Official Trade Thread - Part XXVII

[Dark Faze]

Wouldn't trade Beal for Favors straight up at this point. Dude doesn't rebound well enough and his defensive isn't so great that he's making up for that.

Beals main issue is the way this offense is built. He's a super roleplayer that should be able to efficiently get 20ppg in the flow of an offense but doesn't because we're so predictable. You can't have two wings that are basically immobile in a modern NBA offense without becoming too one dimensional. Your entire offensive becomes predicated on whether or not your guys are shooting well. We desperately need a dynamic three that can slash or create off the dribble to unsettle the opposing teams rotations. It's just too easy right now--crowd Wall when he slashes and then jump back out to the shooters.

If Beal played for the Spurs he'd be ridiculous. He'd be doing nothing but finishing layups at the rim or shooting threes.

I wonder if making a move for a guy like MKG would be a good idea. The kid is an elite finisher, potentially an elite defender and has a good handle. Maybe we could work out a sign and trade of Porter, Ariza, and Booker for Biyombo and MKG.

I think both teams get a little of what they want in this deal. We'd take the chains off MKG and see what he can do with an elite PG and 36 MPG. We can let Gortat walk and let Biyombo man the center position. If things work out--cool, we extend them and have a core. If they don't oh well, we'll be in a position to throw max money at 2016 guys.

[gtn130]

So when was the last time EG orchestrated a trade that actually gave up any serious equity? When was the last time the Wizards traded a high quality player or asset that didn't come with a huge amount of baggage?

Unless I'm forgetting something, it was 2009 with the #5 pick, which obviously was a dumpster fire.

Everything else has been offloading malcontents who weren't usable for the Wizards, cleaning up huge mistakes/failures like the Vesely trade, or trading away the Arenas era vets, which were all no-brainer decisions. Trading JaVale might be the closest thing, but it was a fairly easy decision considering the mandate to ostracize the low character (bad PR) players.

My point is that it's highly unlikely that someone like Beal would ever be traded because I think EG is legitimately terrified to make a bold move. Coupled with the fact that Ted is obsessed with continuity, it's just really hard to imagine the Wizards would ever proactively shake up their roster unless there's an undeniable, glaring problem.

[dckingsfan]

You can't have two wings that are basically immobile in a modern NBA offense without becoming too one dimensional.

I would argue that can if you have a FC player that requires a double every time he touches the ball. Jefferson, Lopez... ok there aren't many of them. But it is why we play so much better with Nene. It could be Seraphin, if he could rebound, pass and play D (sorry millie - I had to get that in there).

Not saying you are wrong, just that there may be another option or two.

I also think that Wall will learn how to play better on the interior over time and that will help.

[stevemcqueen1]

MKG is a good talent with a fatal flaw. The shot is broken. We'd have floor spacing problems that would keep him on the bench. Our 3s have to be good set shooters with a good three ball.

I'd rather stick with Porter and his upside in any event.

[stevemcqueen1]

Also Biyombo would be an unspeakably huge downgrade from Gortat. Biyombo is not a credible rotation player, much less adequate replacement for Gortat.

We don't really have any other option than extending Gortat. It's a must. And I would bet anything that it happens because we're not totally stupid.

[dangermouse]

I wonder if making a move for a guy like MKG would be a good idea. The kid is an elite finisher, potentially an elite defender and has a good handle. Maybe we could work out a sign and trade of Porter, Ariza, and Booker for Biyombo and MKG.

I think both teams get a little of what they want in this deal. We'd take the chains off MKG and see what he can do with an elite PG and 36 MPG. We can let Gortat walk and let Biyombo man the center position. If things work out--cool, we extend them and have a core. If they don't oh well, we'll be in a position to throw max money at 2016 guys.

I'd be all over this, but can we retain Gortat and have Biyombo back him up?

MKG's shot is broke, we knew that much before he was drafted. But we fixed Wall's....... We can rebuild it. We (apparently) have the technology.

[WizTom]

So when was the last time EG orchestrated a trade that actually gave up any serious equity? When was the last time the Wizards traded a high quality player or asset that didn't come with a huge amount of baggage?

Unless I'm forgetting something, it was 2009 with the #5 pick, which obviously was a dumpster fire.

Everything else has been offloading malcontents who weren't usable for the Wizards, cleaning up huge mistakes/failures like the Vesely trade, or trading away the Arenas era vets, which were all no-brainer decisions. Trading JaVale might be the closest thing, but it was a fairly easy decision considering the mandate to ostracize the low character (bad PR) players.

