Rubio is available? Um where did that come from? The only people who think he is available, are most likely delusional.
We don't NEED Conley. He would be an upgrade for sure, but it's not like we are talking about Chris Paul or anything. Conley has been nothing better than average so far in his career. There is nothing to say he is going to be a great PG.
Hmm. That sounds dangerously plausible. EXCEPT: D'Antoni has been insistent that his PG has to be able to shoot, and that's the biggest hole in Rubio's game. And if the NY plan is still to land LBJ in free agency, would Rubio really fit with that?
Never said you needed Conley, I just think its funny that Portland has a pretty evident need (point guard), yet you won't do business with one team that could very well have a point guard on the block on the grounds of their lack of niceness.
Considering James is leading arguably the best team in basketball now, I think New York can forget about James. Cleveland can pay him the most, he's a hometown hero and he has a far better team in Cleveland than he'd have in New York. It's not like he's hurting for endorsements or media attention, so I don't think moving to a bigger market is worth giving up any of those things, let alone all of them.
Well we COULD, but we wouldn't for Conley. But LaMarcus for Rubio would be interesting. It would be a HUGE gamble. But what if we knew that LaMarcus didn't want to be here long term anyway? (It would seriously grate seeing Aldridge playing for the team that stiffed us so badly. But Memphis would get good FAST. Of course, we would have nothing at PF, but maybe we could get Millsap?)
That is a deal I would like to see the Grizzlies do just because Aldridge is pretty much a sure thing. Plus that fills the Grizzlies one EVIDENT hole in the starting lineup, power forward. I'm pretty sure nothing like this happens though.
Really? Remove James from Cleveland and would that team make the playoffs? Who's the second best player on that team? It's not the talent level of the team that's in Cleveland's favor - it's his loyalty and the team cohesion. But some key pieces of that team will get old fast (big Z, Ben Wallace) and Verajao is always threatening to leave. That Cleveland team is only likely to get worse, not better. Meanwhile NY will have enough cap room to sign James AND another star. I bet you they believe they can do it. And remember how much James loves the Yankees... Hey, his jersey was outsold by Kobe's. Think that would ever happen if he was in NY?
Maybe if the management delivered a letter to the NBA head office that said "we lied about Miles's knees - they were irreparably messed up, he should have been medically retired, and we made him play out of sheer spite" KP might think about it. Oh, and about 5 draft picks and maybe Marc Gasol too.
Mo Williams, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao are all good to very good players. In addition, they're deep. Beyond individual production, they've been coached into a great defensive unit. James is certainly the straw that stirs that drink, but he'd have very little drink to stir in New York. I think James in New York would resemble Cleveland the couple of seasons before this year. A playoff team who can win a round or two in the East, but not a serious title contender. Unless New York was able to build a good team in addition to James...which might happen, but why risk it? Cleveland has already done it. Yes, it might. A lot of people seem to think Kobe is as good as James and Kobe is in a massive media market himself. But it's not really a practical difference to James' life whether he's #1 or #2 in jersey sales, since he doesn't get the revenues from those.
All right, I've worked out a foolproof method to get Rubio, and it's this (in that version Blake is a standing for cap space - much like in real life): Memphis: dumps Marco Jaric, swaps the #2 for the #4 (because they're strongly rumored to really want Thabeet) and gets Bayless, too. Sacramento: Gives up the #4 for ? a bunch of Portland picks plus $3M AND: offloads Nocioni (nice player, but doesn't fit, and makes a boatload over many years) and Udrih (again, a big mistake of a signing) and in return gets Sergio (who is an upgrade on Udrih, I think even his detractors can agree, and we hope Petrie will take the name "Spanish Chocolate" seriously), Travis and Joel. Portland: takes on Jaric (instant waive), Udrih (possible waive) and Nocioni (definite keep) and gets the #2 pick for Joel, Travis, Bayless and Sergio. Not sure that I'd do it, but I think Sacto is looking to trade their #4 and Memphis doesn't want Rubio as much as players available a couple of spots later (Thabeet, but also possibly Harden if they think OJ Mayo is really going to be their PG). I think Sergio to Sacto makes perfect sense, and is the best situation for him. They don't give a shit about defense and he'd get the green light - he'd thrive, they'd love him. I think they'd also like Joel because then the rest of the team could continue to gamble and it's possible he'd clean up for them. Not so great for him, but... And don't forget an all-important fact: both Sacto and Memphis are hemorrhaging money (as are the Maloofs, and Heisley is a dick), so dumping contracts will be worth a lot more to them than their fans would want. That would leave us with: C: Greg, LaMarcus for a while (ouch - paper thin here) PF: LaMarcus, sometimes Nocioni, Freeland? McDyess (with the mid-level)? SF: Batum, Webster, Nocioni SG: Brandon, Rudy PG: Blake at first but pretty soon Rubio and a fight between Udrih and the Finnisher for third-string. Huh?
