what would jack bauer do? wrote:nzahir wrote:what would jack bauer do? wrote:Trading Lebron would be the wisest move right now as we're not contenders and Lebron is only getting older and more uncoachable on the defensive end. His value would net us so much at this point and like he said I'm the NBA is a business, Shaq didn't cry foul when he bounced around in his late career.
But the reality of this summer seems to be: Lebron is untradeable in Magic's eyes, Durant won't play with Lebron, Kyrie may be wooed but is heavily linked to the Knicks Durant/kyrie/DeAndre plan, the Pelicans will not trade us AD unless we win a top 4 pick, and Kawhi will be choosing between Toronto and the Clippers.
The main principle behind building the roster this summer must be our starting lineup must be constructed to avoid putting Lebron with another non defender on the floor at the same time. Lebron doesn't play defense consistently, Kuzma is overall a bad defender, and Rondo is a prime example of the headache of bringing a non defender star pg like Kyrie to play next to Lebron in the west looks like. When Lebron/Kuzma/Rondo get heavy rotation minutes together we're 30th in the league in defense.
To bring in Kyrie or Kemba to play with Lebron would essentially be giving up on AD via 2020 free agency. So imo we need to approach this summer with the gamble of internal development turning us into contenders for next season. And as much as the one year contract has destroyed our franchise this decade, we must explore that option again this summer along with bringing in a significant free agent to prevent the roster from being susceptible to injuries derailing an entire season.
That said here is my star free agent priority list, essentially waiting it out for AD
1. Kawhi (not likely)
2. Klay (not likely)
3. Terry Rozier (on a 17mil or less deal)
4. Julius Randle (beg him to return for 17-20mil)
Yep I said it, Terry Rozier or at least a player along that frame of mind. Despite his struggle to play behind kyrie this year, defensively he and Marcus Smart were at the top of the NBA in terms of drpm last season. I would even start the guy if it made him happy. You go all out on defense for us you get to start. I start Lonzo at the other guard slot and we unleash some real defensive firepower on the league. That limits Lonzo's wear and tear chasing pgs as a 6'6" (looks like he grew to 6'7" to me) and you still get Lonzo's defensive prowess which had us at 7th in defense when he played this season.
Other than that I explore the one year deal to shore up the front court or even find a legit big man via the draft. I also explore trading Kuzma and our 2019 pick if it means we get a shot blocking big man that can rebound and outhustle the opposing bigs nightly.
Rozier on a 1 year right?
We need to save cap space for AD so 1 years only and BI needs to be moved or Lonzo next summer to make it all work.
I would rather give big time 1 years than waste cap on Jimmy, Boogie, or even Kemba
Yeah I dont know the number crunch, but if there's a way to get ad, lebron, lonzo, Ingram, and rozier all together in 2020 I do it. The offense will be fine, we can always find shooters on smaller deals. We need defenders at the forefront of he roster.
Numbers don’t work, only one of BI or ZO
Zo gives more space
If we’re waiting for next year, got to move BI
