I happen to think things would have happened a lot differently, and we'd arguably be in better shape now.
In the 09-10 season, we probably don't make the Ronnie Brewer trade. We probably would have been a little further back in the standings, making the trade pointless.
In 2010, we probably pick a big rather than Xavier at #11 or #12 (doubtful we would have finished elsewhere). The next three picks were Ed Davis, Patrick Patterson, and Larry Sanders. Tough to say who Wallace would have picked. The worst case scenario is probably patterson, so let's say we took him. Following the draft, we probably wouldn't have signed Tony Allen either (without Randolph, scoring and rebounding, not defense, may have been viewed as the priority).
In 2011, retaining the pick that was otherwise spent on Ronnie Brewer, and after finishing 9th in the West, we make a pick at #14. Marcus Morris was the pick here, but Wallace doesn't seem to have much of a history of drafting tweeners. The next three picks were Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Vucevic, and Iman Shumpert. Needing a backup C, let's just say they take Vucevic.
Arthur goes down, Cunningham signed. The Speights trade doesn't happen (we did that trade because both Randolph and Arthur went down, and we traded Xavier for him, who we don't have in this scenario). Vasquez-Pondexter trade does happen, and Sam Young gets dumped. Grizzlies would have done about as well in the 11-12 season in this scenario as they did in reality, considering the team was largely the same.
2012 draft, we still draft Wroten for PG depth. We make the Q-O to Mayo, and then rescind after agreeing to a 4 year, 20million dollar deal. We still trade Cunningham for Wayne Ellington, and we waive Sam Young. With Mayo still on the team, our free agency priority is a true backup PG. So we sign C.J. Watson rather than Bayless (just picked him cuz it seems semi-realistic to me).
So our 2012-2013 lineup is:
PG Conley / Watson
SG Mayo / Ellington
SF Gay / Pondexter
PF Arthur / Patterson
C Gasol / Vucevic
That lineup is very similar to the 41-25 team of 11-12. It features size in the middle, excellent ball-handling, plenty of outside shooting (including two stretch 4's), and a very good bail-out man and last second shot-taker in Rudy Gay. Everyone can play defense (Ellington and patterson are the worst but aren't terrible), and Gay makes up for lack of rebounding at the 4.
It's also a young roster: the "core 4" players are all 28 years or younger (as of today). And it's financially flexible: The total salaries of all players on the roster likely puts us about 10 million below the tax line. So trading Gay would still be a possibility if management so desired, but it wouldn't be a necessity.
It's all useless speculation, I know. But I've never been a fan of trading for veterans, and this is kind of the reason why.
If we had never traded for Randolph
If we had never traded for Randolph
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If we had never traded for Randolph
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
DA is not a starting PF and Hollins didn't know what to do with Mayo at all besides hate him. Lastly, I think Gay is a bum and showed with the contracts Iggy/Josh Smith got this year.
Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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PAGrizzFan wrote:DA is not a starting PF and Hollins didn't know what to do with Mayo at all besides hate him. Lastly, I think Gay is a bum and showed with the contracts Iggy/Josh Smith got this year.
How good these guys are is debatable. Rudy's shooting touch has gone bye-bye the last couple years, but I think it's mostly due to the vision issues that the Raptors medical team discovered. As I understand it, the issue is correctable.
You're right about Mayo not being a great fit under Hollins. But man did we miss him against the Spurs. For all his flaws, good shooters who can also play defense and are decent ball-handlers are hard to find.
As far as DA not being a starting PF, I think that is debatable as well. Given enough minutes, I thought he could have developed into a David West type player. And in any case, we went 41-25 with a cobbled-together mess of castoffs at PF last year.
We also would have had good assets to make a run at a player like Josh Smith or Paul Milsap this year.
Don't get me wrong, I love Z-bo and what he's done for us. But you can sort of feel the rebuild coming and it bothers me because it could have been avoided.
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
Maybe DA of multiple years ago but now he has a bad knee and achilles.
We also heard that Rudy Gay gained 10-15lbs of muscle this year, which we have heard the past 6 years. Want nothing to do with him or that crappy crappy contract.
Not sure why you would want anything to do with Josh Smith, guy is a headcase and not a winner. Now Milsap, the Hawks got a steal with his contract
Think the main thing is we have to remember that we have a total new ownership, that is still putting it imprint on the team. To me I have to give them credit/time especially after the Koufos trade, I mean that was a total steal.
