Build the ideal bench with the contracts that we have

[GreenDreamer]

IMO, the best bench for a playoff run has three guys who swing between two positions each. A combo guard who plays the one and the two spots. A big SF who plays the 3 and the 4 spots, and a true big man who can play the 4 and the 5. That way you have interchangeable pieces to switch out the starters with. This also promotes better team chemistry as the 8 players can more easily be used to each other out there, intead of running a whole bunch of jerry rigged lineups out there. Want to play small at the end of teh game, you just run the 3/4 swing man out. Want to play big have the starters in there, or have any one of the others, depending upon the injury/foul.effectiveness situation. Ideally, you have the next 2 or three players on the bench being able to fill spot minutes effectively. Say that Gabe can be the 3rd guard on the depth chart for both the 1 and 2 spots, Bill Walker being the 3rd SF, a min. contract vet point guard, a min contract vet big man etc. Just someone to plug in for a few minutes when you need them.

I'm a believer in having your talent and money being concentrated at the top. If you are healthy you want a rotation like this, so that in the playoffs you are rolling quality players out there througout the game, and they aren't getting run into the ground. Having 3 guys off of your bench who are all about as good as each other at doing 1 thing really doesn't help you if you only have one spot to play them at.

What we have to work with:

The MLE
Big Baby sign and trade
Eddie's deal
Scal's Deal
Tony's deal
and maybe Ray's deal

I'm still working it out in my mind, but how would you use these deals to built that kind of 8 man rotation. Say that we get Shee with the MLE. That takes care of the 4/5 guy. That would leave two more spots to fill, AND it also means that Big Baby is expendable, because Sheed is your 4/5 swing guy. You don't need ANOTHER guy to do that getting PAID money. Your fourth BIG is essentially your 3/4 swing in this scenario. The other bigs are low money, spot minute guys like Baby used to be. How would you realistically go about doing that.?

[cfan79]

Baby, Scala and Pruitt for Marion and Banks

and

sign Rasheed and Joe Smith

New Roster

Perkins/R.Wallace
KG/R.Wallace/J.Smith
Pierce/Marion/Bill Walker
R.Allen/House/Giddens
Rondo/Banks/Hudson

[GreenDreamer]

Baby, Scala and Pruitt for Marion and Banks

and

Rasheed

New Roster

Perkins/R.Wallace
KG/R.Wallace/J.Smith
Pierce/Marion/Bill Walker
R.Allen/House/Giddens
Rondo/Banks/Hudson

I think Banks is swful, it if that got us Marion then maybe it is workable. In the parameters of the OP, though, this violates the terms. The idea is to build an 8 man rotation, not a 9 man one. Tkae this lineup, for example, Marion isn't just a SF on teh depth chart, he is a PF as well. You aren't occasionally using him there. He would be tasked specifically as your small lineup PF. So

Perkins/Wallace
KG/Wallace/Marion/etc.
Pierce/Marion/etc.
R.Allen/House
Rondo/Banks

You could say. put Eddie at the backup one, but I think that we all know that just doesn't work. Better to have one guy who can REALLY play both the one and the two spots effectively, liek Delonte West can. He isn't starting quality and you don't want him is your main point guard, but he can hold down the fort when your starter is off the floor. I think that would apply to a guy like Stuckey.

[CelticFaninLBC]

Baby, Scala and Pruitt for Marion and Banks

and

sign Rasheed and Joe Smith

New Roster

Perkins/R.Wallace
KG/R.Wallace/J.Smith
Pierce/Marion/Bill Walker
R.Allen/House/Giddens
Rondo/Banks/Hudson

I'm pretty sure Marion will have to be renounced to make room for Turk..

[cfan79]

Damn I was never good at reading instructions. Maybe that's why I couldn't do that experiment from the movie "Weird Science". I had the bra and everything.

[CelticFaninLBC]

Damn I was never good at reading instructions. Maybe that's why I couldn't do that experiment from the movie "Weird Science". I had the bra and everything.

Some of the rules are complicated... A sign and trade may be possible for Sheed, but I'm not certain of next years cap level and what Gordon and CV's contracts start at... Probably $9 mil. for Gordon & 5.75 for CV?? If that's the case then Detroit's at about $55 million going into next year...

[cfan79]

So what would some you guys do? My enormous sexy brain is intrigued.

[GreenDreamer]

So what would some you guys do? My enormous sexy brain is intrigued.

Sign Sheed with the MLE.

Trade Tony Allen and Gabe Pruitt to Milwaukee for Charlie Bell.

Use the LLE on Matt Barnes

Sign Brevin Knight to a vet min contract

That for starters. If we could sign and trade BBD for somebody truly useful, I'd do that too, but I wouldn't do it just to do it. Better to let him walk outright.

[sunshinekids99]

MLE to Rasheed Wallace
Trade Scals/TA/Giddens to Golden State for Stephen Jackson
Vet Min to Stephon Marbury
Vet Min to Robert Swift or Mike Sweetney whoever preforms better in SL.
Resign Glen Davis.
Resign Leon Powe.

