lukekarts@gmail.com
Direction: Complete rebuild. Almost there!
Rotation:
C: DeMarcus Cousins [32] / Chris Anderson [16]
PF: Larry Sanders [18] / Carl Landry [30]
SF: Nicolas Batum [32] / CJ Miles [16]
SG: Wesley Matthews [32] / George Hill [16]
PG: Jrue Holiday [32]/ George Hill [16]
Inactive list: Jon Brockman, Andres Nocioni, James Posey, Charlie Bell, Randy Foye, Ben Uzoh
Analysis
Goals
Simply put, I feel in the space of two season's I've rebuilt this franchise for the future, got myself a 'star' talent to build around, and cleared out the bad contracts. With the continued development of my core, I don't think a push at the playoffs is out of the question. And IF my young core develops as hoped, I've also got the cap space in 2012 and 2013 to add 1 or 2 key free agents and take this franchise to the next level.
Starters
The key things with my starting 5 is that they’re all young, and with the exception of Cousins, all great defensive players. That mentality means they can develop into an excellent defensive unit, and focus on closing out games with that attitude. Ultimately I think peak potential of this team could be similar to that of the Pistons team of the 00’s.
In terms of individual talent, I believe Cousins can become the perennial All-Star who leads the team, whilst Sanders, Batum and Matthews will become similar to Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton, both in terms of impact and role. Holiday meanwhile possesses the potential to become a solid, top 10 point guard and is remarkably young (just 21) for a player starting his 3rd season.
C - DeMarcus Cousins - 20 - 15 points (45%), 7.9 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.8 blocks in 27 mpg as starter
PF - Larry Sanders - 22 - 5.7 points, 4 rebounds, 2.3 blocks in 21 mpg as starter
SF - Nicolas Batum - 22 - 13 points (47.5%), 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1 steal in 32 mpg as starter
SG - Wesley Matthews - 25 – 18.5 points (44% / 39%), 2 assists, and 1.5 steals in 36 mpg as starter
PG – Jrue Holiday - 21 – 14.7 points (45%), 6.6 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 35 mpg as starter
Key Bench
My bench players all have defined roles on this team – Birdman the defensive enforcer at C, Landry the scorer @ PF to compliment Sanders, Miles the offence-first SF to compliment Batum, Hill the 6th man with playoff experience, who can cover both guard spots adequatly and become a great spark off the bench.
Whilst my starters offer more potential, my bench is more experienced and is arguably amongst the best benches in the league - one thing is for sure, if my starters aren't performing I've got an excellent pool of talent to rely on. The likes of Nocioni and Posey will also be great for the locker-room and have a lot experience to share with my youth.
C – Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen – 5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 block in 19.5 mpg
PF – Carl Landry – 12.6 points (49%), 5 rebounds in 27 mpg
SF – CJ Miles – 12.2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal in 23 mpg
G – George Hill – 11.2 points (46% / 39%), 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals in 28 mpg
Better than before?
I think so. The team has a future, and despite the inevitable future pick swap with Chicago, I've got more assets in place than before, and I've turned a team whose only lucrative trade asset was Gerald Wallace, into a team full of talented young players. Is it perfect? No. But it's significantly better than the team I started with.
Trades
Traded Gerald Wallace for Monta Ellis
Waived Dominic McGuire
Traded Tyrus Thomas, Stephen Jackson, DeSagana Diop, Charlotte 2011 2nd, for Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, Alexis Ajinca, Ersan Ilyasova, Dallas 2011 1st.
Traded Matt Carroll, Kwame Brown, Dallas 2011 1st, Charlotte 2013 2nd, for Chris Wilcox & Joey Graham
Traded Tyson Chandler, Eduardo Najera, Shaun Livingston, for Dan Gadzuric, Vlad Radmanovic and Brandan Wright.
Traded Boris Diaw for Marvin Williams
Traded Gerald Henderson, Dan Gadzuric & Vlad Radmanovic for Wesley Matthews and Mickael Pietrus
Traded Mickael Pietrus and Derrick Brown for Glen Davis, Rodney Carney & Ben Uzoh
Traded Monta Ellis for Brandon Jennings, Chris Anderson & Kelenna Azubuike
Traded Glen Davis and Joey Graham for Marco Belinelli and James Johnson
Traded Brandon Jennings and Chris Wilcox for DeMarcus Cousins & George Hill
Traded 2013 pick swap rights with Chicago, in return for return of my 2012 (protected) pick.
Traded Nazr Mohammed, Brandan Wright, Marvin Williams & Marco Belinelli for Jon Brockman and Vince Carter
Traded Vince Carter and James Johnson for Jose Calderon, Larry Sanders, CJ Miles and Jeff Teague
Traded Jeff Teague and Ersan Ilyasova for Patrick Patterson and Antonio McDyess
Traded Alexis Ajinca, 2011 1st (top 3 protected, if top 3, 2012 1st unprotected) to Washington for Nicolas Batum.
Negotiated buyout with Antonio McDyess
Traded DJ Augustin, Patrick Patterson, for Jrue Holiday, Andres Nocioni, James Posey and 2013 PHI 1st (top 20 protected)
FA Signing: Carl Landry
Traded Jose Calderon for Daniel Gibson and Charlie Bell
Traded Daniel Gibson for Randy Foye
