Potential roster changes (Please read)

[BHayley]

I called into 790 AM at around 1 PM and offered these draft transactions:

1) Trade ZaZa /(or) Marvin + filler for Marcus Camby

2) Draft Yi Jianlian

3) Draft Acie Law IV

This accomplishes three things :

1) We get the DPOTY at a hardly-expensive cost (we finally get the legit center our team (even Joe requested) needs

2) We get Yi Jianlian, great marketing, and a true talent

3) An experienced point guard with that cockyness an NBA point guard needs to carry a team.

1) Marcus Camby fills the center and would be in the Eastern Conference, where he doesn't have to go against Garnett/Duncan/Yao/Nowitzki sixteen times in a season. He also carries less of a burden because ZaZa and Shelden (depending on who gets traded) are healthy, as opposed to Denver, where every big man in the history of their franchise has suffered some chronic perennial injury.

2) Getting Yi Jianlian, we put him at the Small Forward position, much like Dirk Nowitzki was when he entered the league. Yi is known for his speed (required for guarding the small forward), he can create offense, and won't have to worry about being in the post.

To those of you bickering about trading Marvin, saying we'd be giving up on the former 2nd pick, we are now a new team, with a new look (uniforms and new personnel) and we need to forget these last few years.

3) People say we should take Mike Conley at 3 (which I suggested on the show [Zone Sports Sunday] would be a terrible idea), but that is awful because there isn't a plethora of interest in the #11, and we'd end up taking some scrub like Spencer Hawes (he can't shot block).

So we take the experienced four-year star, Acie Law IV at #11.

Criticisms

1) But what about Al Horford?

a. Al Horford was a 14/10 player in college. He lacks the offensive prowess to be a dependable scorer. At the #3 pick, you are looking for someone who will come in and score points immediately. While Horford would be a fine pick at #3 because of his rugged defensive reputation, I think getting Yi will help this franchise more now and definitely more in the long run

2) Isn't Marcus Camby 33?

a. Yes, but his numbers have ameliorated since he's come into this league. He will be in a weaker conference (in more than one way) where he won't have to face the fierce bigs of the Western Conference. In addition, he has competent backups in ZaZa and Shelden in all likelihood.

After all these moves, maybe trade Salim Stoudamire / Tyronn Lue for a 2nd round pick and pick up a Jamon Gordon-type point guard. Gordon was apparently the best defender out of Crittenton and Law in the workouts on Wednesday, and would be a nice 3rd point guard for this team. This move won't happen because AJ is still here, but it's always a possibility.

[PureGreatness]

makes since, you should answer some more criticism. why not get conley? why not trade for gasol? answer them one by one

[Mutombo_55]

I'm not so sure Horford can't be a good scorer in the NBA. Remember, he played on a Florida team that won championships and had other future NBA starters. Also, it's very difficult for a big man to dominate the NCAA the way officiating is set up. Even Greg Oden was not a dominant scorer at Ohio State. So I think you might be under-rating that aspect of Horford's game.

[BHayley]

More criticisms:

1) Why not get Conley?

a. Simple. Woodson has repeatedly pleaded for us to get an NBA-ready point guard. Acie Law IV is ABSOLUTELY THE PERFECT PICK. Do I like Javaris Crittenton? Do I think he's talented and has great potential? Yes. This is ABOUT THE NOW. Law is 22, a four year college player, and most importantly, he has that "Prove to me that you're better than me or I will show you who's boss" demeanor.

Hoodstar, if we draft Mike Conley Jr. at the #3, who do we get at #11? Joakim Noah, who I actually like, probably won't be there. We can't take another PG. Even Spencer Hawes might be gone.

Go here and look at the mock draft #11-20. I see a bunch of 6"5 or 6"7 players. This mock draft looks pretty accurate as to what will potentially happen on draft night.

http://www.nbadraft.net/

If you get Mike Conley at 3, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Every time in the league (literally, besides San Antonio as we have heard) has contacted about the #3 pick. There isn't a whole lot of interest in the #11 besides a Jarrett Jack for #11 deal. Then there are these ludicrous trade offers where we trade down to #6 to teams like Milwaukee, where we get Charlie Villanueva (who will only exacerbate the power forward glut) and then draft Conley at #6?

Will Mike Conley Jr. eventually be better than Acie Law? Yes. Is he the point guard you want right now if you want to win and go deep into the Eastern Conference? Probably not.

2) Why not trade for Gasol?

