How about James Posey at SF?

He makes too much sense not to be on our radar.

We'd have Ellis starting at SG, Jackson starting at SF.

Belinelli and Azubiuke backup both spots; Ellis and Belinelli can spot PG minutes.

I figure Posey would be the backup SF and pseudo-PF for Nelly.

Barnes would just be a excess we don't need to spend on.

Frankly, I'd take Posey because he's a better FT and has more experience (assuming both are equal price).

$6M was his old paycheck, that says nothing about what he'll get this time. He's not gonna get the full MLE, and the other teams on his "list" (CLE, NO/K, NJ) are over the cap. Taking a paycut is pretty much a foregone conclusion unless someone's stupid enough to sign and trade just for the privilege of paying him more than the MLE.

Frankly, I can't imagine Cleveland paying him much because they're basically going to bust the bank keeping Sasha Pavlovic and Varajeo.

That leaves the Nets and the Hornets.
The Nets have Nachbar, Jefferson, and Hassan Adams, so I can't see Posey getting significant minutes there, so no advantage for Jersey.

The Hornets swingmen are Peja and J. Wright, and they area already paying Rasual Butler a good amount ($3M per) to be a backup.

Honestly, I don't see why he wouldn't want to play in our system, where swingmen thrive if they're willing to spot minutes at the 4. If we weren't gonna touch the full MLE for Barnes, there's really little chance we'd do it for Posey, so I'm pretty sure we'll come in at $4M or below.

Barnes had an unusually good year; Pietrus' flaws are well documented. Both are looking for the full MLE.

None of the 3 bring any individual offense and rely mostly on opportunistic 3 point shooting or transition/garbage buckets for scoring.

Posey, however, is a superior free throw shooter and rebounded well playing at the 2/3 positions. Barnes and Pietrus put up good board numbers, but at the 4 position.

I would not want Pietrus back under any circumstances, and would take the cheaper of Barnes or Posey.