I think we are one maybe 2 pieces at the most away from a championship. I think we could use another 4 with some size that can hit the 3 ball, rebound, and block shots with the help defense. Those guys are hard to find though with reasonable contracts. I would love to add Raef but he has 3 years left at over $10 million each. To me, he would be the ideal fit at PF for us.....if he was making about $5 mill/year. I think it all depends on where Van Gundy decides to play Battier mostly. There are going to be opportunities up until the trade deadline to add a substantial player and then next offseason, there is a lot of talent in the free agent pool and it doesn't seem that there is a lot of dollars to chase them with. A guy like Mo Pete may be the missing link if Battier is indeed effective at the 4. But the bottom line is we have the formula. And that is...surround Yao and McGrady with shooters that can defend. And we have the GM team to get it done. People can say what they want about CD but the man has us in a position to compete for multiple titles. And we do have flexibility. We've got S&T possible with Wesley. We've got the Howard/Head combo as a possible trade. We've still got our pick. We've got the TE. And we've still got part of our MLE to use this year, plus a possible injury exception from Sura. And then going into next year, we will be able to spend the MLE in the free agent pool where guys like Mo Pete and Stackhouse will probably be. We have plenty of flexibility and will have that flexibility throughout the season.
I'm sorry but when you here start pointing out international stats all I can think about is the same conjecturing that went on before we drafted Yao. Where are the jay williams and caron butler advocates when they aren't needed ever again? It revolves around knowledge of the game, a desire to win through being coachable and athleticism with talent.
SURA,DEKE,BOWEN,JHO,and ALSTON FOR JALEN ROSE and DAVID LEE JUST throwing some pieces out there since the trade thread is dead to objectivity. MAy be absurd but its the off season and i'm just trying to help this team.
Three pieces. possibly four. A power forward with some power. A shooting guard that can. A championship caliber head coach ...and, maybe a point guard.
No maybe's about it. I would like an upgrade over Alston. Perhaps a future pick for Steve Blake. He's a better perimeter defender, very similar to Rafe in distribution ability & both have inconsistent outside shots. However, Blake plays bigger and is stronger going to the basket.
Mo Pete next season and then Jamison the season after that to go along with the Big 3. By then Spanoulis will have taken over as the starting point.
