RealGM

Zgoda brought up an interesting point on his blog while discussing the Euroleague Final 4:

Kleiza is the kind of player -- young (25), can play both forward spots -- whose rights a team with cap money like the Wolves could try to lure away from the salary-cap stressed Denver Nuggets.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolve ... 79719.html

I always liked him but I'm not sure he's much more then a role player in the NBA. He had that 40 point game a couple years back though..

shouldn't be the kind of player on the radar until they have the foundation of the team in place, otherwise you're locking up big money for what reason exactly; he's a role player that can make a good team better, but does nothing for an atrocious team. I'd rather go after T Outlaw; he can play both forward spots too, is also a good shooter, has more defensive potential (in theory) and should be considerably cheaper

I don't know if Outlaw would be cheaper would he? I view him as a better player then Kleiza. Also about a million times better athlete. Kleiza would be a very nice fit in the triangle though, he seems to me kinda like a rich mans Cardinal, when he was good.

moss_is_1 wrote:I don't know if Outlaw would be cheaper would he? I view him as a better player then Kleiza. Also about a million times better athlete. Kleiza would be a very nice fit in the triangle though, he seems to me kinda like a rich mans Cardinal, when he was good.

Kleiza is tearing it up this year. he's definitely earned himself a mid-level sized deal.

Krapinsky wrote:

moss_is_1 wrote:I don't know if Outlaw would be cheaper would he? I view him as a better player then Kleiza. Also about a million times better athlete. Kleiza would be a very nice fit in the triangle though, he seems to me kinda like a rich mans Cardinal, when he was good.

Kleiza is tearing it up this year. he's definitely earned himself a mid-level sized deal.

That's good to hear. Maybe just a lack of PT, and lack of shots on the Nuggets made him seem like less of a player.

He is playing now versus Partizan ... bad.
http://live.euroleague.net/games.aspx?ig=euro_186&st=20&dp=EBPC2FF6F2NB1B9SC11527813&z=1

Krapinsky wrote:

moss_is_1 wrote:I don't know if Outlaw would be cheaper would he? I view him as a better player then Kleiza. Also about a million times better athlete. Kleiza would be a very nice fit in the triangle though, he seems to me kinda like a rich mans Cardinal, when he was good.

Kleiza is tearing it up this year. he's definitely earned himself a mid-level sized deal.

I wouldn't say he's "tearing it up" but he's certainly been a good signing for Olympiacos.

I just know he got a fat deal from Olympiakos and hasn't done anything to lower his value. Definitely not interested in paying 6 mil for him. I'd think Outlaw should be getting like half that, if he's looking for considerably more than forget him too

If we are going to pay $6 mill for someone, I'd rather it go to Childress. Or pay Outlaw half that, as the D man said.

I would make an offer to Childress first. If that fails, than I'll see what Kleiza wants.

I want good players, or else try to get a deal on a young player like Morrow, Wright, Outlaw, or Azubukkake, or maybe make a good sized 1 year deal to vet like McGrady, or trade Big Al for perimeter help and bring in a big man like Jermaine Oneal or Haywood, but honestly i think the worst idea is to lock up capspace in a hot name role player like Kleiza, j-Chill, or R Brewer. We have to keep the cap space open until we can be sure we have solid foundation, otherwise it's going to eliminate too many possibilities to get into that top 1/3 of the NBA if we have no cap space and are left trying to strike gold in the draft as our only option

Devilzsidewalk wrote:I want good players, or else try to get a deal on a young player like Morrow, Wright, Outlaw, or Azubukkake, or maybe make a good sized 1 year deal to vet like McGrady, or trade Big Al for perimeter help and bring in a big man like Jermaine Oneal or Haywood, but honestly i think the worst idea is to lock up capspace in a hot name role player like Kleiza, j-Chill, or R Brewer. We have to keep the cap space open until we can be sure we have solid foundation, otherwise it's going to eliminate too many possibilities to get into that top 1/3 of the NBA if we have no cap space and are left trying to strike gold in the draft as our only option

Isn't that what Morrow, Wright, Outlaw, and Azubuike are?

Meh on Kleiza. He reminds me of Gomes- A tweener foward who can shoot the 3. From what I seen, he does show a little more passion for the game on both sides of the floor than Gomes does. I don't want to make a committment on any FA until our core is decided for next year.

moss_is_1 wrote:I don't know if Outlaw would be cheaper would he? I view him as a better player then Kleiza. Also about a million times better athlete. Kleiza would be a very nice fit in the triangle though, he seems to me kinda like a rich mans Cardinal, when he was good.

Outlaw can jump higher but i wouldn't say he's a better athlete, plus he only uses his leaping ability to shoot fade away jumpers so... He has always been an atrocious defender and a poor rebounder, and hasn't improved much in the 7 years he has been in the league, i wouldn't expect any miracle. With outlaw you know what you get, instant offense from the bench, as long as you don't demand anything else than scoring and not taking many decisions he can be a serviceable player.
While i think that Kleiza is more complete and doesn't have as many flaws, his biggest fault is the same as Outlaw, bad decision maker and low BBIQ, so i'm not sure if he'd be a good fit in the triangle.

Devilzsidewalk wrote:shouldn't be the kind of player on the radar until they have the foundation of the team in place, otherwise you're locking up big money for what reason exactly; he's a role player that can make a good team better, but does nothing for an atrocious team. I'd rather go after T Outlaw; he can play both forward spots too, is also a good shooter, has more defensive potential (in theory) and should be considerably cheaper

Exactly. If we're going to be looking at non-traditional options (fliers on overseas/former NBAers) for foundational building, we should do so because it's a good price and a good fit. Kleiza would be neither.