well now that we are in the offseason we have a lot concerns about the lineup. the obvious is the lack of depth at the pf position and a quick swingman to come off the bench... also do yal think there is a chance we can trade our expiring contracts for a higher draft pick? if thats possible, that would be real nice to increase our chances of finding a quality pf out of the draft.
I picked Turriaff because he can bang inside and board, but has a nice jumper too. I think a good complment to Yao, and can learn from JHoward.
If Channing Frye is still available at 24, I'd be shocked. Then I'd snap him up so fast it would make your head spin. I'm becoming less and less enamored with Turiaf and Semien -- I think they're late first rounders for a reason. I'm sick of undersized PFs, so no Warrick. So I'm going with Francisco. Gets us size, athleticism, and lights-out shooting on the perimeter. And, I know I'm a broken record on this, but I'd take Kennedy Winston who I think could be a Gerald Wallace type.
Warrick would be ideal. Extremely athletic and long. Having a second shotblocker on the floor next to Yao would help keep him out of foul trouble. With his quick feet, he can chase down those long rebounds that Yao is too slow to get to. He's got the versatility to play the 2, 3, or 4 position. That's one the things this team lacks, versatility. When I see him play, I think Robert Horry.
This team needs a Darius Miles type player who can rebound, defend 3 positions, and run. If you take Darius Miles with the 3rd pick in the draft, you're a chump. But if you take him with the 24th pick in the draft, that's a steal. So if we could get Warrick at 24, I'd be thrilled.
Definately TURIAF!!!!!!!!!!!! He is a rebounding, banging, powerful enforcer in the Charles Oakley mold (without the thuggery) with a decent midrange jumper. He can be the perfect role-playing compliment to yao and a fixture in our frontcourt for a decade!!!
Should we try and be drafting a PF instead of getting one immediately? Even if we draft one.. it will still be 2-3 more years before he's effective.. not that McGrady and Yao are old, but contracts don't last forever..
I know I am a homer, but Antoine Wright would be a great athletic wingman (that is if we address PF via free-agency). We need to get more athletic, that is evident after the series with Dallas.
Thats exactly why i want Turiaf...nba ready body and 4 years of winning experience against decent competetion.
I voted "some other guy" because I would like to get Wayne Semien. If not, I'd be more than happy with Turiaf. He's a great all around PF who can score but is used to not being a 1st or 2nd scoring option. He has a great attitude and would be a great JVG type guy. It's about 55/45 Semien/Turiaf as far as I'm concerned.
Of all those guys I like May the best, I think a lot of us do, but he just doesn't complement Yao... he would compete with him. Toss-up between Turiaf and Warrick. I chose Turiaf.
I would really like to see us try to acquire some more first rounders. Forget about Swift and all these overpriced forwards. We need to add youth to run with Tmac. We came only a game away from the second round. If at least one of these draft picks amount to anything it could get us over. We need to start thinking about getting younger. The draft is so deep this year we may be able to solve a few of our problems with a long term solution. I'd rather do that than bring in a bandaid that is past his prime. Couldn't some of our expiring contracts land us a pick or two? I'd really like to bring in Garcia for his athleticism and scoring at the two. And of course Turiaf is very interesting as well.
This draft will be very important down the road, it keeps the salary in check because the player comes cheap, and it adds youth and speed. If CD and JVG screw it up, it will be very bad. FA is relatively easy to identify because all of them are relatively well-known.
I really like Simien and Turiaf, both seem to be what we need, in that they're good sized PFs who can get to the ball.