This is a very sexy option we have, but it is not in our best interests. As northcyde has pointed out, by drafting players at #3 and #11, we turn this into a roster about 10 players deep. In other words, we have fairly talented players in our first and 2nd lineups. By trading for Gasol, not only do we lose the valuable #3 pick but we will lose Marvin / Chill / Josh Smith (possibility) / ZaZa. This only serves to greatly diminish the depth of the team. So instead of having a potential starting lineup and bench of

Speedy JJ Marvin Smoove Horford

Bench: Law ZaZa Shelden Childress Lue

you will instead have a lineup of

Speedy JJ Smoove Shelden Gasol

Bench: Lue Lorenzen Salim ZaZa (Maybe) AJ

So you can see our depth takes a deep hit. IF we could just give the #3, a Childress and dump Speedy's contract, I am ALL FOR IT, but depth is crucial to this team.

Also, I'm not sure Gasol is the defensive presence we necessarily want or need. He looks terribly thin and isn't well-reputed for his defense. Granted, the Memphis defense is atrocious, but I don't think his defense is his forte. I feel much better with an older Marcus Camby who will play that rugged 5 position. I'm sure veterans on our team like JJ and AJ will both be supportive of a move for a Camby-type player.

I hope this helps.

[frosgrim]

Trade Marvin for an injury prone 33 year-old center? That is not a good trade. Second, why would Denver do this? They have Carmelo at SF. Third, I don't think that works under the cap.

Bad trade for the Hawks.

I agree that you have to take a big, either Yi or Horford at 3 and use 11 to get a point, or a wing if you can trade Childress for a vet point.

[Guest]

If we're going to talk about a trade for Camby (forgetting all the "he's too expensive, he's too injury prone" arguments for a moment), then here are my thoughts . . .

ZaZa/Childress for Camby

#3, Shelden, AJ, and Salim for Aldridge/Jack/Webster

#11, Speedy/Lo for Calderon/Nesterovic

Denver gets a back-up center who can score (they've got plenty of defensive bigs). They get the 2/3 who can defend that they are looking for. They get luxury tax relief next year and salary cap relief (in a couple years) if they choose not to resign these two guys.

Portland get a vet back-up PG (AJ) and a "hometown boy" from the NW in 3-point shooter (Salim). They get Shelden who can somewhat replace Aldridge at the 4/5. They draft Conley to go with Oden.

Toronto gets the #11 to use on the small forward they need. They get a back-up PG in Speedy who suits their style. They get a back-up center (Lo) to replace the one they're giving us. They replace their "bad contract" (Nesterovic) for our bad contract (Speedy).

We get a defensive center (Camby) who still has some decent years/minutes left and is not exorbitantly expensive. We get a 4/5 (Aldridge) who can score in the paint and play decent block-out defense. We get a back-up 2/3 (Webster) to replace Chilz. We get a starting PG (Calderon) and a back-up PG (Jack) who will battle each other for minutes! We get a back-up center/stiff (Nesterovic) for emergencies who has one two less years on his bad contract than Speedy does.

We still have $4 - $5 million in capspace!!

PF = Smoove (30 mpg)/Aldridge (18 mpg)

C = Camby (30 mpg)/Aldridge (18 mpg)

SF = Marvin (36 mpg)/Smoove (6 mpg)/Webster (12 mpg)

SG = JJ (36 mpg)/Webster (12 mpg)

PG = Calderon (32 mpg)/Jack (16 mpg)

Solomon/Nesterovic/Lue/$4 - $5 million in capspace for more back-ups.

What did I not think of?

[BHayley]

Denver would do the trade because they are afraid of the luxury tax and I'm sure they're ready to dump Camby by now.

[BHayley]

I like your ideas...A lot... But we have to keep this roster intact. We're already a borderline playoff team with a full healthy team as it is. One or two tweaks + the draft picks = great potential for this franchise. By bringing all those guys you mentioned in, we kill any chemistry this team had. I like those players though...Jack, Calderon, Aldridge.

[Diesel]

Quote:

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why not get conley?

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First and foremost: Conley is not head and shoulders better than Law. In Fact, Law is probably better at all aspects of PGing (ESPECIALLY SHOOTING)...

Law gets a bad rap because he can score. Conley gets praise because he can't shoot. Hawks fans are crazy.

Quote:

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why not trade for gasol?

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If a good trade exist, certainly. A good trade for Gasol has these characteristics...

3rd pick.

Speedy

and either Marvin or Chillz with Filler players...

In no circumstance do we give up 3 and 11...

In no circumstance do we not give up Speedy.

Gasol is set to make over 15 million dollars... He's as good as advertised, but we can't put ourselves into the sling with no other talent. It's very easy to say that Gasol + JJ is equivalent to having KG salary wise... we don't want the same effect in trying to get other good players.

[Diesel]

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I'm not so sure Horford can't be a good scorer in the NBA. Remember, he played on a Florida team that won championships and had other future NBA starters.

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Is this an excuse for him not scoring more or is this the reason why he scored as much as he did??