My point is that it's highly unlikely that someone like Beal would ever be traded because I think EG is legitimately terrified to make a bold move. Coupled with the fact that Ted is obsessed with continuity, it's just really hard to imagine the Wizards would ever proactively shake up their roster unless there's an undeniable, glaring problem.

This is a great observation. And it should prove to the owner how bad his management leadership really is.

As far as this coming offseason goes, here's what I think will happen:

Gortat will take whatever space San Antonio has to join the "symphony" (his word for how they play). They will have space because their management team actually does its job. He wants to win and play second fiddle/heir apparent to the Big Fundamental. He knows his game will fit that system, too.

Trevor Ariza will find a way to get to the Clippers, Golden State, or even the Lakers for as much money has he can get. He's on record as wanting to get home to L.A. and he's having the type of season that will make those teams figure out a way to make it happen. Sign-and-trades: hello, Harrison's Brand, err, Barnes; hello Dudley/Green; hello any Lakers flotsam (hopefully Hill, but that would require balls and smarts -- something EFG ain't got or sharing).

The Wiz will be able to retain Gooden at the minimum because something has changed since he demanded and got a buyout after he was acquired in 2010. (Cough cough pussy cough) At that time he was on record as only wanting a warm weather locale. Suddenly he's living in D.C. and not even getting paid to be there? What else warms him up so much? Congrats, Wiz. Sign him up! At least it's sorta Karmic pay-back for the Baltche fail. But we can rest assured that with a healed rep, he'll resort to his usual 10-teams-in-12-years behavior and play. At least it'll be better than the Czech Bounce.

All this will once again leave EFG flailing about for solutions. Take a valium and buckle up. It's gonna be fun to watch. Maybe the Wiz will bottom out enough for Ted to see the picture clearly and fire the leadership so someone can set-up an actual plan for 2015. More likely, EFG will paint his way into a capped out corner of mediocrity (at best) by over paying RFAs and wash-outs from other teams, we'll burn Jimmy Wa's prime, and we'll have no space or assets to make a move. Ever.


Sorry for the negativity. Just trying to pad my post count as usual. It's so easy to do…

[stevemcqueen1]

San Antonio can't afford to outbid us for Gortat. They're at 53 million for next season with big deals looming for Parker and Kawhi Leonard the next summer. And we've got Gortat's Bird Rights I believe. They've got a lot of money invested in Kawhi Leonard. And maybe Duncan doesn't want to retire after next season.

Unless Gortat is a lot cheaper than I expect, they're going to be looking for cheaper FAs.

EDIT: I meant they've got a lot of money in Tiago Splitter.

[Ruzious]

Trevor Ariza isn't going to sign a 2 year deal. This is his last big contract. He's going for as much $ and as many years as possible. He has no allegiances to Washington. I consider him as good as gone. Ariza as the 2nd or possibly 3rd best player on any team is a recipe for disaster. The only way it's not is if you have an elite superstar and a star player as your top two guys. Even still that's not enough. He was the 4th or 5th guy on the Lakers when they had Kobe/Gasol/Odom/Bynum.

I'd like to keep Ariza and Gortat, but at that point you'd have virtually an entire roster of guys who are getting paid very well but none of them are even borderline all-star players (Ariza, Nene, Gortat, Webster). You're not winning anything with that.

Spare me this philosophy that you have to take gradual babysteps to contention. The GSW, Rockets, and Suns all went from bad/very bad to really good overnight. How did the gradual babysteps to contention work for the Arenas Wizards when they were capped out and their only hope for breaking through mediocrity was the potential development of Andray freakin Blatche?

If Washington resigns Ariza and Gortat they are toast for all intents and purposes. They'll become the Gerald Wallace / Stephen Jackson Bobcats. It'll be awesome, they'll finish a few years as the 7th or 8th seed before getting bounced in the playoffs in 5 games. They'll be capped out with ZERO tradable assets, meddling 1st round picks, and we'll be prayerfully hoping the next Pecherov or Javale McGee blossoms into a legit franchise guy.

