Yeah, it always helps an argument to bring a totally different issue into the mix. 
IT at least has some pretty significant upsides to his game. Thus far, Ben just doesn't...
And I'll repeat it one more time. I want to see Ben succeed. I just do not believe his current situation is a positive step in that direction. The longer he's out there struggling, the more prone he will be to getting discouraged. He needs more schooling in basketball fundamentals, he needs more time to develop handles that don't look like broken luggage. Just being a shooter isn't good enough. And when his shot isn't falling, for whatever reasons, he's pretty much useless.
IT at least has some pretty significant upsides to his game. Thus far, Ben just doesn't...
And I'll repeat it one more time. I want to see Ben succeed. I just do not believe his current situation is a positive step in that direction. The longer he's out there struggling, the more prone he will be to getting discouraged. He needs more schooling in basketball fundamentals, he needs more time to develop handles that don't look like broken luggage. Just being a shooter isn't good enough. And when his shot isn't falling, for whatever reasons, he's pretty much useless.
Thing is if you're patient enough you might develop Mclemore into Sefolosha with prolific outside shooting and transition game and draft, say, Caulie-Stein (Embiid is the dream scenario) or turn the pick (you must be able too with all the hype for this draft) into someone a bit better than Henson with the same style of play.
P.S. Main thing - watching games continues to make you suffer, but you no longer want to turn it off.
P.S. Main thing - watching games continues to make you suffer, but you no longer want to turn it off.
Are there any top PG's in the league besides Rondo and Paul that can consistently defend opposing top pg's well in the modern NBA where guards dominate? Last time I heard Parker, Williams, Curry, Rose, Lawson are not good defenders either. Even guys like Rondo and Westbrook are just really good at reading passing lanes and getting deflections, not so much at plain stopping another guard from either scoring on them or penetrating. Theres no such thing as as a Gary Payton anymore with the current NBA rules, I mean the closest thing is a guy like Toney Douglass, and theres a reason he gets 10 min a game if that with the Warriors. IT outplayed Parker tonight(despite the two big 3's at the end). The letdown tonight was letting Ginobli go off, he's really the one that kept them in it when we got a lead, we should have pushed the lead to double digits , at one point we were up 9.
Nope. And even still, Rondo has had KG behind him his whole career. Paul has had Tyson Chandler, Emeka Okafor (not great, but still solid defensive big), and now the development of DeAndre Jordan has a top-tier defensive big. Westbrook, another widely top considered defensive PG, has had Ibaka behind him his whole career. Conley, another widely considered top-tier defensive PG, has had Marc Gasol and notice how far that once prolific defense has fallen without Gasol. Rose has had Noah, Gibson, and Thibs helping him. It's virtually impossible to build a great defense without an elite defensive big. Miami is absolutely the exception, because of how prolific Wade and LeBron are as perimeter defenders. Curry's struggles are forgotten because of Bogut playing back near his career levels where he used to be a top-tier defensive big. Also, he can hide behind Klay and Iggy, who are both excellent on the perimeter
John Henson isn't available but Larry Sanders could probably be had for a box of peanuts at this point thanks to his ridiculously stupid contract and Henson's emergence as one of the few good things on a terrible Bucks team.. Even though Sanders is a crazy person, he'd give us another young piece with potential for growth. Additionally Cuz has already said he enjoyed being paired with Sanders when they were playing together with team USA. If we were feeling really frisky, we could make an attempt at Chandler but the Knicks are delusional so that's not gonna happen.
Now personally, I'd avoid even being in the same state as Sanders but if we were really serious about trying to make a push for the playoffs this season, he'd probably be the defensive big to target for now. The problem is getting the pieces together to make an offer.
As for defensive SGs, Thabo is most definitely off the table. Ideally, you'd want a Jimmy Butler in there, a young gun who is still capable of growing with your core but Chicago has pretty much made it clear he's a key part of their future. If we were making a pass at Tyson Chandler, we could potentially try to get Shumpert as part of the package. The problem is finding a way to make the deal tenable for both sides (i.e. "No, you can't have Cuz).
Of course, if we really going to go balls to the wall, we could try to assemble a package that would somehow net us Rondo and Faverani from Boston while somehow keeping Demarcus, Rudy, and IT to form a potent big 4 (Cuz, Rondo, Gay, with IT off the bench). Losing IT wouldn't really be all that bad in that scenario either. Really at that point, it wouldn't really matter who we had at the 2 position as long as he could shoot the spot-up shot and defend at a decent clip. Another slightly-less-crazy option would be a trade with the Rockets that would bring in Asik and an old friend in Francisco Garcia, who is able to both hit the three ball and defend but I'm not all that sure what we could possibly offer them that they'd want.
