ya i also think the bucks would be extremely stupid to trade their best player in redd for nene, who is a serviceable big man but nothing near the star redd is.
Who could we get when we package Jon B, JJ, and MoT? Would there be anyone who wants to take a chance on MoT and his contract?
Clutch, what's ur take on that Nene trade? Is that a possibility or are we still looking for other teams that could provide us a PF ? or are we still gonna make another trade or not?
Why would Denver give us a 22 year old power forward for 34 year old Jim Jackson? Repeating that JJax is a good fit for them doesn't magically make the deal sound any less inane. That deal would be about as dumb for Denver as if they traded Glen Rice's expiring contract and 2 draft picks for John Ameechi.
Technically I think we swapped 2nd round picks with Utah, so it was essentially only 1 draft pick. Deal still sucked though.
Don't forget we pulled a TE out of that deal that was used to acquire TMac and we still have a substantial TE left that originated with that deal. When that TE is used for a quality player, then you can make your wisecrack comments about CD, but until then you should reserve judgment.
We only have one TE left out of the Orlando deal. The original TE was folded into that deal, and formed a new smaller TE. And the fact that they keep pushing the TE into the future is getting on my nerves. We gave up a 1st round draft pick in that Rice trade. It was a financial deal. I mean if we had kept Rice longer, then maybe we could have gotten into a deal to land Rasheed or something. I'm really getting discouraged that CD isn't going to get anybody decent with the TE.
Also notice his comment was all about defendng the other team, and Barry wasn't known for his defence.
They're looking for someone to replace what they lost in Voshon Lenard getting injured and being out for the rest of the season.
I guess we'll see soon enough. I really think CD is doing the best he can do with the hand that has been dealt him. I really don't think CD wanted Rudy T gone but he knew that Les wanted to win and Les felt like a change needed to be made. So CD and Les went and got Les' NY man in Van Gundy. And subsequent to that, CD is making trades to bring in the players that Van Gundy wants to coach here. So, CD is limited in what he can do. If Rudy T were here, he would have MoT, Yao, TMac, Sura, Barrett, and Boki running and gunning to the tune of about 105 ppg. But we would be poor to mediocre defensively and an even poorer rebounding team than we are now. The difference would be that other teams would be looking at Taylor as an asset because he would be throwing in about 16 ppg and getting enough minutes to get about 6-7 boards a game, so it would be easier to move him for some defense/rebounding. Under Van Gundy, that ain't happening. Under Van Gundy, all our players look like garbage, just like those NY players did. So, what can CD do? I really think that is the only reason that MoT is playing now, and the only reason why Van Gundy is letting the Rockets run up and down a little bit in games against poor opponents. They are doing their ................. to showcase Mo for a trade. The worst part is I think Mo is intentionally laying down on them to make it difficult to move him for anything of value. LOL Les wants to win. He isn't gonna let CD do nothing and let the TE expire. We are gonna use it. It's just a matter of time. I really think we are gonna use it before the trade deadline. And CD will get the best possible deal for it. We are really operating from a position of weakness right now so CD understands that we have to wait until a better deal presents itself similiar to the TMac deal popping up. We've gotta wait until somebody else is desparate and is willing to lay more on the table for our junk. I think that is being a smart GM although it is frustrating for us the fans. Here's where I feel like the root of the problem is right now with this team. We had Rudy T, a championship coach, coaching this team. Rudy is an offensive coach. He was always working on creating offense. Les could see that wasn't getting the job done anymore and that this team needed some defense. So, he goes and gets his defensive coach in Van Gundy. Van Gundy tells Les he wants to play an uptempo game with Steve and Cat and Les is thinking he's got the perfect scenario, a defensive minded coach who is gonna let Steve and Cat do their thing and play uptempo style. He gets to keep the offense and add the defense. But what happens is he brings Van Gundy on board, and a few months later we are seeing the Southern Knicks instead of a faster paced high intensity offense combined with an in your jock, pesky, overplaying defense. Now, he's got all this money committed to Van Gundy. He's got no choice but to listen to the man, and give him a chance, and bring in the types of players that Van Gundy wants, so CD is left to do this task. CD is not the same GM he was when Rudy was the coach. When CD and Rudy were