Bassman wrote:Benjamin Linus wrote:At this point, what would a Markkanen sign-and-trade even look like? I liked the guy as a FA signing, but I wouldn't give up anything substantial for him. Like, I'd rather have PJ than Lauri
Certainly would require dealing player(s) that make the dollars work. Not giving up on PJ, but I view him as a similar gamble to Lauri…ppossibly bigger. Why?
> Coming into last season so out of shape was a warning flag moment. Improvement measured in the summer between year 1 and 2 demonstrates a young player’s mindset, priorities, dedication. PJ flunked this test.
> PJ can be viewed as a small ball center, but his effectiveness in that position is questionable long term. So, does he better fit the 4? Maybe. Would Lauri be a better 4 than PJ? Maybe. So why consider dealing PJ as part of acquiring Markkanan?
> What I see in PJ is a player of good potential who is kind of a tweener. He probably has his best skill set for center, but he’s just too small to SUSTAIN success in that role. In Lauri I see a taller, motivated stretch 4 who can play center. His skill set is strong. Like PJ he needs to improve his defense but his size coupled with his athleticism can help improve that.
I’d love to have both, with PJ playing a super sub role backing Lauri at the 4 and occasionally others at the 5. Could a trade involve Rozier? Depends on what we get back. This type of deal is most difficult because Markkanan and his agent hold a higher value in their mind than Chicago and possibly the remaining market does. Such deals take time to work out, if they ever do. What would Dallas want..what do they need? Maybe they’d receive our player(s), sending theirs to the Bulls.
I am down on PJ for the reasons you mentioned (coming in out of shape and having not improved during a crucial period of his career) and the fact that he could not figure out that a woman 8 years older then you who has dated a dozen other semi-celebs but got passed over by all of them may just not be the right woman to have a kid with! Hopefully he was just being young, dumb and in love but dang, that is not a good indicator of the guys maturity and smarts. I am fine with a Lauri/PJ swap if we do not have to pay him much more then we did Oubre. Lauri is larger, has scored more pts regularly, is still young too and has an elite skill (jump shooting big man) that we need.
