Hoopinion Write-up on Joe/FA
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:57 am
http://www.hoopinionblog.com/2010/06/unsolicited-advice-on-eve-of-free.html
I'll be honest, I'm linking to it because as I read it it seemed to echo a lot of my own thoughts on the matter. The general point of the article is that the core is Josh and Al and hopefully one of Marvin, Jeff, or Jordan. We should not short sighted move that further retards the development of the core. I've maintained that for most of the off-season that we need to find out what we really have in Marvin and Jeff for better or worse.
Paraphrasing most of the points from the article
1. Joe at the max is too expensive, don't get locked into that. 6yrs/125M for him is stupid.
2. Don't sign & trade for Caron Butler or sign John Salmons. The article doesn't call them out by name be it is pretty easy to see who it means.
3. Convince Josh Childress to play out his option. (I disagree with this one, I don't want him back. I wouldn't mind sign & trade if it returned anything useful)
4. Don't use the MLE. (I sort of disagree here although I agree with not spending the full MLE on 1 player or using it on a former famous player. My thoughts are use what is at our disposal to land a young free agent SG and a backup C like Brad Miller or Channing Frye. If Joe walks and Childress is off the books without returning much then it wouldn't take the MLE).
5. Do fill out the roster with young free agents (especially those eligible to be assigned to the D-League) who can be had cheap in the short term and could be useful assets for the team, either on the court or when included in trades, in the future.
#5 I copied in verbatim. This is a very important aspect to me. We need to fill some roles cheaply to allowing spending on the core. Flexibility is important in the NBA and overpaying veterans because we think we are close has backfired already and will continue to do so. We learned we aren't that close. Sure we want to stay competitive, but not by sacrificing the flexibility necessary to get over the top when we truly are closer. You've got to get minutes from people on rookie deals and either 2nd rounders or unsigned free agents if you are going to run a team on such a tight budget. You have to be willing to risk some regular season losses to get some player development and team development in the long run.
Nothing frustrates me more that how we tie up roster spots with people unable to get on the court yet won't take a chance on a college senior in the 2nd round who could play a limited role and help out immediately or bring someone in from the D league who could possibly help. Does anyone doubt that we could have gotten as much out of Rod Benson or Alade Aminu as we did Jason Collins or Randolph Morris last year (just off energy alone)?
I'll be honest, I'm linking to it because as I read it it seemed to echo a lot of my own thoughts on the matter. The general point of the article is that the core is Josh and Al and hopefully one of Marvin, Jeff, or Jordan. We should not short sighted move that further retards the development of the core. I've maintained that for most of the off-season that we need to find out what we really have in Marvin and Jeff for better or worse.
Paraphrasing most of the points from the article
1. Joe at the max is too expensive, don't get locked into that. 6yrs/125M for him is stupid.
2. Don't sign & trade for Caron Butler or sign John Salmons. The article doesn't call them out by name be it is pretty easy to see who it means.
3. Convince Josh Childress to play out his option. (I disagree with this one, I don't want him back. I wouldn't mind sign & trade if it returned anything useful)
4. Don't use the MLE. (I sort of disagree here although I agree with not spending the full MLE on 1 player or using it on a former famous player. My thoughts are use what is at our disposal to land a young free agent SG and a backup C like Brad Miller or Channing Frye. If Joe walks and Childress is off the books without returning much then it wouldn't take the MLE).
5. Do fill out the roster with young free agents (especially those eligible to be assigned to the D-League) who can be had cheap in the short term and could be useful assets for the team, either on the court or when included in trades, in the future.
#5 I copied in verbatim. This is a very important aspect to me. We need to fill some roles cheaply to allowing spending on the core. Flexibility is important in the NBA and overpaying veterans because we think we are close has backfired already and will continue to do so. We learned we aren't that close. Sure we want to stay competitive, but not by sacrificing the flexibility necessary to get over the top when we truly are closer. You've got to get minutes from people on rookie deals and either 2nd rounders or unsigned free agents if you are going to run a team on such a tight budget. You have to be willing to risk some regular season losses to get some player development and team development in the long run.
Nothing frustrates me more that how we tie up roster spots with people unable to get on the court yet won't take a chance on a college senior in the 2nd round who could play a limited role and help out immediately or bring someone in from the D league who could possibly help. Does anyone doubt that we could have gotten as much out of Rod Benson or Alade Aminu as we did Jason Collins or Randolph Morris last year (just off energy alone)?
