I actually think it could be interesting to sign Bazemore as a PG. Would be cheaper, younger, and potentially more balanced than Conley without the injury. Not a huge fan of Jennings shot, way too streaky.
I agree with this logic. Courtney Lee, Evan Founier, and Eric Gordon and Bradley Beal are good options for this as well. I think hiring a coach that thinks outside the box and puts in a system that emphasizes running, 3 point shooting, gang rebounding, and being able to switch anything on D to defend the pick and roll would be a good move. Gotta accept that Harden is here to stay and play to his strengths and cover his weaknesses, a traditional lineup isn't the best fit. (A)/beverly Harden/(A)/KJ Ariza/(B)/KJ (B)/Beasley (C)/Capela A: Beal, Lee, Bazemore, Gordon, Fournier B: Durant**, Batum, Barnes, Williams, etc C: Horford*, Dmo, Noah, Gasol, etc Could still have a traditional starting lineup but Its who finishes that matters, Its time to change the thinking, I've seen KJ McDaniels work better at PG next to Harden than traditional PGs, Itd be hard to convince me that Jason Terry is less of a liability guarding PGs than Courtney Lee.
True. I think it depends on when you go after him and the Horford situation. If Horford is gone from Day 1, I don't see anyone getting him from Atlanta. If Horford stays then, there may be an opportunity. If you wait, and Atlanta is already over the cap and and using his Early Bird Rights, I think you have no chance. If you swoop in early and force Atlanta to use their cap space, I think they may have to pass on him.
Hire Messina. Trade Ariza and Beasley for Mirotic and Snell. Sign Llull. Sign Noah. Sign Gentile. Resign DMo. Beverley / Llull Harden / Gentile / Brewer Snell / McDaniels / Dekker DMo / Mirotic / Beasley Capela / Noah / Harrell
I really like Bazemore too. I'm all about Biyombo, Bazemore, Chalmers type of players. Sometimes those kind of players are better around your star than other stars are. Harden carried these type of players last year with Dwight hurt most of the year except our players were worse. It's also just a more realistic route than just saying go after Durant, Horford, Conley, Whiteside, Batum. I think Morey's time is up soon if he doesn't give his coach more power in choosing his own system, but to put it on Morey to actually sign these pipe dreams is putting unrealistic expectations on him that no other GM could live up to either.
As I mentioned loads of pages back (so not blaming you on not having read it), Fournier and Beal really suck on defense as far as all the stats show & one knowledgeable poster backed that up with their eye test. Don't want to pay those guys.
Pushing Ryan Anderson with his defense makes me think this Hoops critic should find another line of work.
It is not just that. Most great teams have players that develop and end up much better than anyone anticipated. When they play better than their contract, the team becomes better what they should really be able afford. Since we cannot do that this year with the draft, getting young up-and-coming players is the way to do that. Only worries with Biyombo would is he too one-dimensional and too similar to Capela? Same with Noah, who is an older but much better and proven version of Capela. Also, didn't Chalmers tear his Achilles? He won't be back for awhile and may never be the same player.
free agency should focus on the replacement of Dwight, shooters and PF...upgrade at PG should be in trades..if Bev would stay, get his backup at the draft
My plan... 1) Sign JVG to clean this mess up and hold our players accountable defensively. Clean house and hire supporting staff that will focus on player development. Capela, Dekker, Jones, KJ and all of our other young guys sucked and/or regressed this year. Granted, them sucking was a microcosm of the larger problem of EVERYBODY sucking and getting worse, but no competitive basketball team is sustainable without a pipeline of young bodies waiting in the wings and being groomed. None of our young guys looked rotation ready yet except D-Mo (Capela had his moments, but spent more time looking like a space cadet). 2) S&T Dwight to Milwaukee for Greg Monroe (complicated, I realize, but this is our best case scenario for Dwight's exit, IMO). 3) Split the remainder of our cap space on some combination of free agents from the following categories: Longshot (expensive and unlikely): KD, Horford, Batum, Barnes, Parsons More realistic (price and good fit): Ryan Anderson, Courtney Lee, Eric Gordon, Greivis Vasquez, Seth Curry, Humphries, Hinrich, Donald Sloan, Mozgov, Deng, Teletovic, Biyombo, Dudley, Ish Smith Bargain Bin (coming off of bad years and/or declining): Nene, Noah, Kevin Martin, Brandon Jennings "Hometown discount": Scola, Josh Smith Match - If the contract he signs isn't outrageous: D-Mo Obviously, that's casting a very wide net in free agency, but I think that's what you have to do with such an obvious need for a talent influx and with huge holes at the PG, PF and C. The higher the skill set, the better. You watch a team like GSW and they have 2-3 players that can grab a rebound, take the ball coast-to-coast and dish at any given point. That's something we had with the talented-but-flawed types like Lin and Parsons, but have been missing ever since. And not to beat a dead horse, since this has been discussed so extensively here, but....shooters, shooters, shooters. We need them. Be judicious with the contracts you offer. Try not to overpay. Try not to invest too heavily long-term (another reason why I like dealing for Monroe - only on the books for two more seasons; final year is a P.O.). 4) Get lucky in the draft. Not exactly a logical approach, I realize, but DM needs to pull one of his magic tricks. Our young guys were crap this past season. Hopefully, a new coaching staff can get them back on track, but we have to at least be entertaining the possibility that none of our young guys are rotation ready yet.
Possible C additions to pair with Capela. who do you like more: Ezeli (RFA), Mahinmi (UFA), Biyombo (UFA)?
The better question might be, Which one is cheapest? Or, would Ezeli be matched? Ezeli would be my vote of the three but he will get a big raise. Golden State might be loathe to lose him for nothing. The Warriors could always trade him later. Perhaps. I like Biyombo's grit. We seem to play better without a traditional center anyway. His free throw shooting isn't Dwight-abysmal, so he might be a "get".
I'm bullish on Biyombo. He's been a great defender and rebounder throughout his career. Offense could be better, but he is quick, athletic, and high energy. Him and Capela would be a solid platoon at Center (even though their skill sets are a bit duplicative)
This post made me think that Messina will eventually rise A LOT our chances to sign Llull and Gentile...
Personally i like all of them. But probably i go with Biyombo cause he's still 23. The problem is that Ujiri is famous to overpay role/bench players, Bismack had a very good season so i think you must overpay only to have a small chance... Ezeli may require a smaller contract to be left go since the Warriors have other big contracts coming, Barnes this year and Curry, Iggy, Bogut, Livingston next...but i don't know... Mahinmi is already 29 so i think he's just going to take the money, don't see him coming here in any case.
Another name to consider is Meyers Leonard. He is very athletic and a Damn good shooter (50/40/90 level). He'd be a great complement to Capela in the front court and would be a perfect PnR mate for Harden. He's an RFA so you may have to pay a bit to pry him away from PDX.
Nah dude...he's too slow, not sure why you're saying he's athletic...bad defender...he can shot but that's all, and for a big is not enough, especially if you probably need to overpay since the Blazers will have a ton of cap space...