When I look at what Horford does against Quality players, I'm not impressed. He has made his living overpowering weaker players. That won't fly in the nba.

[ATLBob]

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First and foremost: Conley is not head and shoulders better than Law. In Fact, Law is probably better at all aspects of PGing (ESPECIALLY SHOOTING)...

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Diesel, you can continue to rewrite this sentiment until your blue in the face, but it's not going to become any more true. Most of us like Law, but he's nowhere near Conley as a distributor. It has nothing to do with shooting. If you actually watched both play you would realize this.

[DavidSomerset]

*

[BHayley]

ATLBob, we all know he's a better distributor. However, the deciding factor is that Law has 3 more years under his belt and is immediate help. Conley will peak in a few years. We CANNOT WAIT to improve.

I REPEAT. WE CANNOT WAIT TO IMPROVE. WE MUST WIN NOW.

[ATLBob]

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ATLBob, we all know he's a better distributor.

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No, apparently Diesel doesn't.

& in regards to the rest of your argument, while I would call it fair, neither Conley nor Law would start next year should they join the team. Both would come off the bench. Therefore, I am much more interested in who will be the best starting PG for this team in two or three years. At that point it becomes a matter of preference. What style of PG does one want? To borrow the most commonly tossed-around comparisons, Tony Parker or Chauncey Billups? Those are the supposed ceilings. If I took Parker and you took Billups, I say neither of us are wrong, but our respective teams will play very different offensively.

[TexasPete]

There is an agenda at play Bob. It is a Law and Yi agenda that is bordering on zealotry. It includes ragging and discrediting great players in nearly every post because you have to tear down the players that aren't named Yi...or Law.

Especially Yi. There are a few zealots who see this guy as the savior, the guy who delivers rings to the town. The guy that fills empty seats. There would be some real disappointed fans when they would find out he wasn't nearly all that. Some people tend to fixate on players they haven't seen because you can create an illusion of greatness and nobody can dispute it. That is, until he actually takes the court in front of us and then there would be a real sense of reality.

Now that I have actually watched Yi in a few games I understand that we don't need him. At all. He brings nothing new to the team. He doesn't meet any need. He is another player like Chill who would come off the bench. When a team has glaring holes they don't need to keep ignoring the obvious.

BTW, when a college team has 3 players in the top 8 in round one...and another later in the 1st...and another in Lee Humphrey going in the second...that is a great basketball team. When a team has that many great players it should not surprise you that none of the players are going to average a lot of points. The simple fact is that the Gators played as the ultimate team, sharing the ball above individual stats. Everybody with a basketball brain knows this is true.

So, although I'm for Conley, I'm tired of reading about how Horford only averaged 13ppg. It is all a big part of the Yi propagnda machine.

[ATLBob]

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Tony Parker or Chauncey Billups?

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And no, I don't think those are terribly good player comparisons, but I think they are familiar to many of us, and adequately illustrate the point ...

[BHayley]

And what makes you think that since the Florida team had such great chemistry, that the addition of one of their Fab Five onto a team full of strangers is going to be that big boost we need at the big position?

The fact that Yi is 7 feet tall and can shoot and wouldn't have to play on the post is reason enough to consider taking him. Horford is just a poor man's Shelden Williams or slightly better. Shelden puts up some very nice numbers when he gets minutes. If you looked at this stats from this past season you would know that.

I don't know who you're referring to when you say "It includes ragging and discrediting great players in nearly every post because you have to tear down the players that aren't named Yi...or Law."

"To borrow the most commonly tossed-around comparisons, Tony Parker or Chauncey Billups? "

It doesn't matter at all to me. Are you associating Parker with Conley and Billups with Law? Parker would drive the lane for us, kick out, and get jumpers for our players. Billups would run our improved half-court offense. Makes no difference at all to me. I'd probably take Chauncey though.

[TexasPete]

Horford can do things Shelden can only dream about in that stiff body.

I'm not for Horford but the Shelden comp is insulting as hell.

I want a trade first. We don't need anymore dupe. And I'm for Conley second.

I would take Horford over Yi. All damn day. I would take Yi over Wright.

[Diesel]

The test of being a good distributing PG is not what you do when you have a team full of Allstars. It's what you do when you have lesser talents. Conley looks good as a distributor because he played with the unquestioned Best C in the game and on a team filled with top 25 players.

Acie gets the short end of the stick in the press because he was so good that he had to carry his team. NOT SOME TIME. NOT FOR 1 Half. NOT While 1 guy was on the bench. He carried the team ALL THE TIME... And he was damn good at it.

The question is, was he a distributor?

Against some good competition:

Ok1: 7 assist.

Ok2: 7 assists.

Kansas: 9 assists.

Texas 1: 15 assists.

The guy has the goods.