Okay, so here is exactly what I would do as GM

[Admin]

1. Get the McDavid sale finalized

2. Hire Nellie if he doesnt sign that extension, or Carlisle, or Fratello, or Dunleavy, or lastly keep Stotts.

3. Get Diaw out of his contract and lock him and Hansen up to the normal late first, early second round contracts.

4. Sign Smitty and Kevin Willis they day they become available to reasonable deals.

5. Give DJ a reasonable deal for 2 years and see what he can do for us and to earn himself a nice contract in 2 years.

6. Trade Dog/Nazr in a 3 team deal involving Houston and NY Knicks......something like Dog to Houston, Griffin/Nazr to NY Knicks, Spree/future first to Atlanta

That would leave our roster looking like this:

Diaw/Dickau

JT/Smitty/Hansen

Spree/DJ/Crawford

SAR/Hendu

Theo/Willis

Can we win with this lineup? If we cant sign Willis then I wouldnt trade Nazr away. I like the way it looks........sound like a plan?

[TheDude]

actually dolfan, if we could get eddie griffin here instead of spreewell, i'd prefer that...that guy is nasty and if he gets consistent playing time, he could end up being a jermaine oneal type player... i had him on my fantasy team his rookie year(when he got more playing time than last year) and he actually was very solid for me..

[hds428]

You make some good points there Dolfan. I would agree that the highest order of business should be settling the ownership and coaching questions. Yeah, let's definitely get a seasoned NBA coach in here. Stotts was OK last year all things considered, but it seemed to me like the players just walked over him and Kruger. IMO we need a guy who'll snap em out of their sleepwalk routine, get their attention, and keep em focused. I'm definitely with bringing back Smitty and Willis, and with keeping DerMarr around. I would'nt, however, be so quick to trade Dog. I have said several times that I vehemently don't like Spree for many reasons, but it's not just Spree that turns me off to a Dog deal. I'd like to see what a Nelson or Fratello caliber coach could do with Dog in the lineup with JT and Diaw in the backcourt. I don't think Diaw is gonna come in here and be the MVP, but at 21, I do think he could be the Barry type ballhandling roleplayer that alot of us were hoping for. I'd give Hansen a shot at a couple of starts too, didn't I hear somewhere that he's about 25? I like maturity. If he can play swing between 2 and 3*, chip in on the boards and handle the ball some, I think he'll develop into a good roleplayer for us.

As things stand right now, my projected lineup looks like this:

JT/Dickau

Diaw/DJ/(Smitty?)/Hansen*

Dog/Ira/Hansen*/Crawdad

Reef/Hendu

Theo/Nazr/(Willis?)

That lineup looks competative to me, even if you remove Smitty and Willis from the equation, and especially with a solid coach calling the plays. Worse comes to worse, pull the trigger on a Dog deal at the deadline.

[jezmund]

Why couldn't keep Stotts as an assistant? Anywhere else he goes, that's what he'll be and he's familiar with our players.

[hds428]

Definitely Jez, I'm not saying dump Stotts cold, just saying he doesn't seem to get the respect from his players that a head coach like Nelson or Fratello would. Keep him onboard, for sure, if he's willing, just not as the head coach.

[jeddelong]

Obviously you have never been in a major position of authority! There is no way Stotts is going to be interim head coach and then downgrade to assistant when they choose not to hire him. It is up or out in my opinion!

[TheDude]

jeddelong is right... can't ever go from top dog to 2nd dog.. caused ego problems and chemistry issues...

[hds428]

Man that's not even close to true! There are plenty of coaches around that have gone from top dog to second banana, Del Harris(Lakers HC to Mavs asst), and Gar Heard (Wiz HC to Hawks asst) immediately spring to mind without doing any research. You think Stotts is so much better than either of those guys, or that he even thinks he's any better than those guys? Pass the pipe, dude. But more importantly; if you were Terry Stotts what would you do? Take an assistant position to an experienced coach who's clearly superior, or go stand in the unemployment line? Hmmmm, tough choice. Spare me. That argument is weaker than weak. Even IF he would'nt take the assistant position (which I doubt), who cares? We've let superior assistant coaches walk away from this team. Do the names Eric Musselman or Rick Mahorn ring any bells? Stotts is a mediocre head coach and a replacable assistant, at best.

[coachx]

Head coaches do not take a demotion to assistant with the same team. They be fired as head coach of one team to become an assistant for another. But I have never seen a coach be the head coach for a team and be demoted to assistant coach with that same team the followinf season in 30 + years of watching the NBA.