MN Die Hard wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I'll try.
1. Wright has the potential to be the best player in the trade. He was talked about as a potential top-five pick last year in the draft as a do-everything small forward from Kansas (maybe Josh Howard-like?). With time to develop, I would be surprised if he doesnt provide AT LEAST the production Gomes provides. He hasnt had a chance to do much in NO yet this season...in MN he would get time to play.
2. Armstrong came out of college known as a defender/rebounder, but not a particularily strong offensive player....exactly the type of player we've been saying we need to put next to Big Al. Having a young center prospect locked up means we dont necessarily have to look at that position in the draft. We still might, but we've given ourselves more flexibility.
3. As much as we like Smith, ultimately he wont be more than a backup in MN as long as Al is here playing PF. Neither of them is suited to play C on a regular basis, so why not exchange him for a center prospect?
4. The young guys leaving MN (Gomes, Smith) are free agents and MN could very likely lose them (either willingly or against our will) this offseason. The young guys coming back (Armstrong, Wright) are still locked into relatively inexpensive rookie contracts for a few years.
5. With the possible exception of Buckner and perhaps Rasual Butler, this would leave MN without a truly bad contract on the roster. Did you ever think we'd be able to say that?
couple things.
1.) I was not aware that Juels Wright would be part of that deal. It almost sounds like you are speaking about a different deal. The issue of course would be if NO is willing to part with Wright. Both DX and Net said the kid was a Boris Diaw type and I think that kind of skill set would be valuable to this team. Allowing Corey to spend more time at the 2. Basically a 3 man rotation of Wright/Corey/Shad at the 2 and 3.
2.) Wright is a deal-maker for me, Armstrong is not. He was uninterested and almost did not care for the first couple years at UConn. That scares me. I have not seen much of him lately, but he would not be the intense defender we are dreaming about from Hardin. Honestly, I like what chris Richard brings more than what I have seen from Armstrong. Richard has heart, he bangs. He runs to get back on defense. To me I would let them keep Armstrong if it meant I had to give up Richard.
3.) The logic with Craig makes sense, except that he is a very good back of 4 and Armstrong is nothing more than a back up 5 right now. I am all for moving smith if we got a solid starting 5, i just do not see Armstrong as that roll. Also, Craig might be content with being our first big off the bench. WHo knows.
4.) This is a very good point. But we also need to remember that Gomes and Smith are RFA so if we wanted to we could bring them back and we know what we got with those guys.
5.) Nice point, I think we overrate contracts. We wont get Lebron to sign here, what we need is cap responsability and the ability to bring in talented pieces to fit together.
Right now the deal seems different. You are speaking of
jaric+walker+Gomes+smith
for
Armstrong+wright+Jackson+Butler
Which clear gives us youth and gives NO a shot in the arm for a playoff run. In your deal we also keep Richard. I have really liked what I have seen from Gomes the last week or so and he is young still. hmm, I am not sold on this deal, but it is plausable. If it happened I would not complain too much.
On second thought, I think I want to keep Gomes more than I originally felt. For a couple reasons.
1./) Still young. So he has potential
2.) He has shown himself to have a high BBIQ, works hard and is great with the media
3.) He has a very good jumper and that is something we need with Al as a post option. WIth Randy coming back having an open jump shooter could help.
Part of me wonders if Gomes could be the long-term 3 option here. A similar 3 man rotation of Gomes/Brewer/Shad. He is only 24/25 or so. That being said. Could we do a
Walker+Smith+Jaric
for
Armstrong+Butler+Pargo+Jackson+protected future first?
We keep Gomes, they keep Wright (which they would be more likely to do anyway) we have too many players, but Doleac could easily be waived as an ending contract.
My only issue then is it leaves us really thin behind Al. Unless we plan on giving Armstrong and Richard heavy minutes at the 4. By moving walker and smith we lose offense with the back up post players. Mad Dog does not cut it.
hmm, I think I would do my version.
