Trade strategy; win now, stand pat, or rebuild?

Remember when Barkley wanted to come to Portland because he felt he was the missing piece? I think we build the team with as good and as many players as we can. Then hope that we can either make a consolidation trade for a better player that will compliment LMA, or hope that a really good player will see he is the missing piece of the puzzle and want to come here. It won't be Howard, but it could stil be a good player.

No one wants to come to a team that is starting over. But they will go anywhere to win. (Even Cleveland) Right now we are in the category where we are one really good player away from championship contention. Whether that is by lotto, trade, or free agent, we need to get lucky. Blowing things up IMO reduces the chances of getting lucky.

 

I don't think Boston even considers that deal. While it makes them slightly deeper, it takes away their only prime, impact player and without acquiring any players who have even a hope of becoming blue chip down the line. IMO, it makes them weaker in the short-term without materially improving their long-term forecast.

 

I like that deal for a lot of reasons. They just lost Jeff Green for the season, and Wallace would be a great fit for them. He's been praised for his ability to guard guys like Lebron, and any road to the finals for Boston would presumably go through Miami. Boston has had success the last few years by being a grind-it-out half court/defensive oriented team. Wesley and Wallace can play in that system. Felton is certainly a downgrade from Rondo at PG for them, but they get so much better at b/u SG & SF. After Ray Allen & Paul Pierce who aren't getting any younger, it gets real ugly on their depth chart (Kenyon Dooling? Sasha Pavlovic?)

For us, I'm not sold on Felton at all. You hate to lose Wallace and Wes, but we need to give Nic a shot. I'm worried that he's not going to get enough minutes. With Wes/Jamal/Crash/Nic, it's getting crowded.

I think if I was a Boston Fan, I would like this trade as well. It truly could help both teams.

 

This is the season to see what we really got. Have the players play a full season to evaluate what we truly need. Who knows Felton or Crawford may not turn out the way we hoped. But if there is a great deal for a team either desperate to shed salary or possibly lose their star; then go for it. Those opportunities don't happen all the time. We were lucky enough to have a disgruntled pipped wanting out of Houston and was able to get a star. Same thing with sheed Wallace for Strickland.

I don't really think blowing up in hopes of getting a high draft pick is the answer. Stay competitive and possibly make some noise in the playoffs; which attacks free agency.

 

I can see them trading at the new deadline if A) there are injuries (which for our team, is likely...); B) We can get value for one our players that doesn't burn us; C) we are completely out of it and can get one heck of a deal; or C) we have a player develop the allows us to trade another. I like how the team has been built right now, but the bench and health is the key this year. The team that has the strongest and most productive bench, and can stay away from major injuries, will have the best shot to make a run. That's my opinion.