Post#547 » by fishercob » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:27 pm
The trade I keep coming back to as making sense for this roster is Martell Webster for Ersan Ilyasova.
Much like Gortat was during his final season in PHX, Ilyasova is in a terrible situation in Milwaukee, and I believe that's a big reason behind his big drop in productivity. Put him on a good team, with good teammates and a defined role, and I think you're very likely to see the guy who was putting up .550+ TS% the two previous seasons while shooting 45% (!) from three and holding his own on the boards.
Making such a deal would mean letting Booker walk, so in terms of the roster, it's effectively Booker and Webster for Ilyasova. In terms of the rotation, it's Booker/Webster for Ilyasova/Porter, which I expect to be a signficant upgrade.
While Webster was our primary backup SG this year, there's nothing that he can do -- within the confines of our offense or our defense -- that Ariza cannot. It's been said that the SG and SF are interchangeable in our system, so I am comfortable with Ariza getting some SG time. And I think Ariza would be more comfortable with that (and that it's more realistic) than asking him to pack on 15+ pounds so he can play more 4.
Glen Rice III would get a shot to make the roster and earn minutes as a backup SG, and then you also have the entire MLE and your vet minimum slots with which to target a guy like CJ Miles, Anthony Morrow, Jodie Meeks, etc if you so chose.
As has been discussed here ad nauseum, I think Ilyasova would be a great fit as a stretch 4. He'd provide so much spacing for Wall's (and MIller's) pick and roll game and he can play with either Nene or Gortat. I don't think replacing Booker with him would hurt our overall defensive efficiency (Ersan doesn't block as many shots, but is much better on the defensive boards), and I believe it would help our overall offensive efficiency, where we finished just about at the league average.
The "hidden" component of this deal is that you're replacing Webster with Porter. You don't make this deal if you think such a change would be a disaster for the rotation, but I obviously do not. I think Otto is going to be a very good player and he'll do well with Webster's minutes.
This allows us to keep Nene fresh, which we are seeing beyond any doubt in these playoffs, to be mission-critical. Bring Ersan in for Nene at the six-minute mark of the 1Q, which will give him time with the 1's and the 2's and enable keeping Nene's minutes down in the 26-28 range.
It also preserves the MLE to go after a worthwhile 4th big -- be it Jordan Hill, Okafor if he checks out medically, etc. Or you could keep Gooden as your 4th big (instead of 5th) and use the MLE to make a run a quality guard like Patty Mills.
I really like a rotation for Wall, Beal, Ariza, Nene, Gortat, Ilyasova, Porter, Miller, and some combo of Gooden and the MLE.
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