I was very much opposed to Josh Smith not too long ago as well. However, I do believe that he's improved quite a bit over the last two season or so. He'll still take a bad shot every now and then and he'll never approch the game like KG does, nor will he ever have as high a basketball-IQ. That said, he does bring a lot of positives to the table and without question is one of the best PFs in the league. Something to consider is obviously fit. Asik and Smith wouldn't necessarily be a bad fit, but it's not really a great fit either. Defensively they'd be quite the tandem, but neither guy is much of a lowpost threat and Smith isn't much of a floor-spacer, so you might run into some trouble on offense in the half-court. Smith would look great next to a guy like DeMarcus Cousins IMO. Those two would complement each other quite well.
No thanks to Josh Smith. Why pay max money to a guy who can't create his own shot and can't draw a double team? That would be a big mistake. Aldridge, K. Love, D. Cousins - what are you guys smoking? No way we could EVER get them. I guess there really aren't that many options........and my choice would be Al Jefferson. Hope we can get him without giving up D-Mo.
I don't know if he'd be worth giving up TJones and/or DMo----maybe. Tjones could develop into a better player. But Millsap is "gettable". Just don't know if he's the way to go, but the dude can beast. Millsap? Josh Smith? I'd like a 4/5 type not named Al Jefferson---very talented but brittle. He's more attainable than a name I'd like to suggest, Al Horford, but Atlanta won't take that phone call.
LaMarcus is not going to get traded no matter how much the Blazers suck. The Blazers will probably suck but it's not going to be because of LMA. You guys can quit dreaming about him. He's Portland's franchise player and they will keep him here as long as he doesn't pull a Dwight Howard. Same goes for Kevin Love even more so though. As for J-smoove he's a nice player but I wouldn't want him at the asking price. Smoove is a glorified/hyped up role player who feeds off of other good players. He's not an Alpha Dog that you can rely upon. He's a 3rd option at best. Ideally he'd be best suited as option 4. It's risky enough with Harden because as good as he is we don't know if he can handle being the "Alpha" and if he's worth the Max contract or if he's just going to be another good borderline all-star. You know what you're getting with Smoove. A 3rd option player. With Harden we're likely getting an option #2 player who has a small chance to be an option 1 player. Investing heavily in 2nd and 3rd option players without a true #1 is a recipe for disaster.
A headline saying "LOVE TO HOUSTON" sounds good right now. But, we can only acquire him through trade. He has four more years remaining with Minnesota. Looking at the assets (SF's AND PF's) that we have right now, I doubt we could construct an interesting offer. ;/
I think Bima said if we decline Delfino, pick up the options of Marcus Morris, Aldrich and Patterson, and max for Harden, we can have $13 Million for a max player. So I guess Bynum is in the mix. If I understand the cap somewhat, unlike Bima who knows it in and out, we would need to renounce some rights, like Cook and Douglas(Who is a RFA after 2012-13) to have the max for sure. I think these are our salaries for 2013-14 Lin- $8,374,646 Asik- $8,374,646 Delfino- $3M (IF PICKED UP) Aldrich- $3,245,152 (IF PICKED UP) Patterson- $3,150,820 (IF PICKED UP) Morris- $1,987,320 (IF PICKED UP) White- $1,719,480 Jones- $1,551,840 Motiejunas- $1,422,720 Parsons- $926,500 Smith- $884,293 Machado- $788,872 Then Harden in $13M range, not sure the exact number, Bima had it, but can't quite remember it.
Only place Love wants to go is back to Cali, LAL has the best chance of landing him if the Wolves don't progess. ***** the LAL!
I'd rather have Smith than Jefferson, based on most recent play, but it's close. Real close. And when you consider that Al can play center and PF (leaving open the ability to play a lineup featuring Parson, Jefferson and Asik), while Smith generally can't, and the Rockets have an extra PF to trade, I'd be fine with Jefferson. Moreover, when you consider he might be someone the Jazz would be willing to move, it makes some sense. But hard to see it happen without giving up D-Mo. Rockets can trade back D-Mo and a future pick. Of course, not sure why the Jazz would want another post player, when part of the reason for trading Jefferson would be due to the glut in the frontcourt, so it's probably a 3 team trade type thing.
True. But if he does say demand out then it'll come down to who can trade for him and if he has a list of teams he'd like to play for. This is still at least two seasons away though.
Love, Cousins, Aldridge..never say never..things change. I never though we'd get Harden!!:grin: Never doubt the Wizard.
I would love to have Aldridge and think he is a fantastic player, but the Blazers are in close to the same situation as the Rockets are. They are also trying to build for the future, and giving up a great young player is not the way to build a contender. I don't see them giving up Aldridge any more easily than the Rockets would give up Harden.
I thought the Dwight fiasco and Melo Drama would've shown you that it doesn't matter who can trade for you. Also, there is no list. It's either LA or stay put. He's not making a lateral if not worse transition to play in Houston.
Houston has a huge market (China) since Yao Ming came in, and we have gained a lot more of the fan base now thanks to the arrival of J Lin. Harden will shine in their eyes since he was already a member of the OKC finals team. Wouldn't be surprised if we got 2 all-stars this year.
