Kwame or Dalembert

[prefuse73]

I would really like to find a way to get either of these guys into our mix.

We could send LA Theo for Kwame and Mihm. Kwame would still be an expiring contract and we could audition him next to Al the rest of the year and then sign him to a cheaper deal in the offseason. He is also around the same age as Al.

or we could do a straight swap of theo and Dalembert. We are committing more money, but it is for a defensive center that would really compliment Al and is still only 27.

these two deals work numbers wise, but would either team do it? We could add young piece like Smith, Green or Telfair. The point is that we should get an experienced (youngish) center now so we can take the best player available, regardless of position, during the draft. (hopefully Rose)

Dalembert/Kwame - Richard
Jefferson - Gomes
Brewer - Gomes - Jaric
Foye - McCants - Jaric
Rose - Foye - Jaric

just a thought.

[shrink]

While the Kwame deal would give Bynum more playing time, Phil likes Kwame, and even if he isn't starting, he'll give him a lot of minutes off the bench. they are contending. I think the Laker plan is to try to re-sign him next season to a more reasonable number. I agree though that Kwame could be a good fit here, and an audition would be nice. We'd just need to offer more incentive.

Dalembert is a pretty big gamble. He's played well this season, but for the first four years, he looked pretty lost on the court. He has an eight-digit salary, and its a long deal, so its a gamble. PHI fans, of course, thinks he's great now and want more than just an expiring for him. Since it would cost us the ability to resign some of our expiring guys like Gomes, Craig Smith, or Telfair, we could include them in a deal, and PHI might like getting out from another lognterm deal. I agree with you Dalembert's a great fit if he keeps playing well, but its risky.

Your guys definitely fit the defensive center mold that would help out Al Jefferson!

[prefuse73]

[quote="shrink"]While the Kwame deal would give Bynum more playing time, Phil likes Kwame, and even if he isn't starting, he'll give him a lot of minutes off the bench. they are contending. I think the Laker plan is to try to re-sign him next season to a more reasonable number. I agree though that Kwame could be a good fit here, and an audition would be nice. We'd just need to offer more incentive.

I was orginally thinking about the La deal being Theo and Cookie for Kwame and Mihm, but I thought I would get reamed However, cookie plays PF where we are set and the Al/cookie experiement is not really working. For the Lakers they could either add a third party and land someone else with Theo's deal or they could try a Bynum/Smith combo which would actually work, especially considering they have a tall SF like Odom.

Lakers

Bynum - Turiaf
Smith - Odom
Odom - Walton
Bryant - Ariza
Fisher - Farmar

[big3_8_19_21]

Why would we ever give up Cookie for Kwame?

[Sephiroth]

Dalembert easily, but his contract is a killer.

[Krapinsky]

Kwame is terrible. Believe me, I watch every Laker game. He's terrible. He comes into the game and it seems like this: TO, foul, dribble off the foot, dropped pass under the basket, foul, TO. He's alright in half-court defensive sets, but he never hustles back when the ball is pushed up the floor.

Dalembert is a different story. He has been playing well lately. Stefanski has said only good things about him. IF, a big IF, they wanted to move him, he still has positive value even with his huge contract. I think it would take at least a mid first round pick along with Theo's contract to begin a discussion with the Sixers.

WHy pick up Dalembert? We won't be even a playoff threat until his contract expires. In the meantime he will have improved our team only slightly enough to make us draft in the top 8 instead of a guaranteed top 3.

When making these bball decisions, there should be only one question. Does making this help us get a title in the future? The anwer is no. Our best bet is to be patient and work through the draft. We've got Foye, Brewer, and Big Al. We need a Defensive Center to compliment Al and a legitimate 1 or 2 who can shoot the 3 ball. (depending on Foye) Dalembert/Wallace and such are good defenive centers who are ready to contribute now. We need a guy who'll be ready in 2-3 years when Foye and Al and Brewer are done refining their games. Deandre Jordan is the pick.