Now personally, I'd avoid even being in the same state as Sanders but if we were really serious about trying to make a push for the playoffs this season, he'd probably be the defensive big to target for now. The problem is getting the pieces together to make an offer.
As for defensive SGs, Thabo is most definitely off the table. Ideally, you'd want a Jimmy Butler in there, a young gun who is still capable of growing with your core but Chicago has pretty much made it clear he's a key part of their future. If we were making a pass at Tyson Chandler, we could potentially try to get Shumpert as part of the package. The problem is finding a way to make the deal tenable for both sides (i.e. "No, you can't have Cuz).
Of course, if we really going to go balls to the wall, we could try to assemble a package that would somehow net us Rondo and Faverani from Boston while somehow keeping Demarcus, Rudy, and IT to form a potent big 4 (Cuz, Rondo, Gay, with IT off the bench). Losing IT wouldn't really be all that bad in that scenario either. Really at that point, it wouldn't really matter who we had at the 2 position as long as he could shoot the spot-up shot and defend at a decent clip. Another slightly-less-crazy option would be a trade with the Rockets that would bring in Asik and an old friend in Francisco Garcia, who is able to both hit the three ball and defend but I'm not all that sure what we could possibly offer them that they'd want.
What to people think of going after Afflalo? Great defender, shooting .44% from 3, smart basketball player still only 28 years old. I'd give up McLemore+ scraps for him in a second. He's scoring over 20 this year, but really out of necessity. Here he would could concentrate on defending the wings, shooting 3's and he's a good slasher as well. I have always been of fan of him going back to his UCLA days.
Yea, Henson was just an example. I'm a huge Butler fan as well, but he might be Chicago's best piece for the future moving forward. No chance they move him.
Maybe you make a move for Shumpert and then draft one of Embiid, Vonleh, or Cauley-Stein. As far as Asik goes, I'm not so sure that's a smart idea. He fits the defensive big mold, but we've also seen how DeMarcus "defends" the perimeter PF's. He doesn't. So you need someone else who's comfortable defending on the perimeter. Besides, I wouldn't want to to DeMarcus away from the rim because you lose his rebounding ability
Maybe you make a move for Shumpert and then draft one of Embiid, Vonleh, or Cauley-Stein. As far as Asik goes, I'm not so sure that's a smart idea. He fits the defensive big mold, but we've also seen how DeMarcus "defends" the perimeter PF's. He doesn't. So you need someone else who's comfortable defending on the perimeter. Besides, I wouldn't want to to DeMarcus away from the rim because you lose his rebounding ability
Like I said, Sanders's ridiculously dumb contract and character issues lowers his value significantly. As the Bucks are clearly in rebuild mode, your package for Sanders would probably have to be something like B-Mac +Jimmer +Gray + trade exception from the Gay trade (I think we got one in that move but I'm probably wrong) for Sanders + most likely Ilyasova, who's become a bit redundant considering the Antetokounmpo hype train and boasts a 9 million dollar per year contract over the next several seasons. This is actually made a little easier because Sander's expensive contract doesn't kick in until next year.
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We need to jump on that Andrew Bynum wagon. I think Shaq can put the youngster in his place. We move cousins to the PF position. Work on his stamina, lose some weight and become more agile. We'd have a big 4 and defensive prowess. Trade Ben Mac, Jimmer and JT.
Only position lacking would be SG and bench.
Only position lacking would be SG and bench.
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If we're going to get a trade from the Bucks, I'd really look into Radujlica as well. The Serbian center who has looked great in a couple games that I've seen him play. He scored 12 points in 14 minutes against the spurs and had some good rebounds and a block as well. He's great on both ends of the court and could really be a great back-up for Cousins in my opinion. He'd be cheap as well. A filler player in a multi-player trade.
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That's true but I also think that they heavily prefer Henson. Radujlica started a couple times but I don't think they'll give him the minutes that he's asking for. He's definitely a good C off the bench.
Too bad we didn't jump on Jeremy Lamb early enough. He's blowing up for OKC. I would trade Ben Mac for him in a heart beat.
Too bad we didn't jump on Jeremy Lamb early enough. He's blowing up for OKC. I would trade Ben Mac for him in a heart beat.
It's not really a matter of preferring one guy over the other. Conventional wisdom has it that when you start rebuilding, you do what you can to (a) shed contracts and (b) collect as much young talent as possible. When you've done that, then you see what pieces fit and then get rid of the rest for pieces that do work (see the OKC Thunder and the Jeff Green trade).