like Deuce pointed out (and i've been saying) we've got ways to improve this team in a fairly short amount of time. this offseason we have a mid-1st round pick, an MLE, and then a TE that i'm pretty sure is bigger than the MLE (just in case swift or someone wants a little extra and other teams over the cap can't match). throw in the $11M expiring next year and mo's big boy expiring the next year and that gives us a chance to add to slightly overpaid but still highly talented guys with big contracts to the team after this offseason. we can fix this team and management better not screw it up. as for what we need more, or in reality is harder to get, i would say the pf. we need a real pf real badly. if you can get a kenny smith or derek fisher who can knock down a 3 and not suck horribly on defense you can easily get by (as the lakers and rockets proved). but you need a fairly competent (on defense and at least on midrange jumpers on offense) pf to compete, especially in today's west.
I'd like to see us add a 4 this summer that can also be a backup 5, like Cato used to do. This player could start at the 4, and Juwan could be the offense of the bench. This will allow us to not have to worry about re-signing Motumbo (at probably around $5 million, given how he has played and the dearth of centers in the NBA). I bet there will be a lockout this summer, and then a serious luxury tax starting next year when a new deal is in place. So we will need Motumbo's salary slot to stay under the luxury tax threshold (which I doubt Les will surpass). This becomes an even bigger issue when Yao gets his big raise in 2006-07. It would be nice if we could move MoT before then for a lesser player whose contract ends in the summer of 2006, even if it is for an injured player that we would cut. This would free up even more space under the tax threshold to sign another MLE player.
#1 A very good point guard. #2 A very good power forward But also consider what a very good small forward would do for this team. a. TMac could stay at 2 guard where he dominates and creates a big mismatch. b. we would add some rebounding c. a third scoring option would open up the floor some more for Yao. We need the very best upgrade we can get at either pg, pf or sf I would rather have a very good point guard, someone obviously an upgrade over Sura. That would give our back court alot of flexibiity. But I also think we need a starting small forward that could move TMac back to 2 guard because he creates so much of a mismatch there.
