Who is your SF? And secondary ball handler?
Who cares? We get a legit defensive center and trim dead weight.
My bigger concern is if Cousins/Asik works that much better than Howard/Asik? Not that I think this is a legitimate possibility.
Who is your SF? And secondary ball handler?
JimmerWho is your SF? And secondary ball handler?
Who cares? We get a legit defensive center and trim dead weight.
My bigger concern is if Cousins/Asik works that much better than Howard/Asik? Not that I think this is a legitimate possibility.
My bigger concern is if Cousins/Asik works that much better than Howard/Asik? Not that I think this is a legitimate possibility.
Cousins has made a bit of noise in the past about being more comfortable at the PF, if I recall correctly.
I do that trade. And I'm not convinced Houston doesn't. Moneywise, it's very nearly a wash with Salmons getting bought out. And with Asik now pushed completely out of the lineup, they're backing up Dwight with...Terrence Jones? Hayes would be a very good piece off the bench for them. And Salmons can give them some D as well. I can see them trying to swing a *better* deal with someone else but I'm not sure I can see them turning this one down if another doesn't materialize unless somehow they patch things up with Asik.
For us, we'd move Cuz down to the PF on the starting lineup, and we could basically play any two bigs together as we sub throughout the game and never risk going "small ball". Maybe a few minutes here and there with two bigs and Patterson on the wing - we could test it out and see if it's a disaster. But the SF would be the problem slot. We'd play lots of Outlaw and BenMac would have to swing down there a bit unless Mbah a Moute suddenly gets healthy to play real minutes. Especially coupled with a deal for a SF (send off that rejuvenated MT23?), this could be a nice deal. It would give us another $1.3M in cap hit next year (from ~$54M to ~$55M and change - not sure of the distribution on Cuz's extension) but we're not really in cap position to be big players on the FA market anyway. Our free-agent splash year is the summer of 2015.
Do it, I say! Even if it seems we only do ever trade with Houston.
Cousins has made a bit of noise in the past about being more comfortable at the PF, if I recall correctly.
I do that trade. And I'm not convinced Houston doesn't. Moneywise, it's very nearly a wash with Salmons getting bought out. And with Asik now pushed completely out of the lineup, they're backing up Dwight with...Terrence Jones? Hayes would be a very good piece off the bench for them. And Salmons can give them some D as well. I can see them trying to swing a *better* deal with someone else but I'm not sure I can see them turning this one down if another doesn't materialize unless somehow they patch things up with Asik.
For us, we'd move Cuz down to the PF on the starting lineup, and we could basically play any two bigs together as we sub throughout the game and never risk going "small ball". Maybe a few minutes here and there with two bigs and Patterson on the wing - we could test it out and see if it's a disaster. But the SF would be the problem slot. We'd play lots of Outlaw and BenMac would have to swing down there a bit unless Mbah a Moute suddenly gets healthy to play real minutes. Especially coupled with a deal for a SF (send off that rejuvenated MT23?), this could be a nice deal. It would give us another $1.3M in cap hit next year (from ~$54M to ~$55M and change - not sure of the distribution on Cuz's extension) but we're not really in cap position to be big players on the FA market anyway. Our free-agent splash year is the summer of 2015.
Do it, I say! Even if it seems we only do ever trade with Houston.
Asik's actually pretty mobile on defense, see sbnation's nice breakdown here: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/10/15/4830936/omer-asik-defense-video-breakdown-houston-rockets
As for jumpers... if you only want a big next to Cousins who can block shots, play strong man defense, and hit jumpers... that list is pretty small. Add in qualifiers for age and availability and it gets much smaller, if not nonexistent.
Ibaka fits this description.No, I want a big who can block shots, play strong man defense, hit jumpers, rebound, and be athletic enough to guard quick PFs. I know it's a lot to ask out of our PF spot, but I don't think it's impossible to find.
Ibaka fits this description.
No, I want a big who can block shots, play strong man defense, hit jumpers, rebound, and be athletic enough to guard quick PFs. I know it's a lot to ask out of our PF spot, but I don't think it's impossible to find.
Could you give us a sample list of the players who have all those skills. We know about Ibaka. Who else is there?
When/if he bulks up, John Henson can fill that role. Guys who can do it all are not readily available.
Larry Saunders isn't as great offensively but he's a very good defender. Too bad he's got some serious issues.When/if he bulks up, John Henson can fill that role. Guys who can do it all are not readily available.
Larry Saunders isn't as great offensively but he's a very good defender. Too bad he's got some serious issues.
Could you give us a sample list of the players who have all those skills. We know about Ibaka. Who else is there?
Like I mentioned in the rest of my post that you left out of my quote, it's likely we will have to settle for a player who doesn't have all of these qualities, but to go ahead and acquire one that lacks two of those qualities (midrange jumper and athleticism to guard PFs) is not a good idea when our core is not set. There is no need to add a player like Asik at this point. It will only make us worse in the future (make us better this year which will cause us to have a worse chance at snatching a #2 option in next year's draft). However, I understand how rare the player I demand to play next to Cousins is. Hence, I'm much more open to trading for him before our core is set because he is the best compliment we could possibly get next to Cousins.
In my eyes, it is not a necessity to grab our PF of the future at this point in time because that player will be a roleplayer, and I would prefer to add our roleplayers after we have established our core.
I'll go ahead and play along though...
I tried to limit it to players that are at an age that makes sense to acquire them.
- Anthony Davis
- Al Horford
- Serge Ibaka
- Larry Sanders
- Joakim Noah
- Derrick Favors
- Tristan Thompson
- Ed Davis
- Taj Gibson
- Ekpe Udoh (rebounding is pretty weak, but I've always had a soft spot for Ekpe. I've always liked his potential as a rebounder. Would not be insulted if you argued for him to be off the list
)
- Jordan Hill
- John Henson
I think Emeka Okafor, who is a free agent after this season would be a solid short term move.
Who cares? We get a legit defensive center and trim dead weight.
My bigger concern is if Cousins/Asik works that much better than Howard/Asik? Not that I think this is a legitimate possibility.
He's currently hurt with a herniated disc in his neck and they're talking that he might miss half the season. Doesn't seem to be worth it.
I was talking about going after him this offseason when he is a free agent for next season. I'm assuming he will be healthy by then .. unless you knew that was what I meant and wouldn't like him either way.