Braggins wrote:jdm3 wrote:Johnson and Booker both upgrade our shooting and Johnson upgrades our defense as well.  Booker is a better shooter right now than Mario IMO.  If we take either of them they help us as much if not more than Mario.
They are terrible because you are giving away assets for nothing at all.  To me a future first and Hairston have way more value than Nik and Zeller has way more value than Thompson.  Not because Zeller is a future all star but just because he already is better at what we need him to do and is still improving.  Moving from 9 to 6 is worthless because Mario is no better than the other guys.  So for me you trades are just sending out assets without gaining any bonuses.  So yes not helping the team and dropping assets is the basic requirements of being terrible.
The problem here is we vastly disagree on the value of Hezonja.  I won't get mad if we draft him but I would be just as happy with Booker or Johnson because I think both are better players.  Booker is already a better shooter and smarter player and Johnson is a good shooter with a far better all around game.
What gives you the impression that Booker is a better shooter than Hezonja or that he is a smarter player? Hezonja shot 38% from the FIBA line and has been playing pro basketball for a couple years. Booker has one season of college basketball where he had the simplest role possible and only shot 3% better shooting from the college line. Hezonja is bigger, more athletic, can create his own shot better, and is more experienced. I really don't see any area where Booker has a clear advantage. He might be as good or slightly better at shooting and quicker on his feet defensively, but that is literally it. I think putting Booker in the same tier as Johnson and Hezonja is a pretty big stretch. I honestly doubt Booker would even crack our rotation next season.
Johnson isn't in the same league as Hezonja or Booker as a shooter and the only areas where he has a clear advantage over Hezonja are in areas that where we don't need any help at all. What is slightly upgrading our defense and rebounding going to do for us if we can't space the floor or score any better? We are already historically good at rebounding and have been top 10 in defense two years straight years with Al at center... I don't think it is a certainty that Johnson would immediately improve our spacing and he might even hurt it. He probably isn't going to be any better than Hendo from the NBA line initially, probably worse honestly. He is still good value at 9 but I don't think you can seriously argue that Hezonja isn't a much better fit.
 
The DX things you have been quoting say all this.  I personally think Booker's stroke looks more pure and he shoots it better.  I am not saying it is by a large margin but I think he looks better. 
DX:
Mario makes poor decisions, has trouble creating consistently, plays poor defense and has a bad attitude.
Booker has trouble creating his own shots and plays poor defense.
Booker was never asked to create his own shot at Kentucky by pre-Kentucky highlight work shows a guy who can run the break and make the right passes and a guy who can create some space off the dribble to get his shot.  Mario has been questioned about how much he can create his own shot against NBA athletes as well.  To me these two are interchangeable in what they bring and one plays smarter and gets along with teammates.
Johnson would help with shooting some as he has a better shot and is more willing to take it than Hendo.  He provides a major upgrade on defense because he  provides us with more defensive flexibility than Hendo.  We could go small and have Kemba, MKG, Hairston, Johnson, and Vonleh on the floor have spacing and defense or go big with Kemba, MKG, Johnson, Zeller, and Biz.  He is a better fit because of all that he brings to the table and the fact that he can shoot.  While he is not the same marksman as the other two he is a decent shooter.
All this said it makes me not want to trade up to go after a player we can just as easily have the equivalent or better version of at 9.  The one thing I would love to do is figure out how to land Grant and one of Hezonja/Johnson/Booker.  If we can pull that off somehow without losing MKG/Vonleh I would be thrilled.