Watching the French team, I have to say that I like several of their players. That Batum kid, of course, and Turiaf (or as I call him, the Black Brian Blessed) but also Florent Pietrus (who Larry Brown also supposedly likes), and most of all, Boris Diaw. Now, we know the Bobcats are in full cost-cutting mode (see the Okafor-Chandler trade) and Diaw earns $9M this year and next. I think we could get him for Outlaw and Bayless, or perhaps even Outlaw and Blake, which would allow them not to spend money re-signing Felton [and I bet Larry Brown would LOVE Steve Blake]). Diaw would give us the perfect sixth man - he can play all the backup 4 minutes and basically any other position. He would be like getting Lamar Odom, only without the Laker stench upon him. Who's with me? (Oh, and Pietrus seems a lot like his brother - a real energy player. We don't really need him given our glut at 3, but he's certainly fun to watch.)
I was a huge fan of Diaw in his breakout year in Phoenix when Stoudamire went down with his knee injury. Since then, he hasn't really impressed me that much in Phoenix, but in Charlotte his production has gone up (most noticeably his 3-point shooting). However, I think he is a "Larry Brown" player, so I don't know if he gets moved. 9-Million is quite a bit to pay for a backup in my opinion, but considering Diaw is an excellent passer and can play the SF,PF and C positions (for a stretch), I would certainly like to have him on the team. Especially if his shooting stays good. I think he showed his talent and then got lackadaisical or didn't put in the effort. That's my biggest concern. But if we get a good performing Diaw for someone like Outlaw and others, I would think that would be a good deal.
France has a pretty good squad! Parker, Peitrus brothers, Batum, Diaw, Ajince, Galable (sp?), Turiaf. I am sure I am missing a few.
The interesting thing about Diaw is that last year was the first time he ever showed any potential as a quality three point shooter. He took 167 of them and hit at a 41% clip last year. That's what makes replacing Outlaw with him as a 6th man pretty intriguing. The problem is, how do you get that deal done? Diaw makes $9 mil, Outlaw makes $3.6. You could combine Blake + Outlaw in a deal, and that's probably pretty fair in terms of value, but I'd rather not give up a pretty good backup PG just to get a pretty good backup 3/4, when we already have an ok backup 3/4 in Outlaw. I just don't see how you get that deal done. And really, considering Outlaw and Diaw have almost identical PER, and Outlaw is completely comfortable as a 6th man, is it even worth the hassle and added expense to go after him?
I agree that including Blake would be a risk, and we'd have to find a veteran replacement (Pablo Prigioni!). I thought a little bit about trying to concoct a sign-and-trade scenario whereby we'd get Diaw AND Felton, but I couldn't be bothered to think it through. I think Charlotte would like that, though, because I think they want DJ Augustin to be their PG of the future, but don't want to look like they're just letting Felton go for nothing. Alternatively, Outlaw and Bayless works too (according to the Trade Machine). As to Outlaw and Diaw having identical PER - I think that just shows the sad inadequacy of PER. Outlaw's sole value is as a scorer. And when he's scoring, nobody else is getting a look, because he's just not a passer. Diaw, on the other hand, is one of those players who makes everyone else better. His basketball IQ (God, isn't there an alternative way to put that?) is just through the roof, certainly in comparison with Outlaw's. Everybody on the bench would look better if we had Diaw, and Rudy would be a lot happier taking up the slack in scoring. The only thing I don't know is how good Diaw's defense is. If it's good, then that's gravy.
His defense is average. Won't block shots, but won't get embarrassed too much either. His rebounding is a bit weak, but he has above average passing.
I agree that Diaw is the superior player. But I don't agree that they are so far apart as you describe. Sure, Outlaw's only real skill is in creating shots for himself and hitting three pointers, but those are pretty valuable skills. Especially for a bench player. The thing is that we already have pretty good scorers on the bench in Fernandez, Blake and Bayless. And Aldridge and Roy look to be 35 mpg players for the next decade or so. So Outlaw's ability to create isn't really as big an asset for us as it would be for a lot of teams. Diaw, as the do-it-all guy who facilitates others, would make more sense on our bench. But just because Diaw fits here better than Outlaw, doesn't mean that Diaw is a lot better player. If your team has zero scoring coming off the bench, you might even pick Outlaw over Diaw. Or at least it'd be a tougher call.
I live in the Phoenix area, so have cought more than my share of Suns games. The major complaints by Suns fans against Diaw is that he is major soft. His next dunk will be his first. He plays with no aggression at all. He gets blocked a lot down low because he does not attack the rim when he could easily dunk the ball and make the shot or get fouled. Remember, when Amare was out injured Diaw was in a contract year. The stars really did align for him that year. I would highly suggest staying away from Diaw, he is fools gold.
more than anything I'd be worried because he seems to be more productive when he actually plays starters minutes (nearly 40 per in Charlotte) than when he plays 20-25 off the bench. But I do like him as a player, just not as much as LMA.
Of course not as much as LMA. But I share your concern about minutes. However, another thing to remember is that he threw almost as many alley-oops as Steve Nash in his best year in Phoenix...
Diaw is overpaid and is kind of stuck between several positions and doesn't do them extremely well. He declined quite significantly after he got paid.
I want the Blazers to get a really slow french player on the team just so I can use the nickname "EsCargo"
I'm probably biased because I had him on my Fantasy team the year he blew up (and then I avoided him like the plague the next year, as I knew he'd be overvalued with Amare back and Diaw also getting paid). The guy can play. But I don't know if he'd be a great backup just like how he wasn't a great backup in Phoenix. Great skillset though, somewhat similar to Odom in that sense. I feel pretty good with what we have on the team with Miller joining. I'd like to sign a decent backup PF like a Joe Smith, but if that doesn't happen I expect to see Outlaw occupy a majority of the 12 or so backup PF minutes available per game. No reason we can't play Oden and Pryzbilla for stretches together other than it would probably really stagnate the offense.
I like Diaw a lot ... I've never really considered him as a viable option for the Blazers because of his contract size, but if Larry Brown really wanted to bite on Travis and Blake or Travis and Bayless I'd probably be inclined to do it (though I'd prefer the former rather than the latter). Unfortunately, I think it's all academic at this point since KP seems to have a massive woodrow over Blake and even Travis. As they say: anything is possible ...
You know that Nissan has a van they call the S-Cargo... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_S-Cargo Look at the picture...
I really really like what Diaw brings as a 3/4 in court IQ, but I do think he's severely overpaid. However, I think the addition of Miller and Diaw could make us a much more intelligent and versatile team that'd be incredibly fun to watch (over Outlaw). If we could swing Bayless/Outlaw for Diaw/pick I think that'd be a great situation where they get some young talent, and we consolidate a little more, and add some more passing and court IQ to our team. I love this rotation that's left... Miller/Blake Roy/Fernandez Webster/Batum Aldridge/Diaw Oden/Pryzbilla that's a legit 10-deep team that I think would be a championship contender. I wouldn't mind just a straight up Blake/Outlaw for Diaw deal either, but I don't know if our management would be willing to trade Blake, or if I think Bayless is the right guy to play backup PG. I'd kind of rather just have Roy/Rudy/Miller split all the backcourt minutes personally.