No they aren't. They just aren't. Z was once, Varejao is a great hustling backup on a good team and Mo Williams is lucky he's found the perfect situation. This I will give you. That team is like the Rockets after McGrady went down. All chemistry. But chemistry is a fragile thing, and I really really don't see Mo Williams having this good a year again. He's the Jamaal Magloire of guards. Really? Like I said, they'll have enough cap room for, say, Chris Bosh too. Then you do the whole vets-signing-on-for-a-championship thing and Bob's Your Uncle. Cleveland this year has overachieved. And like I said, Ilgauskas is lucky to be walking and nearing retirement age. It's not people in LA buying Kobe jerseys. It's people all over the world because the Lakers are always on TV. LA has a lot of people but it's not a great media market, otherwise it might have more than zero pro (American) football teams. (Yes, I know, USC, ha ha ha.)
I wouldn't do it. I just don't think Rubio is worth all that trouble. And I'm not even a Sergio hater and I wouldn't be comfortable saying he's better than Udrih.
I don't agree with you. I watch the Cavaliers quite a bit, I have since James was drafted (no coincidence, that). Williams and Ilgauskas are both extremely skilled. There are games when either of them will take over and James will take on more of a complementary role. Are they helped in that by James' presence? Absolutely. But previous teammates didn't do these things even alongside Himself. As for Varejao, he's not terrifically skilled as a scorer, but he's a very good rebounder, defender and a surprisingly good passer. In the perfect scenario (James and another star accepting less money to join the Knicks), then yes, he could end up in as good or a better situation. I just don't think it's a great likelihood. People are talking about 2010 like it will be a unique moment in history...I'll believe it when I see it. Up to now, the history of free agency since the max contract was instituted is that superstars/stars rarely switch teams in free agency if their teams want to keep them (so, Steve Nash going to Phoenix doesn't count), because players want to maximize their salaries. The idea that New York will lure not just one, but two stars/superstars is a dubious proposition to me. From your perspective, this really shouldn't matter. If he's not that good, he's eminently replaceable. From my perspective, he is good, but he's being asked to carry less of the load thanks to James being around and should be able to play another 2-3 years. He's become amazingly durable. The last time he missed significant time was 7 years ago and he played 62 games then. Beyond that, I think Ferry is getting pretty good at putting the right players in around James. Cleveland is on TV all the time, too, and now that they're a top team and James has solidified himself as the best player since Jordan, I think Cleveland will start to be the NBA's most featured team. He doesn't need New York for that.
have you not been paying attention to basketball the two seasons prior to this one? mo williams is a good player(not allstar level even though he made the team, but just below that). he has been for a few years now. and there is absolutely no reason for his numbers to drop off. his numbers did exactly what should have been expected coming to the cavs. his per game numbers stayed the same or dropped, but his percentages all went up because he was getting easier shot attempts. why exactly can't he have another year like this one?
All right, here's another suggestion: acquire Washington's #5 and Milwaukee's #10 (this might just require money and/or taking on a bad contract) then trade them either directly to Memphis, or if Memphis really wants Thabeet and doesn't want to risk him being gone by #5, then trade both to OKC (again, with cash or maybe Outlaw or Bayless) and then trade the #3 pick and money for the #2 pick or just hope that Memphis goes with Thabeet. In general, I think the following facts open the door (just a crack) to getting Rubio: * Memphis doesn't really want Rubio. * Rubio is not ideal for OKC either. * There are teams like Sacto (4), Washington (5) and Milwaukee (10) who want to get out of this draft altogether. * We have caproom to absorb bad contracts * We have good cheap young players * We have a deep-pocketed owner who has been the only owner actually to buy picks outright the past few drafts.
