A Guide to the Offseason

[tdcreator]

I'm hoping we can grab Georges Niag (6'7 SF) from Iowa St. He has a good overall game with his shooting and passing ability. I don't see him listed in any Mock drafts so he may not come out but he looked good in the first round before fracturing his foot.

[MichaelMcNamara]

I don't think there are 10 guys that could be bowens. He was an elite all time defender. If you mean offensively within a role and play solid defense I can agree.

But he didn't start out that way; that's my point. He was a decent scorer in college that wasn't good enough to make it in the NBA as a scorer. He sacrificed and put all his energy into maximizing two skills.

Most players have too much pride to do that


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[AirForce1]

If I remember corectly, he was at one point the leading scorer in french Pro A.

[kclaboy504]

Austin won't go very high. Essentially blind in one eye and hasn't put on any weight. Not very good in the low post and not good enough to be a stretch 5 from the perimeter. Good shot blocking at the college level but will get bullied by bigger guys down low and not agile enough to defend the perimeter. 2nd rounder IMO. Could honestly see a scenario where he goes undrafted

Agree about Austin. As far as Bruce goes. To say there always 10 guys that can be him is just silly. IMO. Yea he didn't start out that way but he perfected his craft and became one of the best at it. Not just anybody can become one of the greatest defenders ever. Let alone 10 rookies every year if they wanted to. C'mon man.

[MichaelMcNamara]

So, what was special about Bowen then? What did he have tool wise, that someone like say Chris Singleton doesn't have?

I would answer heart and humility. You let me pick the ten guys from this draft and give me some magical H&H formula and I will give you ten Bruce Bowen's. All respect to the man because he did have heart and humility and those are soe of the rarest attributes in the NBA. And thats why there are so few Bowen's.

The most recent Bowen is Patrick Beverly. Nothing special about that guy AT ALL. Got sent overseas, returned with H&H. Now he is a starter and the PG equivalent of Bowen.

[Kibner]

Heart!



Hustle!

[Blattman]

In my opinion there could be interesting opportunity this summer to improve the roster.

The best trade is always when you buy low and sell when the stock is high. With Gordon's stock not going any higher than this year, it could be in the team's interest to trade him and in my opnion there's 3 interesting destinations :

The first and obvious would be the Denver Nuggets. They have two players that could be targeted : Wilson Chandler and McGee. Both are questionable fit for the triangle offense and the team have already commited dollars with other player in their position. May be, there would be some interest with trade likes Gordon + Jackson rights for McGee+Foye+Randolph or Chandler+Foye+Arthur but to be honest it's difficult to find an interesting trade for Denver in a 2-team trade since they don't have true bad contract to unload (if McGee and Gallinari come back from injuries) and don't want to help a rival for next year playoff contention.

My second choice would be the New York Knicks. Phil Jackson needs to make a move and to generate buzz around the team for next year, standing pat would be seen as a failure. He also needs to sell a brighter future to Melo and trading with desparate people is always good business move. They also have three toxic players/contract with Bargnani, Felton and JR Smith they would love to get rid off. So I think they'll think at least twice about PJ+Gordon for Bargnani+JR Smith+Hardaway Jr or Bargnani+Shumpert. The interest would be the expiring Bargnani and adding a young player able to play SF to the current core (Both Hardaway and Shumpert are bigh enough to play the 3).

Raptors are also an interesting trade partner. Landry Fields is overpayed but was an average starter for the knicks, his contract will expire in 2015 and is still young. May be it could be interesting to take a chance on him. A trade Gordon for Fields/Salmons (aslo expires in 2015)/draft pick could work or may be Gordon for Fields/Novak/Ross but it's very hard to figure what Ujiri wants with this team.

The last team we should watch closely is the Magic. They have Afflalo/Oladipo/Harkless/Harris on the wing, so if they have the possibility to draft Parker or Wiggings may be they would be willing to trade Harris or Harkless. Something like Jackson+Rivers for Harris or Harkless could be interesting for both teams.

On the FA side, my two top target would be J.Hamilton and K.Seraphin. Both have limitations (Defense for Hamilton, rebounding for Seraphin) but both are young and could fill a position of need. I also like the idea of bringing Okafor back but I think he'll get decent offers from contenders if he can play.

[Kurgan]

I think monty would kill himself if he had to deal with bargnani and jr. I know i would kill myself if we traded for bargnani, i'd rather keep gordon

[Rheem654]

I think monty would kill himself if he had to deal with bargnani and jr. I know i would kill myself if we traded for bargnani, i'd rather keep gordon

I think Bargnani and Shumpert would be a good trade for both sides, actually. Shumpert plays that needed SF role, and Bargnani gives another option as a shooter to stretch the floor. 3 white forwards who shoot the 3? We'd be in good shape.

Davis/ Bargnani/ *Ajinca
Ryno / *Smith/ *Withey
Shumpert/ *Aminu/ *Babbit
Evans / Morrow/ *Miller
Holiday/ Rivers/ *Roberts

(*questionable to return next year)

[PelsFan2313]

I think monty would kill himself if he had to deal with bargnani and jr. I know i would kill myself if we traded for bargnani, i'd rather keep gordon

JR is a team cancer and Bargnani is a terrible basketball player.

