Andrew, I agreed with everything that you've stated.. Up until the part about trading for Ruben Patterson. WHY? Although, he'd be an above average defender.. he really has a limited offensive game as well, Is grossly overpaid, and is really undersized at that position. I really wouldn't push for a Darius Miles trade either. To me, Trevor Ariza is already in the mold of those types of players.

That being said, the question becomes WHO, or which player do you trade for that is likely available and can make a significant difference at small forward?

1st things I'd look for are the obvious.. Decent b-ball IQ, Youth, Athleticism, and upside.. When you list those attributes Josh Smith immediately comes to mind. He plays hard on D, and could be fun to watch. The problem is, Atlanta would wanna rape us; moreover Josh Smith has absolutely NO offensive game.. except the occasional high light dunk, and he has a major attitude. I don't know if Larry would want this trade, and besides we need a shooter that can stretch the D.

Travis Outlaw, is another exciting, young potential two way player... He might be Trevor Ariza with a jump shot. That's a trade I might push for from Portland. Maybe an offer like Mo Taylor and Quentin Richardson for Theo Ratliff, Travis Outlaw and Juan Dixon might make some sense.

Other B list players would be:
Jumaine Jones? Rasual Butler? Eduardo Najera?

After that, ain't much else out there. Unless it's one of the surprise trades that nets a high profile type of player.

[Edited by - JayNYC on 11-17-2005 09:09 AM]

Shane Battier might be ideal 3 for this team.

Not sure how the new CBA affects Knx ability to retain Reezy by matching offers. I would extend his contractto keep rights and give him some financial security. Right now he, like the knx, is a work in progress. He does a few things well and will, in all likelihood, do even more things well in the future. Whether that means stardom or a journeyman status is yet to be seen. Every young player has certain skills and abilities but how many capitalize on those skills, add to them and scales the heights to stardom is negligible.