Free agents? Uh, no--most will cost a lot and do little.(NBA)

After a draft panned for its lack of immediate impact players, figure on the free-agent market to continue the trend. This is not exactly an offseason for an overhaul. It's more of a summer for subtlety.

For example, the top two names on the free-agent list are players who came up short in the playoffs and, frankly, went into the summer with the focus on their shortcomings.

In Detroit, the question is whether offense-challenged Ben Wallace is worth anything close to the eight-figure salary he is seeking. And in Dallas, the issue is whether point guard Jason Terry is a point guard at all, considering he ranked 41st in assists per game during the regular season. Wallace and Terry couldn't push quality contenders over the top, so how could they be expected to make that much of a difference with less-loaded teams?

The next-best name on the free-agent list presents a similar conundrum. Among the reasons Al Harrington was dealt to Atlanta in 2004 was that Indiana viewed Stephen Jackson as an upgrade at small forward.

And so it goes--these are free agents who will take your money gladly but can't be counted on to help you in the standings.

Among the available centers, the best that can be said about Joel Przybilla, Nazr Mohammed and Lorenzen Wright is that they occasionally work hard. On the perimeter, there is a "buyer beware" sentiment. Raptors point guard Mike James spent most of last season marketing himself instead of putting his statistics to any collective-good use. Kings guard Bonzi Wells had his moments in the postseason, but he also had his moments before burning bridges in Portland and Memphis.

And there is the one-dimensional collection: the outside shooting of Peja Stojakovic and Vladimir Radmanovic, the stats-hoarding of Drew Gooden and Chris Wilcox, the all-or-nothing offense of Flip Murray and Marcus Banks.