If you're Demps, whats your strategy now?

I love my NBA 2k13 and GM'n teams but I wanna know what you guys think the next logical steps are? Key areas of discussion:

Who is on the trade block?
Which "type" of player do we need? (Comparisons appreciated)
What do you want to do with our draft pick?
Are there any specific deals you think make sense for both teams and make us better?

So, discuss, throw some ideas around. I'll put my two cents in later.

You mention NBA 2K, funny. In two My Careers I've done we've traded for Dwight Howard in one. Traded for Devin Harris, Brandon Wright, and someone else whose name I can't remember.

The first one ain't possible. But the 2nd one? Doable. But would we?

my plan is to hopefully get some kind of package (expiring contracts, young players, picks) for eric gordon. trading him is a must.

I don't really know what we need since we haven't seen our best two players play together yet this season. I think with a healthy Gordon and Davis were a pretty good team. But if I'm Demps I'm probably rolling with Lopez the rest of the year, getting rid of him in the offseason, and preparing to draft early again in the lottery.

If I'm Demps, I'm making sure Eric is back on the court is 2 weeks. (Next saturday marks week 4 of his 4-6 weeks). Also, I'm hoping Anthony Davis doesn't have a stress fracture in 2 weeks and has to sit out for 2 months (which I'm predicting happens anyway because our team like to be "safe") So Gordon comes back in two week and plays for 4 weeks, and when Davis comes back Gordon is traded... bah humbug.

I won't trade for anyone right now because we haven't assess the starting 5 yet ! But I will keep an eye on the market.
Gordon is a keeper to me as long as we don't know about his knee. His recurrent knee problems must be curable ! It's not like he has degenerative arthitis, he just has knee pain. I believe in him and he's truly a special talent. So I won't look for to trade him right now.

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Originally Posted by Russy

I won't trade for anyone right now because we haven't assess the starting 5 yet ! But I will keep an eye on the market.
Gordon is a keeper to me as long as we don't know about his knee. His recurrent knee problems must be curable ! It's not like he has degenerative arthitis, he just has knee pain. I believe in him and he's truly a special talent. So I won't look for to trade him right now.

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Do you truthfully know that he doesn't? Do you know what's causing his knee pain? You don't just have knee pain. Something causes it.

IF I was Demps, I would immediately send Gordon to get surgery on his knee just so I wouldn't have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks for him to come back from "rehab" and tell me his knee still hurts and most likely needs surgery.

Trade Block - Eric Gordon

Type of player we need - We need a lot. We need to get quicker on the perimeter, a guard that can score when we call upon him, and we need someone that can nail 3's when given a good look. I would also say we need a big that can grab defensive boards better, but I expect Davis' return to help us with that. As for comparisons, we need Eric Gordon essentially, but someone like Jrue Holiday would be great as well.

Draft Pick - It all depends on what we do with Gordon. I'll get to the scenarios in a second. But with the pick, I like Archie Goodwin a lot. Marcus Smart also has some potential to be a solid player in the NBA, but I need to see more from him. Alex Poythress has been impressive, but I really have grown faith in Aminu to be an average starter in the NBA, so I wouldn't waste a draft pick on a SF when we have needs elsewhere. I also wouldn't mind trading the pick if all that is left for us are the bigman prospects, because our bigs are really, really solid and I think we can have a top 3 big rotation for the next 4-5 years easily with the current group.

As for Gordon, he's a bit tricky. Right now, I don't think we'd hardly get much but a bag of peanuts for him. Maybe we get an expiring for him from some team, but I don't see it happening. However, if he does come back and let's say he ends up playing 55 games this year, I think his value increases greatly. Now of course, we get to see him healthy and he plays great and that will probably make us want to keep him. Do we take a risk on him and keep him, or do we trade him while his value is high? I think if we can get a solid piece in return for him, you trade him. Perhaps a deal centering around Eric Bledsoe could work.

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Originally Posted by Soundwave

IF I was Demps, I would immediately send Gordon to get surgery on his knee just so I wouldn't have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks for him to come back from "rehab" and tell me his knee still hurts and most likely needs surgery.

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We tried that already last year. The guy just has no will or ability to stay healthy.

Trade Henry + something and stock up on picks.

We aren't competing for a championship this year. We have plenty of cap in the offseason to finish building the team that can compete. We already have the majority of the pieces right in front of us in Davis, Gordon, and Anderson.

you realize your two best players aren't on the floor and you're going to wait patiently for them to come back. we're not an aging team where we have to push the panic button, make moves to still miss the playoffs this year. you gotta be patient

Stay put for now, we have a bunch of nice young pieces with multi-year deals. If Gordon comes back and gets us in the playoff hunt cool, if he doesnt play much we will be a high lottery pick again.