(Note: as I'm finishing this, Kwame just missed a wide open dunk, then pretended he got jabbed in the eye)

[shrink]

Bynum left tonight's game with a knee injury, and I didn't like the wobble. If he's gone, Kwame becomes untradable for the Lakers.

[MN Die Hard]

I've always been a big Dalembert fan....even last year with KG I thought adding a guy like Dally would have been a great fit. I still think so, with Al here and KG gone. Yes his contract is a risk, no question there. However, when you consider what other NBA bigs earn, I really wouldnt consider him grossly overpaid. Like it or not, you pay decent money for centers who can provide any type of production (and in some cases, even for those who can not).

Let's take a quick look at production vs. contract, and see how Dally stacks up (sorry if I'm mistating any numbers here, I grabbed them pretty quickly).

PLAYER (AGE) AVERAGE SALARY (YEARS REMAINING) POINTS, REBOUNDS, BLOCKS, FG%

Shaq (35) $20 million (+2) 14, 8, 1.7, 59%
Wallace (33) $15 million (+2) 5, 9, 1.8, 33%
Dally (26) $ll million (+3) 11, 10, 2.6, 54%
Ilgauskas (32) $11 million (+2) 13, 10, 1.4, 46%
Chandler (25) $11 million (+3) 12, 12, 1.1, 59%
B Miller (31) $11 million (+2) 14, 9, 1, 45%
Curry (25) $10 million (+3) 14, 5, 0.5, 54%
Dampier (32) $10 million (+3) 5, 7, 1.6, 67%
Nene (25) $10 million (+4!) 6, 6, 1, 40%
Kaman (25) $10 million (+4) 18, 11, 3, 48%
Okur (29) $9 million (+2) 13, 6, 0.5, 41%
Rasho (31) $8 million (+1) 5, 4, 0.6, 46%
Camby (33) $8 million (+2) 9, 14, 4, 46%
Blount (32) $7 million (+2) 6, 3, 0.1 haha!, 48%
Gadz (29) $6 million (+3) 3, 3, 0.5, 52%
Foster (30) $6 million (+1) 6, 8, 0.2, 51%

Of these 16 guys, I honestly dont know if there's anyone I would say I'd take without a doubt over Dally, for our team at this point in time. Kaman and Chandler come closest for me, but Chandler has had injury concerns in the past, and I'm not sure how solid Kaman is defensively (although 3 blocks per game is impressive).

On the flip side, however, I can definitely say "no" to half of these guys, due to age, salary, production, style of play, injuries, or some combination: Shaq, Ilgauskas, Miller, Curry, Dampier, Okur, Rasho, Blount. In other words, I would take Dally over these guys.

The remaining five guys, if presented with the opportunity to trade for them instead of Dally, I guess it would come down to the cost of acquiring them: Wallace, Nene, Camby, Gadz, Foster. And I'm kind of giving Camby the benefit of the doubt because of his ridiculous rebounding and block numbers, but would we really consider adding a 33 year old center to our group of pups?

Now I dont want it to appear I'm making the argument that "other teams overpay for centers so we should too". We of course can go the route of drafting a center. However, just keep in mind when considering Dally's salary that he's not terribly overpaid when compared to other NBA centers.

One final point....it might be interesting to see the Wolves follow NO's strategy from a few years ago. They drafted Chris Paul and traded for Chandler, and all of a sudden they had filled the two most difficult positions to fill, and they're set for years to come. Similarily, what if the Wolves drafted Rose and acquired Dally? They definitely have enough talent to fill in the rest of the holes, no?

Rose-Foye-Brewer-Jefferson-Dally
Telfair-McCants-Gomes-Smith-Richard

Yeah there are concerns with the lux there, but that's a team I could live with.

[IcemanMN]

Great analysis! Dalembert is exactly the kind of center we need. However, I think the other draft option should also be considered: Foye-McCants-Brewer-Jefferson-Jordan.