If we're signing a 4, I'd hope it would be Ivan the Terrible.

Like another poster said in the thread about him, we could run some nice mix and matches w/ him at the 4 to make up for the lack of D from STAT or Bargs. The guy does a little bit of everything and does so w/ alot of toughness. Also, I just don't see Tyler logging any serious minutes this yr unless Tyson/STAT/Bargs go down (which makes me want Ivan signed even more).

BRIGGS wrote:I know some names have been thrown around but I keep coming back to Jack Cooley. If we consider we have Tyson Chandler Kenyon Martin and Jeremy Tyler for the 1----why not bring in Jack Cooley for the 4 man--we dont have a 6-9 250 pound player and if anyone remembers back to the SL David Lee played for us--these guy looked very similar. Cooley can run the floor hes a dog he can score inside rebound--we really could use a young player like that with fresh legs. No one has signed him yet I think it would be a high quality signing--we can easily release CJ Leslie if we need another position player--hes not ready like Cooley is to play.

I like Cooley. He can play -- he's got an effective game around the hoop scoring the ball & on the glass & he plays hard. I do see some David Lee. Probably not as athletic but he might actually be a tad more physical and not as likely to get pushed around in the post..

Problem for me is: you mentioned Chandler, Martin and Jeremy Tyler at the 5 -- I'm not comfortable with that 5-spot rotation at all. Martin is older now, much less effective than he was earlier in his career and he's undersized for the position (if anything STAT should see some time there) and Tyler is raw and may not be a center either. We really could use another legit C, preferably one with some skill. I think Earl Barron fills this role perfectly. If Chandler ever went down, I think Barron would fill in admirably -- we wouldn't lose any size, we'd maintain rebounding and probably add a little more scoring with the exchange. Chandler goes down -- I want the proper insurance lined up to fill in where we shouldn't miss a beat because now all of a sudden we become undersized, under-experienced, etc..

I still might prefer Ivan Johnson over a guy like Cooley but I could be down for Cooley. Absolutely.. First thing's first though -- get Barron in here asap and then let's figure out how to add Cooley. I'm all for it...I've been thinking cut Tyler and Leslie and add Barron, Ivan Johnson and Luke Babbitt --OR-- Barron, Babbitt and Toure Murry (even though our guard depth is rock solid -- Murry's much further along as a player over Tyler and Leslie). Having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing Barron/Babbitt/Cooley. I'm really in favor of adding Luke Babbitt -- worst case, he's a much more versatile 3-pt specialist than Steve Novak -- he can shoot it almost as well (with PT this guy's an automatic 40+% 3-pt shooter) yet unlike Novak, he can put it on the floor, hit the glass and he's a better passer. Best case for Babbitt -- I think he could be something close to a less athletic James Harden/Chris Mullin. Babbitt has a lot of game, a hell of a lot more than he's shown in Portland so far. He has a chance to be a real force in the NBA with a much bigger, well-defined role...I think he's a steal on a vet min. deal...Meanwhile, Cooley over Tyler I could live with..

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/11/jack-cooley-left-nba-money-on-the-table-for-lucrative-offer-in-turkey/

There goes that idea...I say grab Barron & Ivan Johnson now before the same thing happens (I like that both of these guys want to be here--that's big) and then look into signing Luke Babbitt. Tyler and Leslie would have to be cut to make that happen. C'est la vie. I like these other players much better.