Watching Suggs get mauled by LBJ & THT, my mind immediately turned to a wishful image of Steven Adams trotting casually into Lebron's face to calmly and menacingly explain that "I don't care how much you make, mate, you even think about doing something like that again and I'll bounce you off the floor-got it?"
...then I thought about how much potential talent we have that just can't get anything done on offense and my constant harping on the lack of meaningful screen setting since Dwight left (Khem was actually pretty good at that and not much else). I contend that good screens can really open things up for open shots and open lanes off of botched switches and mismatches. Adams is probably considered a negative trade value due to his big contract and very limited offense - but he's a LEGENDARY pick-setter and a legit tough big brother on the floor. It's not hard to imagine how a high-IQ player like Franz could work off of an offensive lineman like Adams. I hoped RoLo would bring some of these vibes & inspire our bigs to play the right way but he hasn't really mattered. The modern big, ideally, is completely unselfish and does the (sometimes invisible) things that get to wins...some here might say "the opposite of Vuc", but let's not go there for now.Duncan Robinson can do one thing REALLY well and that's shoot 3's. This season, after getting a big contract, he hasn't really done his one thing very well, but he's got to be considered a threat from 3 on every posession. Sounds like Bertans. Ryan Anderson? Meeks? Garrity? Nesmith, on BOS, was supposed to be that guy, but hasn't come close to clicking (yet?). A legit pure shooting 3 pt threat is another way to open things up for all of our young athletes to find space to work. Think Korver, well into his 30's.
Point of this exercise is...what basically negative (or at least very attainable) piece is out there for the taking in a trade that could possibly make a big difference in our on-court chemistry. What low-key "specialist" could have a compounded effect on the play of our young guys? So, what's the specialty? Who's the guy that has it? and, what will we have to give to get it?
I DON'T want to do anything to setback our steady rebuild. I don't want to massively overpay. I'm looking for a 1+1=3 chemistry move that will make our young guys develop and gain confidence. I'd like to end the season on an upswing, but I'm not expecting such a significant move that we'll suddenly be in the play-in. We have cap space, we have a large TPE, we have picks and prospects. We're not realistically going to sign a "star" this year, so let's get creative and develop our guys to the point that we can be an attractive FA destination and make a big leap in a couple of years. Haters, calm yourselves...if a proposal isn't fraught with risks, it doesn't belong in this thread. Feel free to critique the hanging curves but have enough class to try to add to the convo with your own sneaky moves...
Gary Harris & RoLo and '23 srp for Steven Adams & Jarrett Culver
I really value all that expiring space, but really, what are we doing with it this summer? Our '22 srp looks too good to throw in, but I do feel the need to add a bit. I'd be more than happy to include RoLo or Bamba, because I'm not sure what MEM would do at C (even though I don't think Adams is their answer).
Gary Harris & Mo Bamba & '23 srp for Steven Adams and Kyle Anderson
Like him or not, Bamba is an asset of interest. He could really click and form an impenetrable frontcourt with JJJ...worst scenario, he expires or SnT. Kyle Anderson is a low-key chemistry guy on his own...good ball movement and defense guy...also expires.
