<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Sonics have the deal done for Vitaly Potapenko and he is going through physicals and all of that before it is announced. However, the Sonics are not done on the center front. DeSanga Diop is out of the picture as he is expected to sign with Dallas, but the Sonics are still in strong conversations with Dale Davis and his agent Chubby Wells. Detroit is hot after Davis as well but they may have to use their entire mid-level to sign newly release Michael Finley. Finley to Detroit would be good for the Sonics quest after Dale Davis. The update on Finley is Detroit, Phoenix, San Antonio and the Heat are all hot after him. The Sonics have their entire mid-level to use for both Wilkins and Davis and may end up with both of them. One other note I am hearing around the league that the Spurs are trying to move Brent Barry only after one year with the team.</div> http://www.lockedonsports.blogspot.com/ The Wilkens portion was posted in another thread, but thought there were some interesting things mentioned here as well. Nothing we haven't heard already, but its still nice to hear that Davis is still a real possibility. What is interesting is where are the minutes coming from if DD is signed??? That would give us a 4/5 rotation of Vladi/Reggie/Collison/Vitaly/Davis/Swift/Fortson - not much floor time to go around with all of these guys. Odd man out here might be Reggie because signing both Vitaly and Davis would mean alot less time for Nick at the 5. Alot of it probably comes down to if Vlad signs the QO or the long-term deal. Interesting about Brent Barry, but can't say I'm suprised. Age catches up quick, and he seemed to have lost a step last season, but he still is a great shooter which never goes out of style. This is a perfect example of why I was wary of bringing AD back. How many years does Brent have left, two??? Why not just hold onto him another season and wait for his value to increase as a solid vet with an expiring contract??? Is SA near luxury land??? They could have just released him if that was the primary reason. Barry is a great lockerroom guy/leader but I don't really see the value in moving him now because I just don't see him bringing much back in trade. Maybe I'm wrong.
As much as I love Reggie, I'd rather have another competent center in Davis than another power forward. Mark my words, Brent Barry will return to form if he stays with the Spurs. He can't really lose a step with his game since he doesn't depend on speed. I think he needed time adjust to being on a winning team where he was nothing but a role player. Even at the end of the season, you could see flashes of his old self.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">Even at the end of the season, you could see flashes of his old self.</div> The clock is ticking--with a leaking battery.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">As much as I love Reggie, I'd rather have another competent center in Davis than another power forward. Mark my words, Brent Barry will return to form if he stays with the Spurs. He can't really lose a step with his game since he doesn't depend on speed. I think he needed time adjust to being on a winning team where he was nothing but a role player. Even at the end of the season, you could see flashes of his old self.</div> If Vladi is back along with Nick, I'm with your thinking about having another center as well. The problem lies in knowing that Reggie will be a consistent contributor for years to come, while its pretty safe to say Dale will give you at the extreme long end of projections 4 seasons - and probably closer to two in level production. It may not matter if we are using him simply to bridge the gap between now and when Swift is ready to start and Petro is ready to be a decent backup, though. As far as Barry, he doesn't depend on speed, but slowing down as he gets older relagates him to being only a spot up shooter. When he was with us, he was able to penetrate and get to the rack as guys would close out on his 3 point shooting. Next year any loss in quickness might turn that deep penetration into a midrange jumper - not a bad shot for Brent, but not as effective as the former, for him or the team. I can't think of a guy who was more effective on D as he passed 33 either. I still think Brent could be a very effective component to a championship club - actually the more I think about it the stranger it seems they want to dump him - but he's slowing down quick.
