I am still of the opinion that backup bigs are priority #1. I will agree that getting BB for some reasonable contract amount would be worth waiting on a big or just getting a warm body to eat up court time when Yao gets tired this season. But all the rest of these guys are not right for us unless they come really cheap. Fisher - Not great at anything Hudson - Too much like Steve Snow - Crappy shooter/too expensive NVE - Too expensive (although my favorite of these) Why should we rush and sign some guy that is not quite right. We can win with Lue/Wilks/Gaines, if we have the right backup to Yao. If we don't have the right backup C we might not be able to win with Magic Johnson playing point. Yao is going to get tired or hurt at some point during the season and a solid defensive minded backup that can rebound will allow us to still compete. As it stands now if Yao is out we will have Howard(SOFT) at center and MoT(REALLY SOFT) and PF with Spoon(Short and EXPENSIVE) backing both positions. This is not going to work. I am all for winning a championship this season but none of the available free agent PGs are going to make or break our season except maybe BB, and I'm not 100% sold on this. However the absence of at least 3 capable centers could totally ruin our season and knock the shine off of us as a top free-agent destination. No more bad contracts for questionable talent.
I still like the idea of acquiring Eric Snow. Sure, he doesn't shoot the 3 very well, or, at least, hasn't shown it yet. But he plays D, he runs the offense very well. And we need that sort of point guard. He's also fairly big and strong. Now, we can say Eric Snow has one jacked-up contract. True enough. But we've all read the article(s) that point out the fast ticket sales due to T-Mac's arrival. Les, I think, can finally relax about how much he's spending in salary (if not go crazy) knowing he must dole out the dough in order for the team to have some success. Besides, maybe next year, the team will bring over Vassillis Spanoulis; he doesn't sound like a wasted loser pick to me. Here's CBS sportsline's writeup on the guy: ------------------------------------------- DOB: July 8, 1982. Possible sleeper pick. Has developed rapidly for Moroussi in Greece over the past two years. Excellent athlete, aggressive and seems to have endless energy. Pushes the ball up the court and loves to play in transition. Good size for a point guard. Strong ball-handler, sees the court well and is an accurate passer. Makes quick decisions. Outstanding defender, especially in a full-court press. Has good range on his jump shot, but needs to be more consistent. Streaky shooter. Must get stronger to handle bigger NBA point guards. Sometimes too aggressive. - AP -------------------------------------------- So imagine if we have Snow and perhaps this guy running the show. We could be in good shape. OR, as others have pointed out, would Seattle have any interest in Maurice Taylor and, say, some of the TE for one of their backup centers and Antonio Daniels? I'd prefer Antonio Daniels and a good backup center. Obviously one of our power forwards is trade bait, depending on which contract would seem more palatable (Mo = too much money, fewer years; Juwan = decent money, one year too many).
I really want Barry on this team, I think he will be a great addition to the starting lineup with JJ and Howard. Those are 3 really good role players to support Tmac and Yao. Those are players that are willing to give up shots and pass to our stars. Our offensive efficiency will be tremendous and our TEAM defense under JVG's philosophy will still be solid. I think the best way to get Barry is to work a sign and trade with Seattle for our 6.9M T.E.. We could then have the ability to do up to a 4 year 32M contract if needed. That should be enough to get Barry considering the free agent landscape this offseason and teams paying a ton of money. Seattle isnt going to just S&T Barry to us for nothing. They are going to want a little something for the effort. Perhaps send us a bad contract (Booth? James) or we would give up a draft pick (maybe not a 2005 one, maybe a 2006 or 2007 pick, there could be 'conditions' on it). If we can get Barry with our T.E. then that would leave our FULL MLE to be used on one or two players to fill out our bench. We could make strong pitches to players like Eric Williams or Brian Skinner that would be great defensive additions to our bench rotation.
Could T mac play point? He has a handle,quick enough to guard PG's,makes good decisions with the ball. I'de like us to really go for Stephen Jackson. He's a proven role player ,who could be a vital starter. He could be our Mario elie for this team. His lost to the spurs was partly why they couldn't pull a two peat. he excelled in the spurs system and that was a half court team mostly ,so we know he'll do good here.
I do as well, far more than other options. The price still has to be reasonable however. I disagree if our target is only Barry. I think a 4 year maxed MLE is now like 29 mil. We could add a player option 5th year at 3 million for 32M if that is the ultimate number he wants. If 32 mil is around the price tag for Barry, no need to use the TE. To me that is the only reason to call Seattle--we want something else. For example Barry or Daniels plus an overpriced defensive big (James/Booth). Then we invove the TE. But just for Barry, the MLE is fine to play with, and if he wants more than that (4y 29 mil, 5 year 32 mil), as much as I'd like to have him, that is probably worth declining. Seattle has no right to match (if he signs with us he is a Rocket immediately) and it should be obvious to Barry he has a much greater chance at a ring (and no state income tax) if the deals are comparable. Looking at the salaries for even crappy FA centers it will be a lot easier to get a decent, even if overpriced, back-up C with the TE than it will be with the MLE, another reason for using the MLE for Barry. I disagree here. If Barry does not happen I'd gladly take Damon at 4/14. He made had been on a running team, but he had great A/TOs and good shooting, and has good size at 6'3" where he could play along side Lue at times. Also, look at what other possible 1 hit wonders have got--Daniels (40 mil?), Alston (up to 30 mil), even Arroyo (16 mil over 4, though I think the Jazz got a great contract). If Barry falls through the cracks, Jones for starting a 3 mil looks pretty good for up to 4 years. Much better than paying full MLE money for Fisher or Hudson--one who is coming off his worst season and another mainly know for being a one man offensive fireplug. Who knows, maybe we will take a lot more oppertunnities to run with a new mix of players as well--especially when Yao sits which could correspond to when Jones comes in. I strongly believe in the Larry Brown philosophy that you get all the easy baskets you can.
