I have been thinking the same thing, you have been looking for a defensive "lockdown" defender that could be a shot blocker/length, versatile, REAL Forward size noot GUARD size etc....

We should also add a Taj Gibson like player.

We have someone on our roster that is a Taj Gibson/Paul Millsap lite. poor mans version in Ahmad Nivins (6'9", 25, Mons-Hainaut, Belgium). (he is dark skinned/black, with his name I thought he was Greek)

He was Dallas's pick in 2009, he is looks like he is a solid defender and can score in the post with hustle/engergy and a knack for rebounds.

Anyone know if we have his bird rights with a the rookie contract or we can only offer him a the 500k starting salary?

When it comes to 2nd round picks, we might be better off using an exemption to sign them in the future, like Ilyasova did with Bucks.
It prevents situations like what Fields/Omar Osik and other teams screwing with us.
Not sure if you could only do this with foreign players though, with the other 2-3 players we have the rights for possibly coming over.
Actually, I think Dallas did sign him, but I don't think he ever made it to the NBA and was cut?
He was released shortly after he was signed with Roddy Beabouis...

Aside from

Iman Shumpert *that is a legit PG/SG size, but lacks the ability to facilitate to play PG* he is injured

JR Smith/White/Kidd *while these guys can probably play 2 positions, Kidd at his age we can occasionally us him to run a 3 guard line up with him defending SF's because of his lack of speed at his age, they all are not LEGIT SF size/strength*

When facing players like Durant, Lebron, Harden, Westbrook, Deron, Joe Johnson, they are players that can play multiple positions, and we wouldn't match up with them well because of their size/length/ability to penetrate, and shoot* We have to be able to counter Lebron/Durant playing PF, even Harden/Wade/Rose/Westbrook when they play PG/SG.

When I look at our roster, we resemble a team in between the hybrid version of Dallas's championship roster and The Chicago Bulls.

Dallas
---------

We are like Dallas *without a Dirk, Marion, JJ Barea, and Terry*

While we have some of those players in Dallas, those guys played each played a very important role on both ends of the floor.

Having a player like Dirk, countered Lebron's ability to play PF, while they also did not have Shane Battier on the team, and a Haslem wasn't healthy, he just got back from being injured most of that season.
Dirk's ability to handle the ball, space the floor, run PnR, post up, pass the ball/set up his team, and shoot over anyone easily as a 7 footer not named Bosh.
His defense is very similar to what Jeffries does for us, with his good food work, but is a better rebounder, much longer, the ability to deflect shots, and compliments Tyson Chandler together very well.

Bulls
------------

The Bulls defensively without a Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, and Ronnie Brewer *especially defensively*, our defense is comparable with

Boozer - Stat
Noah - Chandler, Noah actually moves better than Chandler and is much more athletic. But Tyson Chandler's experience, I think makes him, the better defender, but Noah is the better "all round" player.

Omar Osik - Camby(without the ability to post up)

Taj Gibson - Ahmad Nivins/ on our summer league roster, I think we are waiting to see who gets amnestied and if we can get lucky for someone like Elton Brand to fall out with Louis Scola getting added in.
I still don't think Brand or Scola would make it through waivers, as a team will bid for their services.

Luol Deng - he is a great defender, with good size/strength/reach, and moves very well. Melo can do SOME of the things that Deng does, but Deng is much more complete. Of course Deng can't do many things that Melo can also do, but Deng is a TEAM player. Melo plays for stats, and has a "TEAM ME" mentality.

We have comparable pieces, talent, to both of these teams, and Woodson/Grunweld should be working together to add the right pieces that would compliment our roster to develop

1) chemistry
2) fit the team's skills
3) be able to build an identity/coaching philosophy that we can actually execute with the right players

To be capable to have the right pieces that would allow us to match up and counter Miami/ OkC/ Spurs, and the Lakers, with YOUNG LEGS to go with our veteran experience.
I think we can play many different styles and run different philosophies with our different lineups in our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd units, that would be favorable to us against different match ups that we can expect to face while on the road to the finals. It is very important how we fill up the remaining roster spots, to implement these strategies against them.