The future might not be so bleak if Brad Beal was capable of anything. What happened to this guy? He can't shoot worth ****, his handles are on par with Martell Webster, his injury exaggerations make Albert Haynesworth uncomfortable. I'm at the point where I legitimately wonder that if Garret Temple got his playing time and shots could he perform any worse? I'm 100% confident that if Beal was replaced by GRJr. we wouldn't tell the difference in production from the 2-guard spot. In back to back years Washington had the #3 pick and both players are either struggling so bad they shouldn't get playing time or aren't getting playing time at all.

Thankfully Ted is raising the ticket prices so while this franchise has essentially zero hope for the future at least we'll be spending more to *enjoy* the product.

The hope that I'll try to hold onto is that Ariza and Gortat retain enough value after 2 more seasons that they'll be tradable at that time. It's probably unlikely, but there's a chance.

[stevemcqueen1]

I think Gortat has a good deal of tread left on his tires. He looks good out there, doesn't labor around like other bigs his age. He's also not logged a ton of minutes for his age. And he's got good genetics.

But it's premature to start thinking about trade value down the line. We've got to sign him and see what his deal is first. And we're not going to want to trade him while he's still good. He could certainly get a four year deal here and hold down our center spot for that entire next contract with no complaints.

[stevemcqueen1]

I read Zack Lowe's article about Kevin Love this morning: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-q ... evin-love/

I had some minor objections to it. First off, statements like "a player like Love only become available, truly available, once every two or three years" are obviously false. Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, LeBron James. That's seven guys of Love's stature (or better) who changed teams in the last four years. Dwyane Wade could have changed teams. Amar'e Stoudemire changed teams when he was an All NBA player. We're already speculating about future disaffection with LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyrie Irving, and Russell Westbrook. We do this dog and pony show with almost every star player coming up on free agency after his second contract. Lowe doesn't need to be overselling Love's potential to be a landscape changer on the open market by claiming his situation is more rare than it really is.

I also don't like the claim of equivalence to Dirk. Love is not as good as Dirk was at the same age. Hell I'm not even sure he's better than Dirk is today. He definitely does not play winning basketball as well as Dirk has and is not the leader and foundation piece Dirk has been throughout his career. I don't care what you surround him with, in no universe would a healthy Dirk season would his team ever, EVER finish with the worst record in the league like Minnesota did in 2011. Dirk's teams win 50 games a year when he's healthy, no matter the cast of misfit toys Cuban puts around him, and no matter how loaded the Western conference has been.

I also think it's naive of Lowe to think Kevin Love can meaningfully change at this point in his career.

Nevertheless, isn't Kevin Love's case the oddest in the NBA in some time? He's universally been considered a top ten player for years now. And yet he and his teams are such losers. How has a team with a top ten big man never made the playoffs? Has this ever happened before?

I think Love could win here. Legitimately contend. I don't think he could do it with what's in place in LA or New York. And I'm not sure if we're even on his list. And I'm not sure I'd want to trade for him. But if he signed here as a FA the year our cap opens up, he could win.

[popper]

Best case scenario IMO.

Sign and trade Ariza. With a productive offseason and SL ahead of him Porter should be ready next year

Either confine Beal to a catch and shoot wing (no dribbling around anymore unless it's a direct slash to basket) or trade him. I really think GRJ can produce at the same level as Beal.

Sign Gortat.

Sign Gooden

Acquire a young big ether through Ariza or Beal trade or in free agency. Maybe package Seraphon or Booker to get the best young big possible.

[Illuminaire]

Love really is an odd case. On one hand, I think there is merit to the argument that he's not truly a top-10 player in total impact. He's not a good defender and his effort on that end can be Harden-esque; since he's an interior player, this has much larger consequences for team defense than if he was a SG.

On the other hand, he's been on some of the worst-constructed rosters imaginable. He's rarely had teammates that accentuate his strengths or shore up his weaknesses. I think it is equally fair to put Love in the same category as prime Chris Bosh, and perhaps a little better - his skillset does not allow him to carry a team on his own, but properly aligned with another star he could co-lead a dominant team.

[nate33]

I read Zack Lowe's article about Kevin Love this morning: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-q ... evin-love/

I had some minor objections to it. First off, statements like "a player like Love only become available, truly available, once every two or three years" are obviously false. Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, LeBron James. That's seven guys of Love's stature (or better) who changed teams in the last four years. Dwyane Wade could have changed teams. Amar'e Stoudemire changed teams when he was an All NBA player. We're already speculating about future disaffection with LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyrie Irving, and Russell Westbrook. We do this dog and pony show with almost every star player coming up on free agency after his second contract. Lowe doesn't need to be overselling Love's potential to be a landscape changer on the open market by claiming his situation is more rare than it really is.

