And I agree with all the posts above saying dump Howard and fillers for Love and Mozgov. That trade would not only help us in terms of rebounding and big man FT percentage rising sky high along with midrange+3pt shooting, Howard would help them contend with Golden State and possibly get Howard the ring he may or may not really care about
Gonna take a whole lot more than that. Barton is putting on 16/6 with close to 40% from 3 on a bargain contract.
True, but MKG's defense and rebounding is so good he's still valuable without a jumper. His defense is as good as Kwahi Leonard's. He'd compliment D-Mo's non rebounding ass well.
Do not want MKG. Got enough bricklayers already, if he came off the bench maybe. Batum or Barnes please.
If we can actually trade for Batum then surely we can trade for one of Smart, Oladipo, Warren, Hezonja, or Hood.
If you play MKG with D-Mo you can look at MKG as a 4 and D-Mo as a 3. One shoots and the other rebounds.
Gasol, Dunleavy, Brooks for Lawson, Jones, Brewer Rose is never healthy long and Lawson would strive in that system. Plus Lawson and Rose could share the court much better than Lawson/Harden. Jones is a serviceable back up. Brewer gives them the spark off the bench that is willing to run. Gasol is still a very good PF/C that plays the pick and roll well. He's a pretty good passer out of the post as well. Dunleavy gives you that consistent deep threat we have been looking for. Brooks has consistently shown he plays well in a Rox unit and has improved his game.
The only two guys I like from that list are Warren and Hood. Oladipo is a poor shooter for a guard and im not sure he really fills a need, but I must admit that he would be dynamic off the bench. Warren is very underrated, sign me up. Rodney Hood is a good player but again none of these guys are going to put us over the top in my opinion. Barnes would be awesome here. Batum is a seasoned veteran and he's very crafty with the ball, he's also an ab over average rebounder at his position and you have to respect his shot. Good defender.
Batum is a pending free agent. He's balling now for a big contract. Problem is after he got his last contract he went missing for big stretches of the next 4 years. He was so bad at times that Portland wanted to move him a couple years back but couldn't get anything for him. Just inconsistent, asleep at the wheel, and not really focused on winning ballgames. I've always admired Batum's skills. But I don't admire his work ethic. I think he's a money player, not a championship player. I WOULD NOT give up any trade assets for Batum, then have to re-sign him, then have to worry about whether or not he's going to perform long-term. If we really want Batum we can get him for no trade assets this summer. I'd rather invest our trade assets in a good, young two-way player still on a rookie contract that's got a year or two left on their rookie deal that we can continue to develop. Oladipo may not be the best shooter. But he's a good up-and-coming two-way player. And he can defend the point while making plays, scoring, and shooting a decent percentage on the other end. If we could combine our trade assets and get him, I'd do that in a hot second while creating even more cap space to use this summer. Then go after Durant and if we don't get Durant then we can talk about getting a guy like Batum at the 3.
Hey man I agree, if we could get Oladipo I would do it. He is very very solid. You understood my points though yeah? You may be right on Batum, which in that case a Barnes esque signing would be the go. I don't see Durant coming here. Another guy I'd take a look at (this may be an unpopular opinion), would be Evan Turner. He is the guy at Boston I'd inquire about. He can't shoot the three worth a damn but he's a solid defender, can run the point adequately and has a nice mid range game. He didn't flourish at Indiana but I think he would be an excellent compliment to our bench in the Shaun Livingston role. Use his size as a mis match in the post and back down smaller guards. Right in that age bracket too.
Yeah, I like Evan Turner. Really like his perimeter D and he's a playmaker. Can't shoot but he can make plenty of plays. Very underrated. Like Barnes BUT...I really think we gotta get a 3 that can handle the ball. And Barnes can't handle nor do anything but shoot the 3 and finish. He cna't make a play, can't pass, can't handle. Parsons gave us that variant with his handle opposite Harden. Ariza can't handle the ball and he's a disaster trying to make plays and it hurts us on both ends, both with the bad plays/turnovers on the offensive end but also those plays turn into transition for the opponent and we are terrible in transition D. I have to wonder what Barnes is going to become after he gets his dough. His handle should have developed by now and it hasn't. Frankly......I think we gotta move on from Ariza. Last year was nice. He was a top-notch defender for us, lock down defender. But I'm not seeing any of that lock-down D this season from him. Teams are going around him like he's a statue out there. And his shooting is very medicore and his playmaking is atrocious. I actually believe Turner would be an upgrade from Trevor because I think Turner is actually a better defender than Ariza is at this respective point in each of their careers
I have been saying for a while that Ariza needs to go. Fair point on Barnes, I still think his handle is far sharper than Trev but I can see your point of contention there. Personally, I wouldn't start Turner because that lineup would just be a disaster offensively, but I love the idea of him coming off the bench and running the point, and backing down smaller guys in the paint and hitting his little turnaround J. We should take a look at him imo.