We also heard that Rudy Gay gained 10-15lbs of muscle this year, which we have heard the past 6 years. Want nothing to do with him or that crappy crappy contract.
Not sure why you would want anything to do with Josh Smith, guy is a headcase and not a winner. Now Milsap, the Hawks got a steal with his contract
Think the main thing is we have to remember that we have a total new ownership, that is still putting it imprint on the team. To me I have to give them credit/time especially after the Koufos trade, I mean that was a total steal.
Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
PAGrizzFan wrote:Maybe DA of multiple years ago but now he has a bad knee and achilles.
We also heard that Rudy Gay gained 10-15lbs of muscle this year, which we have heard the past 6 years. Want nothing to do with him or that crappy crappy contract.
Not sure why you would want anything to do with Josh Smith, guy is a headcase and not a winner. Now Milsap, the Hawks got a steal with his contract
Think the main thing is we have to remember that we have a total new ownership, that is still putting it imprint on the team. To me I have to give them credit/time especially after the Koufos trade, I mean that was a total steal.
I mean I agree there are still ways to get better, it's just we have very limited assets and flexibility now. If Randolph had never been here it'd be a different story.
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
darkangle901 wrote:PAGrizzFan wrote:Maybe DA of multiple years ago but now he has a bad knee and achilles.
We also heard that Rudy Gay gained 10-15lbs of muscle this year, which we have heard the past 6 years. Want nothing to do with him or that crappy crappy contract.
Not sure why you would want anything to do with Josh Smith, guy is a headcase and not a winner. Now Milsap, the Hawks got a steal with his contract
Think the main thing is we have to remember that we have a total new ownership, that is still putting it imprint on the team. To me I have to give them credit/time especially after the Koufos trade, I mean that was a total steal.
I mean I agree there are still ways to get better, it's just we have very limited assets and flexibility now. If Randolph had never been here it'd be a different story.
Definitely agree, think we could have taken on Jose Calderon's expiring contract instead of Prince. Could have started Quincy at the 3 or somehow not take back the Prince contract.
Still think Prince was just mailing it in last year for the Pistons and wasn't in good shape for the season. When he got traded, he was surprised and by the time the season ended/playoff started he was out of shape and small injuries piled up.
Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
PAGrizzFan wrote:darkangle901 wrote:PAGrizzFan wrote:Maybe DA of multiple years ago but now he has a bad knee and achilles.
We also heard that Rudy Gay gained 10-15lbs of muscle this year, which we have heard the past 6 years. Want nothing to do with him or that crappy crappy contract.
Not sure why you would want anything to do with Josh Smith, guy is a headcase and not a winner. Now Milsap, the Hawks got a steal with his contract
Think the main thing is we have to remember that we have a total new ownership, that is still putting it imprint on the team. To me I have to give them credit/time especially after the Koufos trade, I mean that was a total steal.
I mean I agree there are still ways to get better, it's just we have very limited assets and flexibility now. If Randolph had never been here it'd be a different story.
Definitely agree, think we could have taken on Jose Calderon's expiring contract instead of Prince. Could have started Quincy at the 3 or somehow not take back the Prince contract.
Still think Prince was just mailing it in last year for the Pistons and wasn't in good shape for the season. When he got traded, he was surprised and by the time the season ended/playoff started he was out of shape and small injuries piled up.
You might be right. Pondexter at the three would have been much better (although at the time of the trade he was re-habbing an injury).
But seriously how hard is it to find stopgap wing-players? That Chris Johnson kid would have been a better option (when contracts are considered). At least he was a legit threat from outside.
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
I am still haunted by the Thabeet pick more than any other mistake this franchise has made.
Imagine having James Harden or Steph Curry right now... SMH
Imagine having James Harden or Steph Curry right now... SMH
Re: If we had never traded for Randolph
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SC Grizz wrote:I am still haunted by the Thabeet pick more than any other mistake this franchise has made.
Imagine having James Harden or Steph Curry right now... SMH
We could have literally done anything else with that pick and it would have been better.
But to be fair, most people sort of had him as the consensus #2 as I recall it, especially since it was unknown when Rubio would come to the NBA.
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