Brandan Wright: 6'10", 210 lbs.
David Lee: 6'9", 250 lbs.
Hakin Warrick: 6'9", 220 lbs.
Amir Johnson: 6'9", 210 lbs.
Udonis Haslem: 6'8", 235 lbs.
Jason Maxiell: 6'7", 260 lbs.
Points
Brandan Wright: 17.6 points, 48.1% FG, 84.0% FT
David Lee: 16.3 points, 54.5% FG, 77.4% FT
Drew Gooden: 13.0 points, 47.1% FG, 80.9% FT
Amir Johnson: 10.6 points, 62.3% FG, 63.8% FT
Udonis Haslem: 10.6 points, 49.4% FG, 76.2% FT
Chris Wilcox: 10.4 points, 52.5% FG, 50% FT
Hakin Warrick: 10.3 points, 48.1% FG, 72.7% FT
Jason Maxiell: 9.9 points, 51.1% FG, 57.4% FT
Brendan Haywood: 9.0 points, 56% FG, 61.9% FT
Tyson Chandler: 8.6 points, 57.4% FG, 73.2% FT
Andris Biedrins: 6.2 points, 59% FG, 52% FT
Rebounds
Andris Biedrins: 10.2 rebounds (2.5 offensive, 7.7 defensive)
David Lee: 9.4 rebounds (2.3 offensive, 7.1 defensive)
Drew Gooden: 9.2 rebounds (3.5 offensive, 5.7 defensive)
Brendan Haywood: 9.1 rebounds (3.5 offensive, 5.6 defensive)
Udonis Haslem: 8.7 rebounds (2.3 offensive, 6.4 defensive)
Tyson Chandler: 8.2 rebounds (2.9 offensive, 5.3 defensive)
Amir Johnson: 8.2 rebounds (3.2 offensive, 5.0 defensive)
Chris Wilcox: 8.0 rebounds (3.0 offensive, 5.0 defensive)
Jason Maxiell: 7.7 rebounds (3.1 offensive, 4.6 defensive)
Hakim Warrick: 6.0 rebounds (2.4 offensive, 3.6 defensive)
Brandan Wright: 5.7 rebounds (1.7 offensive, 4.0 defensive)
Assists
Andris Biedrins: 2.2 assists
Amir Johnson: 1.0 assists
Hakin Warrick: 1.0 assists
Chris Wilcox: 0.9 assists
Drew Gooden: 0.8 assists
David Lee: 0.8 assists
Jason Maxiell: 0.8 assists
Udonis Haslem: 0.7 assists
Brendan Haywood: 0.5 assists
Tyson Chandler: 0.4 assists
Brandan Wright: 0.2 assists
Turnovers
Chris Wilcox: 2.6 turnovers
Tyson Chandler: 2.3 turnovers
David Lee: 1.9 turnovers
Drew Gooden: 1.8 turnovers
Brandan Wright: 1.7 turnovers
Brendan Haywood: 1.6 turnovers
Hakin Warrick: 1.5 turnovers
Jason Maxiell: 1.3 turnovers
Andris Biedrins: 1.3 turnovers
Amir Johnson: 1.3 turnovers
Udonis Haslem: 1.0 turnovers
Blocks
Brendan Haywood: 2.0 blocks
Andris Biedrins: 1.7 blocks
Tyson Chandler: 1.4 blocks
Amir Johnson: 1.4 blocks
Brandan Wright: 1.2 blocks
Drew Gooden: 1.0 blocks
Chris Wilcox: 0.8 blocks
Jason Maxiell: 0.7 blocks
David Lee: 0.6 blocks
Hakin Warrick: 0.3 blocks
Udonis Haslem: 0.3 blocks
Steals
Brandan Wright: 1.0 steals
Chris Wilcox: 0.9 steals
Amir Johnson: 0.9 steals
David Lee: 0.8 steals
Andris Biedrins: 0.8 steals
Drew Gooden: 0.7 steals
Jason Maxiell: 0.7 steals
Hakim Warrick: 0.5 steals
Tyson Chandler: 0.4 steals
Udonis Haslem: 0.4 steals
Brendan Haywood: 0.3 steals
Overall, I think all of these players would be good fits. Biedrins would be amazing if he could stay healthy, I'd love to add his defensive game along with his athleticism and size. Brendan Haywood would be a nice option as well, if we could sign him to the MLE. I like David Lee, but he might be too expensive. Udonis Haslem would be a great addition, but he seems extremely loyal and it sounds like he's a top priority for the Heat this off-season. Hakim Warrick will probably be available, he'll want to play with Melo, but I don't think he'll help a ton in terms of a big. Amir Johnson looks to be a good defensive player and a very efficent offensive player. I also like Brandan Wright because he's big (although he needs to add weight), he's talented around the rim, and he looks to be solid defensively. Jason Maxiell and Chris Wilcox are nice options, they're solid in almost every aspect of their game, but not great at anything either. Tyson Chandler adds nice height, but he's extremely injury prone and his contract is huge. Drew Gooden is one of my favorite options, he's good offensively and pretty good defensively as well.
Here's my idea:
1. Trade K-Mart and JR to Golden State for Biedrins, Azubuike, and Wright
2. Sign Amir Johnson
New Lineup:
PG: Chauncey Billups, Ty Lawson
SG: Arron Afflalo, Kelenna Azubuike
SF: Carmelo Anthony, Joey Graham, Renaldo Balkman
PF: Nene, Brandan Wright, Amir Johnson
C: Andris Biedrins, Chris Anderson
