There is no reason why he can't continue to do what he loves at the highest level. Back up veteran PG's in the NBA are important and always needed. I bet he lands on a NBA team for another 3 years....if he is willing to take less money.
I am assuming he will be offered a contract. Unless he elects to go over seas for more money, there is no question in my my mind that he will be offered a contract by the time training camps start. Is there any doubt in your mind?
Yeah. You’re looking for teams that are A) under the tax B) have open roster spots and C) have minutes to offer him. I’m too lazy to look, but that’s a pretty specific list.
Faried is still available, and we have a glaring need at the center spot.... If we can rehabilitate Kanter we can do the same for Faried.
I'm a big fan of Baze, but so far he hasn't been great for us: -18 vs phi -1 vs okc -11 vs den -20 vs sas (+18 vs sac) As often mentioned his expiring contract is a great trade chip, and we have all of our future 1sts still. There's a few names I wished we'd have signed this summer, like Baynes, Holmes and Jamychael Green, but they're now locked up in decent roles with other teams. All three of them would've been a perfect fit. Also, all three of them were pretty much available this summer. Some obvious names that have been thrown around in a trade: Kevin Love - doesn't play the pick & roll that much, which is something I believe we need most to get the best out of Dame and CJ. However, he's very efficient when he does. I don't see many options to get Love without including CJ in talks, so that would be off the table right now for me. Tristan Thompson - Top 5 in pick & roll frequency this season, protects the rim a bit so far this season, among top rebounders. Cavs have little incentive to keep him, as they probably want to go younger (Zizic isnt great so far, though). A trade of Baze straight up for TT works - but would the Cavs do that without a 1st being included? Probably not, but what protection would we need to see for this trade to go down? I'd like TT's fit. You could consider thinking about a Whiteside (2 years) + Baze (exp) for Love (4 years) + TT (exp) deal, but that would really lock you into Love and out of pretty much else for the future. Also, Love is injury prone, and TT as the sole rim protector isn't optimal. If you'd want to give up on Whiteside already - Dewayne Dedmon should be available. Kings locked him up for 3 years, but so far he's a bad fit with them - essentially being replaced by Holmes in the starting line up. I think Dedmon would probably be a better fit with us. Downside? His upside is limited, and he's only available in a trade a few months from now. Good rebounder, decent rim protector, but also, very important, can shoot the three. Fairly good at the P&R, and does it with good efficiency. The Kings have some caproom and could take a few M extra back in a trade for Baze's expiring deal. Dedmon is on the books for another 2 years after this one, at 13M a pop. It frees the Kings from a bad fit in Dedmon, allows them to let Giles show if he's worth a new contract and it brings some wing defense, something they're lacking this season. I don't want to think of trading for highly inefficient and limited guys like Len or Kaminsky. The Hornets have few options at C (Biyombo and Hernangomez) aside from Zeller, but Cody is a typical name I could see pop up on PDX's list. He ticks most of the boxes, but none of them with a lot of conviction. Alan Williams was a free agent, and is one of the best rebounders to come into the league in recent years, but offers little rim protection and mediocre defense. Hasnt been able to stick in the league, not even with the worst teams. I would LLOVE to see if we could get Houston's Isaiah Hartenstein, but that would probably mean giving up a name like Nasir Little. Same probably goes for Nerlens Noel, who, albeit showing nice fantasy stats, doesn't have much impact on defense, and only has anegative impact on offense. Lot of talk about Draymond Green who's locked up for 5 years at a very decent price. Don't see the Warriors letting him go, at all. Perfect fit for us, very unrealistic. Very low hanging fruit guys like Todd Withers (3pt shooting, 6-8 power forward who's a good rebounder and block a few shots, but as mentioned, very undersized), or Chicago's Luke Kornet (not a banger, but can shoot from long range, decent rebounder and decent size), could be options to look at if push comes to shove. Eric Moreland would've been a better idea, but he's locked up in Toronto. Long story short, I kinda wish our scouting was a bit more creative. Like every year, they seem to be working with a simple list of demands and just check the NBA's stats pages for which players tick one of these boxes. A guy like New Orlean's Melli would've been a fantastic fit. Yet, we end up signing a Pau Gasol who probably can't play 8 mpg a s season anymore. Right now, Dedmon would probably make most sense for us.
Lets not get hasty. I say we get a firm diagnosis on zach’s surgery once completed and figure Whiteside out. if neither are back soon, then find someone. but it will make things more complicated at trade deadline if we want to move a large contract aNd don't have an open spot.
Portland has a bunch of expiring contracts (at various price points) they could easily dump if they wanted to free up a spot. That being said I don’t think they’ll add anyone because everyone that’s injured is expected to be back at some point this season. They’ll just have to weather the storm. Maybe one of Moses/Hoard comes up, but even that is unlikely right now...imo.
i guess its a matter of who we go after and that teams cap situation. They may not have the space and need to send out equal value.
Baynes, Holmes, and Green were not "pretty much available to us this summer". Baynes - Was under contract this summer and was only traded to Phoenix to dump salary. The Blazers couldn't have provided that option. Holmes - Signed with Sacramento for 2 years and $10 million. Unless you are suggesting we should've signed Holmes instead Hood (I sure hope not). Green - Also signed for 2 years and $10 million so once again would you choose him over Hood? We've beaten the Love thing to death so I'll just move on. Thompson wouldn't be horrible but I'd rather just sign Noah or Faried instead of having to give up players to get him. Draymond is not eligible to be traded until February 3rd. Just a note, Eric Moreland is a free agent but he's done nothing with multiple opportunities in the NBA. You listed a lot of guys that aren't able to be traded until December 15th or just flat out wouldn't help us. Melli signed for more than the minimum too so yet again we wouldn't have been able to re-sign Hood if we signed Melli.
Question. how would draymonds personality fit in with dame culture and stotts? i see that as a potential boil over issue. he would have to become submissive and buy into things.
I’m posting this without having any idea of Gasols timeline, but I think it’s time for Faried or Noah. Either were all in or were not, so if we’re all in, pay up. We can worry about clearing roster spots later, which shouldn’t be difficult btw. The rebounding without Whiteside on the floor is baaad. Last night was a great example. Raptors had 14 offensive rebounds! Portland is ranked 29th in giving up second chance points. 29th! That’s a killer. Inserting Little was a start, but he’s more of a three than a four and who knows how much leash Stotts gives him. Skal has improved his rebounding but he’s also more of a four than a five. Farieds rebounding percentage is consistently around 18-19%. Noah’s was 19% last season. Just for reference, Whiteside is the only dude on the roster with a percentage above 15%. So unless Gasol is coming back like fucking immediately, go get one of those two. If Noah is healthy, he'd be my choice jut because he’d also bring defense and playmaking to the table.
