greenroom31 wrote:Having suffered through half the season, it's super clear to me that this team's biggest issue by far is lack of a true PG. Jayson and Jaylen are forced to not just score but also create for other players, which they are still learning how to do well. The other guys aren't great shooters to start with, but it's made worse by the fact that we don't have a PG to set the table for them and run real plays. This especially kills us at crunch time/in the 4th quarter, and is part of the reason we've been so bad in those situations. Just asking for "more ball movement" is not enough.
The lack of a true PG is our most glaring issue and adding one could help us in a major way and put everyone in the right place so to speak. And a quick note for those who want to defend Smart/Schroder/Pritchard -- Smart is a great 6th man/defensive role player, but he is playing off the ball the majority of the time. He's too careless with the ball. Schroder is ball dominant and has a score-first mentality. Pritchard is really more of an undersized SG, or at least he's used that way.
Ok, now on to the point of this thread: let's do Brad's job and find who we could realistically acquire to fill this role. First, a list of some possible/quasi-realistic targets that we could get without moving Brown or Tatum (who I FIRMLY believe are not the issue):
Rotational Guys:
-Tyus Jones (Memphis) / 1 year, $8.4M
-Jalen Brunson (Dallas) / 1 year, $1.8M
-Cam Payne (Phoenix) / 3 years, $19M
-Patrick Beverly (Minnesota) / 1 year, $14.3M
-Goran Dragic (Toronto) / 1 year, $19.4M
-Coby White (Chicago) / 3 years, $13M, last year is qualifying offer at $10M
-Cory Joseph (Detroit) / 2 years, $12.5M, last year is player option
Potential Starters:
-Josh Hart (New Orleans) / 3 years, $38M deal, last year is player option
-Devonte Graham (New Orleans) / 4 years, $47M
-De'Aaron Fox (Sacramento) / 5 years, $163M (would love Haliburton but I think it would take Jaylen or Tatum)
-Malcolm Brogdon (Indiana) / 4 years, $89M
-Spencer Dinwiddie (Washington) / 3 years, $54M
-D'Angelo Russell (Minnesota) / 2 years, $61M
-Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia) / 4 years, $16M (rookie deal with team option year 3, qualifying year 4)
-Eric Bledsoe (Clippers) / 2 years, $37.5M
-Reggie Jackson (Clippers) / 2 years, $21.6M
High-Risk/Unknown Upside:
-John Wall (Houston) / 2 years, $92M, last year is player option that he is DEFINITELY taking
-CJ McCollum (Phoenix) / 3 years, $100M (I know he's not a PG but we could give it a shot, and Portland may be desperate to make a change)
-Ben Simmons (Philadelphia) / 4 years, $147M (would have to take Harris too, but putting it out there for discussion)
-Russell Westbrook (Lakers) / 2 years, $91M, last year is player option that he is DEFINITELY taking
Next post I will dig into each of these groups and talk about some guys I'd like to target and what possible trades might look like. Would love to hear your thoughts on this list and also if I left anyone out who should be in here! Mods: I know there's already a trade thread but I feel this is a very specific and focused thread on our most important need vs. every team and every rumor, so hopefully we can keep this one separate.
