co_laper wrote:Even though Splitter played worse, I think if there's a player to be moved, Diaw is the best option. He's 33 years old compared to Splitter who is 30. Diaw is more of a PF, and if we're not going to have a deep bench, then I'm sure we'll see Kawhi playing smallball PF a lot anyways. Also I think Kyle Anderson is better suited at PF because he can't guard anything out on the perimeter. Atleast he has some length and rebounding skills and probably won't get exploited as much coming off the bench guarding opposing bench guys.
Because Diaw is 33 and has 2 years left (3rd team option) on a $7.5mil/ contract I think he will be even harder to move. Diaw does some of those small things really well, but he hasn't avg double digits in scoring for 6 year (avg about 25 min during that time), at 6'8" he doesn't rebound much, he is a good passer. He is effective when he can hit the 3 at a high rate -last year over 40%, this year fell to 32%. Last year his FG% 53% this year dropped to 46% - which isn't bad, but his overall play dropped significantly. What do you expect to get back in trade?
Splitter is not an easy sell either- He has missed at least 23 games in all, but one year. Why I think he is a little more salable then Diaw #1 Age #2 Size (legit 6'11" 245) #3 His FG% 55.8% #4 decent rebounder. Let's face it though- they overpaid for Splitter. They said in an article that they are looking to free up some cap space- who would want to take Splitter (just a bit above journeymen status) and that contract on? The only way they could trade him is for someone else's marginal player in return at around the same $.