Posted by fishmike:
Tom... your going the wrong way with my beef. Dont focus on Mo Taylor. Everything you guys have said about his is true. Despite his earned rep for being lazy and the fact that he bad on D and doesnt work the boards he IS a good scorer, so he certainly brings something.
My point is we traded (and gave up a pick) for a guy when we already had 4 others at his position. Combine that with the fact that he's got baggage and a BAD contract it makes this deal hard to stomach. He's not as good as KT and I dont see why he should get minutes over Sweetney.
These are the kinds of deals that scare me and wind up setting a franchise back.
I hear what you're saying, and I don't disagree completely. These trades comes with caveats, but they're not all bad either. I acknowledge both the good and the bad; I just think the good is better, and the bad is not as bad, as some people seem to think.
So, let's review. 4 PFs (actually, 5 with JYD). Yup, no question about a glut here. But at least two of those 5 are going to have to split time at center, and a couple of them occassionally see time at SF as well. Actually, I think Herb has been doing a great job juggling the lineups. So PT has been distributed in the frontcourt pretty well despite the roster glut.
Can this juggling act last forever? Clearly not. Isiah will need to acquire a bonafide center or two, and trade some of our PFs in the process. Prospects for happening this offseason? High. There will be some pretty good talents at center available in the draft. There are a couple of free agent centers who might be moving in the offseason. Additionally, KT and Sweets will be some of our best trade fodder this offseason, and the team definitely could use some sprucing up via trades anyway. So it's not a given, but I think we can reasonably expect that this roster imbalance is a temporary setback at the tail end of a lost season, as opposed to a longterm Layden-esque millstone. We'll have a much better idea come opening day, 2005.
Now, let's consider Taylor in particular. With the Rose trade, we already had 4 PFs, so why add another one? Isiah could have packed his bags and called it a day. However, the reason adding Taylor is not really all that bad is because he brings something the team has desperately needed all season, low post scoring. I don't mean the random garbage points Nazr would get; I mean, run a play, dump the ball in the post, and have your PF/C score on his man with his back to the basket low post scoring. Of the four PFs, only Sweetney brought that aspect of the game. Sweets is getting better by the game, but it seems pretty clear that he's not yet in Mo T's class. Taylor is just a lot more versatile and wilely at this point in their respective careers. So sure, we add another PF, but in so doing we add our best low post player and probably our second best overall go-to scorer. So there are lots of positives here to weigh against the negatives. People seem to be focusing on the perceived magnitude of all the bad aspects of these trades, as opposed to considering how the positives balance them out. On this team, which has lacked consistent scoring (and low post scoring in particular) all season, Mo T's offense is a pretty considerable positive. Since his strength directly addresses a big team weakness (no, not our biggest, but we clearly have more than one team weakness), I think a pretty good case can be made that his acquisition was justified, despite all the negatives.
Contract wise? Mo T is a bad contract, but not a BAD contract. He's obviously overpaid, but only for 2 seasons. Two seasons is really not that much of a responsibility. He becomes a trade asset after one full season, and otherwise comes off the cap the season after. So this is certainly not a Layden-style bad contract; a Layden-style bad contract lasts between 5 and 7 years and is given to an end-of-the-bench caliber role player. At worst, we are 'stuck' with Mo for 2 seasons, and he gives us valuable low post scoring during that time. Compare that to being stuck with 6 years of a stone handed Shandon, who was untradeable for the span of about half a decade. I understand your concerns that getting Mo and Rose hinder our short term flexibility, but it's still short term, and they can be valuable players in the meantime. Layden's terrors were barrel-bottom talent wise, and hamstrung cap flexibility for ages upon ages.
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