I also don't like the claim of equivalence to Dirk. Love is not as good as Dirk was at the same age. Hell I'm not even sure he's better than Dirk is today. He definitely does not play winning basketball as well as Dirk has and is not the leader and foundation piece Dirk has been throughout his career. I don't care what you surround him with, in no universe would a healthy Dirk season would his team ever, EVER finish with the worst record in the league like Minnesota did in 2011. Dirk's teams win 50 games a year when he's healthy, no matter the cast of misfit toys Cuban puts around him, and no matter how loaded the Western conference has been.

I also think it's naive of Lowe to think Kevin Love can meaningfully change at this point in his career.

Nevertheless, isn't Kevin Love's case the oddest in the NBA in some time? He's universally been considered a top ten player for years now. And yet he and his teams are such losers. How has a team with a top ten big man never made the playoffs? Has this ever happened before?

I think Love could win here. Legitimately contend. I don't think he could do it with what's in place in LA or New York. And I'm not sure if we're even on his list. And I'm not sure I'd want to trade for him. But if he signed here as a FA the year our cap opens up, he could win.

Minnesota is a weird team. There is a HUGE discrepancy between their actual win/loss totals, and their expected totals based on point differential and strength of schedule. Based on SRS, they're the 9th best team in the league ahead of Dallas, Memphis and Phoenix, as well as Toronto, Washington and Chicago. Yet, according to their record, they're the 16th best team in the league. They have lost a TON of close games, and I think it's due to their lack of a perimeter player who can create a shot. Jose Barea is their best option. That's sad.

You can then look at Kevin Love's on/off numbers and see that he is a major difference maker. When he is on the floor, the TWolves are 14.9 points better per 100 possessions than when he is off. Indeed, when Love is on the floor, the TWolves have a point differential that would rank them as the best team in the league. That speaks to how bad his teammates are.

[hands11]

It may sound crazy but I'd let both Web and Ariza go without breaking a sweat a this point. If we have to extend Gortat--fine, but Web is proving to be the risk most of us thought he would be and we if we're going to have any ability to bring in a big time player in a few years we need to let one of Ariza/Gortat walk.

What we need to do with Webster is sit him when he's not healthy. Webster's 4th year is voidable if he misses 66 or more games in the first 3 years of his contract. Better to book some of those 66 games now while giving him the rest he needs to be effective in the playoffs.

The best case scenario is to have him play 60 healthy games a year, and rest 22 games games. It's much better than having him play 40 or so games healthy and then limp around ineffectively for the other 42.

Ariza is currently the second-best player on the team, or maybe the 3rd behind Gortat. Losing him would be a big blow. I don't see Ted letting it happen. I just hope we resign him to a 2-year deal.

I think our future plan is pretty simple if only we had an objective GM to make the decisions. I can sympathize with Ted's mandate to win games now. He wants to make money. But he needs to understand that we can't blindly resign and extend all of our aging vets for maximum-length contracts. We need to structure things so that we remain a competent team in the short term, but set ourselves up to be players in the 2016 free agency market. (We also need a decent GM who can find us some contributing players late in the draft to augment our depth.)

It would appear they are following the plan.

As for Webster. Good point. I would be nice if they could do that, but I don't think they can right now and meet the other goals. They would have needed a better back up SG option to do that and they don't have it yet. What they added this year was a back up PG ( they have been looking forever for that ) and a S4, which is something Wall wanted. So they made progress and didn't bust the bank doing it.

But I gotta say, with Gooden and Miller working out, this is the best roster I have seen in a long while. Sure there are concerns but its getting better and better. I don't mind the vets. Plenty of playoff teams have older players contributing. Look at the last Celtics title team. Look at SAS. Wall is young. Beal is 20. And so is Otto. They have young talent. Not having a first round pick for one year shouldn't be an issue. I consider Otto that 2014 pick. Because effectively, he will be. It's more like we didn't get a number 1 this year then we don't have one next year.

[hands11]

So when was the last time EG orchestrated a trade that actually gave up any serious equity? When was the last time the Wizards traded a high quality player or asset that didn't come with a huge amount of baggage?

Unless I'm forgetting something, it was 2009 with the #5 pick, which obviously was a dumpster fire.