running this team, they both knew what they wanted. Now I believe CD is just working as a grunt for Les and Van Gundy. And this deal with Van Gundy hasn't run it's course yet for Les to be willing to admit that it was a mistake and to move forward with a different coach and coaching style. Who could know that this was going to happen? When I heard that Van Gundy was gonna run a fast paced game, I was all for him. I wanted his defense and the fast paced game. If I was Les, I would have hired him too. The difference between me and Les though, is I would have probably ate the money and canned Van Gundy by now because I feel like he lied to us. That's probably why he's got all the dough and I don't. So, I don't feel that CD is a bad GM and is the reason for this team's roster. He is just bringing in the talent that Van Gundy wants. Remember, they wouldn't have done this deal with TMac unless Van Gundy thought it would be a better deal for this team. Van Gundy didn't feel like we could win with the backcourt style of Steve and Cat, so we have TMac and Howard now. Van Gundy doesn't feel we can win with MoT. So CD is gonna move him for something before long or they will end up buying him out at the end of the year I believe. Mo's signing is the one mistake that I can place squarely on Rudy and CD. He is overpaid and would be overpaid even in Rudy's offense. But I still believe he would have been easier to deal under Rudy than under Van Gundy because of the differences in the way that Van Gundy and Rudy handle players. Almost every team in this league and every GM in this league has signed a contract with a player that came back to bite him, including Jerry West. Just look at the crazy money West has given to some of that talent in Memphis. And West is considered the best GM in the game. If you are gonna assess blame in this organization for our roster and our current situation, most of the blame has to fall on Les, bless his heart. Les' desire to win has actually hindered the development of this team because he brought in a coach with a different basketball philosophy who sold him on the fact that he was something he is not. Van Gundy is a grind it out coach and if he never changes like he says he is not going to change, then this team isn't going to go very far, no matter who we bring in. Because the league is changing. The league and the fans no longer want to see those nightmare, most boring, horrid, disgusting, foul-filled, slugfests of so called basketball games that the Knicks and Heat used to play. Hence, the rule changes that allow more offense. If the Knicks and Heat of the late 90's were playing today, they'd each have about 7 players fouled out by the end of the 3rd quarter. And mark my words, it's gonna get even tighter on the defense. Since the league is allowing zone defenses to be played, the next move that they are gonna make is to tighten up the play in the post. All bumping, pushing, hacking, pulling, and hooking of the Shaq era is gonna be gone in a couple years in favor of a cleaner played game. All the league has to do is tell the refs to blow the whistle. And if Van Gundy is not careful, he is gonna be stuck in never never land, trying to play snail ball in an era of the second coming of showtime. All of the future superstars of this league are the open court, up and down players, Lebron, Carmelo, TMac, Kobe, Nowitzki, Nash, Stoudamire, etc. etc. etc. etc. Even Garnett is a gazelle not a truck. Even the Spurs, who play shut down defense, are fast paced and play uptempo with Parker, Gino, Bowen, etc. Duncan is just the big anchor that causes them to flourish in half court and makes them that chamionship team. Even the championship Pistons with the toughest D in the league last year, play uptempo and get up and down the floor with Billups and company. It's what the fans want to see. It's what sells tickets. And it's what the NBA has always been known for up until the last 15 years or so. So the future of this team really rests on Les' shoulders not CD's. CD isn't gonna fire Van Gundy. He didn't hire Van Gundy. CD simply tried to find the man that Les wanted. Les hired him and Les is controlling the purse strings and giving most of the support to Van Gundy. CD isn't even in a position to tell Les what he thinks about Van Gundy. CD knows the money that Les has committed to Van Gundy. I think Les will eventually figure it out and either Van Gundy will change his style or Les will change out Van Gundy. Until Les trusts CD enough to get his honest opinion on basketball and coaching matters, CD will continue to do the best with what he has to work with. He is simply not in a position with Les right now to do much else.
He is a "soft" rebounder. In short he is borderline soft. We already have enough flower fowards. But I will take him though over Motay and Juwan.
Here is our latest over at the RealGM Hawks Front Office: http://hawks.realgm.com/articles.phtml?aid=501 Good Luck, guys...thanks for the thrashing when we were in HOU!
