PG - Marbury, Crawford, Hodge
SG - Crawford, Hodge, Ariza
SF - Warrick, Ariza, TT
PF - Kwame, Sweetney, Malik
C - Zydrunas, JYD, Taylor

IR - Allan, Penny (or buyout/trade bait), Butler

Coach - Phil


Obviously, it's a stretch for ALL of this to happen, but it seems like Zeke will chase Kwame with the MLE and Washington would be hard-pressed to match. He will almost certainly make a run at Z, probably offering Kurt and the Spurs 2k6 pick. From all indications, he loves Warrick (at 8) and Hodge (at 30) and it seems to make sense that he'd bring in the guys he covets early so he can focus on the coaching search. Now, obviously, Phil is the biggest, hardest fish to catch in this plan, and I'm not sure what plan B is. Larry Brown doesn't make a ton of sense, nor does Flip to my mind. Cheeks? Maybe. Nate Mc? Maybe. Silas? Maybe. Herb? Herb wants to run a post offense and with Zydrunas/Kwame here, he would make sense. I wonder...if Zeke gets this crew, does he just come down and coach the team himself?

Not saying this will happen, just saying for all the people wondering what Zeke's plan is: I think this is more or less what he's thinking for the draft, trades and FA. Not a great team, but could be very interesting if Mark Aguirre got through to Kwame the way he did with Jermaine Oneal. And, I've said several times, I love the Warrick pick. You could have a quality half court first unit with Steph, Jamal, Warrick, Kwame and Z and a more athletic, up tempo bench with Hodge, Jamal, Warrick, Ariza and Malik or JYD.

Just saying.

I like it all except there are two problems. First, Hodge is soft and I doubt IT will take him at 30. Second, Kwame is garbage and IT won't be fooled - there are a lot of tall people in the world, Kwame just happens to be one of them. IT picks ballers.

Posted by MaulingandAppalling:

I like it all except there are two problems. First, Hodge is soft and I doubt IT will take him at 30. Second, Kwame is garbage and IT won't be fooled - there are a lot of tall people in the world, Kwame just happens to be one of them. IT picks ballers.

Zeke likes Hodge and Kwame. I'm not saying this plan is what I WANT, I'm saying it seems like what ZEKE wants, in the same way that he wanted Marbury and Sheed when he showed up in New York in late 2003.

Posted by MaulingandAppalling:

IT is having a look at Hodge as a part of the draft process, yes, but what would make you think that IT would want Kwame?

He's been chasing him all season. He offered Kurt this season. Not saying it's a lock, but it seems like Zeke will chase him.

I thought I'd post guys who will be realistic targets that Zeke wants and can get. After a while, I get sort of sick of seeing all the Okur/Odom/Dalembert threads which will never happen.

This seems like something Zeke MIGHT do, based on what we know and what we've heard.

Posted by MaulingandAppalling:

I didn't hear that IT offered KT for Kwame.... that's crazy, and I don't think it's true. He offered KT for Gooden, is that what you mean?

I never heard the kurt for kwame thing either

I don't want to mention guys who are not going to be part of our future, but if and when allan houston comes back, I think he will solve a lot of the problems from this year. If he can just contribute about half a game with a limited role, he will open the floor a lot more. I really didn't like the fact that this team couldn't find someone good enough to shoot the ball when marbury/crawford swung the ball around the perimeter. Mainly, I saw jermaine jackson and earlier, jamison brewer refusing to take a shot, hesitant. That completely helped the defense, collapsing in with no real threat on the floor.

Unfortunately the team really is stuck in a very tough spot...And as much of a gamble as Kwame is i think he may be worth it...He has upside, and if you get the right people around the kid to mentor him he may be reached....

Their is no way cleveland does any trade for Z thats not going to make them better...

I would not take Hodge at 30 either....Warrick will be availble a little later i think so if green is gone and taft is gone i would see what type of deal we can swing......

I like Granger a lot and would take him and package Ariza if i had the chance if something was their in return....

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by MaulingandAppalling:

I didn't hear that IT offered KT for Kwame.... that's crazy, and I don't think it's true. He offered KT for Gooden, is that what you mean?

I never heard the kurt for kwame thing either

I'm not sure how to access old Post articles... but it was definitely mentioned a lot around the trade deadline and it's someone Zeke IS interested (and apparently, Briggs too).

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Kurt for Drew Gooden rumors?

Yeah. The Kurt for Drew thing didn't actually come out until AFTER the deadline as a deal that fell through at the last minute. The Kurt for Kwame thing was something tossed around all year.

Posted by djsunyc:

i'm not exactly sure what his plans are but the words "younger" and "athletic" come to mind. at least that's what he says everytime he opens his mouth.

Which I think places Z off our off season plans.

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by rvhoss:

Posted by djsunyc:

i'm not exactly sure what his plans are but the words "younger" and "athletic" come to mind. at least that's what he says everytime he opens his mouth.

Which I think places Z off our off season plans.

Z isn't young or athletic, but getting him and surrounding him with Kwame, Warrick, Ariza, Crawford and Hodge qualifies as young and athletic.

exactly; the goal of getting younger and more athletic doesn't mean you grab the fifteen youngest guys with the highest vertical leap. There's nothing wrong with getting some solid veteran players too. For the right price, Big Z is definitely a player that every GM should want.

Posted by knicks1248:

KT is going to be traded for wally when all is said and done.
Somebody please explain to me why wally is a better option over KT, giving the current needs of the team.

the needs outside shooting more than it needs another short power forward, honestly. I'd prefer Kurt over Wally, I don't like Wally, but his outside shooting would be valuable...