Everything else has been offloading malcontents who weren't usable for the Wizards, cleaning up huge mistakes/failures like the Vesely trade, or trading away the Arenas era vets, which were all no-brainer decisions. Trading JaVale might be the closest thing, but it was a fairly easy decision considering the mandate to ostracize the low character (bad PR) players.

My point is that it's highly unlikely that someone like Beal would ever be traded because I think EG is legitimately terrified to make a bold move. Coupled with the fact that Ted is obsessed with continuity, it's just really hard to imagine the Wizards would ever proactively shake up their roster unless there's an undeniable, glaring problem.

They traded Kwame for Caron Butler. People might laugh now but Kwame had value back then. Young #1 pick big man that was quick, athletic and pretty strong.

As for trading Beal. That's a tough measuring stick to judge a GM by. I'm sure most wouldn't trade him right now. Personally, I want to see year 3 Beal on the team.

As for the slashing SF. Oh yeah that would help. But so would Beal with handles which is why we saw them give him so much burn trying it this year. But if they had the SF you described, he wouldn't need to as much.

You know who would fit real nicely here about now?

Spoiler:

Kawhi Leonard

You know who else

Spoiler:

Kevin Durrant

[stevemcqueen1]

I read Zack Lowe's article about Kevin Love this morning: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-q ... evin-love/

I had some minor objections to it. First off, statements like "a player like Love only become available, truly available, once every two or three years" are obviously false. Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, LeBron James. That's seven guys of Love's stature (or better) who changed teams in the last four years. Dwyane Wade could have changed teams. Amar'e Stoudemire changed teams when he was an All NBA player. We're already speculating about future disaffection with LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyrie Irving, and Russell Westbrook. We do this dog and pony show with almost every star player coming up on free agency after his second contract. Lowe doesn't need to be overselling Love's potential to be a landscape changer on the open market by claiming his situation is more rare than it really is.

I also don't like the claim of equivalence to Dirk. Love is not as good as Dirk was at the same age. Hell I'm not even sure he's better than Dirk is today. He definitely does not play winning basketball as well as Dirk has and is not the leader and foundation piece Dirk has been throughout his career. I don't care what you surround him with, in no universe would a healthy Dirk season would his team ever, EVER finish with the worst record in the league like Minnesota did in 2011. Dirk's teams win 50 games a year when he's healthy, no matter the cast of misfit toys Cuban puts around him, and no matter how loaded the Western conference has been.

I also think it's naive of Lowe to think Kevin Love can meaningfully change at this point in his career.

Nevertheless, isn't Kevin Love's case the oddest in the NBA in some time? He's universally been considered a top ten player for years now. And yet he and his teams are such losers. How has a team with a top ten big man never made the playoffs? Has this ever happened before?

I think Love could win here. Legitimately contend. I don't think he could do it with what's in place in LA or New York. And I'm not sure if we're even on his list. And I'm not sure I'd want to trade for him. But if he signed here as a FA the year our cap opens up, he could win.

Minnesota is a weird team. There is a HUGE discrepancy between their actual win/loss totals, and their expected totals based on point differential and strength of schedule. Based on SRS, they're the 9th best team in the league ahead of Dallas, Memphis and Phoenix, as well as Toronto, Washington and Chicago. Yet, according to their record, they're the 16th best team in the league. They have lost a TON of close games, and I think it's due to their lack of a perimeter player who can create a shot. Jose Barea is their best option. That's sad.

You can then look at Kevin Love's on/off numbers and see that he is a major difference maker. When he is on the floor, the TWolves are 14.9 points better per 100 possessions than when he is off. Indeed, when Love is on the floor, the TWolves have a point differential that would rank them as the best team in the league. That speaks to how bad his teammates are.

I don't really buy that Minny is losing because the players around Love are so bad. They're certainly not uniquely bad--bad enough to explain how a team with a PF who many consider the fifth best player in the league isn't winning. Would Minnesota trade rosters with Dallas or Phoenix? With Memphis? With Toronto or Chicago sans Derrick Rose? You know they absolutely wouldn't trade with us. They've got a very good foundation--a special PG and two top notch big men who are both among the best and most productive players at their position in the league. They should absolutely be winning a lot more than they're losing off of Love and Pekovic alone. That's a formula that has almost never not worked before.