Sonny Weems, DJ White, James Singleton, Deshaun Stevenson(kind of old, he was once a good defender/ and decent 3point shooter at G/F), Donte Green *streaky shooter n despite his size/athleticism/reach is not a great rebounder/defender

About Copeland, I don't know if we have room for him, and how he would be able to match in the NBA, players like Anthony Tolliver, Donte Green, and I am not sure how much better he would be than a Kapono.
I really like Tolliver and would like to acquire him, with his ability to rebound and hit the 3pointer, and his versatility to play SF, PF, and center.
Offering JJ's and 2016's 2nd round pick. JJ is a nice player, but with his injury history with Camby/Tyson Chandler as non scoring threats. I think we should move on with the age of our roster already quite old.

Unfortunately, we do NOT HAVE many roster spots, left, 4 roster spots, with 2 active/2 non active with Iman being on the inactive list to start the season.
I think we should pick up some "projects" to 2 year deals, without any 2nd rounders coming up for the next couple of years.

2 year deals, the way Gadzuric's was constructed. MisterEarl really likes Artsiom Parakhouski, and I agree I see some good things about his game as a project.
A PF/C that can post up and plays very smart. He has played soccer his entire life, which means he is in GREAT SHAPE. Soccer is probably one of the toughest sports to play.
He has good footwork, hands, coordination, and good IQ despite being a late bloommer in BBALL.

On the summer league roster, I also have interest in Mustapha Farrakhan (6'4", 23, Bakersfield Jam) as a poor man's Bradly Beal combo guard.
And on The King's summer league roster, I am high on Alex Young 6'6 G/F as a lights out shooter, with good reach, speed/quickness, and good reach/size.

As a UFA I would like to pick up G/F Terrence Willams to be Kidd's mentor with Lin. Kidd can help develop the once high potential player that has been an underachiever.
They both have good size and have guard/skills, he might not get a much higher contract, and would give him a 2 year veteran deal to sit on our bench.

VCoug wrote:Even if we could sign and trade Landry, which we can't, how would that work? The way those deals usually work is that we would threaten to match the offer unless Toronto gave something up. In this case though, Toronto doesn't care about Landry Fields, they just made that offer to improve their chances of getting Nash, so if we said that we were going to match unless they gave us something they'll just say, "Go ahead and match, we never wanted to pay Landry Fields $20M over three years."

Thing is Fields just plays his best at SF and is a liability in any other position.
At SG, he does not have the ability, quickness, and speed, to defend and stay in front of the penetration, causing our defense to collapse.
I think he will do well in Torono, they have a system, and the players, that would compliment Fields skills.

With Bigs that can shoot to open the lane for Fields to penetrate or switching to BIGs that can rebound and defend.
A PG that is great in penetrating, finishing strong, and good at facilitating with Lowry and even playing Calderon at SG at times.

SG/SFs that are all versatile, can shoot, athletic, and can penetrate/finish.

Toronto has many players that are versatile, with penetration, and shooters, with TEAM PLAYERS, qualities we once all had PRE MELO, in which Fields looked GREAT.
He actually has improved much since his rookie year, but he just doesn't fit with the team anymore.

Toronto *excellent shooters with multiple depth, with youth, and versatility
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lowry/ Calderon

Derozon/Terrence Ross

Fields/ James Johnson

Bargaini/ Ed Davis

Jonas Valanciunas/ Amir Johnson

Bench
===============

Kleiza
Tomislav Zubcic
Quincy Acy
Gary Forbes

they are under the cap, so they will probably be in the bidding wars of Scola/Brand as well.
They have quality versatile players, playing European style TEAM BALL, with players that all have legit 3point range.
Fields would be one of the worse shooters on the floor and will benefit with the ball movement, spacing, penetration, athleticism, and versatility from the entire team
Toronto has a really nice rotation of players that can come in for one another, much improved in the East, with the Bucks, Pacers, Philly, Boston, and The Heat.
These teams have an identity already, with the same core of players, but have just added more weapons to their arsenal

Washington and Bobcats have both improved much as well.

The teams that took a step back backwards are Atlanta, Orlando *which drafted some nice players, although loss Ryan Anderson for NOTHING*, and probably The Bulls.

crzymdups wrote:There is no option to sign and trade Landry to Toronto, even if we match the sheet he can't be traded to Toronto for a full year.

no
I think they can actually do trade after 90 days or 3 mo. which would bring it to Dec. timeline
like another poster mentioned. I am not sure about timelines but do not hear it has to be full yr
wait to sign and player RFA matched offer of your own team

RonRon wrote:

VCoug wrote:Even if we could sign and trade Landry, which we can't, how would that work? The way those deals usually work is that we would threaten to match the offer unless Toronto gave something up. In this case though, Toronto doesn't care about Landry Fields, they just made that offer to improve their chances of getting Nash, so if we said that we were going to match unless they gave us something they'll just say, "Go ahead and match, we never wanted to pay Landry Fields $20M over three years."

