For Defensive purposes would like
Small Forwards SF/PF
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James Johnson
Hakeem Warrick
Both James Johnson and Warrick has shown they can be solid defenders with length, if they Warrick put in work from getting cut to now by adding weight in the gym and working on his weakness's, he could be a nice player to have off the bench to contribute vs some of the talented SF's with athleticism and all around skills
However, James Johnson has shown that he does put in the work in the gym by adding to this weight of about 250pds now, to go with his length/wingspan and decent athleticism
I think James Johnson could be a complete steal that is still young and has upside/potential, especially if Hopla is able to work his 3pt shot, he could player a bigger/more talented Ronnie Brewer's role with MWP/Ron Artest's guidance on DEF
With skilled players with size/guard skills Lebron, Paul George, and Durant, a lesser extent of Iggy, Rudy Gay/ DeRoZon, Tobias Harris, Chandler Parsons, Battum, Wilson Chandler/Gallo it would make sense to add a player of James Johnson's ability over the development of CJ Leslie that would likely take 2 years before his body fills out and he can contribute as a role player of the bench
Malcom Thomas *has averaged a double double with PT's, many rebounds, and a couple of steals/blocks in last season summer league, this year's summer league too, and playing in Europe as well, he just hasn't got the opportunity to stick around in the league*
Shawnee Williams/Stephen Jackson *Veterans, that are between SF/PF with the ability to hit the 3pt shot*
Centers PF/C
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Jared Jeffries don't know if he can return to the JJ's prior to his knee injury during "Linsanity", but if he could it would be a good pick up and likely would not give him a guaranteed contract to make sure, since I don't think many teams are actually interested in his services and his lack of PT in Portland last year didn't help
Jeremy Tyler *is a development player that likely wouldn't be able to contribute early this year, he would have to work very hard both on and off the court, something he hasn't showed the consistency to do to go with his "potential"
Hidaddyi/Jerome Jordan *DEFENSE*, Hidaddyi is more of a shot blocker/help defender while Jerome Jordan looks like he is strong/big enough to contribute as a 3rd string legit Center that will put a body on his man and give effort on rebounds/shot blocking/ and some post moves
Cole Alrich *more of big body that has the ability to score as a big man, with some potential in him, no one really know's if he could be a decent defender/scorer or not, because of his lack of PT in the NBA, but he does have the NBA body and show some sort of skill set on offense*
CJ Leslie/Jeremy Tyler and development players
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feel we could really only choose between one player from CJ Leslie or Tyler, as both would unlikely see any minutes this year, are more of development projects that are cost efficient, and would require 2 year team options, but CJ Leslie would likely take at least 1 to 2 years to fill out his body and put in a lot of work needed to be a raw NBA rotation player*
maybe we get a better look in training camp but I wouldn't put Murry in the same category, even though he hasn't played in the NBA yet, he shows signs that he could contribute right away with his DEFENSE and handle
It would have made much more sense to keep the rest of the 1.7 MLE to use on one or maybe even 2 players that would give us the ability to have team options on 3rd year during the FA 2015 class locked in to cheap deals and development as cost efficient and low risk/high reward options that could become assets/players locked into contracts to be part of our future rotations
7/25/2013 10:24 AM