Idk the draft prospects that good but obviously we could use a SF, C or PG

Do nothing. We are in development not contention.

Sign a competent 5'9" point guard who can advance the ball against pressure. He might give up 10-15 more points per game, but the offense would be much more efficient.

Try to trade for Devin Harris. Not because I hate Vasquez, but he can't run the point without someone like the injured guy next to him, and that injured guy will be injured a lot. Harris won't struggle to run the offense by himself. Dont know the numbers so cant speculate on what the Hornets would have to give up.

Let the Gordon saga continue until near the all-star break, then decide.

As for now, change the defensive philosophy. It aint working.

My strategy would be to wait and see how we play when 2 of our starters come back from injury before we make any drastic changes.

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Originally Posted by RaisingTheBrow

My strategy would be to wait and see how we play when 2 of our starters come back from injury before we make any drastic changes.

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Agreed.

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Originally Posted by Tpstr

Sign a competent 5'9" point guard who can advance the ball against pressure. He might give up 10-15 more points per game, but the offense would be much more efficient.

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Nate Robinson??

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Originally Posted by HunnyB

Do you truthfully know that he doesn't? Do you know what's causing his knee pain? You don't just have knee pain. Something causes it.

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You can't miss degenerative arthitis on Xray if you are a competent orthopedic specialist. Plus, EG is far too young to have those kind of trouble. I mean it's not the most common case to have degenerative arthritis at 23 years old.
I don't know what's going on with his knee but I believe doctors if they say they haven't found any damage.
I want him back at full strength that's it. ;)

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Originally Posted by Russy

You can't miss degenerative arthitis on Xray if you are a competent orthopedic specialist. Plus, EG is far too young to have those kind of trouble. I mean it's not the most common case to have degenerative arthritis at 23 years old.
I don't know what's going on with his knee but I believe doctors if they say they haven't found any damage.
I want him back at full strength that's it. ;)

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:hihi: Ok.

ETA: While age is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knee, young people can get it too.

They didn't find that so he probably doesn't have that but it wouldn't be totally impossible.

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Originally Posted by HunnyB

:hihi: Ok.

ETA: While age is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knee, young people can get it too.

They didn't find that so he probably doesn't have that but it wouldn't be totally impossible.

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Agreed ! It's not impossible, it's just not the most probable affection in his case because of his age, I think degenerative arthritis takes time to develop. But EG has a game that can be very traumatic for his knee, just like D Wade.

I'm in my 5th year of my medical cursus and I will study orthopedics soon. That's just how they taught me to reason my cursus.
That's why I'm confident in our medical staff diagnosis !

I'm not burying EG10 yet ;).

Not sure how anybody who was thrilled with the "plan" 3 months ago is panicking now. We know Gordon is injury prone and he's played 0 games and Davis has missed almost as many as he's played. Those are the guys who's expected to be the best and 2nd best players. Ryan Anderson is finding his stroke after being some what off earlier this season. Not to mention we are in every game and are losing them in the last mins by great 3pt shooting.

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Originally Posted by da ThRONe

Not sure how anybody who was thrilled with the "plan" 3 months ago is panicking now. We know Gordon is injury prone and he's played 0 games and Davis has missed almost as many as he's played. Those are the guys who's expected to be the best and 2nd best players. Ryan Anderson is finding his stroke after being some what off earlier this season. Not to mention we are in every game and are losing them in the last mins by great 3pt shooting.

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Agreed. It's just that people didn't expect for problems stemming from EJs knee issues to materialize from Day 1. That and having our two promising rookie miss multiple games from the start is slightly disappointing and worrisome to a minor degree given the misfortune we've endured with Gordon.

But it makes no sense to jump ship just yet.

I surely haven't.

CP3, Nerlens Noel .... PROFIT!

I think the plan of attack moving forward will be a major upgrade at Center. I love what Lopez brings for his contract, but I feel like we need more offensively from that position in order to be a truly elite team. Rivers and Miller showed me enough tonight to feel good about them moving forward as starters on this team.

Rivers played the most PG tonight he has all season, and it turned out to be his best game. The guy is just a pure creator with the ball in his hands, and I would bet my house that he develops into an All Star PG one day. Defense was fantastic tonight, he was getting his teammates, ran the offense, ran the break, got into the lane, etc... Great game from him.

Miller had a great game too. 7 points and 8 boards in 26 minutes as a rookie is pretty darn good to me. He is shooting the 3 at 43% so far this year, and he makes all the right plays. Very efficient player, very smart player, great frame for a SF, solid athleticism, and very solid defensively. I like him a lot moving forward. He won't be an All Star or anything, but the guy provides spacing, defense, 3-point shooting, rebounding, and he won't make bone-head plays. He is also a pretty good passer. Love his game - very solid all around player.

