FanHouse CedricSimmons

Free-agent time should be like Christmas for these under-30 former first-round picks. If they had played better, stayed healthy or fulfilled their potential, they would be cashing in on new contracts or contract extensions. Instead they are fighting for their NBA lives, afterthoughts in free-agent time, hoping to find one interested team for another opportunity to stay in the league.

The alternative might be Europe or perhaps even the NBDL. With each NBA team holding on tight to free-agent dollars because of the economy and the 2010 free-agent class, contracts -- especially lucrative ones -- will be difficult to procure. So while names such as Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Trevor Ariza and Hedo Turkoglu will fill the offseason newswires, these 10 players will be searching for work in virtual obscurity.

Here is the list and their stories:

(Warning: I'm a Kings fan, and I'm a little unstable right now.) The belle of this season's trade deadline ball has been, in the absence of Amare Stoudemire, Mr. John Salmons. Salmons is a fine little player, a 29-year-old jack-of-some-trades who can score and pass and defend.

Brad Miller ... well, you know about him. A highly skilled center who can't jump over a pancake (not that he'd want to) and carries a $12 million salary next season. Everyone wanted in on Salmons, while Miller's destinations seemed few. Idea! Why not package them together to make sure you lose the dud? Sacramento did just that today in swapping the pair for Chicago's Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

If NBA greatness translated to the front office, ho-boy, would the Bobcats be unstoppable. Unfortunately, it doesn't. And as such, Michael Jordan's Tarheel-homerism-fueled draft rampage will only be stopped this year by everyone flocking back to Chapel Hill. Oh wait. Larry Brown's still coming.

Picks: #9, #38

Needs: A big man who can score and/or complement Emeka Okafor in the post (read: let him play power forward). Or perhaps an aggressive, defensive minded bigger guard-forward that can keep Adam Morrison off the floor when Gerald Wallace gets hurt.

Best Case Scenario: Brook Lopez drops to number nine, although considering how guard/non-big man heavy the top part of the draft is, this seems pretty unlikely. There's chatter that people aren't enamored with Brook's lack of upside though, and nothing scares an NBA front office away from someone like "lack of upside" (see: Battier, Shane). And speaking of homerism -- I'm going out on a limb and saying the Cats should trade down in the second round and pick up local UNCG product (respect the alma mater, please) and 3/4 tweener Kyle Hines, or just roll with a Joey Dorsey/D.J. White frontcourt addition.

The initial word that it was a straight up Ben Wallace for Larry Hughes swap. And that would have sent me ton a little bit of a tangent. (Or straight to GoDaddy to buy FireDannyFerry.com) Instead, what eventually shook down makes a little bit more sense. Kind of.

The Cavaliers will get Wallace, Joe Smith and a future second round pick from the Bulls. They will also receive Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from the Seattle Supersonics. The Bulls get Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown. Meanwhile, for their "troubles" (read: dumping West and shedding Wally's contract), the Sonics get Ira Newble (expiring) and Donyell Marshall from the Cavs as well as Adrian Griffin from the Bulls.

So, your biggest question is ... w-t-f, Ferry? Why on good green Urf would Ferry cave and take on the monster salary of Wallace, even if he got to dump the 1.5 dimensional second option for LeBron James that never panned out in Hughes?

New Orleans sent second-year forward Cedric Simmons to Cleveland for David Wesley's soon-to-be void contract. Simmons wasn't exactly a key cog in the rotation, playing in 43 games and averaging 12 minutes. As you can guess, he didn't play too hot in those limited minutes. But he's cheap and young and there's room for growth. He was the #15 pick last year, after all.

Hornets GM Jeff Bowers doesn't seem to think so.

"This trade will help us in a number of areas heading into training camp," said General Manager Jeff Bower . "We will be able to focus on developing the additions we've made to our frontcourt, it gives us increased flexibility in regards to salary cap management and it gives us the room to add to our roster if we see fit."

Giving away a 21-year-old power forward for literally nothing (not even cap space -- the team holds options on Simmons' contract for the next three years) helps you? That team's in worse financial shape than I thought. After they cut Wesley, the Hornets will have 13 players under contract. They'd better have a free agent in mind to have any chance of actually convincing their fans this move was needed. Simmons didn't impress, but you just don't throw away cheap 21-year-old forwards for no reason.