Official Trade Thread -- Part XXXIII

[mhd]

Mahinmi was a major reason why we lost game 7. He couldn't even play on the court. Maybe he was injured to be effective. That doesn't explain his garbage FT percentage.

[NatP4]

Mahinmi was a major reason why we lost game 7. He couldn't even play on the court. Maybe he was injured to be effective. That doesn't explain his garbage FT percentage.

Having a rim protecting 7 footer guard out on the perimeter because you refuse to go small is not Mahinmi's fault at all whatsoever. Brooks inserted Smith at power forward and he got lit up, not his fault either. Having Gortat try and run out to Olynyk on pick and pops is also not Gortats fault.

Game 7 Stevens went small and they shot the lights out from the perimeter, we stayed big and even went BIGGER late in that game.

That was Brooks, not any of our centers.

[NatP4]

This team can add all the pieces they want, but we have to keep in mind that Brooks used Trey Burke, Brandon Jennings, Marcus Thornton and Jason Smith far too much. Even played Bojan over Kelly Oubre when it mattered most. He has a reputation from OKC of putting together god awful rotations, so that is something that needs to change next season also.

I can't watch another full year of Tim Frazier playing over Sato, Bojan coming back and playing over Oubre, and Jason Smith playing power forward over Chris McCullough even. They better not sign a Marcus Thornton to play over Mac either

Chase after star players and a blockbuster deal, and use the MLE on one good player at one position. Let the kids play.

[dangermouse]

Actually, now that Phil is gone, I don't see Melo leaving at all. He has no reason/urge to. He get to stay close to his son, collect a fat check, and not have to deal with Jackson's mind games. That contract is going to be impossible to move.

This is my feeling now too. You don't make the trade now, because your leverage is gone (unless he demands a trade, and picks Philly or DC as destinations due to proximity to his son).

For me, the trade looks like this:

Mahinmi + Smith + filler (I think we need to include something like Frazier and Ochefu to make money work)

for

Melo + O'Quinn

If we have the leverage, fleecing O'Quinn from them makes this worth it. Otherwise I hang up the phone/delete the email/burn the letter/shoot the pigeon (im not sure what EG's preferred method of communication is).

[dangermouse]

To be honest I hate the idea of having Melo on the team. But this really improves our bench and we have a "go-to" guy to get a bucket when we need it. Rolling with:

Wall/Sato/???
Beal/Mac/Oubre
Porter/Oubre/Melo
Melo/Morris
Gortat/O'Quinn/Morris

Hmmm, our first unit probably takes a hit in the rebounding and defense departments. But look at that second squad.... Sato/Mac/Oubre/Morris/O'Quinn can play lockdown D, but again only Morris can really score, and should feast on scrubs. He's alone on that lineup though unless one of the wings/guards makes a big jump this offseason.

With some creative roations it could be balanced out some.

[dangermouse]

That Beverly/Ariza trade I mentioned, well, I figured they could use a centre, I think I meant to write Gortat instead of Mahinmi.

Cest la vie though, I think we should be looking closely at what the Clips do and what Blake does. JJ is someone I've coveted as a Beal backup/injury insurance for a while. DJ should be high on our list though. He'd solve a lot of defensive and rebounding woes this team has. And the oops.... drooling emoji

[nate33]

That Beverly/Ariza trade I mentioned, well, I figured they could use a centre, I think I meant to write Gortat instead of Mahinmi.

Cest la vie though, I think we should be looking closely at what the Clips do and what Blake does. JJ is someone I've coveted as a Beal backup/injury insurance for a while. DJ should be high on our list though. He'd solve a lot of defensive and rebounding woes this team has. And the oops.... drooling emoji

Redick will be too expensive. We don't have enough available minutes behind Beal to justify the cost.

[nate33]

For me, the trade looks like this:

Mahinmi + Smith + filler (I think we need to include something like Frazier and Ochefu to make money work)

for

Melo + O'Quinn

C'mon son. Why on Earth would New York even consider this? You could pose this offer to one million Knicks fans and every one of them would laugh in your face. I don't mean to be harsh, but sometimes you've gotta see these things from the other team's perspective.

[nate33]

I can't watch another full year of Tim Frazier playing over Sato, Bojan coming back and playing over Oubre, and Jason Smith playing power forward over Chris McCullough even. They better not sign a Marcus Thornton to play over Mac either

Chase after star players and a blockbuster deal, and use the MLE on one good player at one position. Let the kids play.

I agree for the most part, except with respect to Jason Smith over McCullough. Smith was a respectable rotation player for us last year and gave us some quality minutes in the middle of the season when we needed it. We have no reason whatsoever to think that Chris McCullough even belongs in the league.

[jivelikenice]

Agree on McCullough. He's a wild card but not one you can depend or count on at all. Any contribution is a bonus.

Regarding Melo offers, I just don't see why they would take Ian back considering he's owed an extra yr of $. They'd almost assuredly prefer Gortat (plus others) for Melo.

[LyricalRico]

Mahinmi was a major reason why we lost game 7. He couldn't even play on the court. Maybe he was injured to be effective. That doesn't explain his garbage FT percentage.

Having a rim protecting 7 footer guard out on the perimeter because you refuse to go small is not Mahinmi's fault at all whatsoever. Brooks inserted Smith at power forward and he got lit up, not his fault either. Having Gortat try and run out to Olynyk on pick and pops is also not Gortats fault.

