if you tell me we're giving ariza 30 mins a night, then ok BUT ruben can still play the 1 & 2 and can defend the 1,2 & 3. he's good and got 1 year shorter than kurt and fills a more pressing need for us IF we grab one of those big guys in the draft. taking bynum at 8 means he's STUCK behind kurt if he's still here.

I would trade JYD or Malik for Ruben. But not Kurt. Kurt has more value to us. If only to teach the younglings we draft. There are FAR worse role models than Kurt and Ruben is one of them.

If we're going young, I don't mind having high character guys like Kurt and Malik around. Ruben would be a talent upgrade, but is the character issue worth it? I think Ruben would help a winner greatly, but wouldn't he just sulk about playing time on a mediocre team?

I wouldn't mind this trade, and in the long run, have him come off the bench with Ariza starting. Ruben is a good player, and has even developed some offensive skills. Unfortunately, there are 2 problems; Tim Thomas and Ariza. Ariza absolutely has to get some playing time, or he's just gonna bolt next Summer, and there will be nothing we can do about it b/c we wont be able to match. Also, if we want to get Ruben, and if we want Ariza for our future, then I think we need to start fazing out TT quickly. Screw increasing his trade value. Let him burn. Let the Knicks do to him, what the 76ers did to Big Dog. He's a losing ball player now. He has had a bad game for about 70 games the last season, and he maybe had ohhhh, 2 or 3 really good complete games the entire season. That's it. Screw him, let him rot. If that's the case, then by all means, trade KT for Ruben.

If not, then I think we need to really consider Trevor. He wont leave the bench with Ruben and TT playing, especially if Houston comes back for even a few minutes playing time each game.

i agree bringing in ruben would depend on us dumping penny and TT as well. that's also why i wouldn't mind picking up a SF or swingman in the draft, ariza's minutes will still be higher sharing with another young guy or a more limited veteran like ruben, anyone besides TT and penny, two of our "just good enough to get in the way of the young guys" vets.