I’d be ok with abandoning the idea of getting cap space 2010 if it really gets us somewhere, but the major players that teams are trying to move don’t look like players that would get us over the top. I actually went through and looked at guys who I’ve read might be moved either because they have long term deals or will have to be resigned to long term deals before 2010. The list is actually pretty short, and importantly I don’t see any combination of guys on it that’d really make us contenders. I see AK-47 as a maybe. He’s not quite 28, so he’ll probably be able to man the PF spot for us for another 5 or 6 years. Adding him would certainly be helpful, but does it make us a legitimate contender to anything? I’d say definitely not. So who else is out there? * Shawn Marion is a couple years older and has a worse disposition. No. * Zach Randolph is an ass clown. No. * Gerald Wallace plays the same position as Deng. No. * Kenyon Martin. Plays the same position as AK-47. Scary injury history and on the wrong side of thirty. No * Mike Dunleavy? Luol Deng with a three pointer and worse defense. * Troy Murphy? No. * Chris Kaman? OK, maybe. But won’t come cheap. Does an AK + Kaman frontcourt get us anywhere? I don’t really think so. * Michael Redd? Brings nothing we don’t get with Gordon, but probably worse defense and much more overpaid. * Eddy Curry. Not going to happen for off court reasons (burned bridges), so let’s just leave it at that. * David Lee. Nice player, but again, not going to put us over the top. * Vince Carter. Rapidly aging primadonna. The rich man’s Larry Hughes. So what’s my point in all of this? Well, it’s to say that sure, if a great deal came along, screw 2010, but I don’t see any great deals coming along. I’m mildly interested in Kirilenko, but even then I don’t see the path forward. Say we traded him for about the least about we could possibly expect. Say Hughes plus Tyrus for AK-47. Hell, let’s imagine we throw in a future pick and they give us Paul Milsap too. 1- Rose, Hinrich 2- Gordon, Thabo 3- Deng, Noc 4- AK-47, Milsap 5- Gooden, Noah Nice team, but I don’t see it going anywhere big. Even if we take another step, and we get ourselves a real center (Camby, Kaman, Brand Miller? I dunno)… I’m still not seeing it. Well, could we turn Gooden and Noah into Kaman? I think I'd buy that, but still, how do we feel at the end of the day with 1- Rose, Hinrich 2- Gordon, Thabo 3- Deng, Noc 4- AK-47, Milsap 5- Kaman I dunno if that gets us anywhere we need to go, and we'd be pretty well locked into that team for quite a while.
Noc and Gooden for AK and Millsap. Saves Utah money and gives them usuable pieces. Hughes, Noah and TT for Kaman and Tim Thomas (yeah, him again.) LA gets young pieces, saves money. Both work under the trade machine.
Heh, Tim Thomas would make us pine for Hughes again. I think the problem with those deals would be that, at the end of them, we're still hitting the LT threshold without dealing with Gordon. I guess if you want him gone you'll feel good about this, but even if you want him gone you probably done want Kirk and Thabo as your starters. And the problem is that you lose Gordon for nothing and you done even get to take a sign and trade back. I'm not wedded to keeping Gordon, though I'd prefer to, but I think any deal we make has to allow for it (or allow us to take back something in a sign and trade, or to sign a replacement).
What's the list of teams that could sign BG outright to the money he is looking for? Last time I checked it was only Memphis. Portland had some cap space, but they also have 3 or 4 guys on the bench making a quarter of what BG wants and outproducing BG. Miami might be in the mix, but they are only about 7-8 mil under if they cut people I think. I'm pretty certain that unless some GM is dying to screw the bulls specifically, no one is going to be able to sign BG to the money he wants without a sign and trade. And I'm still convinced BG isn't the answer at the starting SG for the bulls either.
