They might be able to combined cash and this pick to move up further than they might otherwise be able too.
I doubt it had anything to do with "appeasing" anybody. Rudy has played really well in the pre-season so if he gets minutes it's because he's earned them with Bayless here or not. What this really tells me is that they made a sizable financial commitment to Wesley Matthews and they fully intend to get maximum value for all that money spent.
Good move/bad negotiating. If Nate can keep the rookies on the bench, we have an extremely knowledgable, highly skilled, physically powerful guard quartet. Maybe the most complete in the league. But only if Nate plays them. Sucks that The Choad has no trade skilz and got hosed.
I agree with Hollinger's assessment and absolutely love this trade. Bayless was not a PG. We had three SG's that were better than him on the roster. We got a decent return and another roster spot.
But hasn't the debate all along been whether or not we need a conventional point guard? If anything, a lot of us liked Bayless because we felt he could play with Roy, and we didn't really give him enough time to prove otherwise.
I love Hollingers take. Perhaps, Cho is a little better at utilizing trade assets than Pritchard was. A great talent to have as a GM, its not just about finding talent.
I think we gave him plenty of time to prove otherwise. His outside shot has never been consistent. With his arms being so short, he was never going to be a stellar defender. Teams figured out how to defend his drives to the basket. It is year three and just about every other guard on the team has better passing skills. I also have said we have far too many projects on the team. Am even more excited to see the game Tuesday!
with a new coach, and paul wanting out and supposedly out of shape right now NO is going to suck balls this year. i see them as mid lotto at best, so reasonable chance at pick 8-9 which would be great. if we're trading the pick soon none of that matters obviously.
I don't think Johnson will get many minutes, this season. Despite having a pretty good pre-season, he is still a rookie after all and will probably make rookie mistakes that McMillan doesn't have the patience for.
I think the conclusion some came to (I did at least) was that Brandon needed Steve Blake on steroids next to him, not Jarret Jack on steroids. That is: a backcourt mate who can defend and stretch the defense with his long ball. Miller and Roy coexist to the extent they do, because Miller is a pretty nifty passer and can actually get Brandon the ball in spots where he can score, Jerryd never had that element of his game going for him -- he's effectively Andre Miller without the passing.
Nic Batum would like a word with you. Granted his opportunity came because of a Martell injury, but he still beat out Travis for the starting gig and got those minutes and opportunities as a rookie because he could immediately defend and make the smart play. If Armon can defend and consistently make the right play he'll get minutes. Probably no more than 10-15 a night, but he'll get them.
Ok, that's fine... I guess what worries me is whether a draft pick is worth more than Bayless in a package deal. We don't know where the pick will be, so it's hard to quantify the value of that pick. I suspect there will be some good deals available before the deadline because of the pending lockout. If we're aiming for a Steve Blake on steroids, what is that going to take? An expiring and..... what?
Okay, fair enough. I guess just being a rookie won't hold Johnson back, if he's able to make the right plays and play some hard-nosed defense like you siad. However, his outside shot is spotty, so he won't be ideal next to Roy in the backcourt. I think Nate will use a 4 guard rotation consisting of Dre, Roy, Matthews, and Rudy (with the latter three guys also seeing minutes at the SF position when Batum rests). Armon will probably get 5 minutes here and there, but I don't think he will be part of the regular rotation.
I guess it would all boil down to whether or not somebody likes Jerryd as a prospect. I would pose the question this way: If you were another team's GM what would you prefer? An undersized slashing guard who struggles with his jumpshot and has a little bit of tunnel vision but can get to the line a lot or a mystery meat tenth overall pick that can be ... well it could be anything. A lot depends on the final value of the pick, but in certain respects the pick that Jerryd's trade represents could be easier to package into a trade this season because it carries no salary weight in a trade. Frankly the time to trade the pick might be the pre-february deadline while it's still mystery meat and not locked into any particular slot.
