@iowamcnabb mentioned it earlier, but I’m still thinking a trade like this would be the best path to take.
- Caruso or Thybulle would slot in quite nicely as our starting SG and give us an elite defender while Grant would also give us an upgrade defensively at PF.
- Caruso/Thybulle, Murray, and Grant are all above average rim protectors for their position (which would come in handy around Sabonis).
- You’d still have good spacing around Fox/Sabonis as Caruso/Thybulle, Murray, and Grant can all knock down 3s at a solid clip.
- Grant gives them another legitimate go-to scorer to help lessen the load for our other options. And it technically gives us a solid go-to scorer at every position to take advantage of matchups (PG - Fox, SG - Monk, SF - Murray, PF - Grant, C - Sabonis)
- Allows us to finish the game with more offense/shooting (Monk) or more defense (Thybulle/Caruso) depending on the situation.
Regarding the debate of Thybulle vs. Caruso…
- Thybulle is a few years younger (more in line with our timeline), is much longer than Caruso (helping improve our below average length), and is probably a better lockdown, one-on-one defender.
- Caruso is a more reliable shooter, better rebounder, better ball handler, and better passer
I go back and forth on which one I’d prefer. I’m leaning towards Caruso at the moment…
- He seems to have that infectious energy that would really help us avoid games like yesterday.
- A perimeter of Thybulle, Murray, and Grant is a bit light on ballhandling and passing. Could see it stall out without another ball handler/passer out there to keep the ball moving around.
- Grant has not been a good rebounder this far in his career. Thybulle is also below average for his position. Caruso’s rebounding would help offset Grant’s weakness a bit
- If Thybulle’s 3PT shooting reverts back to his career average (.343), our spacing could be impacted. While if Caruso’s 3PT shooting reverts back to his career average (.375), we’d be able to manage.