Josh Boone has played well in China. He'll sign pretty reasonably, in a time when bigs are going for big money. He's better than Sheldon Williams and Johan Petro and Jordan Williams and Dennis Horner. Sign him now and he can be here by March.

Josh Boone just turned 27 on November 21. Let's get him back as a big man reserve. What'll it cost, $2-3 million? He'll certainly play better next to Dwight Howard and Deron Williams.

For comparison, look at the money thrown around for these bigs:

SAMUEL DALEMBERT: The injury to Chuck Hayes means that Sacramento might re-sign Dalembert. His agent is Marc Cornstein, who also represents Kris Humphries. Houston wants Dalembert in a big way. The LA Clippers would like him as a frontcourt reserve, as would the Boston Celtics (minus Shaq and Krstic and Jeff Green).

How much money will Dalembert get? Probably a lot.

He's 3 1/2 years older than Josh Boone. Last year, playing 24.2 minutes a game for the Kings, Dalembert scored 8.1 points, got 8.2 rebounds, and had 1.4 blocks. In Boone's second year (2007-08), Boone played 25.2 minutes, with 8.2 points and 7.3 rebounds. This is not to say that Josh Boone is as good as Samuel Dalembert, just that you can have a younger guy at about 1/4th the price of what Dalembert will probably sign for.

DEANDRE JORDAN: Yes, he's a young stud with the Clippers. In his third year last year (his best as a pro), he played 25.6 minutes, with 7.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks. He signed an offer sheet for 4 years, $43 million, or $10,750,000 a year.

NENE: He re-signed for Denver for 5 years, $67 million, or $13.4 million a year. He's two years older than Josh Boone. He has never had more than 1.3 blocks a game, absolutely miserable for a center playing 30+ minutes. He's a 9-year pro with career averages of 29.6 minutes a game, 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks. Not a rebounder, not a shot blocker, and an average scorer. Superstar?

TYSON CHANDLER: This was the Knicks' big free agents signing. It's for 4 years, $58 million, or $14.5 million a year. He's 29--two years older than Boone. He scored 10 points a game last season and he scored 11 points a game in 2007-08; in his eight other seasons, he never averaged higher than 9 points a game. Last year in Dallas, he had only 1.1 blocks in 27.8 minutes. Tyson's a good player, but that contract is too rich for too long, IMHO.

MARC GASOL: Gasol is a nice player to have and he's only 26. Last season, the Memphis starting center played 31.9 minutes, getting 11.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 2.5 assists. He signed for 4 years, $57,700,691, or $14,425,173 a year.

SUMMARY:

These center contracts are crazy expensive!

Only one of these guys averaged over 11 points a game (Nene had 14.2 ppg), two (Jordan and Gasol) only had 7 rebounds a game, and yet Dalembert (?), Jordan, Gasol, Nene and Chandler are getting between $10-15 million per year.

If you sign a Josh Boone for $2-3 million and he gets 7 points and 7 rebounds and 1-2 blocks, it's right up with these guys. I'm guessing that Boone might be at least comparable Dalembert (who I expect will slow down fast) over the next 3-4 years.

Bring back Josh Boone, and dump Petro and Shelden Williams if you can. A team needs good cap guys like this.