Yeah, you can make a great case that, if we scored Pek or some other big starting-quality center that you could let the bench "simmer" some more (since there are four rookies on the bench) for another year before making any moves there. Leonard might be 4 years away. Sign Pek for as long as you can, and hope that, when Leonard is ready, you can trade him and LA for a new starting quality PF. But without a bench, we'll suck for all four years.
Again, I think both are important. Vital to a real contender. I just think before we start throwing money around at a back up for maybe our best player next year, we should focus on upgrading a position that we are horrible at
The only problem with that is this year is the only year in the next 3 that we will have more then MLE money. Almost have to blow our money this year. Hopefully first on a Center then worry about the bench.
Absolutely. My point isn't how to do it, it's simply that it has to be the teams #1 and #2 priority. Now finding the upgrade is what's tricky. Adding a player that plays defense, blocks or alters shots and maybe more importantly than rebounding, is keeping his man from rebounding, is tough to find. Pekovic seems to be a popular choice, but I'm not sure he would be that guy. Gortat, Dalembert, R. Lopez, Zaza, and others would be good fills there.
I'm down with Robin Lopez actually. He's not a "OMG COTF" type player; but he is a good rebounder, defends well and keeps his player out of position. I think he would be the cheapest of all that you mentioned; unless we could pry Gortat via trade. But have you seen Gortat's contract? He is the best dollar for dollar player in the NBA today. Checked the numbers and we cold do Leonard for Robin Lopez straight up; giving NOLA more cap savings. We could possibly do this; resign Hickson and keep Maynor all in one swoop. We would have a min MLE and vet min still available I believe.
Not at all down with keeping Hickson. I'd rather S&T him to a team for something else rather than a back up at PF or C where he is less than good at
I'd like any of those guys, Gortat first (imho - I always use Pek as an example cause he's easy to remember).
I agree with you that JJ may not be very good in a back up role. I do not know that for sure, but my guess is he won't be happy so it is best that he walks or as you suggest we use in a sign and trade. But my question would be how many teams out there have an extra center who they want to trade for a PF. Or which team wants to get rid of a center with a big contract. I would guess there are a few, but JJ would have to be sold on them as well. You would think Washington would love to get rid of either Okafor's or Nene's contract. I bet we could pry away Okafor.
That was really the only team I had in mind, or maybe Denver (McGee, Mozgov and Koufos). I'm not a big fan of Okafor though. He is a injury waiting to happen and his athleticism has dropped significantly.
I think people underrate R. Lopez because he's not his brother. I honestly would be surprised if NOLA is willing to give him up. Perhaps they don't think that Lopez and Davis won't work together, but I doubt that. I don't think NO will be parting with Lopez any time soon.
I was just thinking that Leonard is about the same age as Davis and they can grow together. It's pretty aparent they are a good 3 years away from being anything competitive. That maybe the same amount of time Leonard would develop into a very productive center. I just think Lopez is more towards our window than Leonard; unless of course we trade Aldridge and the timeline can drop more.
I thought he has been healthy for the last 2-3 years? I must admit I don't watch him unless he is playing Portland, but he always seems to be a factor when we face him. On the flip side if he was playing really well....we would never be able to get him for JJ. I wonder if GS still wants JJ. Bogut is hurt again (Bulging disc) Maybe they want to dump his contract if they think he will never get healthy or fit in their system. I know what you are all thinking.....but hey there is only one year left on his contract. Might be worth a gamble.....
That would be all fine and dandy, except there really isn't any available talent that would push any of our starters to the bench. I think we're agreeing on the broad strokes, but are coming at it from slightly different angles. We all agree that the highest-paid addition to the team should be a starting C. And we all agree that the bench needs dramatic improvements, but that, monetarily, they should not be as significant as a starting C. Due to the salary cap it would appear that addressing the C should come first. But you can't be stuck in that thinking - it's entirely possible that a good opportunity to upgrade the bench could come first and we'd be able to address the C afterwards. Shutting that out as a possibility is a good way of potentially blowing an opportunity. I think differences also crop up depending on how each of us feels our holes should be addressed - a lot of people are interested in signing free agents, whereas I feel our best bet for improvement would come through lop-sided trades. Also, I still think it's quite clear that upgrading the bench and leaving the C as-is would have better short-term results than upgrading at C and leaving the bench as-is. I've never argued for short-term moves, so I'm not saying we SHOULD do this. But certainly we'd be better off right now if we had, say, Tyreke Evans and JJ Hickson than we would be if we had Pekovich and Nolan.
Actually his health is still a big concern. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/2399/emeka-okafor In 11/12; he played only 27 games and averaged 29 minutes. He has been playing most this season; but his minutes per game has dropped to 25. If we got him; I wouldn't be pissed, unless we gave too much talent on the gamble. Okafor is still a shot blocker, good on defensive stats and willing to keep his man from rebounding. He's not bad; just a little old. If we got him for something cheap; like a salary dump; I would be totally fine with that.
Another reason why they could use Bradley? Lillard has a DRtg (111) that's one par with Steve Nash's career DRtg (110). A putrid defender so far.
You can't compare the two. Waiters is over a year younger and defending much bigger players. That speaks volumes of Lillard's defensive ability. Who is also FAR behind Rubio in this aspect.
Yes, you can. The year difference, who gives a shit. Players have had way better DRtg's at a younger ages. Such a silly point. As for him guarding bigger players, thats just tough titties. Its why you don't draft an undersized 2 guard.
