there's really no arguing this. to this point, you're exactly right. we've acquired a bunch of young, "flippable" contracts....hoping to find a trade partner. but not exactly building a team to go contend. keeping us just good enough to avoid ever having an opportunity to pick a super-impactful/potential superstar in the draft.
Hopefully this is what he has up his sleve: Iggy+Thabeet+Randolph http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2bs7t59 or this Wallace+Randolph+Thabeet http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=27fhc24
Interesting question.. would you be willing to overpay to get one? Usually you hear trade proposals that end with, "and if they want our 1st round pick in addition to that, we'll tell them to get lost and lose him for nothing!" I think you need to get one at all cost, even if it means gutting a team of 'non-stars'. As you said, getting role players to fit around the player is a lot easier than trading for a superstar with a team full of role players.
Actually the T-Will deal makes more and more sense to me. The one thing I have always said is we need to improve the SF spot. I thought it was our weakest link (provided Yao comes back healthy) and it was also the easiest slot to fill. My hope was always that we could somehow acquire Iggy or ANthony. I actually prefeered IGGY because I thought or offense wasn't as much a problem as defense and we needed a 2-way player to accept a role as part of a team and not the man. I wasn't sure if Anthony would help and would be committed enough to D. So even with an extension I prefered Iggy over Anthony (flame on). The problem with getting either of those players is you have to give up so much to get them. Lots of picks and at least Brooks or Martin is what I was thinking. I feel we need both of those guys to compete with the Lakers celtics and Heat. But that's the name of the game you have to give to get. But then out of the blue Morey pulls this Williams kid. It is almost like the perfect storm. He gets on Avery's doghouse almost immediately because he is pissed Avery is signing players to take his spot. And then he gets down when his minutes aren't what he hoped. He thinks he deserves more and stops caring. Shows up late a few times and Avery who has no patience with youth sends him down to the DLeaugue. There he shows flashes of superstardom. Of course it's the DL but Morey who probably had him on his radar already (desperately looking for SF who could help) now gets goosebumps. Yes because I don't care if it's summer leaugue , Dl or preseason. If you can put up a triple double for 3 games and score 28 ppg you have talent. So it's perfect. Nets do not want us to give NY back their pick so they want to cockblock the Knicks. They call us and ask what it will take and Morey says will take that problem child you have. And they say done deal. Now why I love this deal. First he is not the perfect child but he isn't Joey Dorsey or Ron Artest either. He just wants to play and IMO that's not an all bad thing. He pouted a little bit but he got over it. Now here's the good stuff. T-Will is Iggy lite or maybe Iggy young. He is only half an inch shorter weighs about the same. Has about the same shooting touch as Iggy did coming into the league and is a better passer and maybe rebounder. He has better handles and a better vertical. He can play D has great lateral movement. He shoots 33% behind the arc without knowing when he should and shouldn't take them. On the downside he has poor decision making, takes ill advised shots and doesn't have a middle pull up jumper. Iggy is better in these areas but wasn't so much better coming in. And the bonus is most of these faults are coachable. The risk is he is a big headcase and won't pan out. But really the kid seems to be a good guy who wants to play. Now don't get me wrong he is not Iggy but for one non lottery 1st round pick we got a steal. Yes I would prefer Iggy but at 10 million less T-Will is a steal. Oh and did I mention he is 3 years younger and has more upside. Oh don't know if he will help this year. But my gut i s yes. He can do things at the SF that Bud and Bat will never be able to do. He is a natural better defender and rebounder than both. Of course he will have to put the athleticism to work. Also I see no reason why he can't just as good a 3pt shooter as Battier. When you know you have to shoot when you are open in this offense it takes alot of pressure off and usually percentages go up. His biggest obstacle will be to learn not to force shots. When he has the ball he will quickly have to decide if he is open take it. Either to the rim or shoot the open shot. If he is not pass it. But in our offense that will be force fed to him from day one. I think he can pick it up. He doesn't appear to be Jermaine Tayloish in that area and in fact he is a great passer. So he only needs to concentrate on that more than shooting. Plus the kid on the break is a human highlight film. I don't think Morey has a big picture with T-Will. I mean like he knows Battier or Bud would be gone and he needed to acquire t-will but I do think it presents a dilemna. ANd the best way to fix that is to trade somebody before you have to send them to DL. So Morey may already have a plan but T-Will was probably a bit of surprise that Morey was happy to fall into.
