Theres nothing bad about it. and if it happens it won't mean he's a bust. But with JVG telling Derek Anderson that he will have to earn his playing time, that tells me that goes for everybody. So with that in mind, one of the most interesting things to watch for in training camp, will be the play of Luther Head vs the play of David Wesley. They will be battling for that backup shooting guard spot. My bet is on Head.
Well something's got to give, I just can't believe we'll start the season with 8 guards on our roster.
I think Wesley still battles DA for the starting spot and Swift battles JH. I predict the incumbents will start at the beginning of the year and pure merit will eventually prevail. I have no predictions who will eventually win at either of those spots as the season progresses. It could go either way. With the glut of guards we have, Head will get very little playing time unless he stands out. It's all about winning now, not developing Head. This year will mainly be a learning experience for him because too many seasoned veterans are ahead of him. I think CD may still have a couple of things up his sleeve at PG but we may have to wait until late September for something to happen.
Do you think that signing Derek Anderson means there is no chance in getting Sprewell. How bout pulling a two for one deal (trade 2 of our guards) in a sign and trade. That would also free up a roster spot. Jay Williams is just intrigues me......low risk/ high reward? If not, we could sign Baxter or Glover. What do u guys think?
I like the team we got now. We have a versatile and deep guard rotation. Unless we get a legit upgrade, I wouldn't mess with that. I hope this trade for Sprewell business doesn't end up happening. He's not better than any of the guys we already got. I say, we finalize Deke, extend Yao and then call it a summer. We could always tweak the roster with trades during the season after we figure out how this team fits together.
Spree is alot better than most of the people on this board are giving him credit for. A 2 for 1 deal with minnesota would make a lot of sense. Even with the addition of Anderson, we have no backup for t-mac at SF(unless you dare to call Ryan Bowen T-mac's backup.) If we can dump the salaries of some guys and bring in Sprewell, he could definitely contribute a lot.
Guys, we're done. We have ten players who deserve consistent playing time. We aren't going to add an eleventh and a twelfth. That will just lead to problems. There is absolutely no sense is stockpilinig players who deserve playing time but aren't going to get it. Let Baxter, Glover, JWill, etc. latch on somewhere else where they can actually get some PT and maybe a better contract in the future. It's not like Mooch or Ward are chemistry problems anyway. Quite the contrary. Can't we just be happy with the unit we have now, and wait til the season starts? Oh wait, no. Everybody ALWAYS wants us to make yet another move.
With the age we have in our back court and the continued lack of youth we still have, we must continue to keep one eye on the future. Is that V-Span? Could J-Will be in our plans? I don't know but I like the group we are getting ready to go to war with (James, DA, Sura, Barry and Wesley) having said that they are a little long in the tooth as a group and surely will not last long past this year. Head could and should probably be sent to NBDL for at least part of the year unless he shows he can really contribute right away, which I doubt he will. The guy has potential but seems to have some issues in his game based on reports from the summer leagues. Glover is a guy that could make the team that could provide some athletisism but probably would not see much playing time with the current group of guards we have unless one of them gets dinged up or hurt...which is always a possibility with their age. I see no more moves in the back court that will provide a steady rotation player this year. Possibly someone to back up T-Mac or another player in the front court such as Baxter. I say barring a trade we are at least set for the first part of this up coming season.
I think we are done for now, I don't think we will have a significant addition. I think a lot of the 2-1 trade talk was before we were able to get DA for the LLE. Assuming Deke comes back, we are solid and deep everywhere. Might as well roll out the ball and let them play. If the guard play isn't cutting it by midseason we have 2-3-4 expiring contracts to play around with wile their value is peaking. Glover and Jay Williams are out of the picture with the DA signing. He is just a better player than those guys and now have 5 quality guards in addition to Tmac. After a bunch of contracts expire this year flyers like these will have a chance to make the roster for 05-06. I do hope we can make room for Baxter. We would have to waive Ward or buy him out to create an open roster spot and it might cost us a few lux tax dollars. I hope we do it, probably 50/50 of it happening. Adding Swift and DA already has improved our athleticism greatly, we don't need to press a rookie whose game does not appear ready and whose only attribute is athleticism. There is almost zero chance Head could take time away from Sura, DW, DA, MJ or JB this year anyway. These guys are proven vet NBA players, Head struggled to find a place in the offense against 2nd rate summer league opponents. Head needs to go to the NDBL where he can get lots of minutes and work on his shot. Too bad that won't create a roster spot for someone else as Head would still be counted towards the 15 man roster, but Head needs to be there anyway for his own game.