Game 7 Stevens went small and they shot the lights out from the perimeter, we stayed big and even went BIGGER late in that game.

That was Brooks, not any of our centers.

This x1000. I'm convinced that Brooks was possessed by the ghost of Witt-less for Game 7. If he goes small in the 4th, we win. Hope he learns from that.

[NatP4]

I can't watch another full year of Tim Frazier playing over Sato, Bojan coming back and playing over Oubre, and Jason Smith playing power forward over Chris McCullough even. They better not sign a Marcus Thornton to play over Mac either

Chase after star players and a blockbuster deal, and use the MLE on one good player at one position. Let the kids play.

I agree for the most part, except with respect to Jason Smith over McCullough. Smith was a respectable rotation player for us last year and gave us some quality minutes in the middle of the season when we needed it. We have no reason whatsoever to think that Chris McCullough even belongs in the league.

Yeah that part was a small reach, I'm not saying CMC will be a good player or anything, but Jason Smith at PF doesn't help the team at all outside of hitting a couple 3s(which he gives back on the other end) and I'd honestly rather see them free the young talented player, even if he's trash.

[gambitx777]

You know what no one is mentioning? Tyreeke evans for the mid level? That would be a killer steal! He won't get big money, or a big raise do to his health issues, but man going after tyreeke evans would be a smart move on our part.

[pcbothwel]

You know what no one is mentioning? Tyreeke evans for the mid level? That would be a killer steal! He won't get big money, or a big raise do to his health issues, but man going after tyreeke evans would be a smart move on our part.

No way do I give him the MLE. He was bad and injured last year, but he is young enough to accept a 1 year prove it deal. That said, he is not a great fit with Wall and Sato. Im in the Collison boat. Not a big name and is 30, so I think most teams will not be interested for big money. I'd offer him 3/24M on day one and pray he takes it.

[gambitx777]

I would not even think twice about giving evans 4 years for 20 mill!

[80sballboy]

I would not even think twice about giving evans 4 years for 20 mill!

He played 40 games last season and 25 the year before. Not sure I would pay much for a guy that has not shown an ability to stay healthy in his last two seasons. We already have one guy made of glass in Mahinmi.

[WizTom]

Mahinmi was a major reason why we lost game 7. He couldn't even play on the court. Maybe he was injured to be effective. That doesn't explain his garbage FT percentage.

Having a rim protecting 7 footer guard out on the perimeter because you refuse to go small is not Mahinmi's fault at all whatsoever. Brooks inserted Smith at power forward and he got lit up, not his fault either. Having Gortat try and run out to Olynyk on pick and pops is also not Gortats fault.

Game 7 Stevens went small and they shot the lights out from the perimeter, we stayed big and even went BIGGER late in that game.

That was Brooks, not any of our centers.

This x1000. I'm convinced that Brooks was possessed by the ghost of Witt-less for Game 7. If he goes small in the 4th, we win. Hope he learns from that.

Whatever the opposite of "This x1000" is, insert that here. This ÷1000, I guess.

The Celtics weren't going small all the time. Horford and Olynyk both have legit NBA center size and one of them was on the floor the whole time, and both together much of the time. The difference is that Ainge acquired centers (that's TWO of them) who can play the position the way it needs to be played in this era of pace and space ball, i.e., they can defend the post, handle switches on defense, and hit 3-pointers on offense.

So you're right, it's not Gortat's, Mahinmi's, or Smith's fault that they got lit up on pick-n-pops. None of them is a good pace and space, modern style center. And the Wizards have all three of them. Plus Ochefu.

What the heck was Brooks supposed to do? Rely on Morris to anchor the defense? Give me a break. He can't defend either Olynyk or Horford in the post or on the perimeter. We saw it throughout the series. Too big in the post, too mobile and accurate from the perimeter. And Morris is a terrible rebounder and weak-side help defender even with an old-school center on the floor. Compound the situation with exactly ZERO legit back-up power forward when Morris inevitably gets in foul trouble. It's a recipe for --- or roster built for --- disaster.

This is completely on EFG for acquiring dinosaurs during a period of rapid evolution.

#FireEFG

[Dark Faze]

The book is still out on if Mahinmi can get out to stretch bigs and recover. That's already been answered as a solid no for Gortat and Markieff. I'm guessing its a no as well for Mahinmi, but he can hide for now behind injury excuses. Where I love Mahinmi is guarding the mid range level pick and roll and basic rim protection, and to an extent I think Gortat is good "enough" there. I don't think any of our big men right now, sans maybe Chris McCullough has it in them to accomplish that.

I don't know what we have in Chris McCullough, but his frame is pretty exciting. I hope we can see what we have in him and give him a chance to fail or succeed on an NBA floor.

[Ruzious]

Problem is - he played a lot in the D League - and he was just a mediocre player at that level, so... I don't share the excitement. And it's not like he was a great player at Cuse.

[Dark Faze]

I think his d-league stats were alright enough to throw him some NBA minutes. Main thing is--we had our backup center dead for pretty much the entire year and yet kept Ochefu on the bench the entire time and then didn't give McCullough much of a shot. I know we were all caught up in 50 wins, but at the end of the day regular season is whatever so long as you can get in the dance and get any seeding that isn't the 8 seed or worse. We REALLY REALLY need to see if we can turn trash to gold. See if a guy is any good, if he's ass then release him and make a d-league callup, rinse and repeat until someone sticks.