Fez's summer plan: The bullet points

* Hire Mike D'Antoni

* Sign Steve Nash to a 2/3-year deal

* Assuming we get NJ's #4-6 pick: Draft Bradley Beal

* Trade up (over Utah) -- Draft Kendall Marshall

* Re-Sign Nicolas Batum

* Sign Joel Freeland

* Sign Jon Diebler

* Re-Sign JJ Hickson

* Offer GM position to Donnie Walsh

* At the very least -- set up a seminar with the PHX Suns training staff for our training staff.

* Re-sign Abby Chin long-term to CSNW.

PG: Steve Nash | Kendall Marshall
SG: Bradley Beal | Elliot Williams | Jon Diebler
SF: Nicolas Batum | Wesley Matthews
PF LaMarcus Aldridge | Luke Babbitt
C: Joel Freeland | JJ Hickson

 

The only changes I would make is to hire Jerry Sloan, and sign Dragic instead of Nash.

 

* Hire Mike D'Antoni - Yuck. He has won nothing

* Sign Steve Nash to a 2/3-year deal - Yuck. He is older than our last title

* Assuming we get NJ's #4-6 pick: Draft Bradley Beal - If he checks out tall enough, it' sa great draft pick

* Trade up (over Utah) -- Draft Kendall Marshall - Another solid pick

* Re-Sign Nicolas Batum - Assuming money isn't stupid

* Sign Joel Freeland - I don't get the love, but ok

* Sign Jon Diebler - I'd like to see him in summer league first

* Re-Sign JJ Hickson - See Batum

* Offer GM position to Donnie Walsh - Older than my father who passed away

* At the very least -- set up a seminar with the PHX Suns training staff for our training staff. - If nothing else this

* Re-sign Abby Chin long-term to CSNW. - And this

 

The whole point was to bring the SSOL system to this roster. It didn't work in NY because that roster's best player was a notorious ball-stopper. Build this roster around D'Antoni and we already have a lot of the pieces in place. His Suns were very good, remember -- he wasn't fired in PHX. The Knicks roster just didn't work. You can't have this system and be successful with ISO players like Carmelo.

The reason why I'd sign Nash over Dragic is because I think Marshall is a rare (non-combo) PG: he's a pure PG in the mold of Rubio/Andre Miller. And there is no better guard to learn from.

 

I'm not sold on the SSOL system. It was consistently shut down by teams that run a good pick and roll/half court system.

I would go with Sloan over D'Antoni because I think Sloan has proven he can win. The guy has a system that has consistently put his team into the playoffs, and has gotten him to the Finals twice. I think the right guard/forward combo could get Sloan to the Finals again. Aldridge could be Karl Malone. We just need our John Stockton. Could Marshall be that guy? Perhaps. I would sign someone like Sessions or Dragic as insurance. If Marshall is the PGOTF, you have another guard with value that you can deal.

 

I don't understand the D'Antoni love affair with some around here.

 

If you're going to do 1 through 8, once that's taken care of what do we need to hire Donnie Walsh for? May as well give the job to Fez.

I really don't want Mike D'Antoni as a coach. I'd be okay with Nash, but only if there's no way to get a younger guy.

 

D'Antoni's teams are cute in the regular season and can win a lot of games. But, once you get in the playoffs and face teams with good defenses on a consistent basis, they crumble.

 

Alvin Gentry went to the WCF with Nash and Amare, too.

Just say no to D'Antoni. Players walk all over him and D'Antoni doesn't have the balls to do anything about it.

 

* Hire Mike D'Antoni- YEAH, A PROVEN SUCCESS. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN (THANKFULLY).

* Sign Steve Nash to a 2/3-year deal- HAHAHAHAHA!!!! GOOD JOKE.

* Assuming we get NJ's #4-6 pick: Draft Bradley Beal- MEH.

* Trade up (over Utah) -- Draft Kendall Marshall- EASIER SAID THAN DONE.

* Re-Sign Nicolas Batum- YES!

* Sign Joel Freeland- ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…………………..

* Sign Jon Diebler- SEE ABOVE.

* Re-Sign JJ Hickson- YES!!

* Offer GM position to Donnie Walsh- [YAWN]

* At the very least -- set up a seminar with the PHX Suns training staff for our training staff.- GOOD THINKING

* Re-sign Abby Chin long-term to CSNW. HUBBA HUBBA!

 

I like all the moves except for Nash and Walsh. Nash would make sense if we still had a healthy Roy and Oden and were going for a title, but I'd go with Dragic. Deron Williams will probably be the #1 target, but if we do that, it will leave 28 million dollars to fill out the roster (aside from LA and DW). That would pretty much relegate us to filling the team with scrubs.

For GM, I'd rather see us get Geoff Petrie or Mark Warkentien.

 

A pretty good write-up on the SSOL system by Bill Simmons: The pros and cons:

SSOL​

 

I have no issue at all with the SSOL system as long as defense is played on the other end. Adelman's teams here in Portland played a similar style, but they also played defense.

 

On Joel Freeland:

​

Played great against NBA comp last summer. Scored at will against Joakim Noah and (surprisingly) especially Serge Ibaka. Has that hillbilla meanstreak.

[video=youtube;lDE2wzz027w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDE2wzz027w[/video]

 

D'Antoni has yet to have more than one player who is capable on defense.

Nash, Melo, Amare -- all notoriously play one side of the ball before and after D'Antoni.

 

I seriously doubt he will come over anytime soon

 

He'll speed up the development of the young players and would be a great mentor to Kendall Marshall. By the time his contract runs out Marshall will be more than ready. MDA will have his PG who can push the ball and find the open man for the next decade - something he did not have in NY.

 

Dream: Thibodeau leaves Chicago and comes to Portland
Reality: another year of "Coach K"

Dream: D-Will signs with us.
Reality: No, D-Won't. Neither will Nash. Neither will Dragic.
Nightmare: we re-sign Felton, because Coach K has a good relationship with him.

Dream: We get pick #4 from NJ.
Reality: we get no pick, because they luck into the top 3.

Dream: We luck into the top 3 with OUR pick
Reality: two teams above us luck in, and we're bumped down two spots.

Dream: Anthony Davis
Reality: Austin Rivers (because we just love 'tweeners from Duke)

 

Paranoia much?

 

I don't think anything he said is remotely out of the realm of possibility