That said, I see us moving Lopez + our 1st round pick for a legit center. If we can get a guy who can hold his own in isolation in the post, this team will be great in 2-3 years. Guys I have my eye on are (in no particular order): Nikola Pekovic, DeMarcus Cousins, Al Jefferson, and Enes Kanter. Add one of them to this roster and a spark-off-the-bench guy like J.R. Smith, Nick Young, Leandro Barbosa, etc., and we have a legit championship calibre roster.

PG - Rivers, Vasquez, Roberts
SG - Gordon, Smith/Young
SF - Miller, Aminu
PF - Davis, Anderson, Thomas
C - Jefferson, J. Smith

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

I think the plan of attack moving forward will be a major upgrade at Center. I love what Lopez brings for his contract, but I feel like we need more offensively from that position in order to be a truly elite team. Rivers and Miller showed me enough tonight to feel good about them moving forward as starters on this team.

Rivers played the most PG tonight he has all season, and it turned out to be his best game. The guy is just a pure creator with the ball in his hands, and I would bet my house that he develops into an All Star PG one day. Defense was fantastic tonight, he was getting his teammates, ran the offense, ran the break, got into the lane, etc... Great game from him.

Miller had a great game too. 7 points and 8 boards in 26 minutes as a rookie is pretty darn good to me. He is shooting the 3 at 43% so far this year, and he makes all the right plays. Very efficient player, very smart player, great frame for a SF, solid athleticism, and very solid defensively. I like him a lot moving forward. He won't be an All Star or anything, but the guy provides spacing, defense, 3-point shooting, rebounding, and he won't make bone-head plays. He is also a pretty good passer. Love his game - very solid all around player.

That said, I see us moving Lopez + our 1st round pick for a legit center. If we can get a guy who can hold his own in isolation in the post, this team will be great in 2-3 years. Guys I have my eye on are (in no particular order): Nikola Pekovic, DeMarcus Cousins, Al Jefferson, and Enes Kanter. Add one of them to this roster and a spark-off-the-bench guy like J.R. Smith, Nick Young, Leandro Barbosa, etc., and we have a legit championship calibre roster.

PG - Rivers, Vasquez, Roberts
SG - Gordon, Smith/Young
SF - Miller, Ariza
PF - Davis, Anderson, Thomas
C - Jefferson, J. Smith

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The return of Trevor Ariza!!!

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Originally Posted by NOH2313

The return of Trevor Ariza!!!

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Hahaha, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I meant Aminu!

jefferson is a short-term fix that would hurt the future...davis will eventually be our center with anderson as our power forward

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Originally Posted by CP4MVP

jefferson is a short-term fix that would hurt the future...davis will eventually be our center with anderson as our power forward

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The guy is only 27. He isn't a spring chicken, but he definitely has 5-7 years left, I would say. His game isn't based on athleticism, and those guys tend to last longer than guys whose game is based on athleticism.

Can't have a team full of 19 year old rookies. We need some more "young veterans," and while Jefferson isn't "young," he sure as hell isn't old.

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Originally Posted by CP4MVP

jefferson is a short-term fix that would hurt the future...davis will eventually be our center with anderson as our power forward

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I've gone back and forth on this and still agree with your line of thinking. I think our efforts would best be served in redirecting our focus on bolstering the formidability and depth of our 2s and 3s through the draft and FA. We need a backup 2 (in the JR Smith mold) to backup Gordon and a starting 3 (in the KLeonard mold). I'm sold on Miller as our backup 3 for the forseeable future.

need a point guard and a scoring swing....so how many times do you want to hear me say.." you need to be able to attack off the dribble"....advance off the dribble in the open floor.....ITS NO SECRET....very simple......POINT GUARD + SCORING SWING.....

I wait it out and then I gauge Vasquez, Smith, and Lopez's value at the trade deadline or in the offseason. If I could get quality in return, I am willing to move any of them. Would prefer picks. If Jordan Hill and Ramon Sessions could each get late 1st rounders at the deadline, could Vasquez or Lopez bring me back a pick in the late 20's? If so, I would take it.

