Petro, Cook, Head all Sign

A few quick hits on some of the lesser signings of the last couple of days:

New Jersey continues its slue of low-rent signings by picking up center Johan Petro (number 93 on the Big Board) for 3 years and $10 million. I like this signing a lot less than Anthony Morrow and Travis Outlaw. Petro is the definition of a stiff. He's a body that belongs in the bottom fourth of the rotation. That's it. I really like the quiet moves the Nets have made thus far but this is a worthless signing. Petro probably could have been had for the minimum instead of $3 million a year.

Grade: C

Looking to fill out their roster with low-rent players, the New Orleans Hornets agreed to terms with Luther Head (number 83 on the Big Board) on a 2 year, $2.3 million deal. Head came into the league with Houston and had a couple of good years before his career hit a wall in 2008-09. He had a decent year with Indiana last season, averaging 7 points as a deep bench guy. Head is another one trick pony kind of guy who can shoot a little but doesn't do much else. He's too small to be a shooting guard (6'3) but can't seem to figure out how to improve his point guard skills. Still, he is a guy who can catch fire quickly and for what essentially amounts to a minimum value contract, you can do a lot worse than Luther Head.

Grade: B

Proving that if you're tall and have the ability to stand up straight you can get a spot in the NBA, Brian Cook (unranked because I didn't know he was still alive) signed a 2 year contract with the LA Clippers. Cook was drafted out of Illinois in 2003 by the Lakers and has kicked around the league ever since, almost exclusively as a 12th man. Cook is a big man who only seems to know how to shoot when he's outside of 22 feet and even then, it's quite an adventure. He also doesn't care so much about rebounding, defense, or working hard. It's hard to stick holes in any team signing anyone to a minimum contract, but Brian Cook sucks. He had one good year with the Lakers 5 years ago and has been living off of it ever since. He's a bum and it drives me nuts that he's made it in this league for 7 years while so many more talented players have busted out. Again, it's almost no cost for the Clips but I still can't stand this guy.

Grade: C