Could Michael Redd be Lebron's Pau Gasol?

Baseline Runner · Post #1 » by **Baseline Runner** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:18 pm

It took Pau Gasol to transform Kobe and the Lakers from an average Western 8th seed to an elite, title contending team. I think Redd can make the same transformation with Lebron and the Cavs. The Bucks are looking to trade Redd and the Cavs are looking to acquire an all-star player of his caliber this offseason and have the pieces to put a package together (expirings, young players, draft picks).

Lebron needs a proven sidekick that can be productive every single night. Someone who is not injured all the time (Jermaine Oneal), or inconsistent (Hughes, Gooden, Gibson), or too old and declining (Ilgauskus), or mediocre (Mike Miller). If the Cavs cannot acquire someone like Michael Redd, Ron Artest or Elton Brand, someone who is real a force on the court, Lebron and the Cavs will be doomed to tantalizingly mediocre tastes of success (much like Phoenix and Dallas in the West) and no chip.

gizardoe · Post #2 » by **gizardoe** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:23 pm

Maybe if he grew 6 more inches

Post #3 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:28 pm

I love how you call Mike Miller mediocre so as to drop him out of the argument. IMO Miller is a better fit than Redd.

Basketball Fan · Post #4 » by **Basketball Fan** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:28 pm

Pau made Kobe? Sucka please!

Kobe is established despite the hate thrown his way. Pau never even won a playoff game before the Lakers let alone a series.

I say he helped but he wasn't the main reason for it either. The team as a whole matured and they dropped the deadweight known as Kwame Brown and Smush Parker.

Post #5 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:30 pm

This is not a Kobe thread at all. Gotta love how you can actually take this as an insult directed at him.

Baseline Runner · Post #6 » by **Baseline Runner** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:30 pm

I don't think the Cavs need size with Zydrunas, Joe Smith, Varejao, Ben Wallace and James himself.

Its our dismal backcourt and lack of offense that needs fixing.

Basketball Fan · Post #7 » by **Basketball Fan** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:34 pm

TheOUTLAW wrote:This is not a Kobe thread at all. Gotta love how you can actually take this as an insult directed at him.

My bad I guess I misinterpreted what you meant. Putting that aside Pau is not a first option guy but make him a second option along with a top tier player and you should get results.

Redd/LeBron would easily get out of the East but that's about it.

Baseline Runner · Post #8 » by **Baseline Runner** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:38 pm

Thats not what I said at all basketball fan. I said Pau was the last piece of the puzzle for Kobe and the Lakers, just what Lebron and the Cavs are missing.

Outlaw, Miller would certainly help us and he's a very good shooter, but he is not the answer. Redd has twice the talent Miller has in my opinion. He can create his own offense which is invaluable when Lebron's shots aren't falling. He also gets a lot of his points from layups and driving to the basket. Miller can't do either of those things.

Redd could swing games in our favor, like those against Boston this year or San Antonio last year when Lebron struggled. He can light teams up for 30+ any given night. He will even make the game easier for Lebron and take a lot of scoring pressure off of him, letting him focus more on his all around game of passing, defense, and rebounding in addition to scoring. Miller can't and won't ever be able to make that big of a contribution.

Other similarly talented players like Elton Brand and Ron Artest would contribute like Redd but in different ways (Brand rebounding and post scoring, Artest defense and scoring).

Senor Bogut · Post #9 » by **Senor Bogut** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:38 pm

Regardless, you are going to need a capable big man. You can have the best backcourt but if you don't have a big man down low, you are not going anywhere in the playoffs and finals.

http://www.last.fm/user/DPF55 · Post #10 » by **Buck You** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:40 pm

Well, Redd and Pau are both soft. But sure, let Cleveland take him. It'll have to be a 3 team trade probably for us to get something good back.

C'mon Cavs · Post #11 » by **C'mon Cavs** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:43 pm

I think Redd is a very good 2nd option, but the Cavs are not as good as the Lakers.