As an added point... ...just like we decided to "finally give JT some playing time over Ish to get more size in the back court" (aka - showcase JT so we can trade him)... I think we kinda have done the same thing by playing Lee at the PG. By Lee showing that he and Ish can manage the back up PG minutes, I wouldnt be suprised if Brooks would be included in a trade for either Wallace or Iggy, especially after Lowry has shown that he can manage starter's minutes at that position. I would rather we get Wallace but I think Iggy is a bit more realistic an obtainable.
Depends on who it is specifically as to whether I'd "overpay." But I agree with you...and I'll say there's no one on this roster I wouldn't part with for the chance to add an alpha dog.
Do worry about JJ, his contract is the key to his trade. For the teams rebuilding (excluding us) trying to land a player this free agency, his contract is gold.
I'd prefer Iggy over "Crash" Wallace, it's just only because of Iggy's consistency to play games and to stay healthy. After all who wants another injury prone player to be added to the roster.
Obviously move AB + Chase for someone. Miller/Hill Scola/Hayes/Hill Battier/TWill Martin/Lee Lowry/Ish/TWill (Very much a point forward)
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2egy8zw This. Aaron Brooks Shane Battier Patrick Patterson draft pick For Danny Granger. works for both teams favorably.
I agree with everything you said. I also think that the T-Will trade is a test run to see if not having a athletic freak in the mold of Ariza at the 3 is what is causing us to loose games. If this trade really helps things at the 3 I think front office will be more likely to force the issue to get a star player at the 3
I believe this is the move... and it has to be for a Center or a PG everything else is set... KMART Battier and Scola are the core our weakest positions are PG and Center... I believe Yao is done so Center is of the greatest importance and Cousins is the only player i can think of
I've always had bigger concerns. Those "flippable" contracts are all in the $3m-$5m range. It's going to take a minimum of 3 "flippables" to get "star". Most NBA teams don't have 3 roster spots to spare. And they still have to pay a player if they cut them. (Whether it's one of theirs or the incoming ex-Rocket). IIRC, the Rockets can send $3M in cash along with the trade. But still, there are a LOT of dominoes that have to drop for this style of a plan to ever come to fruition. But posters here will continue to fantasize about 3 or 4 current Rockets for Iggy or Melo. Just don't see it happening.
I think Kevin Martin gets moved, the team has seen how good he has been, but also how poor he is at the little things like rebounding and defense. He is probably our easiest asset to trade, and we just picked up a dynamic swingman in Williams, making Martin somewhat expendable. Sure we could trade Shane, or Cbud or Lee.....but I think Martin is the one that other teams will covet, and he is on a reasonable salary. I have no information, or anything other than a feeling, it just seems that he is the piece that Morey will flip. As Gater said, you have to have quality players to get that better upgrade, and I think Martin is that type of player. DD
If Your hunch is correct, then we will be trading for a superstar because that is the only way I see Martin Being moved. Who do you think DM is targetting?
I don't know, but Martin and Scola are just about the only tradeable guys that can net us a superstar..... Then you would have to toss in CBud and picks etc...to get us there.....or maybe we are getting Thabeet, and they like Williams or another one of our wing men like CBud and Morey needed another asset to trade. It tosses everything up in the air though....there are not enough minutes for all the wings we have now... DD
I don't think we will trade Martin, or if we do, we won't train him for an other semi-star. It'd be a lateral move. Battier should stay on the roster - or we trade him, the other team buys him out and we resign him, that'd be a nice scenario. We NEED Battier as he is the team captain and the other players definitely respect him. It helps quite a lot to have him around I think, especially with some new knucklehead young guys coming in. Shane helps the team culture which in turn helps the improvement of the mentioned raw guys. I think Brad, Shane and Chuck should be pretty much untouchable - strictly because we need veteran leadership in a young locker room.
Let's see... Morey is like a lobbyist... he's going to attempt to get his hands in a Denver/NY trade where NY gets it's 2011 and 2012 picks back and we make out like bandits (Randolph + another young stud).