Doubt the C's would pay that much this offseason tho.

Perkins
Garnett
Pierce
R. Allen
Rondo

Bench
Wallace
Swift/Sweetney
Davis
Walker
Jackson
Marbury
House

Inactive
Pruitt
Hudson
Powe (injured)

Team would finally have some size. They move some of the cap space to take on a perfect scorer off the bench with Jackson. The C's bring back Marbury to see if a whole year with the team can improve his play. The team takes a chance on Swift or Sweetney and maybe get another big to store on the bench. The C's also have Powe as an insurance policy come Feb/March.

[Fencer reregistered]

MLE to Sheed

LLE to Hill

Resign Davis

Sign-and-trade Marbury along with Tony and Scal to Chicago for Kirk Hinrich. That probably takes at least Giddens to get done, and then is only doable if they're disappointed in the trade market for him.

That puts the core rotation at (10 players):

Perk Sheed (Davis)
KG (Sheed) Davis
Pierce Hill (Hinrich)
Allen (Hinrich) (Hill) House
Rondo Hinrich

The rest can be gambles, developmental players, and insurance.

[Hemingway]

Or realistically we could have:

Perk
KG
PP
RA
Rondo

Sheed
Hill
Marbury

as our 8 manrotation

[Slartibartfast]

We're pretty much set at the 1, in my estimation. House does what Rondo can't and vice-versa. It would be nice to have another defender/ball-handler in case of injury or foul trouble to Rondo though. Lue would be nice for the vet min. This would probably mean cutting Pruitt, which might be a good idea if you don't want to depend on Pruitt to step up when his number's called.

We need any kind of a dependable back-up wing, and we can't be that picky. We could use a shooter, but defense is also big especially against guys like LeBron and Rashard Lewis that Ray or Tony are too small to cover. Playmaking would also be nice, especially if we stick with House as the back-up 1. I think Grant Hill at the LLE is the best possible option. He's a nice passer, a big and able defender for spurts on Bron and others and a solid mid-range shooter. Absent Hill, I'd want Jamario Moon, another long-armed defender who can shoot moderately well. Barnes is probably the best option after that. All of them will command at least the LLE. I'm willing to let Walker, Giddens and TA fight it out for the spot as 4th wing.

As for the big man spot, I'm throwing the MLE at Sheed for his capabilities at the 5 and then offering the vet min to any 4 who can rebound (Joe Smith). If Sheed turns us down, I'd throw the MLE at Dice and settle for a stiff 5 to give 6 fouls on Shaq or Howard (Jason Collins, Robert Swift...). If Dice turns us down, I guess I'd go for Pachulia.

So my ideal, realistic bench would be:

House, Pruitt
TA, Giddens
Hill, Walker
Joe Smith, Scal
Sheed, open roster spot

That would put our payroll at about 82 mil, which is pretty enormous compared to the rest of the league, but only 3 or 4 mil more than last year. I don't see ownership OKing a TA/Scal/Giddens for a single more expensive contract deal either, since this is a pretty good bench.

[GreenDreamer]

MLE to Sheed

LLE to Hill

Resign Davis

Sign-and-trade Marbury along with Tony and Scal to Chicago for Kirk Hinrich. That probably takes at least Giddens to get done, and then is only doable if they're disappointed in the trade market for him.

That puts the core rotation at (10 players):

Perk Sheed (Davis)
KG (Sheed) Davis
Pierce Hill (Hinrich)
Allen (Hinrich) (Hill) House
Rondo Hinrich

The rest can be gambles, developmental players, and insurance.

The hinrich move is a great one. I think that the Bulls might be more inclined to take House back in that deal, and I would be inclined to send him if they agreed. I just don't think that the Bulls would deal a deal with us for him. Think about it. He'd be a great fit, and his contract is actually good with his money DECLINING every season. The thing is that Rondo/Hinrich immediately becomes the best defensive backcourt combo in the game, bar none. You are basically handing us over a perfect 3rd guard, and one who would seriously help us destroy the Bulls in a series. I really like your thinking, though.

Definitely fits the parameters of my OP. Well done.

[GreenDreamer]

Or realistically we could have:

Perk
KG
PP
RA
Rondo

Sheed
Hill
Marbury

as our 8 manrotation

We can do better than Marbury, especially for a combo guard. That is why I brought up Bell. I think that he's a good player who can effectively play both positions. He doesn't need to a be a wiz at the 1, just good enough to get the job done. I particularly would want to add guys who are good three point shooters who spread the floor out around Rondo.

Getting Hill has its advantages, but I have issues with having so many old guys around as core rotation players. For all of Doc's whining about our team getting "young" with teh injuries, it was our younger players who carried the team in the playoffs last season. One of the things which attracts me to Barnes is that his numbers at the 4 were very good last season, overall. The Suns did well with him there, yet he is still a perfectly capable 3 man. I also think that the guy is one of the most underrated passers in the game. Can't ahve enough guys who know how to pass the rock, not that Hill isn't a great passer himself.

