Free agency is more than the big splashes.  It’s more than the headlined pipe dreams of Hedo Turkoglu, Ron Artest, or Lamar Odom.  The flurry of activity that fills our summer days and summer nights does include those sizable splashes, made even more substantial by moves made on the periphery.  It’s less about the drop and more about the ripples.  After all, what significance would key signings and huge trades really hold if we couldn’t assign them a letter grade for comparison’s sake?  If we couldn’t declare which team has had the best/worst summer?

Some of these moves are financially motivated, which is simply a reality given the state of the CBA.  If you’ve gotta clear cap space, then you’ve gotta clear cap space.  On the other side of that continuum are moves made purely for basketball considerations (the Spurs traded for Richard Jefferson despite the knowledge that he’s owed the riches of a Moroccan prince).  Somewhere in the middle of this wacky world of the NBA offseason is a crossroads between introspection and convenience; At some point a game plan is just a game plan, and reasonability and availability bring a player and a team together under the “Well, why not?” umbrella.

Exhibits A, B, and C: Chris Wilcox, Jarrett Jack, and Earl Watson.

The Pistons stand out from the rest of the “Why Not?” lot, if only because they have a legitimate need to fill in the middle.  Kwame Brown is the only natural center on the roster, with Jason Maxiell slated for sub duties.  Does Chris Wilcox make sense in the context of the grand Dumars schema?  Hardly.  But you could do much worse with $6 million over 2 years.  Wilcox is only contractually obligated to stay with the Pistons for a few weekends and a couple of holidays, so his already reasonable salary doesn’t draw much attention in my mind.  Ziller’s posed question of “What is Joe Dumars doing?” is all kinds of necessary and relevant, and likely missing an expletive.  But this team just hinged its future on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.  They’ll probably start Rip Hamilton, despite throwing big bucks at a free agent to play the same position.  Detroit’s got some problems.  I’m not saying that Dumars’ smaller moves should be completely eclipsed by the larger ones, just that a lot needs to be resolved before anyone picks him apart for inking a reasonable player to a reasonable contract.  Signing Wilcox doesn’t make a lot of sense basketball-wised when framed by the departure of Amir Johnson, but swapping Johnson for Fabricio Oberto’s unguaranteed deal saved the Pistons almost $2 million.  If Wilcox can provide similar production to Johnson, with the cash money from the previous trade in hand, then why not sign him?  Chris Wilcox isn’t the franchise savior, but he is a rotation big.  That’s the kind of thing you pick up on your way through the check-out aisle, even if you have to talk yourself into it.

Jarrett Jack is a pretty solid basketball player.  He can swing to both guard positions, and he’s not a bad defender.  But unless I’m getting my math wrong here, the Toronto Raptors already have plenty of bodies in the backcourt.  Jose Calderon is the incumbent point guard, and it’s doubtful he’s going anywhere anytime soon.  Behind him are the ordained prospect, Roko Ukic, and the salary cap plague, Marcus Banks.  At the 2, the Raptors have to be looking for Demar DeRozan to play prominently into their plans.  They also just picked up Antoine Wright from the Mavs in the Marion deal, who’s more than capable of filling in as a backup.  It’s not that it will be impossible to find minutes, because frankly, Jack is a superior player to a good chunk of that guard rotation.  But is he really necessary?  Is he even enough of an upgrade that anyone would say “Man, Toronto really needed that guy,”?  I’m not so sure.  But Bryan Colangelo had the luxury of a mid-level exception this offseason due to some clever maneuvering (acquiring Hedo Turkoglu via sign-and-trade rather than straight-up signing), and he fully intended to use it.  The Raps need some help, and while I’m not quite sold that Jarrett Jack is just what the doctor ordered, he was, again, a good player, floating around in free agency at a good price.

Earl Watson was never really a part of the Thunder.  Not really.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself.  The mistakes of an exuberant Russell Westbrook or a rusty Shaun Livingston are just so much more charming than a grown-ass man throwing passes out of bounds.  Yet that is the trademark of our pal Earl, everyone’s favorite slightly below average point guard who now finds himself a member of the Indiana Pacers.  You may remember them as the team that cut checks last year to T.J. Ford, Jarrett Jack, Travis Diener, and the ghost of Jamaal Tinsley.  Watson’s deal is the epitome of a “Why not?” affair.  He’s on the books for one year, and likely a few million.  Nothing big, nothing fancy.  But the Pacers have to OK Jack’s flight to the Raptors due to his restricted free agent status, meaning they could waltz into next season with a similar back-court.  Instead, they’ll let Jack walk for a variety of reasons (some dealing with the team economics, and some with the rotation), and try to hedge his loss by adding Watson.  Just delightful.  The Pacers are financially tied to three point guards, even if only two of them will really see floor time.  It’s one thing to have a backup plan (three point guards is a nice problem to have), but for what it’s worth, Travis Diener is damn comparable to Earl Watson in terms of production and efficiency.  Considering the alternatives, I think the Pacers would be just wing running Diener with the second unit.  But with Earl Watson to be had for the short-term, even if he is no better than Diener, the Pacers just couldn’t resist the opportunity and those magical two words.

As the off-season continues to roll, more and more teams with cap space and exceptions will buy into this mentality.  After all, at some point even low demand (if it can truly be called “demand”) can be accommodated by accessibility and a low price.  At that point, needs are considered pretty irrelevant, and gathering extra twigs for the nest takes priority over filling it with eggs; There’s plenty of time to find the right fits later, but you don’t pass over assets on the cheap.