Why dont we atleast TRY to chase Tyson Chandler?..If we can land him, we get a young shot blocker to play center for us. And the way Sikma works with Centers on the offensive end maybe he can become an offensive player for us also?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting legendisdope:</div><div class="quote_post">Why dont we atleast TRY to chase Tyson Chandler?..If we can land him, we get a young shot blocker to play center for us. And the way Sikma works with Centers on the offensive end maybe he can become an offensive player for us also?</div> Could be wrong, but don't think we have the space with our pending offer to Vladi. So what could potentially happen is we make an offer to Chandler and assuming he signs it (a big if), and knowing that we have our money tied up in an offersheet to Tyson, some team like NO swoops in and offers Vladi the same deal we offered him, and because he's so pissed off that we overlooked him and went after Tyson, Rad signs it and we end up without either of them because afer 7 days CHI matches our offer to TC and retains him. Basically the reason we won't go after him is the same reason no one has made an offer to Radman, or Reggie, or Flip - Restricted Free Agent. Not that teams aren't interested in these players, its just that they are afraid of having dollars tied up in offers that will end up getting matched, and then ending up with nobody they want.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting M_Cage89:</div><div class="quote_post">If Vladi is back along with Nick, I'm with your thinking about having another center as well. The problem lies in knowing that Reggie will be a consistent contributor for years to come, while its pretty safe to say Dale will give you at the extreme long end of projections 4 seasons - and probably closer to two in level production.</div> What is Reggie's level of production though? Unless he suddenly learns to shoot the ball, those four years of production are still going to be him being off the court in crunchtime and not being an offensive threat. I would rather have two seasons of Davis playing 15mpg, for two reasons. Firstly, that means Nick plays his natural position at the four - the last thing I want is him being burnt out by playing in the middle a lot while we wait for Swift to come on. With his shoulders, there is no way Nick should be our number one shotblocking presence around the basket. Secondly, I can't think of many better veterans around the league that I would prefer to have around two young centres. Davis is as professional as they come, and has made his name as being a tough, uncompromising defender and rebounder. You lose a lot of energy with Reggie, but I think with Davis, Fortson and Nick, we will still be a very tough rebounding team and able to bruise a lot of opposing bodies. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get Reggie back, but if the choice is Reggie on a 4-5 year deal at anything more than $10-12 mill or Davis for a couple of seasons, I would be leaning towards Dale.
Also, we'd have to offer Chandler a max deal to even have a slight chance of landing him, and of course a max deal from us is less than the Bulls are able to offer.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">What is Reggie's level of production though? Unless he suddenly learns to shoot the ball, those four years of production are still going to be him being off the court in crunchtime and not being an offensive threat. I would rather have two seasons of Davis playing 15mpg, for two reasons. Firstly, that means Nick plays his natural position at the four - the last thing I want is him being burnt out by playing in the middle a lot while we wait for Swift to come on. With his shoulders, there is no way Nick should be our number one shotblocking presence around the basket. Secondly, I can't think of many better veterans around the league that I would prefer to have around two young centres. Davis is as professional as they come, and has made his name as being a tough, uncompromising defender and rebounder. You lose a lot of energy with Reggie, but I think with Davis, Fortson and Nick, we will still be a very tough rebounding team and able to bruise a lot of opposing bodies. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get Reggie back, but if the choice is Reggie on a 4-5 year deal at anything more than $10-12 mill or Davis for a couple of seasons, I would be leaning towards Dale.</div> I agree with this 100% - I was, albeit unclearly, thinking if Vladi signed the QO and we were fairly certain he was leaving next season. In this scenerio, I think an argument can be made that solidifying Reggie as your backup PF for the next 4-5 years would be more valuable than what Davis could give us in spot minutes/mentoring over the next few seasons (and I can't think of a better guy for the role). Of course the dollars involved is the trump card as you mentioned, and I also wouldn't want Reggie back at a long term deal at anthing over 3 per season because of his shortcomings. I guess with Fortson here for two more, and if Dale was here for two, thats plenty of time to find a backup PF - but if they can lock him up cheaply, I hope they wouldn't pass on it. All predicated upon Vlad leaving of course. With Rad around, Reggie is the odd man out and I've mentioned my thoughts on this in several other posts. In a perfect world, we lock Reggie up for cheap, and Dale actually comes here. According to Locke, we'll know tomorrow about DD
Maybe the Pistons find out about Finley tomorrow, and if that happens, then we move to the top of DD's list.
How about pursuing a player like Darius Songalia? With the Kings signing SAR, they likely won't match any offer for Songalia because they are already over the salary cap. Songalia is a back to the basket player, runs the floor well, and gives you effort every night. He isn't getting many offers, so the Sonics might be able to get him at a bargain price. Other possibilities Elden Campbell? Alan Henderson? Ervin Johnson?
I like Songaila a lot, but he seems strictly a power forward. We're looking for a guy who is comfortably playing mainly in the middle, not a power forward who can pinch hit there. We already have two of them. I have heard Campbell will retire if he doesn't go back to Detroit. I think Johnson is pretty much done in the league now, and Henderson fits the category I just stated. If we can't land Dale, I think I'd rather Pot than anything else that seems to be out there.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting legendisdope:</div><div class="quote_post">Why dont we atleast TRY to chase Tyson Chandler?..If we can land him, we get a young shot blocker to play center for us. And the way Sikma works with Centers on the offensive end maybe he can become an offensive player for us also?</div> Chicago has stated plainly that they will match ALL offers to their remaining FA's. Why should we tie up what money we have knowing that.
