IF we let Sasha and Ronny go...
Posted: Tue Jul 8, 2008 11:32 pm
What if Sasha and Ronny get offers too big to match? There's a chance some teams will throw money at them, look at Kapono and Diop for example. If we have to let them walk, it changes the picture a little.
As much as I like them both, and I do a lot, I also don't think they are worth very large or long contracts yet. I know some people question if Sasha is actually a good enough defender. I think he is, he's no lockdown guy and not a true penetration stopper but his effort and intensity are great. The recent talk that he only did good on Manu is exaggerated. Of course the injury hampered him, but if he was 100% healthy, there isn't many people who could guard Manu. Also, the 'blow by' from Ray Allen was more a mis communication and a defensive mistake rather then an actual inability. If you watched, Kobe couldn't guard Ray either, when his shot is on and he's getting that many screens there is not much anyone can do. At that point its a team effort and LA didn't defend as a team. Sasha's main mistakes were effort stuff, overrotating, diving after the ball in bad situations, flopping. That stuff is fixable and should come with experience. A big asset he has is he is only 24 and already has tons of pressure experience. I think he'll continue to improve...
BUT, he hasn't proven anything beyond 1 contract year and I simply can't justify putting us in the exact same situation as with Luke and Vlad. If its a big number... 2 years max... else the more years he wants the smaller the number. If its 4 years, no more then 3 mil. 3 years at 4 mil isn't terrible.
Ronny, similarly, he's good, young and can improve. He's also been playing mostly out of position, but I can't justify more then a couple mil for a few years, especially now that he'll likely have a more reduced role.
SO... What would be our best route if both guys walk? Now we have to use the 3 exceptions we have and thats all we can use (outside of trades). Does that change our view if Posey or Maggette is available?
Ronny I think is the easy part to replace. We would miss his energy for sure, but Mbenga played decent down the stretch and seemed to be starting to understand the triangle and improve a little. He's big and strong and a decent shotblocker and I think could improve. I wish Phil would have left him on the finals roster as I would have rather seen him come in then Mihm. Hopefully Mihm also will be a decent sub, with a full training camp and better health he could return to being a nice guy off the bench.
Mbenga for the Vet minimum
Add Thomas or Kwame for the BLE wouldn't be terrible either but probably not necessary to start the season
With Sasha gone I think I would then definitely throw the full MLE out there for Maggette and probably for Posey at like 3 years. Both guys could fill the roles needed and others. If we got one of them I would probably try and get Brent Barry or Kareem Rush with the BAE to have a specialist shooter. Pietrus and Childress could be options as well that would likely cost the full MLE but I'm not sure they are versatile enough. I really like Pietrus's defense though, he is basically a more aggressive/physical version of Ariza. With using the full MLE on these guys though we and the BAE and Vet on backup bigs, we would need to rely on Crawford/Karl or Yue to step in and fill some of the backcourt hole.
Another option we could try would be Kelena Azibuke. I think he would be a perfect replacement for Sasha. Same age, very athletic and a knock down shooter. I'm not sure if we could pry him away from GS for very cheap, but its possible if they end up paying out large sums to Ellis and Biedrins and possibly get a guard for Harrington. I noticed in our games vs GS, that even though the team didn't play very much D, Azibuke seemed to be playing pretty well against Kobe and he seemed to have a nice mid range game as well. I think he could be a really nice player and with his size and athleticism, might be able to guard both quick PGs and SGs. If we could get him for like 4 mil per we might be able to add another nice vet to solidify us.
Ideally if both Sasha and Turaif left I would like to see:
Sign Azibuke for 3.8 mil for 4 years, Brent Barry for the rest of the MLE around 2 mil for 2 years
Thomas for BAE for 2 years, Mbenga 1 year vet min
Sign Yue (not sure how he counts against the exceptions, I believe he wouldn't as this would be his rookie contract related to his draft rights)
Fish/Farmar/Barry
Kobe/Azibuke/Yue
LO/Ariza/Walton
Pau/Thomas/Vlad
Bynum/Mbenga/Mihm
Nice versatile lineup that should defend better and be tougher
Fish/Azibuke/Kobe/Pau/Bynum in the 4th would be nice
OR
Sign Yue
Sign Posey/Maggette/Pietrus/Childress/Smith with MLE
Thomas for BAE (or Kwame/Najera)
Leave vet spot open for later in the year if Yue/Karl/Crawford aren't cutting it
Could also trade Vlad for Yarich
Fish/Farmar/Yue
Kobe/Karl/Crawford
MLE Guy/Ariza/Walton
Pau/LO/Vlad
Bynum/Thomas/Mihm
IF we get a guy like Thomas, we don't really need another big as LO can fill in at PF when needed
Another option could be Jones for 3-4 mil ish and try and also pick up Barry or Azibuke with the MLE split.