Spree made sense before the DA move. Now we are already a little tight for PT between the 1,2, and back-up 3, and DA and Sura can spell Tmac as well as Spree could. I agree those minutes should not go to Bowen, Bowen is injury insurance at this point, we have better alternatives to backing up Tmac.
We have 7 guards so that has to be addressed, don't know whether that will be addressed in the off season, regular season or by expiring contracts. Before you guys mention replacements like Williams, Badiane, Head, Glover or Baxter make sure you know that these guys are better than the guys you want to get rid of. Badiane will be no help for at least 2 years if ever. Didn't get to see any games in the summer league but I heard Head struggled. Williams is a project whose first goal is going to get back to the level he played at during his rookie year, and he was no standout in his rookie year. From what I heard about Baxter, perhaps we could cut Baker and bring him aboard for the rookie minimum, the financial impact wouldn't be all that great to be able to put a guy in a uni that could actually get some playing time.
all you guys who are saying spreewell wouldn't be a huge addition to our team are mistaken IMO..... remember, in the playoffs, we'll need to get by the spurs, heat, pistons, and suns, all of whom are deeeeeep. We need tall athletic swingmen to guard the other teams players. Spree would be better than sura, wesley, anderson, or whoever we have at D. If we can get spree we should take him....when he wants to play, he plays with intensity. he can guard stackhouse, finley, dirk, and others.
I think we still need to trade two persons(Ward and Baker) for Spree and then try to trade Moochie to another team for future considerations. By doing so, we will have room for Spree, Lonny, and Jason Williams or Glover. What do you think about that?
I don't see it. Not only are DA, Sura, Barry and Spree the same size, at this point in their careers with the exception of Barry they are fairly close athletically and defensively. We also have Tmac, taller and quicker than Spree or any of the others, and who will never have to play PF again. Playing a swingman (Wade, Manu) going off we can throw Sura, DA, and if needed, Tmac at them. We have Swift to play rangy hybrid 4s like Dirk and Marion. With the current roster (good sized swingmen and athletic forwards) I think we are more suspectible to quicker 1s (Terry, Parker, Bibby, Nash, Billips) than your Stacks, Finleys, Manus, Rips. This is a concern I'll live with (hopefully James and DA give us some alternatives to play hot 1s with), and Spree does not help here anyway.
i disagree. i think spree's a better defender than DA, sura, and barry. sorry but barry shouldn't be in this conversation. Plus we don't want to have TMAC waste unneeded energy on D. Spree is a better man on man defender than Sura. DA is a good addition, but why not take Spree also, he's a solid, solid player all around.
I wonder if it would have been smarter to wait on Bowen. We could still have a roster spot open to sign someone like Demarr, Rodney White, or Spree for the vet minimum. I understand Bowen is probably a good locker room guy and resigning him makes sense in that regard.
well if we get him thru sign and trade, at least one guard will be gone, so he'll get his minutes. he's better than sura, better than head, and in some cases, better than wesley. he can still create his own shot, and pretty much has no real weakneses in his game other than his attitude at times. but he WILL PLAY under van gundy, because he respects Jeff. if we can get him, we have too. you guys who don't want him for cheap are smoking something. i'm talking about straight up basket ball skills here.Just think about our depth!!! we could have him come off the bench! he'd be a great addition.
You're thinking about Sprewell of two years ago. He was terrible last year. I don't buy the theory that he "tanked" last year. I think he's just old and no longer very good. If you just looked at how he played last year, no one would want him one this team. But because he's Latrell Sprewell, a name that people recognize, a lot of people seem to want him. Simply put, we don't need him. He doesn't bring us anything that we don't already have.
