http://www.realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=4870945 Blake and Sergio for Conley and Haddaddi (then waive Haddaddi) We become... Conley\Bayless Roy\Rudy Batum\Webster\Outlaw LMA\Frye Joel\Greg They become... Blake\Lowry\Sergio Mayo\Buckner Gay\Ross Warrick\Arthur\Miles (LMFAO!) Gasol\Darko ----- I don't see why Memphis would do this, but would you?
No because Conley should NOT be a playoff teams starting PG and Bayless, while better, shouldn't be our starting PG either. I wouldn't trade Blake in a Conley trade.
This trade would give Bayless some PT though. I think he will end up being a better player then Conley anyways, but it would be good to have Mike on the team with Greg. I don't care what anyone says about Greg and Mike, I wouldn't mind them playing together again.
Strangely enough I don't see point guard as our most glaring area of deficiency (long term), mostly because I think Bayless is going to develop in a year or so as our full time starter, and one of Blake or Sergio might be able to fill the team's backup PG role. Secondly, if you are worried about immediate help at the position, I don't see Conley as a significant upgrade over Blake or Sergio (a lateral move at best); if you are going to consolidate players for a trade target, that player should be an established veteran who doesn't have to be a "star" but should approach the talent level of a guy like Mike Bibby (ie. an above average starter).
But Blake is better. A steady hand, and is solid. He can SHOOT which is huge on offense. You think Conley would mesh w/ our starting unit? To play off the ball all the time? And tbh, IDK if Conley is that much of a better prospect than Sergio. Sergio is like 22, no? You really can't just baby the big man. We have done it too much. Personally, I think Bayless is better now, and that he has a higher ceiling and better potential. So this wouldn't really be immediate help or long term as a backup PG. These are my thoughts. Its a lateral move that is making a trade just to make one, even though I understand the fact that it opens up PT for JayBay (did ya'll hear KP on courtside? He really like Bayless... and the BFT interview w/ Bayless yesterday... JayBay is awesome and is taking everything sooo well... if you have Questions about hsi attitude you should podcast that). I just don't think trading Blake is smart when we are aiming for the playoffs. I think it makes us worse this year, and with Bayless and the Surge it doesn't really benefit us in the long run. In my opinion that is.
Shooting is a nice thing to have, but a PG needs to be able to create for other people. Most of this happens when you break down a defense and get into the lane. Blake can not do that. For whatever reason Sergio doesn't do that very well either. Bayless however can at will.
I think for our team, the PGs ability to shoot and spread the floor is extremely important. I think our starting unit would struggle w/ someone like Conley or Sergio. I agree that they need to be able to create, but we shouldn't act like Conley is a great creator. Sergio is a better creator and playmaker. But Sergio also dribbles too much and only looks to make the pass that gets him the assist. On top of his poor D and lack of shooting and his TOs... all of which have gotten better though. HE will continue to progress. HE is a project, like Conley and Bayless. Lateral move that will have an effect on chemistry, imo.
On what are you basing the idea that Bayless is better? Some summer league games? He hasn't showed much skill in any NBA game, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Bayless is 'better' than Conley.
What has Conley shown? Conley played in summer league and was horrid. You don't think Bayless would get better than 8 and 4 in 25mpg? He got 11, 3 and 3 in preaseason games where he got minutes, with a 15, 7 and 7 game. He played wonderfully in the Pac-10 (best conference in the country last year, imo) as a freshman getting 20, 4 and 3 playing PG and SG, with a team devestated by injuries, an abrupt coaching change and took them to the tourny. Bayless has played better in college imo, in summer league imo, and in preaseason imo. Give Bayless 25mpg and I think he would be a great addition to this team, and has a higher ceiling. And Blake is playing better than him this year also. And Sergio is a pretty good prospect, and I'd argue that he is near the prospect of Conley.
He's shown that he can run the point for an NBA team. Bayless has shown he can score on a summer league team. First of all, Conley didn't play 'horrid' during summer league. Look it up if you want to. I'm not saying Bayless isn't a fine player...but he's not a point guard. It's fine if you believe that Bayless would be better than 8 pts, 4 assists right now in 25 MPG. It's good that you have a lot of faith in him and I guess it's only natural to see the best in the players on your team...but it doesn't change the fact that Bayless isn't a point guard. There's no way he could get that many assists...in fact, not even close. He doesn't have the court awareness. He doesn't handle the ball nearly well enough. He turns it over a TON. The fact that Bayless isn't getting minutes and Conley is, tells me that Conley is more prepared to run a team than Bayless. I'm sure Jerryd could get more than 8 ppg, but if we're talking about putting Bayless in at the point...that's going to be a disaster. Again...Bayless is not a point guard. Bayless had the ball in his hands 90% of summer league and managed a TOTAL of 5 assists in 130+ minutes. He's going to be a nice scoring guard and MAYBE he can play alongside Brandon Roy. But that doesn't make him a point guard. I'm sure with 25 MPG, he'd produce some points. But will he be able to pass the ball? No. This has nothing to do with Blake or Rodriguez. I'm talking about Bayless vs Conley at running the point.
Conley averages less assists than Blake and he he has the ball in his hands more than Blake. Blake also has a 3.24 A/TO ratio; Conley's is 3.1
He would be able to run the PG position FINE for us. We don't need a pure PG. We need a PG to bring the ball up, play D and play off the ball. On top of that, one that will take pressure off Roy by being able to get to the hoop. Drive and Dishes would be great also. All these, Bayless excels at. Simple as that. At an extremely mediocre level. Well he got 8apg in high school and 4apg in college (and he played SG for more than half the year due to injuries they had to get their 5 best on the floor, but he played PG as well). He can drive and dish with the best of them, and every time he saw the floor in preaseason and the reg. season he has looked to get other players involved. To say that there is "No way he can get close to getting 4 apg" is ridiculous. 4apg? We aren't talking about 7 or 8 or 10... but 4. I think Bayless would be getting about 3.5apg if he played PG for 25mpg at least. Wow... completely different situations. If Conley was on this team he would be the 3rd string PG as well. Bayless would most likely be starting on Memphis. And lets remember, this is Conley's 2nd year, and he has been BENCHED in favor of Lowry.
I wouldn't do this deal. I think that Blake is a superior player at this point, and I think that Sergio is finally starting to show the improvement we'd hoped for. It would hurt us in the near term, even if we believe that Conley is a superior long-term prospect to Sergio. Another not-insignificant point? Size. Both Sergio and Blake are markedly larger than Conley and simply swapping in a little guy for a big guy is often a bad idea. Finally... Bayless. I like Bayless. I am very excited about his future. I simply see no need to move players to clear space for him to play. If and when he's ready for minutes, I think he'll get them. Whether it's this year or next or two years from now. I just don't see any reason to rush him, especially when the team is playing so well this season. Ed O.