The Hinrich idea in the post above would really work for us. I just don't see teh Bulls dealing him for spare parts.

[GreenDreamer]

We're pretty much set at the 1, in my estimation. House does what Rondo can't and vice-versa. It would be nice to have another defender/ball-handler in case of injury or foul trouble to Rondo though. Lue would be nice for the vet min. This would probably mean cutting Pruitt, which might be a good idea if you don't want to depend on Pruitt to step up when his number's called.

We need any kind of a dependable back-up wing, and we can't be that picky. We could use a shooter, but defense is also big especially against guys like LeBron and Rashard Lewis that Ray or Tony are too small to cover. Playmaking would also be nice, especially if we stick with House as the back-up 1. I think Grant Hill at the LLE is the best possible option. He's a nice passer, a big and able defender for spurts on Bron and others and a solid mid-range shooter. Absent Hill, I'd want Jamario Moon, another long-armed defender who can shoot moderately well. Barnes is probably the best option after that. All of them will command at least the LLE. I'm willing to let Walker, Giddens and TA fight it out for the spot as 4th wing.

As for the big man spot, I'm throwing the MLE at Sheed for his capabilities at the 5 and then offering the vet min to any 4 who can rebound (Joe Smith). If Sheed turns us down, I'd throw the MLE at Dice and settle for a stiff 5 to give 6 fouls on Shaq or Howard (Jason Collins, Robert Swift...). If Dice turns us down, I guess I'd go for Pachulia.

So my ideal, realistic bench would be:

House, Pruitt
TA, Giddens
Hill, Walker
Joe Smith, Scal
Sheed, open roster spot

That would put our payroll at about 82 mil, which is pretty enormous compared to the rest of the league, but only 3 or 4 mil more than last year. I don't see ownership OKing a TA/Scal/Giddens for a single more expensive contract deal either, since this is a pretty good bench.

Our bench is a disaster. It isn't abut having a guy who is good in this situation and crap in another, it is about having guys you can count on , night in and night out. Give me quality over quantity any day.

[snowman]

Sign Wallace to three year full mle deaL
Sign Marbury with LLC for one year
Trade Scal and TA to Hornets for Posey
Resign / match Davis for anything upto 4 years/16 mil
Sign Swift for vet min
Sign Sweetney for vet min
Sign Hudson (58th pick) to min contract
Decline option on Pruit

Roster:
Perkins, KG, Pierce, Allen, Rondo
Bench (first five)
Wallace, Davis, Posey, House, Marbury
Bench (last five)
Swift, Sweetney, Walker, Giddens, Hudson

[PtruthP34]

Now that the 4/5 bench spot has been filled, I think our next bigest need is a 2/3 that can shoot and defend a la James Posey, Ariza, Peitrus, etc.

I like Grant Hill, but he is getting old, can't shoot the three, and even though he is a good defender with good athletecism at his age, can he really provide acceptable defense against Lebron and Kobe?

Here are some other possible choices:

Anthony Parker:
Pros: Excellent shooter, good hustle defender, basically a 6'5 Edie House
Cons: Getting older (34), prob not suited to defend the Kobe's or Lebrons, duplicates Eddie House, Prob. asking for more than we can give him.

Rodney Carney:
Pros: Young (25), shoots the 3 well, athletic, cheap I would think
Cons: Limited offense, somehwat slender and therefore not a great option to put on LBJ

Jamario Moon:
Pros: Very athletic (tons of blocks and steals), veteran (29 yrs old even though only in league a few years), can shoot the 3 pretty well (35.5%), can match up well against Kobe and Lebron due to height and athletecism
Cons: Could cost us more than willing to pay but otherwise seems like a great fit to me.

Grant Hill:
Pros: Good bench scorer, can create and shoot from midrange and finish at the rim, still has good quickness and athletecism, great assist ratio, could run the second unit with House at the 1 efectively, great veteran presence, CHEAP (wants that ring)
Cons: Old, usefullness could diminish quickly as quickness and athleticism fades, no 3 pt. shot, prob. not wells uited to guard LBJ or Kobe

My guess is we are very happy to sign the veteran Hill and roll the dice with the mixed bag that is TA. If healthy, that duo could be ideal.

[Esohny]

What would you guys think of another trade with the Timberwolves?

MN out:
Darius Songaila


Boston out:
Scalabrine
Walker

Songaila is limited, but has shown he can score effectively, as well as rebound and pass a bit. Timberwolves get a young guy in Walker to try out at SG/SF.

[ParticleMan]

that's not terrible, but it's a lateral move. plus songaila has a PO for 4.8 mil after this season, which i'm sure he'll take. for that reason i wouldn't do it; i think ainge could find much better use of that $$ next offseason. not to mention we give up bill walker, who in 2 years might be the best player in that trade.

so no go.