They've got a lot of role players who were useful before before they got to Minnesota. And Rick Adleman is a pretty good coach. Phoenix and Dallas are largely filled with castoffs and low dollar FAs and unheralded draft picks that nobody else was rushing to bring in. If you swapped Minny's role players with Phoenix's or Dallas's, we would be talking about what a bunch of scrubs DeJuan Blair, Samuel Dalembert, Shawn Marion, Vince Carter, Monta Ellis / PJ Tucker, the Morris Twins, Gerald Green, and Channing Frye, and Miles Plumlee are. And we'd probably be talking about how good and useful Kevin Martin/Dante Cunningham/Corey Brewer/JJ Barrea/Luc Richard Mbah a Moute/Chase Budinger look for Dallas/Phoenix.

There are a ton of teams that would kill to have as good a foundation as Love/Rubio/Pekovic, Minny's had it for three years and they're still losing. They don't win because they play too much bad basketball. They're less than the sum of their parts whereas Dallas, Phoenix, Memphis, and also Toronto, and Chicago are all much more than the sum of their parts. Minny's got a cultural issue. And Love is a big part of that because he's their leader and foundation player.

Seriously though, has there ever been a team that had a big man that was a top five to ten player overall, that didn't at least get an 8 seed during any of his healthy seasons? That's a really low bar. Minnesota won 17 games in 2010-2011 and Love played almost the entire season. Whatever it is, he's never figured out how to win and lead a team to playing winning basketball.

He really needs a change of scenery. His skills are fantastic. But he doesn't have the intangibles, he's an empty numbers player that doesn't necessarily play good basketball. He needs to end up on a team that has a true foundational star that does, and has the necessary leadership skills and intangibles. I think he needs to be willing to sacrifice his individual numbers to play more of a role, play defense, do the dirty work stuff that makes the whole team better. I think he could work for us if he was willing to accept Wall as the leader. But I absolutely would not want to gut the roster to trade for him. I don't totally trust or believe in him.

[hands11]

Agreed. Nice write up.

I was thinking the same thing. He is Meloish.

I didn't plan on a long reply but it turned into one. Hope its worth the read.

Leaders, Stars, and assembling a winning team of the right personality. Do the Wizards have it ?

A great basketball player does not a great leader make.

Ellis was this type. A really good player, but not a leader. Someone that can't be the best player on the team that's good/great. Now he is in Dallas with DIrk as the star and he is doing better. Actually, there have been a lot of really good basketball players that have had this same issue. They have to either grow into that leader role, or except they aren't type and take a step back on a team that has one. Gil had this problem.

This is the final stage a great basketball player has to go through and its not easy nor something that happens overnight. And it not something everyone is cut out to become. They have to figure out how to go from high production player to playoff team winner. They have to learn how to be a team leader. How to involve their teammates. When to put the team on their back and when to let the others carry the water. They need to know when to step in, and when to step back. It take a team and a great team needs a great leader.

No one player can get it done by themselves. At the end of the day, most these NBA players are really good. There are a few at the very top like LeBron and KD but look at both of them. KD hasn't won big yet. LeBron needed to go to MIA with Wade and Bosh to win it all. Then look at SAS. Duncan is awesome but he isn't Lebron or KD. But he is a great leader of a great TEAM. And they have a great coach and team system. That's why Duncan can still get it down at his age. Its Bill Russell vs Wilt

A team isn't only an assembly of talent, its an assembly of personalities. To win big, you need the right mix of both. Its the 2nd part that I don't feel get analyzed nearly enough. Because its minds, people, wills, personalities that get it done, not robotic machines. Its team USA vs Russia hockey.

That's why having a player like Wall is so important. He wants to be that player. He has that personality to lead. He is learning more and more what that means with every game. He has the humility to know he can't do it alone. He understands he has to not only develop his game skills, but his leadership skills. If you want to see who can challenge for a title, look to see if the team has that kind of player. If they don't, they will always fall short to the team that does with similar supporting talent.

Having seen EG add players like Nick, McGee, Gil, and Dray is what caused my biggest concern with him as GM. It didn't seem he got this. He was only looking at basketball skills. I know he would be able to assemble a rebuild team after the blow up and get them from bad to good, but could he assemble the right mix of personalities to get them to the next level ? I was fine with him for two years to do that but questioned could be build them to the next level with the right mix of personalities and skills that compliment each other.