I dont see a Lamar Odom on the Cavs that can compliment LeBron and Redd. I dont see young talented players on the bench like Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Ronnie Turiaf, and I still see that same (Please Use More Appropriate Word) sitting on the bench and not a 9 time NBA champion coach.

Getting Redd would be a huge step in the right direction, but the roster would still need upgrading, especially considering Gibson would almost have to be part of the deal.

The frontcourt is a major problem. Some people think its a strength, but it is a huge weakness. No one is athletic, no one can dunk consistently, no one makes the opponents think twice about coming in the paint.

The frontcourt is soft, old, and unathletic. That needs to be addressed even if the Cavs get Redd.

Post #12 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Sat May 31, 2008 2:46 pm

I think LA was the 1 seed when they got Pau, he didn't transform anyone...

Baseline Runner · Post #13 » by **Baseline Runner** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:23 pm

Good points c'mon Cavs. One thing our front court has been good at though is defense and rebounding.

No-KG-A1, they were #1 seed nearly tied with 4-5 other Western teams. Few people were saying the Lakers were good enough to win the west. Transform is too strong of a word, but Gasol did push them over the top.

Polvoron · Post #14 » by **Polvoron** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:28 pm

NO-KG-AI wrote:I think LA was the 1 seed when they got Pau, he didn't transform anyone...

They weren't.
They were three weeks before the grade, but Bynum got injured and they lost several games before getting Pau.
Anyway Gasol did transform them. With Bynum healthy they were contenders.
With Gasol they have won at a .850 clip.
He has transformed them from contenders to absolute elite.

Gordon Bombay · Post #15 » by **Gordon Bombay** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:32 pm

C'mon Cavs wrote:I think Redd is a very good 2nd option, but the Cavs are not as good as the Lakers.

I dont see a Lamar Odom on the Cavs that can compliment LeBron and Redd. I dont see young talented players on the bench like Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Ronnie Turiaf, and I still see that same (Please Use More Appropriate Word) sitting on the bench and not a 9 time NBA champion coach.

Getting Redd would be a huge step in the right direction, but the roster would still need upgrading, especially considering Gibson would almost have to be part of the deal.

The frontcourt is a major problem. Some people think its a strength, but it is a huge weakness. No one is athletic, no one can dunk consistently, no one makes the opponents think twice about coming in the paint.

The frontcourt is soft, old, and unathletic. That needs to be addressed even if the Cavs get Redd.

+1

prekazi · Post #16 » by **prekazi** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:35 pm

Pau didn't transformed Lakers into No 1 team and I'd rather have Mike Miller than Michael Redd.

wawaweewa · Post #17 » by **wawaweewa** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:36 pm

I think they'd be good but still not good enough. It would be similar to when boston aquired ray allen but before they got KG and so they would have had a Pierce-Allen combo.
Obviously, a Lebron-Redd combo would be more talented but at that point Boston also had an emerging Al Jefferson that probably would have made up the difference.
Before the KG trade people said that Boston with Ray Allen, Pierce and Jefferson were a playoff team but would not be able to be true contenders. I think that would be the same with a Cleveland team that has Redd and Lebron. They'd still be one player away from being favourites. Not necessarily a KG but an all-star PF like Brand, Boozer or Bosh.

Baseline Runner · Post #18 » by **Baseline Runner** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:37 pm

Why would you rather have Miller than Redd? And please don't say because Redd is a chucker.

Post #19 » by **Flash3** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:40 pm

LeBron needs a post-presence, IMO.

A Boozer or Brand like player, or even a David West type player, who necessarily isn't a complete post player, but a more hybrid PF.

Baseline Runner · Post #20 » by **Baseline Runner** » Sat May 31, 2008 3:41 pm

wawaweewa we almost beat the Celtics this year and we made it to the to the finals last year where our lack of offense was glaringly exposed. If the Cavs acquired Redd (or another equally talented player) and start the season playing great basketball with a good record to go with it, whose to say we are not contenders?