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for the past year, i have been saying that Ray would be an okay substitute if Joe left. even though Ray is 7 years older than Joe, after watching Ray against the Heat, Cavs, and Magic, doesn't he look more athletic than Joe? Joe never dunks and all he shots are floaters, and Ray is just dunking at will and hanging in the air and making plays.

It's been weird, but I see what you mean. It's as if Ray's found the fountain of youth. I don't know how many more years he's got in him, but then again I don't know how many good years Joe has either. In a contract year I think Ray might have played he way out of our price range.

If we played a system in which the SG runs around as many screens as Ray does (like Reggie Miller and Rip Hamilton also did) then I wouldn't mind Ray on a 3 year deal if only the 1st 2 were guaranteed. The other thought would be to consider JJ Redick for a similar role at a cheaper price. He's much younger, but truthfully I would prefer Ray Allen if the contract is right because his experience and ring might have greater leadership impact on the team.

evildallas wrote:It's been weird, but I see what you mean. It's as if Ray's found the fountain of youth. I don't know how many more years he's got in him, but then again I don't know how many good years Joe has either. In a contract year I think Ray might have played he way out of our price range.

If we played a system in which the SG runs around as many screens as Ray does (like Reggie Miller and Rip Hamilton also did) then I wouldn't mind Ray on a 3 year deal if only the 1st 2 were guaranteed. The other thought would be to consider JJ Redick for a similar role at a cheaper price. He's much younger, but truthfully I would prefer Ray Allen if the contract is right because his experience and ring might have greater leadership impact on the team.

Allen would be a good replacement for a year or two... but no more, and I don't think he'd take that to be with us. Redick's issues are height, defense and handling. If we switched to a PG-focused offense and Teague proved he could cover 2's it might work, but Redick's tweener status would still hurt, I'm not sure if he can effectively guard 1's or 2's. His shooting is tremendous though.

Redick has shown in the playoffs that his defense and handle are much improved. He's defended Ray Allen very well (contrast his performance with the few minutes Carter tried to D him up). He will struggle against a bigger 2 like Joe or when switched onto a 3 like Paul Pierce, but against a lot of 2s I don't think he's the liability he was coming out of college. Don't underestimate hard work and willingness to follow an assignment (like stick to a specific man instead of wonder away from shooting thread to help). I agree that a bigger 2 would be nice, but if you are using the run around screens version of offensive SG then I think Redick has done the work to make him as good a candidate for that type of job as anyone and at a reasonable price.

However, I'm not sure the position will be run that way here and that's why I still lean toward Wesley Matthews or Quincy Pondexter as more likely fitting my plan (my first choices). Regardless I would love Orlando to have to make a pricey decision on Redick to limit their ability to spend on other things or play an aging vet more minutes.

^^ That's a good point about taking away from Orlando, which does boost his value some. OTOH its not like they needed Redick this year to dominate us...

A lot depends on the scheme a new coach is bringing in, I hope the Hawks decide on a coach soon so that he can be involved in finding players that fit his scheme.

Signing Redick wouldn't tip the scales against Orlando next season for us, but they're a team with 79M already committed to 8 players which means any more talent or resign will cost ownership double. With tax that's 90M, I would love for them to either lose Redick and Barnes making them a shorter rotation or to invest more in them and not be able to spend elsewhere or be forced to trade someone else to cut costs (Gortat?). We have to fix our own house in order to compete with Orlando and judging from the Boston-Orlando series that involves fixing 2 defensive holes at PG (more speed) and C (more bulk). The other 3 positions don't have to be the greatest defenders, they just need to play hard and stay at home. If you do those things you've got a chance because they've got their own holes on defense (Carter, Lewis, Nelson) that can be exploited with movement and a plan.