I'm glad you clarified the intent of the original post, because from reading the directionless original post my initial reaction was to the "method of acquisition" column, and thus the hostile beaten to death lotto pick for Shane topic, or one of those SHANE SUXXXXXXCX threads. So under the restrictions that we're comparing only the current year's production among these particular players salaries, I can agree that Battier is the highest paid of the 4, but doesn't significantly outproduce either of the four. A question that would tie together all the loose ends is this thread: Would I want to trade Shane for any of the other four, straight up? Yes I would, although I think Barnes is a punk, so I would be hesitant about him. I would disagree with your assertion that these Battier type players are easy to acquire, because that implies there is a great supply of players of this mold, but little demand of said players. Ariza was a highly sought after player when he hit the free agent market, and probably got multiple MLE offers, but the rox were fortunate enough to have been chosen by him. Afflalo was a special circumstance where Detroit had a glut at that position AND wanted to clear cap space, so a high demand player who normally wouldn't be available became available to a team had special cap circumstances to acquire him. Pietrus hit the unrestricted free agent market after he actually got worse his 5th year in the league, so this Battier-type player was actually worse than Battier when he became available, and happened to become better than Battier the year after he dropped in production. Barnes is a punk, which explains why he's been a serial 1-2 year contract player. Posey is the closest thing to Battier, except he hit the market as an old guy, and the hornets overpaid. So, my conclusion, to get the stable, predictable, productive defense oriented 3 point shooter, you're gonna have to hope they choose you as free agents (Ariza), overpay to secure his services (Posey), give up something in a trade (Battier), or draft him (Afflalo and Courtney Lee). The other players (pietrus, barnes) were not sure 100% things when they hit the market, which explains they contract status. So I do not think it is as easy as you make it out to be.
Haha....He gets sacked quite often so some people might be finding their way to my ignore list if this keeps up. P.S. I'll play along: Battier for Gortat/Redick
This thread is either hate or love... The on-court numbers in the original post seem (to an ignoramus like me) to speak in Battier's favour. The salary numbers aren't his best friend though. There is a difference between being the guy who sets the defensive standard (Battier) and being the guy who has the tough guard (Affalo). Having said that, I'm all for trading Shane right now if we can get an expiring back - his money for next year isn't really too good for us.
"ethnic element elephant in the room?" Just say it..stop beating around the bush here lol - Battier aint one of my "dawgs", and we dont get to have an inner hard-on from young sinewy athletic man displays of dunks. Battier value relative to his pay, I'd say yes there's other players at his level of pay that can produce more. More value to be had. But he's not quite quite albatross level. But pushing it.
