Mike lorenzo wrote:SOUNDCHASER wrote:A 2 Draft picks:
when you drop down to take Gregory Jackson a 6'9 SF/PF possibly 6'10 and still growing. now w an extra pick and you can draft Zach Edey. Both are matchup nightmares and versatile enough to defend and score. Jackson can play 2 positions and maybe center as well and if Zach is the real deal no center in the league can stop him in the paint.
Green at SF and Greg at PF = some nice defense.
B Free agents: MLE and a BAE possibly and so who would you add in free agency that would take such sum?
Plumlee and Naz Reid both can play center and Naz is a big body that can bang shoot 3's and be a decent PF. If Plumlee is not a fit maybe another decent SF/PF 6'8 or larger.
C Undrafted free agent rookies: Watch for Juan Nunez best PG in Europe supposedly at 6'4
D Trades: Using the expiring contracts of Bertans and Bullock gives the mavs plenty of salary to grab something we can use from teams wanting to shrink salary cap and the best time for that is at the TDL after you see what the new pieces can do or not do. Then you know what the team still needs help with.
Pretty sure this is a contender and with that much youth the prospects of creating a contender that could last for years is worth the addition of talent from the draft.
The gift of youth is not something you can buy in free agency and it is the key to creating a contender with talent on much lower cost salaries that give you a chance to add players who otherwise would cause serious cap problems. THe draft is the only right use for the 10th pick if you can use it to fill one or 2 holes. Eventually Jackson would be the starter and lead defender at SF and Zach is a future 20-13 guy that blocks and alters tons of shots.
I can see some teams getting to the point they are going to blow things up and when that happens we just need to add one of those guys they decide is too expensive to keep around on a rebuilding team. These 2 rookies are looking great on you tube and I would love to see both end up here but with our expiring contracts there to help out if they should take a little longer to fit into the league that serves as an insurance policy that gives us the luxury to make a correction and get the team more help at the TDL so its really not that big of a gamble at all.
With better defense and bigs we are a perennial contender but you have one 30 something on the team now and we need to plan for his replacement eventually because nobody plays forever and if we can develop 2 more rookies into starters that will get us to the next level and then some.
$27 MILLION in salary shedding Insurance is there to be traded for at the TDL
NAZ and Maybe PLUMLEE is a little more insurance to provide the role players that can step in as needed when the rookies struggle. Zach is not one to engage in stupid rookie fouls and getting in foul trouble, not a problem, the stats show this proclivity to avoid foul trouble in his time on the court and that is usually what keeps a rookie big men glued to the bench so that makes him a lot more ready to step on an NBA court IMHO.
Between all our options we have a lot of talent to target in free agency the draft and via trades at the TDL so we are looking like we can take a risk on a potential generational big man talent at 7'4.
Jackson very good prospect but super raw..I don't think he'll be a contributor next year at all..Do you think Zach will play in the current NBA?don't you know a Boban project?...wouldn't want anything to do with Plumlee being a good player but fits even worse than Mcgee in our defensive system in my opinion..Naz Reid out of our range, I think if he takes MLE Wolves will keep him..I don't see anything too interesting for us in FA.. Maybe T.Brown if the Lakers don't keep him (I doubt they can).. Thybulle,Aaron Wiggins,DJJr,Balde Diop,Drummond?Crowder?..some decent bank guys..don't see much else
I just dont think Taylor Hendricks will fall to 10 if he is there I take him over GG because his defense is awesome. GG is almost a full year younger he is going to make leaps in his game sort of like Hardy did. He may grow to be a center at 18 he is possibly still getting taller like Giannis did.
Zach is a more traditional big and the team desperately needs one who can score inside as well as defend the rim and rebound. With him in there to rebound we get a lot of second chance attempts from 3 and additional shots equals a lot of extra three pointers.
His defense is needed against certain match ups and his inside scoring would make other teams play off of our shooters much more. Our ball handlers would have an easier time finding an open man because Zach would take a double team to stop inside and that is true for a lot of teams if not all of them. His mobility is a few levels above Bobans mobility and he has a lot of court time over 3 seasons so he is already developed for the NBA if you ask me because he hardly ever fouls and with that size there are not a lot of teams that will allow their franchise players drive to the rim against him.
When you have a game changing talent like Zach his game is strong enough to make the league adapt or he dominates way too much.
Teams will ignore him at their peril. Boban had 30 point games a few times when the coach let him do it.
The coach has to be smart to play an inside out game like David Robinson and Timmy used to use and he has good hands to be a major force with an inside scoring touch that reminds me of a lot of great centers. Timmy Gino and parker were a top 3 that we could possibly be able to remind people of with the big three we can put on the court except if
Gregory develops as Hardy has then we have a lot more to put out there.
Even though Green is good Green is an undersized SF so we would mostly use Gregory on defense to start off with but hey if Hendricks drops in he is starter from day one at SF and also playing some at PF. Kleber at PF is okay but If NAZ is staying in minn I would try to steal a SF somewhere from someone and use Green at SG with Hardy as the 2nd strings PG. You have to add talent in the draft to get young talent that can play as they learn the game and do so on rookie scale salaries so you have salary cap room to try veterans.
Gregory is an investment in a talent that could play 3 positions and that is a premium type of player in the league these days. I will bet he grows to 6'11 in another year or 2 and a 6'11 SF capable defender is hard to find. We can probably find a PF with the expiring contracts that we have. Adding Zach is a cheap move to sue with an acquired 2nd round pick and that could give the team another look on defense that coaches on other teams might have a tough time countering and I like using different looks to make other teams pay a price for staying course when they think they have it all figured out.