Well if I am objective about it, I would have to say he assembled a nice group of not only talent, but personalities. Wall is clearly that leader and he is learning to be that more and more with each game. Gortat has been a great piece in that mix in both skill and personality. He was really perfect for Wall. A focus, noise to the ground Polish Hammer that has a great mind for the game and a sweet PnR skill set he has tought Wall. A skill set that require both to work together. Wall used to call off his screen, now he utilizes it. Gortats and his game have helped Wall become a better player and a better leader. TA is the quiet always calm assassin type and he has title experience to go along with his 3 and D game. Micheal Cooper. Nene is another a great basketball mind. The Big Brazilian. A strong big man with a post game and passing skills. A past his prime vet star who is hungry to make some noise before its to late. Webster is another focused mature team player who can nail the 3. Funny locker room leader who is also serious and focused. A good team player.

And now they added the Professor. Calm, quiet, experience back up vet PG who can lead an offense, pass and back you down. And Gooden. The come back kid S4/S5 that was bounced from the league and now is hungry to make a come back and sink his teeth in. A player that seems to have learned from his mistakes and won't let this last opportunity slip by. Those last two pieces were great additions in talent and personality. They fit here. They are so much more then the talent they brought. Their fit exceeds their skills.

That's a pretty nice assembly of talent and personalities. What remaining is Wall growing into his shoes. And the big thing from there is Beal and Randy. I think Beal is the right piece. He has the talent and personality, but he needs to simmer on the stove a little longer. Its not soup yet. But this playoff run should be the equivalent of turning up the heat on the stove. It won't likely get the soup completely ready, but it will get it closer.

Then there is Randy. Can he be a good enough chief to at least get the food served, even if not perfectly.

Its actually a team that isn't that far away from being really good. If things break well, they could get out of the first round and if they meet a team like IND who doesn't have that great leader, they might strike gold and get to the conference series against a team like Miami. I could see a Bullet Fever happening. It takes some luck, but they have a good assembly of talent and personalities. They could get there.

It the longer term that is in question. Can Wall and Beal continue to develop into what they can and get there before the supporting cast needs reassembled. And I think that's what worries some. We don't even know what it will look like next year yet though it looks like they can bring it back. As it is, I can see a 1-2-3 year window with what they have. Now that thinking worries some. They don't see it. Well lets see these playoffs first and see what is what first. They might be closer then some think.

Like him or not. Efficiently done or not. I think EG put together a good mix of talent and personalities that is on the door step of making some noise now and next year. Longer term ? They have Wall who is the most important part. They have Otto as their 2014 draft pick and picks the following year. They have a team leader who is really talented. Now they have to get him seasoned so he can be that for the team long term.

[ptptpt]

Good post. I almost agree wholeheartedly. EG has done enough to provide a least a decent playoff roster.

Only problem I have is I am genuinely concerned about Otto Porter's role with the team. He should not be considered our 2014 draft pick at all if he is 100% healthy. He should be out there developing his game. Honestly I hope that this doesn't hurt him in the long run but I can't see how he gets much more burn if A.) He doesn't bulk up and become stronger or B.)Ariza gets re-signed. This roster has needs in other positions and I don't see how he fits. I can't blame him if he doesn't fit.

[nate33]

What we need to do with Webster is sit him when he's not healthy. Webster's 4th year is voidable if he misses 66 or more games in the first 3 years of his contract. Better to book some of those 66 games now while giving him the rest he needs to be effective in the playoffs.

The best case scenario is to have him play 60 healthy games a year, and rest 22 games games. It's much better than having him play 40 or so games healthy and then limp around ineffectively for the other 42.

Ariza is currently the second-best player on the team, or maybe the 3rd behind Gortat. Losing him would be a big blow. I don't see Ted letting it happen. I just hope we resign him to a 2-year deal.

I think our future plan is pretty simple if only we had an objective GM to make the decisions. I can sympathize with Ted's mandate to win games now. He wants to make money. But he needs to understand that we can't blindly resign and extend all of our aging vets for maximum-length contracts. We need to structure things so that we remain a competent team in the short term, but set ourselves up to be players in the 2016 free agency market. (We also need a decent GM who can find us some contributing players late in the draft to augment our depth.)

It would appear they are following the plan.

That remains to be seen. That statement will certainly prove to be false if they end up signing Ariza and Gortat to 3-year or 4-year contracts.

The bottom line is that for us to have options in 2016, only one of Gortat, Ariza and Webster can be on the roster at that time.