It seems like with KP's draft history I'd rather rely on KP's draft knowledge in the long-term (how much does a backup 4 really matter) and get a cheap vet now rather than making a play for someone the likes of David Lee or Brandon Bass (who's extremely overrated by Portland fans after a couple good games against us) and costing us a lot of young talent. It seems like this team could use some smart vets who don't want a lot of playing time or touches, just to keep things more in synch. Sergio's looked bad the last couple of games because he's playing with Bayless, Outlaw, Diogu, etc just like last year. With no weapons to feed and no off ball movement he's sunk and it's ridiculous. I feel like the type of guys to go after are players like Desmond Mason and Kurt Thomas. I've elaborated on why I like Mason before (lives in POR, knows our players, unselfish, tough, etc), but I'm not sure what OKC would want. I do think he'd make sense in the playoffs though just because Batum isn't quite ready, Martell is uncertain w/injury, and he's unselfish. Thomas seems like he'd be a great fit at backup 4. While unathletic and not a scoring threat, he's never been athletic or a scoring threat and his game has preserved well into his late age. He's a very smart defender and rebounder, he has tons of playoff experience, and he's reliable for 15 mpg. He was tough and a glue guy for Phoenix and part of the reason they fell last year (especially in defense) was because of his trade (also part of the reason their defense was so much better in the Amareless year, Diaw/Thomas > Amare on D). Thomas has one season left after this one and is also known to be a high character guy. Quick said San Antonio was very interested in Frye this summer and we basically told them we didn't want anything on their team. He said that they coveted his shooting ability to spread the floor and thought he could be a decent "team defender" in Poppovich's system (which hides a lot of bad defenders with smart schemes and conservative decisions). Do you think San Antonio would be interested in a Frye for Kurt Thomas swap? We could include a second or two. I think it would really improve our front-court rotation with Thomas and Pryz being injury/foul insurance for Oden and Aldridge and just increase our court IQ and experience. The other thing to consider is Joel Freeland who is really blossoming in Europe. I'm not sure if he's an impact guy next year or not, but he is high potential and probably worth trying to bring over. He might end up as good as a player like Lee and is supposedly very aggressive. Of course it's not certain if he'll come over for less money or not. All this to say I'd rather have a project and a vet here than another hungry young player who's semi-established, if we bolster our front-line.
hopefully we can deal sergio/frye/outlaw and have koponen/freeland/batum take thier minutes next year.
It would take away Nate's perpetual excuse of youth hurting the team's playoff chances, and he could really hold himself accountable. I think youth is kind of his mope card when the team's not doing well. I do believe for sure that young players develop better around a few vets. Anyways, often times our second unit comes in and gets pushed around a little bit, on good nights we outscore and frazzle the other team, on bad nights we get outmuscled and panic. I really believe Sergio and Rudy need to play with some guys with simple skills they can get familiar with, and a players good on defense (and somewhat tough) to compliment them. I can't think of how it would work but if: Bayless/Outlaw/Frye turned into Mason/Thomas and a decent first rounder (maybe try to pry Ibaka out of OKC too) I feel like I'd like the deal(s), sure we'd give up a lot of potential and youth...but it'd help our current youth develop, make Nate get serious about his coaching, and we'd still have Freeland and Kopo waiting in the wings along with two decent draft picks (which could possibly be packaged in an attempt to go hard after Rubio). Don't you guys find this more solid and conducive to development? Blake/Sergio Roy/Fernandez Mason/Webster (Batum gets Webs minutes until he's back then spot for the rest of the season) Aldridge/Thomas Oden/Pryzbilla with: Diogu, Randolph and assets: Koponen, Freeland, Ibaka, 2 firsts, 4 seconds