Thing is Fields just plays his best at SF and is a liability in any other position.
At SG, he does not have the ability, quickness, and speed, to defend and stay in front of the penetration, causing our defense to collapse.
I think he will do well in Torono, they have a system, and the players, that would compliment Fields skills.

With Bigs that can shoot to open the lane for Fields to penetrate or switching to BIGs that can rebound and defend.
A PG that is great in penetrating, finishing strong, and good at facilitating with Lowry and even playing Calderon at SG at times.

SG/SFs that are all versatile, can shoot, athletic, and can penetrate/finish.

Toronto has many players that are versatile, with penetration, and shooters, with TEAM PLAYERS, qualities we once all had PRE MELO, in which Fields looked GREAT.
He actually has improved much since his rookie year, but he just doesn't fit with the team anymore.

Toronto *excellent shooters with multiple depth, with youth, and versatility
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lowry/ Calderon

Derozon/Terrence Ross

Fields/ James Johnson

Bargaini/ Ed Davis

Jonas Valanciunas/ Amir Johnson

Bench
===============

Kleiza
Tomislav Zubcic
Quincy Acy
Gary Forbes

they are under the cap, so they will probably be in the bidding wars of Scola/Brand as well.
They have quality versatile players, playing European style TEAM BALL, with players that all have legit 3point range.
Fields would be one of the worse shooters on the floor and will benefit with the ball movement, spacing, penetration, athleticism, and versatility from the entire team
Toronto has a really nice rotation of players that can come in for one another, much improved in the East, with the Bucks, Pacers, Philly, Boston, and The Heat.
These teams have an identity already, with the same core of players, but have just added more weapons to their arsenal

Washington and Bobcats have both improved much as well.

The teams that took a step back backwards are Atlanta, Orlando *which drafted some nice players, although loss Ryan Anderson for NOTHING*, and probably The Bulls.

Wow, Toronto must be the greatest 23-win team ever.

RonRon wrote:they are much improved, they didn't have

Lowry

Terrence Ross

Tomislav Zubcic

Jonas Valanciunas

Quincy Acy

and

Bargaini was hurt most of last year. I am explaining why Fields would fit much better in Toronto, regardless of his contract, he will be good player for them but not for us.

Four of those players haven't played a single minute in the NBA; Lowry is a nice player who should continue to improve; Bargnani basically is what he is and that's role player on a good team.

We have improved this off season, but we continue to mortgage our future, and when Kidd/Camby's deals are done, we have no value with their contracts.

Expiring contracts are expiring contracts and I'd rather have Kidd and Camby combined what Landry is making.

What is our window to win?
How many years have we taken to get here?
How long will it take for us to recover, after this window?

Does Toronto even have a window? How many years will it take for them to get a window?

No offense, to many of the fans here, but we think we are a better team than we actually are, that is why Charles Barkley and many analysts takes crap on us fans and the organization.
We acquired 30-40 year olds, to add to our aging roster, and we act like we are better than all the teams outside of the HEAT in the entire East that has improved much with us.

It's not unreasonable to believe that we have a top 3 team in the East, especially with Rose injured. It is unreasonable to believe that Brooklyn adding Joe Johnson to the same team that went 22-44 last year makes them better than us. It is unreasonable to believe that Toronto adding Landry Fields for $20M over 3 years put them in a better position to succeed than us.

While we are still paying for our debts from previous trades, these teams have assets on their roster, future draft picks, and cap space, to continue to improve.

Toronto has traded one 1st rounder and one 2nd rounder in future drafts. We've traded one 1st rounder and three 2nd rounders in future drafts. 2nd rounders are meaningless so each team has traded one first rounder. The difference is that our first won't be in the lottery.

loweyecue wrote:

RonRon wrote:Our open roster spots, 2 open roster spots, 2 inactive
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We currently only have 2 active roster spots, with the addition of Pablo, without adding Copeland/Jeffries.
I would like to add a player like Ivan Johnson/ AR if possible that can be a legit shot blcoker/rebounder, that can play alongside Tyson Chandler/Camby, as well as back him up, and be their apprentice.
I think Ahmad Nivins, is a player that is pure heart, and would be a good quality player to have, would like a 2 year deal.
He is ready to contribute now, is young, and we should develop for our future.