[Kibner]

Shumpert is a SG, not a SF.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...nced_pbp::none

[Blattman]

JR is a team cancer and Bargnani is a terrible basketball player.

Exactly and that's why the trade make sense. The knicks will never send their best young players for our overpayed SG if they didn't want to get rid of them.

Still there's an interesting upside about them, Bargnani could provide spacing and his contract expires next year, so if he can't play he would be easier to trade than Gordon.

JR Smith is a cancer right now, but Zach Randolph was seen as a cancer when he was 28 too, he can play SF and just a year ago he averaged 18 points 5 rebounds and 2.7 assists for an above 0.600 playoff team. Again his talent is not the reason why you make the trade, but it could be a good gamble.

[Rheem654]

Well-noted. But at a solid 220 with long arms, he can also guard SF's.

http://www.nba.com/knicks/roster/2013 (G - F)

[JunkHead]

http://hoopshype.com/free_agency/sma...wards_2014.htm

Going by this list of Small Forwards, the one who really sticks out the most to me is Loul Deng. The rest of the top 10 aren't going anywhere.
A starting lineup of:

Holiday
Evans
Deng
Davis
Smith?

That just sounds amazing to me.

Bringing in Anderson/Roberts off the bench for scoring.
Bringing in Rivers/Withey? off the bench for defense.

This is all assuming you get dump Gordon off in a trade of course.

[UptownFuz504]

Has the Greg Oden shipped sailed? In limited time, he seems to be doing ok. He's on a 1 year deal I believe and this is the last hoorah for the Heat. We might be able to get him for a similar deal to the one he's currently on based on his limited production this year. What do y'all think? He'll allow AD to play his natural position and will be a great compliment to the defense in the paint.

[Caffeinedisastr]

http://hoopshype.com/free_agency/sma...wards_2014.htm

Going by this list of Small Forwards, the one who really sticks out the most to me is Loul Deng. The rest of the top 10 aren't going anywhere.
A starting lineup of:

Holiday
Evans
Deng
Davis
Smith?

That just sounds amazing to me.

Bringing in Anderson/Roberts off the bench for scoring.
Bringing in Rivers/Withey? off the bench for defense.

This is all assuming you get dump Gordon off in a trade of course.

No Deng with Gordon on the books.

We will have to overpay to get him here in the first place.

[JunkHead]

I dunno. Weren't there reports of Deng not being happy in Cleveland? Or maybe I'm getting players mixed up. According to the Trade Machine, him and Gordon make about the same. Would a sign and trade be possible? (tossing in other players if needed) If you can get Deng for not much more money, it seems like it might be a better deal. Especially moving Evans to position that fits him better. (SG).

[Caffeinedisastr]

Should be bargains @ SF:
Paul Pierce (last contract, if he doesn' t retire)
Francisco Garcia
Marvin Williams
Danny Granger
AK47

If we're going to overpay:
Luol Deng
Gordon Hayward

[Caffeinedisastr]

I dunno. Weren't there reports of Deng not being happy in Cleveland? Or maybe I'm getting players mixed up. According to the Trade Machine, him and Gordon make about the same. Would a sign and trade be possible? (tossing in other players if needed) If you can get Deng for not much more money, it seems like it might be a better deal. Especially moving Evans to position that fits him better. (SG).

Would be very nice to hold Deng's bird rights and send EJ to Cleveland all at once.

[Kibner]

Cleveland wouldn't want Gordon and Deng wouldn't want to play in NOLA for the short, cheap contract that Dell would offer him. He is too old for the Pels to offer a long and moderately expensive contract to. He would fit other teams better.

[PelsFan2313]

Exactly and that's why the trade make sense. The knicks will never send their best young players for our overpayed SG if they didn't want to get rid of them.

Still there's an interesting upside about them, Bargnani could provide spacing and his contract expires next year, so if he can't play he would be easier to trade than Gordon.

JR Smith is a cancer right now, but Zach Randolph was seen as a cancer when he was 28 too, he can play SF and just a year ago he averaged 18 points 5 rebounds and 2.7 assists for an above 0.600 playoff team. Again his talent is not the reason why you make the trade, but it could be a good gamble.

I think the move hurts the team more than it helps if you look at the move as more than just an exchange of talent. Besides, Gordon's contract, option aside, expires at the same time as Bargnani's.

[PelsFan2313]

Cleveland wouldn't want Gordon and Deng wouldn't want to play in NOLA for the short, cheap contract that Dell would offer him. He is too old for the Pels to offer a long and moderately expensive contract to. He would fit other teams better.

Doesn't matter if CLE wants Gordon. Deng is an UFA. But as other posters noted, we wouldn't be able to afford him with Gordon's contract still on the books.

[AD23nEG10]

Granger could be interested in coming back home if the clippers don't wanna spend the MLE on him, but think our bigger need is at C personally

Side note... I wonder how bad the pistons & their shooting woes would have to be for them to consider a S&T Monroe for Gordon this summer

[ramsters60]

I would just as soon not see Jordan Hill have many games like he did last night.....

[MichaelMcNamara]

We won't go after Hill. Team has let it be known they will be looking for a guy who can defend Centers. Hill almost exclusively defends power forwards. Only weighs 235.