LOL yes, because our dilemma at the 5 is what is standing in the way of our title aspirations for next year. LOL, some of you kids that post here absolutely crack me up.
Rockets trade T-Mac Rockets Receive Amare Utah trades Keriliko and Kosta Kufos Utah Receives T-Mac Phoenix trades Amare Phoenix Receives Kerilinko and Kosta Kufos
I was unaware of that,but he is a poor ball handler without a doubt. I haven't seen him taking people off the dribble or getting to the basket much or finish around the basket, although his 3 point shooting has improved. Please correct me if I'm wrong,I recall him creating offense from getting steals,forcing turnovers,rebounding and passing the ball. All these things are important but he doesn't seem that kind of player to me anymore. I'm not sure how much time he spent defending Bryant,Odom or Gasol but the Jazz were overwhelmed easily whenever they made an effort against them. Other Jazz players like Boozer did a poor job on defense, and they did miss Okur for the most part, but Kirilenko was unimpressive IMO.
Would Sloan be able to accept McGrady as a player in his team? This news is bs. Just the thought of having McGrady might drive Sloan to suicide. Bad rumor.
Bima - We would likely get laughed off the phone for inquiring about that pick for McGrady alone (and rightfully so). Do you see any combination of players we could include in a package that would make them budge (assuming they are also desperate to unload Kirilenko's contract)? From my perspective, the only real way to rebuild is through the draft. Free agency is a complete crapshoot sellers market while trades deplete your resources also being a terrible market for buyers. We need to be stockpiling picks and that New York unprotected is more valuable than an outside shot at Chris Bosh.
Roy turned his team around, Brandon Rush not so much. Rush was a lottery pick Clutch said the Rockets had tried to work a draft day deal for.
I know ya'll hate tracy here, but to the Jazz? Come on, That's worse than death. I wouldn't even wish that on hitler
They would have been drafting Rush knowing he was a complementary piece with his skillset, not a main building block. In any event, I'm not saying that the draft is a sure-thing. I'm saying its the cheapest (in terms of assets) way to acquire talent and rebuild as it is a lot easier to acquire a pick than it is to acquire the realized player that that pick later becomes.
..........that doesn't mean Rush isn't a player and isn't going to have a significant NBA career. I happen to believe he is going to become and excellent player and All-Star before his career is over if he stays healthy.
Having AK47 and Ariza makes for an overload on the wings with Battier. Battier to Portland (if they are still interested) and various assets from Portland to Utah. I haven't <i>tested</i> in a <i>Trade Checker</i> yet, but with that much <i>flow</i> in players/contracts going around, something could be worked up in a threeway deal.
Kirilenko was actually a fairly decent passer during that 2003-06 period. He was far and away the Jazz's best player (until the team added Boozer, Okur and D-Will in 2005) and facilitated much of the offense. Hence, the 5-by-5 (which includes assists). But once D-Will and Boozer became the Jazz's new version of Stockton-to-Malone, AK-47 was marginalized in Utah's offense. More importantly, Kirilenko was moved from PF (where he could easily take larger defenders off the dribble) to play exclusively as a SF (where those gifts could not be as easily implemented). Much like a shooter who is moved to the bench, only comes into the game in infrequent spurts and subsequently finds that his FG% takes a big dip, so too was Kirilenko and his ball-handling skills. He was asked/allowed to handle the ball so seldomly that when he did, his efficiency took a major dip. Perhaps a return to playing more at the PF spot, being in a more open, less PG-dominated offense, and being asked to handle the ball more will re-awaken the vintage AK-47 circa 2004. I actually think that the Jazz are one of the few teams without a need for either Brooks (they already have D-Will and Maynor) or Landry (if they re-sign Millsap). Maybe if they dump Boozer they could use Luis Scola. I'd be hanging my hat more on the Jazz being REALLY desperate to dump Kirilenko's contract and needing to do so as a condition precedent to being able to re-sign Millsap. If the Jazz can dump $26-29M in contracts on the Rockets in exchange for McGrady alone (the Jazz are purportedly talking about dumping Boozer now simply for luxury tax relief, as amazing as that sounds), we're starting to talk about some SERIOUS financial benefits.
It's easy now to sell the story McGrady was offered for X's bad contract. This is likely the Jazz front office doing some groundwork.
You think they would be THAT desperate to include that pick? As you said, it's the most coveted asset in that organization after Williams. Though, if it came down to a choice between re-signing Millsap and trading the pick (by means of unloading Kirilenko), you would think they would have to pick Millsap over the unknown commodity. I would be interested in knowing if that organization's financial situation is in dire straits "we HAVE to dump this contract" ala Phoenix or if it's more of a preference. In any event, acquiring that pick is far and away the best possible return on a McGrady trade, IMHO. As you said, it would immediately be ushering in the "[draft pick's name] era" without the uncertainty of free agency or the depletion of trades.
