As of right now our two biggest holes in our lineup are at the 4 and 1. On paper a PF tandem of MoT and Howard doesnt seem so bad, but without Cato we would have one of the softest frontlines in the west. Its been argued many times that Yao needs a banger down low to help him out and Cato filled that role out nicely, but with him gone now yao will be left alone in the paint by himself. This will eventually take its toll on Yao and he possibly will flameout at the end of the season. Both howard and Mot are not shot blockers and expect yao to end up with many more fouls, which is unacceptable since Yao already averages too many fouls for the time he plays. The prospects of landing a decent backup center for cheap is not good this offseason. Ideally I would want Etan Thomas or Adonal Foyle backing up Yao, but I expect them to get Nearly the entire MLE, bigmen dont come cheap these days. The talk around the board is about which point guard to get Dfish, Brent Barry and Carlos Arroyo? How useful would fisher be outside the triangle, he could hit some but played very poorly last year. Brent Barry cant play a lick of defense if his life depended on it, he also wants a 4 year deal worth the full MLE. At his advanced age it would be far too risky to waste money on him. I havent seen arroyo play, but looking from his stats he doesnt seem to be a good 3pt shooter. With yao, howard/Mot and JJ we would have one of the smallest and softest front lines. Dont expect to have one of the better defenses with that lineup next year. Remember defense wins championships and ours could possibly be alot worst next year. The question I ask is what should be a higher priority, finding a Starting point or PF?
I'd argue that backup C is a bigger issue than PF right now. Either Juwan Howard or MoT will be perfectly fine. Juwan is a solid 17/7. MoT was good last season, and is working hard on his game this summer. He's very motivated, and putting in the effort. I wouldn't want to keep both, but any of these guys would be a good starting player for us. However, we have NO backup C right now, and our only shotblocking comes from Yao. We need to go after a PG and a backup C, while trading one of the PF's and signing Antonio McDyess. I've mentioned this thousands of times already, and it's being talked about everywhere, but a good deal would be one of our PF's for Antonio Daniels and Calvin Booth, followed by signing either McDyess or Eddie Griffin.
Ya, i Say the most glaring aspects we need to fix are PG and The backup Center Spot!. For me the Ideal Signing would be, Keon clark and Brent barry!
I vote point.Howard/Mo is way better than lue/gaines at point. Taking the thread to a more general aspect(Sorry madmonkey,thought this would fit in here),what would be your next steps after you go for a PG or PF in FA??? My guess is either mo or howard have to go,they are just to similar.If brent barry insits on coming here,I think seattle would be willing to S&T him (Plus booth so it works) for Howard + TE.I'd prefer to keep MO,he's younger and I believe has a shorter contract,plus he alread knows JVG. We would keep the MLE to sign Mcdyess,a perfect bruiser,rebounder PF to play alongside YAO, and IMHO,get some decent depth for our bench. Yao/Booth McDyess/Mo/Spoon JJ/Boki/Griffin T-MAC!!!!!/Pike Barry/Lue/Gaines That team would be really balanced,just makes me wish it was october.
waetherspoon got injured as he was about to earn good minutes and a.griffin spent the whole season injured. i wouldn't be surprised if jvg selects either one as a starter this upcoming season.
Neither will start, both of them are going to give us problems like Cato did. They really can't score and defenses will play off of them and give them an easier way to double team.
Griffin is an Interesting Prospect, he was pretty active with the Mavs!. It's true injuries amongst other things basicly ruined his Season, but i still would Rather See JJ Start!. When healthy, Griffin is Pretty Solid defensive player, also he has an effective jump shot!. I like to see him play anywhere from 10 to 17 minutes a game next season!
