Ryan Anderson is a good basketball player good teammate and good person who often gets injured and sits on the bench. He also can't play defence at all and is not a good rebounder. We could do a lot better by not spending 18+ million dollars to an extremely injury prone one way player. Extremely risky plan. You have to take the middle ground here. Retain capspace for next years free agency but also be competitive this year. If we fail at A) and B) of your plan it's almost certain we will be in the lottery. If we are in the lottery the % of getting a star in next years FA are minuscule and then Harden expires and leaves. We saw that this year even though we made the playoffs at the last minute , we sucked that bad we couldn't convince Durant to even meet us and according to Stein, Morrey has been working on Durant for at least two years. All the plans gone to waste because we sucked completely for one season. If Houston is in the lottery which star next year do you think will want to come and sign here?
I'm coming around to that position... given his age and his general overall above averageness. He's a solid floor leader and general, and on a different squad, with a different coach, perhaps you do then chase him on that max deal. On this team, you only do it if something really really really tells you that Conley, at a faster pace, would actually flourish. And maybe that's true. Maybe the Grizzlies style has held him back. I mean you're talking about a team that hasn't been better than 26th fastest pace in 5 years. My personal view is that his style is not really conducive to that faster pace. Could he play it? sure, in an even more structured system... say the Spurs, or the Cavs, or Heat. But on the Warriors, or with MDA... don't think it's a fit. ... BUT... BUT... what do you do then? Offer near max contracts to the likes of Jordan Clarkson or Evan Fournier? is it weird that I wouldn't be against either of those moves??
even if we maxed out Fournier, Orlando would match. He's probably my favorite FA in this class for what we need, but we won't have a chance at him; we ought not waste our time.
Conley / Anderson wouldn't be too bad. Conley / Beverley Harden / McDaniels / Goudelock Ariza / Brewer / Dekker Anderson / Beasely / Harrell Capella / Motiejunas / Qi
it's a recipe for a 2nd round exit at best; and a first class ticket to long-term competitive non-contending status.
I hate the fact that he is below average defensively and not really capable of playing PG. He did split time between SG and SF last year, though the Magic were meaningfully worse when he played SF. So, basically he is a SG, which is your one position of strength. But if you consider harden can play PG/SG/SF and Fournier could play SG/SF then it should work. The Magic would match a max contract then? Probably I guess... especially given they just traded Oladipo likely specifically to keep Fournier. What about Clarkson?
No that's not weird. And I would be for either one but I think Orlando is locked in on Fournier after trading oladipo. Clarkson could POSSIBLY be had.
I think they need to add more ancillary pieces than this, though. They need more shooters off the bench and a competent backup big man. Throw in a guy like Dudley and a decent defensive backup center, and I'd be willing to roll with that rotation. That's a 50-55 win team, but it's probably not contending in the future without another piece or some major improvements from their young guys.
I'm not claiming to be some authority or insider (ala basketballolic) but i followed the same logic you did on the Olidepo/ Ibaka deal and it's clear they highly value Fournier and have the cap space to keep him. Don't think the Lakers will max out Clarkson, but there's a good chance they overpay to keep him. I think a lot depends on how they view Russell, right?
With Fournier, it would all be about the match up. Assuming more teams start to play the "switch everything" defense, you don't really know who is defending him or who he will be defending each possession. Especially in our pick and roll heavy offense (I'm assuming with MDA), we could be looking at a switch on him like every possession on offense. Long story short, surround him and Harden with long, dynamic, athletic defenders and that could help cover their asses on the defensive side. Clarkson has upside, I think he'd be a great pick up for for the right price..
