The problem is that supposedly Diaw and Patty are due for a mini-pay day. I think both of them could garner the MLE, so we could really only sign one of them. That would mean that we would have to sign-and-trade for the other.
Yeah, I was thinking Diaw if we couldn't land Marion or O'Neal. I'm not sure if Diaw would settle for the BAE.
Here's another: MLE - Chalmers BAE - Jermaine Trade - Diaw (maybe send Wright/Claver to San Antonio for Diaw)
If you really wanted to get defensive you could look at Chalmers, Marion and Oneil but Im not sure thats really possible
Diaw is 34 and he and Patty are Nico's good friends. We have enough youth on the squad to make the last years of Diaw's career winning years. The Spurs are getting older. Victor Claver would thrive in San Antonio and probably Dorell Wright as well. Wishful thinking but it could work.
Yeah, that's why I was thinking that trade could work. Do a sign-and-trade for Diaw at roughly 3 years / $15 million and trade them Wright/Claver. I think those two players would do very well in San Antonio. They're exactly the kind of players that Pop loves to bring in.
Here's a big I'd be very interested in, if he can get out of his Euro contract: Bryant Dunston. [video=youtube;8De3HceIOIg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8De3HceIOIg[/video]
The Wiz have to choose between Ariza, Webster and Otto Porter. I wonder if they'll want to commit to Ariza long term. If they do, does that mean they're giving up on Porter? I'd be intrigued by him as a glue-guy wing. It would be surprising if he were a total bust.
Seems like the likely move would be keeping Ariza and Porter, if Webster indeed had surgery. If they are giving up on Porter this early, they'd have to have seen something to conclude he was a bust. Also, I don't understand the occasional mentions of picking up Chalmers. He plays with the best starting unit in the NBA and is mediocre at best. The Blazers probably need a combo guard if they replace Mo Williams, someone who can be counted upon to score because there aren't any scorers on that second team (barring some major progress from someone). Chalmers would be such a downgrade from Mo, and Mo drove me crazy.
I'd like Webster back. Please don't bring Chalmers here. You may laugh, but Vince Carter would help this team a lot.
MLE: Collison or Isiah Thomas BAE: As Brian said, Vince Carter. Then try to get Jermaine to come back for the minimum, didn't he say he wanted to come back here before signing with GS?
MLE - Greivis Vasques - bigger point guard so Damian can play off the ball some BAE - Thabo Sefalosha - hopefully he can start hitting threes at a 40% clip again and keep playing D Vet Min - Jermaine Oneil - Come home and play some D Jerm! Maybe sign and trade Dorell Wright for Sefalosha
Gasol, Deng, Hawes seems like a pipe dream at the MLE in my opinion. Of course we'd love to get one of them but I don't see it as very realistic. I suppose a more realistic possibility is the Lakers striking out on veteran free agents then trading us Pau in some sort of sign and trade where we give up a first round pick. Marion, Marvin Williams, Okafor, Jason Smith, Ekpe Udoh are intriguing additions to me. When looking at PG I'd probably like to see us add a cheaper 3rd string veteran PG such as Ridnour or Udrih. Chalmers is interesting since he can shoot and defend while his value is at an all time low but still not sure how realistic him being a backup here is. Sessions has been a solid possible addition for years but I don't see how he would fit here with his mediocre 3pt shooting. Same with Livingston or even to an extent Deng. Management has said since we now have a system in place its more about finding players who fit that system. Court spacing with 3 point shooting and individual one-on-one defense are the main parts of what we've been doing. So maybe those are the players we target? Stotts has also said the main area of improvement needs to be defense so are we going to go with that focus in free agency? Its easy for us to come up with players we'd add in a vacuum from a pure production standpoint but this summer the Blazers are at more of a cross roads than I can remember where individual talent is less important than complementing the rest of the team. One thing Neil is going to be cautious with is multi-year contracts. We don't have anyone except Batum and rookies signed beyond next season. Until we have our starters locked up it doesn't make sense to blow tons of money on an MLE bench player. If we have to settle for a slightly inferior player but can have him on a one year contract at the full MLE I think Olshey will lean that direction.
