Posted by TMS:
Posted by BRIGGS:
Were going to lose a lot of games.
bring it on... every loss takes us that much closer to landing a better draft pick... if u don't wanna be stuck in the middle then shouldn't that be a preferable option?
if u don't think Thabeet is a MDA type player & he's only interested in guys who can shoot the 3, shouldn't u be ecstatic over the possibilities of MDA being interested in your boy, Curry?
I personally would be proactive in trying to rebuild this team right now. I think it's safe to say that there's a real good chance the following guys are not part of this team's future and won't be retained: Marbury, Curry, Harrington, Q-Rich, Rose, Jerome James, Tim Thomas, Jeffries, Duhon and Anthony Roberson. That's 10 guys right there. 2/3 of a full roster. We really need to start thinking about how we can start to fill out this roster with decent young pieces with potential and start building toward our future. 2010 isn't that far away - a lot of people have said recently that it's important to rebuild this team to the point where it looks semi-attractive to a 2010 FA. I agree with that. So why wait? Get the rebuilding underway already...
I've given a few examples recently of how we can do this:
Lee/Roberson to Golden State for Marcus Williams, Marco Belinelli and their 2009 2nd rounder - It's debatable whether or not we could get more for Lee but to me, this is a good package. People need to realize that even if we lost Lee for nothing (worst case scenario that I don't see happening so relax), he's not exactly the kind of loss that sets this organization back years. There are a ton of blue-collar scrappy hustle-types that could come in here and more or less supply the same thing. He's a nice role player that currently has some value. It's up to Walsh to get the most for him and I'm confident he eventually will. To me, this deal with GS is a good package to get in return. We get a whole new backcourt plus an additional chip with this move - a young well-rounded PG who's proved at a good college program that he can orchestrate and score - he'd come cheap and should be hungry with a lot to prove, not to mention a guy that, if he came in and played well, really gives us some nice flexibility on what to do with Duhon (Duhon's another guy that, even if he walked next year, doesn't exactly set this franchise back years). Williams is too young and too talented a playmaker to think that his career's over already. Next we get a good young shooter in Belinelli that's coming on strong now that Nellie had no choice but to throw him some minutes recently. He can really shoot it (a pure stroke type), he has nice size and he can really handle the ball & pass it well for a 2. And like I've been saying, that 2009 2nd rounder could ABSOLUTELY net us a nice rotation player. Either a backup PG, another shooter or a decent PF prospect. Saw Taj Gibson again last night against Georgia Tech - he had a real nice game w/o really even trying. Put in a real workmanlike, effortless 15 pts, 14 rebounds with 3 blocks. He helped hold down big PF prospect Gani Lawal who had no impact for the Yellow Jackets. I know this kid isn't the sexy pick or the big name and has a couple of things working against him (he's a little older, he's not that big - stuff that's not a big deal as far as I'm concerned but could allow him to slip come draft time) but I just love the blue-collar positives - he's not that big but he's big enough (at least 6'9", 220 lb.), he's long & pretty athletic, has a great nose for the ball and doesn't force anything on the offensive end - this is a guy who really knows his role - on offense, he sets up on either side of the block and can execute nice post moves to get hit shot off or turn and bury jumpers with a real nice face up game with range out to about 18'. I'm actually surprised Tim Floyd doesn't feature him more and that Taj himself doesn't demand the ball more - USC seems to be content with him roaming around doing his thing. He goes long stretches where he flashes nicely inside to get open but curiously gets overlooked by his teammates - seems like the plan at USC is for guys like Lewis and Danny Hackett to look for theirs first or they try to get this kid DeRozan going. Regardless, when Gibson gets the ball he knows what to do with it - he can score in close and is a decent passer back out. Otherwise, he seems content to go out there and do the dirty work that often gets overlooked - setting high screens for his guards to break loose, blocking shots, hitting the glass hard, etc.. Played 35 mins. last night while only committing 1 foul. He's already held his own against guys like Hansbrough in the past and this year, he's put up double-doubles against Blake Griffin and now against Gani Lawal. Gets another test coming up in back to backs against Arizona St. & Arizona in January and again in February. That's against the highly thought of Jeff Pendergraph and potential lottery selection Jordan Hill. If he can hold his own or exceed expectations in those matchups (which I think he will), he'd likely cement himself as a surefire draft pick next summer, possibly even as a first rounder. Listen, we aren't talking Karl Malone or Amar'e Stoudemire here but he has a spot at the next level as a rotation player/possibly starter. Actually reminds me a lot of a slightly smaller Drew Gooden. He's putting up 15.6 ppg, 12 rpg and 3.3 bpg this year w/o being anthing close to his team's focus - I actually think he could be a better pro. Very good role player, mature and excellent overall value as a late 1st round/early 2nd round draft pick next summer IMO... And like I said, if we included Wilson Chandler, we'd have a shot to possibly get Anthony Randolph too, if there's any truth to him being available and Donnie/MDA actually had any interest.
Draft Cole Aldrich with our first rounder - enough with the 'get the best player available' crap. It's obvious that Curry's not part of the MDA future here (hopefully he get back and plays well enough to get trade ASAP) and we're gonna need to start thinking of suring up our frontline, specifically the 5 spot with a true, legit center. This kid's really having a nice year. Fluid 6'11" 250+ pounder that does it all in the post - nice moves with good footwork around the rim, double-digit rebounder, very good FT shooter, runs the floor, can shot with some range and blocks some shots. Only a sophmore, so he's gonna get better and may even grow another inch or two. He'd be kind of a safe pick for us midway through the lottery but he's a necessity if you ask me. Again, like a Taj Gibson, not the sexy pick that Thabeet would make, but I think this kid might wind up being a better pro. I don't have the feeling Thabeet is gonna be a star at the next level. He'll be Dikembe Mutumbo, not much more IMO. This kid Aldrich has a chance to be more with less weaknesses. You can catch him tonight at 10:30 pm on MSG plus as KU takes on Arizona in what should be a real good game.
So to recap that'd be 4 nice pieces to move forward with here:
1 - Marcus Williams
2 - Marco Belinelli
3 - Al Harrington for now but hopefully a bigtime 2010 FA
4 - Taj Gibson
5 - Cole Aldrich
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Nate Robinson
Dinilo Gallinari
Wilson Chandler or Anthony Randolph
Add a Courtney Sims??
Add a Patrick Ewing Jr.??
Obviously it would need further tinkering but that really wouldn't be that bad. Raise you hand if you think that's not a good mix to move forward with with guys like Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh at the controls...
[Edited by - finestrg on 12-23-2008 3:24 PM]
12/22/2008 12:25 AM
