The fact that its possible that JJ could play better at 39 mins, than Spoon can at 12, should tell us that their ages and fitness levels should not even be compared. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum as far as that goes.
Obviously, he's in better shape. You have to take into account their roles on the team and the number of minutes they're expected to play. If you don’t believe JJ's 34 year old body will break down playing 39 minutes a season, there's no reason to believe Spoon's body will breakdown playing a mere 12 minutes a game. He did perfectly fine playing 17 minutes last season.
For one, there might be concerns about using the TE and getting a contract back that might trigger the luxury tax - if not this year, then perhaps next year. Secondly, a responsible GM would not think just about "right now". Mo's contract is HUGE and will still be on the books for two more years after this season. If you have a chance to get that off the books, considering that he is a ROLE PLAYER, you take that chance. You can get that same production from a player who gets half the MLE, or even from a second-round draft pick for a few years (if you are lucky). I am not saying Mo Taylor is a terrible player. He normally shoots a relatively high percentage, and even though he does not rebound much, he has size and a nice mid-range jumper. But his contract is a real burden on our cap. We should be able to get much more productive players for the same money. Just think about it: If we got Mo's contract off the books after this season by doing this trade, we would be something like 9 mio. dollars under the salary cap next year - by getting rid of one or two more contracts somehow (e.g., trade Pike for a pick, not pick up the option on Boki's contract...), we could even make someone like Kirilenko a max offer (to just name one example from the top of my head)...that might be unrealistic, but in any case, we should be able to spend the nearly 20 million dollars that would be owed to Mo for the two seasons after this one much more efficiently! That's why I would do the trade, not to get Kittles.
The Nets are more likely to trade Kidd to us for MoT and Spoon than swap Kittles and MoT. They are just trying to cut salary. That franchise is done with. They are going to be pathetic for a while barring some extremely good luck in drafts. If they agree to this, I would involve a 3rd team that needs a SG, and send him their way for something else we could use. Maybe we could get Chicago involved and swap Kittles with Jerome Williams after this? Maybe Kittles and Spoon for Antonio Davis? That wuold give us a good team and tremendous flexibility in 2 years. AD would backup the 4 and 5 for 2 years, playing 30 good minutes.
I disagree. Their roles have nothing to do with it. The fact is, Spoon, based on his condition last year, can't be effective for the same amount of minutes that JJ can, even if we wanted him to be. A 34 year old PF playing 30+ is not unheard of and personally, I feel if Spoon comes into camp in shape (I believe JVG talked about this at the end of last season), then he should be able to contribute more than 12 effective minutes. So the age camparison is still irrelevant. Saying we should be concerned about JJ playing 39 mins as we are about Spoon playing 12 mins is kind of silly don't ya think??? I mean, if a 33 year old guy can't play 12 mins effectively, then he should parked on the IR or at the end of the bench next to the ballboy.
I posted in another thread that maybe the Rockets should try getting Aaron Williams instead of Kerry Kittles. I'm not sure if the contracts are even near matching up but there are positives. They are both near the same size but Aaron Williams is a banger who rebounds and can finish around the basket. He also has playoff experience and finals experience. Sound like a good possibility for the Rockets?
