Presumably Howard would be shipped out in order to clear space to sign DeAndre. I wouldn't do it though. It sets a bad precedent if we wanna lure big name free agents in the future(*cough* Durant *cough*). Plus Dwight is a better player than DeAndre at the moment. After all, whose team made it to the WCF?
I'd definitely give up Dmo for Bledsoe in a trade, reason being is that we'd have our full MLE to lock in Smith since we wouldn't need to sign Llull or use it on any other point. On top of that, we can nab Scola for vet him to help our PF rotation. Re-sign Bev and Brew with bird rights and we'd be ready to go for a championship run. Bledsoe and Harden would be a monster back court duo in the league for years to come. Something like Motiejunas, Dekker + future picks and fillers (Papa, Prigs) for Bledsoe would be a steal. PG: Bledsoe / Beverley SG: Harden / Terry SF: Ariza / Brewer PF: Smith / Jones / Scola C: Howard / Capela The defense and athleticism between Bledsoe, Howard, Smith, Ariza and Beverley would be amazing.
The problem is that team has no inside scoring threat other than Dwight. Now obviously the Warriors just showed you don't need that in order to win a title, but they also have incredible outside shooters and also had one of the luckiest championship runs in the history of sports. I'd much rather unload T-Jones than D-Mo, although I will concede that the Suns would likely demand D-Mo in any deal for Bledsoe.
I was a little early with that is a solid roster. Your right there is no shooters on that team, besides Harden, Bledsoe, and Terry.
If we strike out on Aldridge, is it realistic that we can swing a Bledsoe trade and still have cap room for Kevin Durant when the cap rises next summer? Bledsoe and Harden are on very undervalued contracts and perhaps Dwight can restructure his deal when he opts out to make a Durant signing possible? I'm not cap guru, but a Bledsoe, Harden, Durant and Dwight lineup is filthy.
They didn't have a lot of shooters this past season either. I don't mean guys who put up shots. They had plenty of those. But for a team that shot so many freaking 3's, it's amazing how few reliable outside shooters were on the roster. Harden, Ariza, Bledsoe, Terry, and even Smith and Bev might be enough. But like I said, that proposed roster has no inside scoring threat. You need someone you can go to in the post when the outside shots aren't falling. This past year, they had that with D-Mo. I would hate to give that up.
Sure, but would all the egos fit? I don't mean ego as a negative, either. These guys are human, they want to play basketball in a way that is fun for them. Will they do what KG/Pierce/Allen did and each sacrifice a lot of touches?
I know they had didn't have a lot of shooters last season. The rosters the same from this past season except for Bledsoe and Scola. Of course, you would take out DMO. I would of like to see how DMO would in the playoffs against better PFs than he saw in the regular season.
Thinking about it I really don't see how Harden and Durant can play together at this point in their careers. Harden is the go to guy now and he might not want to share the ball with Durant.
I would think it would work out. Westbrook, Harden and Durant played great together during their run to the Finals, and Westbrook is much more ball-hoggey than Eric Bledsoe is. At this point in his career I wouldn't imagine Dwight having too many problems with the pairing since he only has a couple more years left to win a championship while he's still a main guy, something he's definitely itching for. He doesn't need the ball when Durant, Harden and Bledsoe are on the perimeter and I think he's perfectly okay with that.
