dbrandon wrote:thinkingwarriors wrote:Any indication Grant is being groomed to take over for Roberson? I think certainly Grant has more potential offensively and excellent versatility on defense(although will likely never be the perimeter defender Roberson is). Is Roberson better cast as a perimeter defensive specialist off the bench long term?
The only indication is that no player here has gone to RFA ever (well, outside of Kanter, who was traded for after the extension deadline). Grant's definitely not as impactful of a defender as Roberson is. Roberson's a monster.
According to Zach Lowe we're looking for a "big wing" to slide into the SF spot to provide spacing, which would immediately solve several of our issues as Roberson moves to SG and Oladipo moves to the bench. Apparently Oladipo was supposed to be the 6th man, and presuming we can get a Rudy Gay type he still probably will be.
That would (assuming Payne is headed out) give us a starting lineup of Westbrook/Roberson/[offensive wing]/Sabonis/Adams with a bench of [point guard]/Oladipo/Grant/Lauvergne/[center].
My guess is that any trade would involve Kanter and Payne, possibly Abrines. Salary matching basically mandates that.
I like Grant but I see him as more of a developmental piece at this point. RPM has him second to last among Small Forwards. The idea of jettisoning Roberson in hopes he could fill that role seems premature to me.