As much as I like them both, and I do a lot, I also don't think they are worth very large or long contracts yet. I know some people question if Sasha is actually a good enough defender. I think he is, he's no lockdown guy and not a true penetration stopper but his effort and intensity are great. The recent talk that he only did good on Manu is exaggerated. Of course the injury hampered him, but if he was 100% healthy, there isn't many people who could guard Manu. Also, the 'blow by' from Ray Allen was more a mis communication and a defensive mistake rather then an actual inability. If you watched, Kobe couldn't guard Ray either, when his shot is on and he's getting that many screens there is not much anyone can do. At that point its a team effort and LA didn't defend as a team. Sasha's main mistakes were effort stuff, overrotating, diving after the ball in bad situations, flopping. That stuff is fixable and should come with experience. A big asset he has is he is only 24 and already has tons of pressure experience. I think he'll continue to improve...
BUT, he hasn't proven anything beyond 1 contract year and I simply can't justify putting us in the exact same situation as with Luke and Vlad. If its a big number... 2 years max... else the more years he wants the smaller the number. If its 4 years, no more then 3 mil. 3 years at 4 mil isn't terrible.
Ronny, similarly, he's good, young and can improve. He's also been playing mostly out of position, but I can't justify more then a couple mil for a few years, especially now that he'll likely have a more reduced role.
SO... What would be our best route if both guys walk? Now we have to use the 3 exceptions we have and thats all we can use (outside of trades). Does that change our view if Posey or Maggette is available?
Ronny I think is the easy part to replace. We would miss his energy for sure, but Mbenga played decent down the stretch and seemed to be starting to understand the triangle and improve a little. He's big and strong and a decent shotblocker and I think could improve. I wish Phil would have left him on the finals roster as I would have rather seen him come in then Mihm. Hopefully Mihm also will be a decent sub, with a full training camp and better health he could return to being a nice guy off the bench.
Mbenga for the Vet minimum
Add Thomas or Kwame for the BLE wouldn't be terrible either but probably not necessary to start the season
With Sasha gone I think I would then definitely throw the full MLE out there for Maggette and probably for Posey at like 3 years. Both guys could fill the roles needed and others. If we got one of them I would probably try and get Brent Barry or Kareem Rush with the BAE to have a specialist shooter. Pietrus and Childress could be options as well that would likely cost the full MLE but I'm not sure they are versatile enough. I really like Pietrus's defense though, he is basically a more aggressive/physical version of Ariza. With using the full MLE on these guys though we and the BAE and Vet on backup bigs, we would need to rely on Crawford/Karl or Yue to step in and fill some of the backcourt hole.
Another option we could try would be Kelena Azibuke. I think he would be a perfect replacement for Sasha. Same age, very athletic and a knock down shooter. I'm not sure if we could pry him away from GS for very cheap, but its possible if they end up paying out large sums to Ellis and Biedrins and possibly get a guard for Harrington. I noticed in our games vs GS, that even though the team didn't play very much D, Azibuke seemed to be playing pretty well against Kobe and he seemed to have a nice mid range game as well. I think he could be a really nice player and with his size and athleticism, might be able to guard both quick PGs and SGs. If we could get him for like 4 mil per we might be able to add another nice vet to solidify us.
Ideally if both Sasha and Turaif left I would like to see:
Sign Azibuke for 3.8 mil for 4 years, Brent Barry for the rest of the MLE around 2 mil for 2 years
Thomas for BAE for 2 years, Mbenga 1 year vet min
Sign Yue (not sure how he counts against the exceptions, I believe he wouldn't as this would be his rookie contract related to his draft rights)
Fish/Farmar/Barry
Kobe/Azibuke/Yue
LO/Ariza/Walton
Pau/Thomas/Vlad
Bynum/Mbenga/Mihm
Nice versatile lineup that should defend better and be tougher
Fish/Azibuke/Kobe/Pau/Bynum in the 4th would be nice
OR
Sign Yue
Sign Posey/Maggette/Pietrus/Childress/Smith with MLE
Thomas for BAE (or Kwame/Najera)
Leave vet spot open for later in the year if Yue/Karl/Crawford aren't cutting it
Could also trade Vlad for Yarich
Fish/Farmar/Yue
Kobe/Karl/Crawford
MLE Guy/Ariza/Walton
Pau/LO/Vlad
Bynum/Thomas/Mihm
IF we get a guy like Thomas, we don't really need another big as LO can fill in at PF when needed
Another option could be Jones for 3-4 mil ish and try and also pick up Barry or Azibuke with the MLE split.