Rivers is my long term point, but next summer I bring in Jose Calderon to run the offense and show Rivers the ropes. Something like 2 years/12 million. I take BPA in the draft, regardless of position, and I go hard after Josh Smith as my #1 target in free agency. Paul Milsap is #2 on my list, but I pass on Iggy because I think that will be a bad contract by year 3 or 4. Ideally, I end up with the following

Calderon/Rivers
Gordon/ draft pick
Josh Smith/Miller
Anderson/draft pick
Davis/Smith

This might be a little crazy and I am sure impossible, but here it goes:

Trade SG Eric Gordon, SF Al-Farouq Aminu, C Robin Lopez, & G Greivis Vasquez to the Golden State Warriors for SG Klay Thompson, SF Harrison Barnes, PG Charles Jenkins, SF Richard Jefferson, & C Andris Biedrins.

Why the Hornets do it:

They are looking at the lottery this year and possibly next. This will give them two more young shooters to add to the mix and give them potential long-term solutions on the wings. No one being traded, except Gordon, can realistically be looked at as a cornerstone piece. Biedrins and Jefferson would need to be taken in order to get the Warriors to even look at this deal.

Why the Warriors do it:

They get the best player in the deal in Gordon. Obviously health is an issue, but they didn’t seem to mind extending their own injury prone player in Steph Curry. They also save money as Lopez & Aminu can be gone after this season and Vasquez is on a cheap deal. It also gives them one of the most potent starting line-ups in the NBA with Curry, Gordon, Aminu, Lee, & Bogut.

I wold then swing Jefferson and a protected 1st rounder to Toronto for Jose Calderon. They get a 1st round pick for a disgruntled player and we would get the veteran point guard that can run the show.

PG - Jose Calderon
SG - Klay Thompson
SF - Harrison Barnes
PF - Anthony Davis
C - Ryan Anderson

Sorry for the long post, but I need to get this pipe dream off of my chest.

No way they give us Klay :o

Even if you remove Klay from them package, Warriors wouldn't say yes.

It is time to accept the fact that Gordon has negative trade value- there is no way around it. At this point, we would have to give up an asset to have a team take him off our hands. Best case scenario in my opinion is Indy gives us Granger for him and we don't have to give up a 1st.

If you are pretending to be Demps in this thread, you either ride it out and hope for a miracle with Gordon or you trade him and take back shorter bad contracts in return. No third option as I see it

This deal applies here to, i know i posted it in the Reclamation Projects thread.

Eric Gordon for Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton. Evans starts at SF, giving you another ball handler to take pressure off your back court if the play breaks down.

Since he is technically a guard he gives you the ability to defend bigger guards depending on who you're playing if need be. Aminu strengthens the bench. Thornton adds punch to Anderson's efforts off the bench as a Crawford/Harden(Thunder) type.

1st round pick for Brandon Jennings, add filler and/or take back a contract to make it work.

Pick up Hassan Whiteside to add debt to you front court, now would be a great time with injury to AD. You add a young extremely athletic rebounder and shot blocker to develop.

Jennings/Vasquez/Rivers/Roberts(if not a filler)
Rivers/Thornton/Mason(if not a filler)Miller
Evans/Aminu/Miller
Davis/Anderson/Smith
Lopez/Smith/Hassan Whiteside

None of these guys will do anything to ruin your youth movement because their all still young and developing and in need of being coached up.

http://2.polizeros.com/wp-content/up...nts-gnomes.jpg

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Originally Posted by NemesisKING

This deal applies here to, i know i posted it in the Reclamation Projects thread.

Eric Gordon for Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton. Evans starts at SF, giving you another ball handler to take pressure off your back court if the play breaks down.

Since he is technically a guard he gives you the ability to defend bigger guards depending on who you're playing if need be. Aminu strengthens the bench. Thornton adds punch to Anderson's efforts off the bench as a Crawford/Harden(Thunder) type.

1st round pick for Brandon Jennings, add filler and/or take back a contract to make it work.

Pick up Hassan Whiteside to add debt to you front court, now would be a great time with injury to AD. You add a young extremely athletic rebounder and shot blocker to develop.

Jennings/Vasquez/Rivers/Roberts(if not a filler)
Rivers/Thornton/Mason(if not a filler)Miller
Evans/Aminu/Miller
Davis/Anderson/Smith
Lopez/Smith/Hassan Whiteside

None of these guys will do anything to ruin your youth movement because their all still young and developing and in need of being coached up.

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I personally don't really like this plan.

It's really not talked about as much as it should considering how much it is killing us. But we need a PG that can play defense. Our exterior defense is atrocious. I LOVE Vasquez and everything he does, but he is too slow, and we get killed both on penetration, and on our defensive rotations. That's why we give up so many three's. We just do not have the outside speed. Give me a PG that can stay in front of someone and our defense looks so much better. Not to mention Gordon coming back and his quickness and experience.

At all costs, find an athletic PG. I am fine keeping Greivas as a backup or getting value for him.