This team has too many players!

We need a consolidation trade. We have too many players who are not going to get a chance to play/develop.
Untradeable: the Big Three plus Miller
Probably shouldn't be traded: Batum, Rudy

Everybody else (and even Batum and Rudy) should be available for the right player. Who's the right player? Well, to be able to consolidate, and for the player to be available, they would probably have to be paid A LOT and on a team that needs to conserve money. Suggestions?

Here's one: Andrei Kirilenko. He's way overpaid for the Jazz, and he's not a star. But he would instantly be a very valuable rotation player. One thing this team is poor on is perimeter defense, with only Batum being above average. Kirilenko is good all over, and could also be the backup PF. We've been assuming the Jazz would move Boozer, but they seem to be asking too much. They'd hate to help us out, but maybe they'd see it (as no doubt many reading this would) as dumping a horrible salary on us. But if you look past the salary, plus the fact that Kirilenko's play seems to have declined for the Jazz (although not for Russia), I think he would be very useful. And he's still under 30, and has already proved okay with coming off the bench.

Any other good consolidation trades, in particular ones that help us with perimeter defense?

 

who would the blazers trade to = $16,451,000

 

Kirilenko might not be the best example. His perimeter D has Jerry frustrated. He cheats a lot and leaves his man open. Plus his lateral quckness is not that great. I think he plays better underneath as he has great instincts. I also would not be surprised if he left for Russia after his contract is up. Unless we want to over pay him as well.

 

AK-47 is an interesting target but how many years left at what salary does he have?

Gerald Wallace is a good choice more for offense then defense but he would be a huge boost to this team.

Battier could probably be had for Outlaw and Rudy or other considerations.

Prince while on the far side of the hill probably has some gas left in the tank and would be a great pick up.

Bowen might have one season left where he contributes but isn't worth more then maybe Blake.

Kurt Thomas is a great pick up at the PF/C spots.

Udonis Haslem could probably be had to facilitate a boozer 3-way with Miami. (Whoops post edit I realized no more space FTL)

Javale McGee is a nice young player but I am not sure he could be gotten from Washington.

Thadeus Young would be huge but I can't see Phillie trading him.

Josh Smith would be fantastic as a 3/4 starting at the 3 and backing up LMA but we would have to mortgage the Rose Garden to get him.

Mike Conley Jr. would be an amazing pickup if we could pry him away from Memphis (they would have to like Mayo at the 1 and get value back).

Brendan Wright from Golden State could be absolutely huge for this team but might impair Batum and/or Rudy's growth.

Most of those guys would be huge additions to the team.

 

The guys I'm sure we'd like to move are Martell & Outlaw. My guess is their trade value around the league is minimal. Why do I say that? Because they are still here!

Guys I would part with if we got a really good player in return: Bayless, Rudy, Blake, Batum.

 

Here's another idea: Boris Diaw

I thought of it while looking at Batum's latest boxscore (he's getting a lot of assists) and thought that he could give us our backup 4 and versatility what we wanted in Hedo. We give up Blake but with Diaw on the floor we could get away with no trad. PG for stretches.

 

I like Diaw, but would it take to get him? Outlaw/Bayless and cash?

 

I think the Blazers need a good scoring starting 3 to get them into contention where the Lakers, Celts, and Spurs are.

John Salmons, Gerald Wallace, Mike Miller, Stephen Jackson, Mike Dunleavy would all be excellent fits if we could pickup one of them on the cheap.

 

I think I would have to consider Salmons as his defense is the best of those guys. We really only need a guy who is a threat to score from three and plays great defense ala Bruce Bowen 5 or 6 years ago. Or Tayshaun Prince.

 

I think at this point, Salmons is probably better than Prince. Stephen Jackson is pretty darn good too and he can handle the ball, distribute, and shoot very well as well but I don't see the Warriors trading him. I still think it would be wise to add another weapon on the offensive end, I just don't know how often Nate will put an effort to get Oden the ball unfortunately. Regardless, I still think they need a bigger offensive threat than Batum at the starting 3. I still love Gerald Wallace even though he can't shoot. He can do everything else and would be a beast in our starting lineup.

 

gerald wallace is a much better defender than salmons.

 

Agreed. And a much better overall player.

 

I wasn't aware of Wallace's defensive prowess I thought he was just great at scoring and boards. That makes him the most wanted target of the group easily.

 

Well, I know he is not there yet, but Batum is not too far away from being a threat on the offensive end. He needs to get better with the ball in his hands, and he needs to get confident. But he can slam the ball down with the best of them, shoot threes, slash (which will be aided by Miller actually getting him the ball) and he is already good on D. I just don't know how good it would be in the long run to bring in another player instead.

 

It's not instead it's, along with. Batum might be ready for 30+ minutes per game but I wouldn't count on it. I would rather develop him for another year or two with around 20 or so minutes at the SF. He can get more minutes as he plays his way into our long term starter. He's nearly there but we would be even better with a defensive 3 who can consistently hit the long ball. Batum could be ready to step in this year. I assume the team knows that far better then me and they were very interested in Turkoglu.

 

I'm not too worried about Batum in the future, but now I don't think he looks for his shot nearly enough and that hurts the team. He's far too tentative on offense and I don't expect that to change TOO much this season. I'd like a vet who can go out and get their point on a consistent basis. If you get any of the guys I listed on this team, we're right there with the best.

 

10 good players, which is what we have, is way too few to carry.

We're allowed 15 I believe, and assuming your GM and coach are capable of doing their jobs effectively, the optimum number to carry is the 15 best players available to us (taking into consideration the whole chemistry thing of course).

 

He means players that will ultimately demand minutes and eventually $ (Bayless fits the former and Rudy fits both).

 

We have to have 12-15 players. Do we have more than that?

 

This "too many players" argument is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.