IMO we should be seriously considering getting our hands on some Forwards. The game has developed into a matchup of predominantly Forwards in the last couple of years. Just look at the past champions and contenders, forwards make the difference. 1- Boston forwards: KG, PP 2- LA: Gasol, Odom (not so evident, but just look at LA between Shaq and Pau period) 3- Cleveland: LBJ, Ben Wallace 4- Detroit: Ben and Rasheed 5- SA: Duncan New young forwards have the height and speed to go up against Centers, they have the agility and power to go by defending Guards. They can dribble, shoot and get boards. Their all-round skill is the reason why Forwards are having so much success in the league now. So it's time to make up our loss of Rudy Gay with some talented forwards. My 2 cent
on my iPhone so bear with me...rox package Tmac, head, and rafer to Chicago for nocioni, hinrich, and joakim Noah. They get the superstar they want and rox get a veteran PG, a scorer and hard nose player in nocioni, and a backup center for Yao. Not sure if this works salary wise but would be intriguing.
Tmac + Landry + Head + Hayes to Washington for Caron Butler + Brendan Haywood + Etan Thomas Both Haywood (makes 5.5 Mil) and Thomas (makes 6.8 Mil) are free agents in 2010
Once the Thunder officially sign Nenad Krstic, they will have way too many big men and not enough guards. By my count, there are only three true guards on the team (Westbrook, Watson and Weaver), and only two who actually play minutes for OKC. For these reasons, a Luther Head for Johan Petro deal would make a lot of sense. Luther could step in immediately and be a solid rotation player for the Thunder. Petro is a legit center who has a decent mid-range jumper. Plus, if Petro doesn't work out, the Rockets can let him go in the offseason. If Morey can also get the rights to one of Seattle's big men playing overseas (ideally, Serge Ibaka, or maybe Devon Hardin), that would be gravy.
Noah is not on the trading block, already made public. But your salaries just about match. Only nice thing I se about KR and AN is their reversing contracts (going backwards)
joe johnson (2yrs) + speedy claxton (2yrs) for mcgrady (2yrs) or ben gordon (exp) + larry hughes (2yrs) for mcgrady (2yrs) or brandon rush + marquis daniels (exp) + raso nesterovic (exp) for mcgrady (2yrs)
Who the heck is KR and AN? Is it so tough to type out their full name? Or even a simple copy and paste if you are not sure of the spelling.....
In reality there is a hand full of players who fit this team perfectly and to my knowledge the team has plans in 2010 as well and trades that happen would have to come off the books by then. Calderon <--- youth Nelson <--- youth Redd <--- veteran are 3 players who i know for a fact would do great here and 2 of them have a buy out clause. To me it's just a matter of time though in terms of youth, flexability and talent will the Rockets make more moves so they would continue to be ready by 2010. Bosh, Wade and James are 3 targets and we could cross out James, but Wade or Bosh are realistic. Yao and Bosh would be a force and we would need a Calderon or Nelson to handle the rock. Wade and James to me don't seem like they will leave i just have that gut feeling would not make sence for a GM to not have cap space to resign them players of their calibur are rare and already have homes where they are at. I do suspect Dirk and Amare to leave though.
I would absolutely LOVE to have Dirk here. Dirk and Yao... Savoring the pleasure... We've always wanted a sweet shooting 4, and now, the ultimate one? Dirk, Yao plus a capable point guard would be absolutely devastating.
Head + Hayes for Frye + Freeland (draft rights) Alston, Brooks McGrady, Barry, Wafer Battier, Artest Scola, Landry, Dorsey Yao, Frye, Deke
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081228/SPORTS03/812280360/1002/sports This would be a future looking move as Smith is out for the season and has been since the off-season. The Sixers might be willing to do this move with Speights having supplanted Smith.
The only one that is slightly realistic is rush daniels and raso, and i would do that, but then again im a tmac hater
*You could also replace Scola with Landry in this deal, although Landry has a clause that requires him to OK any trades he is involved in. Why the Rockets do it This trade solves a few issues from the Rockets perspective. Firstly, it supplies the Rockets with a legitimate 7-foot backup center with championship experience in Elson. He's not a defensive stopper, but he has shown enough defensive discipline to be a big minute player for Popovich and the Spurs. He's only played in 16 games this year and is getting less than 10 minutes per night, so he's obviously not a huge part of their plans. Secondly, it bolsters our PG situation through the addition of Tyronne Lue. He's proven to be one of the most efficient, experienced backup point guards in the league and would be a great option to play about 15 minutes during stretches where one of either Aaron or Rafer are unavailable. His career 3PT shooting % of .392 would be a welcome addition in this inside-out offense, and his career Assist/Turnover ratio of nearly 3 to 1 is equally attractive. Villanueva is the wild card here. He's got size (6'11"), length, and solid athleticism to go with nice scoring and passing instincts (although the passing has not been featured much in his NBA game). He has also shown an ability to run the floor and put the ball on the floor much better than most players of his size. The downside is that he's not a defensive presence (although neither are Scola or Landry) and he has a tendency to fall in love with the 3 pointer. However, he seems like he could be an Adelman guy and really blossom here. Losing Head and Wafer would hardly be deal-breakers here, so that shouldn't be an issue. Losing Scola or Landry would obviously be significant, but I feel that since neither of them is far and away a better player than the other, that one of them is expendable if a trade comes along that could improve multiple positions. Why the Bucks do it This is pretty simple. The Bucks are reportedly shopping Villanueva in an effort to upgrade the position and it's also said that with Damon Jones returning, Tyronne Lue is the odd man out to be included in a deal. As stated before, Elson is hardly playing for the Bucks at the moment, so I would think that his influence on the deal would be minimal. You'd have to think that the Bucks would be interested in a proven starter like Scola or a very promising Carl Landry. From their perspective, I think both would be seen as upgrades from Villanueva, and both have very reasonable contracts. In Wafer, they receive an athletic SG with some size who can play behind Redd. Currently, they don't have a player in that mold, so he could be more attractive to the Bucks than most other teams. With Luther Head they would receive a guard that has shown he can at least be a rotation player (first 2 seasons), and at worst a dead-eye 3 point shooter (this season). Wafer and Head are both cheap and come off the books at the end of the year, so the Bucks would not have any financial reservations about the inclusion of either guy. In the end, the Bucks get rid of the guys they're shopping, get a starting quality PF in return (either Scola or Landry), a quality rotation player or two, come out with a slightly more balanced roster, and are no worse off financially. For a team that is actively shopping a guy, that's not a bad deal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't get me wrong. I love both Scola and Landry, but I really feel that this deal would shore up some holes in the team (another PG, a backup C, and a long and athletic PF) so much that it would be worth it to move one. You have to give to get (unless you're the Lakers and you want Pau Gasol).