With Gadzuric's contract, we have to decide if we can grab any players with his contract. What package we can offer, with maybe JJ, the rest of the cash left *about 1m*, and a 2016 pick 1st or 2nd round depending on player targeted.

-Players to target

- Anthony Tolliver, Ivan Johnson/AR, Gary Neal/Randy Roye/Delonte West, Dejuan Blairre, Terrence Williams

Players that could be for Vet min, including Anthony Tolliver, Ivan Johnson, AR, Terrence Williams, Delotone West that have a small chance of signing at vet minimum.

PF/C to play behind and with Tyson Chandler/Camby
------------------------------------------------------------------

I still believe in AR, if you look back, when he plays PF and given minutes, he can be an effective player. I don't think he recovered fully when he was on the Knicks and still wasn't mature.
He is still a 15pt, 10rbs +, steals and blocks, and next to Tyson Chandler/Camby, could be their apprentice and play along side with them.
Look back, late last season, for AR, when Love was out, there is still a lot of youth, potential and skills in him.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4476/gamelog

Ivan Johnson, would be the safer player, that is more coachable but not nearly as high potential as AR. He is a solid rebounder/shot blocker when Al Horford and Pachula was out some games.
He was solid all year for Atlanta, coming up from the D League.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4958/gamelog;_ylt=AvE.t7V2CBhJoE7.UbAXx2ukvLYF

Both would be solid players to acquire.

Just when I was starting to like your posts- you come up with AR? UGH
How many teams has gotten rid of this guy? Basketball isn't just about skills, or just about brains or just about trying hard. You need a combination of all three. AR definitely has skills but no one has EVER accused him of having even half a brain and he is too emotionally immature to actually even work hard. What you guys see in this humongous pile of turd is beyond me.

With the $ that we can offer, there really isn't many good options, I put in players that I thought could be available.
We need some young athletic legs to go with this veteran team.
If this team didn't have Tyson Chandler and Camby, to babysit AR, I wouldn't suggest it.
But those guys are veterans that will put him in his place and that he must have respected as idols growing up.
There are other options in there, I know not all of them would be available.

Ivan Johnson would be the safer pick, Ahmad Nivins (6'9", 25, Mons-Hainaut, Belgium), and I like Tolliver as well. But there seems to be a growing interest in Tolliver from many teams.

Thing about Camby and Tyson Chandler is that they cannot play extended minutes together, at least not likely in this stage of Camby.
They might be able to play a couple critical plays together vs certain teams. Camby is a great player to have as a backup, I love the return of him in the garden.
But have you noticed how teams have changed and acquired more athletic, versatile, and skilled players.
Kids continue to watch the development of the NBA, they keep coming up better, more athletic, longer, and more versatile.
The results and improvement in sports science, training, and being students of the game, will continue evolving.

There trend will continue, we need to find a way to match up vs these teams.
What you see in OKC, is just the beginning of how these new kids coming, in will continue to change the NBA as we know it today.
It is going to be a multiplying affect, even the Kids in Europe, I was so surprised how the the game as evolved.

RonRon wrote:btw, for the people that doubt AR, did you even bother to click on the link I provided?
Between AR/Ivan Johnson, I wouldn't be happy with either one, with what we can offer.
Ivan Johnson is the safer pick when in terms of character and AR has a lot of potential still left in him.

AR teamed up with Tyson Chandler/Camby would be very solid and he is still very young, with lots of potential.
I feel we with these 2 mentors, it would be wise for us to find a player that can absorb there experience.
A Taj Gibson would be ideal, but I do not see Bulls parting with him, even if they know a poison pill is heading their way.
I still have strong interest in Tolliver and Ahmad Nivins, as cheaper options, with Ivan Johnson.

I would give up the 2016 pick, 2nd round pick, with the rest of the cash, Gadzuric's contract, and/JJ to see what we can interest and offers we can get from around the league.
I am not sure about the 2016 1st round pick, just to get an idea of what it could net us if there is no interest in the 1st package, but I am not looking to overpay for talent.
Doesn't mean I will pull the trigger but we are in WIN NOW mode already, if we can net ourselves a YOUNG asset with that trade, and feel it would help us out, why not.

Potential does not compensate lack of elementary intelligence. Do you remember when the guy used to freeze wih the ball in his hands trying to figure out which of the 5 positions he was so capable of, he should play at that point? Tyson and Camby can't drill brain cells into his head. ,