- RE: The Bulls SF "logjam"
Somewhere this offseason I read about this. Maybe the writer made it up, or maybe I'm making it up now, I'm not sure. Regardless, I had trouble figuring out where, exactly, this overpopulation was when I looked at the roster. - RE: The rumors about Zach
A lot of people in Portland still think that Zach will regress. They're worried about his knee and his head. Also, he's the last guy on this team that is frequently mentioned for doing stupid things off the court. Some fans would like to see him moved because of his "questionable character" and high salary, and they think that now is the best time to do it. They're right, of course. If he's going to be traded it should be at this very moment, when his value is huge. But I don't understand where they're coming from. We just shipped off a guy who was supposed to be part of our future plans because he didn't fit with Zach. Now we want to trade the guy we just decided--finally and totally--to build around? Doesn't make sense to me. But if it did make sense, those are two possible deals based on ridiculous rumors. - RE: A Hawks/Blazers trade
We really do have very similar teams right now. You guys throttle us at home, lose to Seattle, come back to beat Denver. We lose five straight, including four at home, then go to Detroit and beat them, then hop to Milwaukie and lose in overtime. At least Jack was fantastic in that game. What a good fantasy pickup for me. Oh, and here's the trade I'm trying for our two teams:
Here is the ESPN trade machine version, and here is the RealGM version. I was going to try a straight-up trade at first, which would have probably been Randolph for Williams and Stoudamire, with a pick thrown in. But I gave up on that because it didn't do much for Portland. I know this trade is very unlikely for New Jersey. I was trying to get them Stoudamire, who from my understanding is a better shooter than Childress, but to make salaries and the other personnel work I went this route. The Nets would probably need a pick here, and that would probably have to be from the Blazers, since they get Vinsanity. Maybe not though, the Hawks would get another huge scoring threat (who might not mesh with Joe Johnson) and another big body to "help" play defense. The Blazers give up the man they've been building around, but bring in another exciting young guy in Williams and a proven quitter, I mean, scorer/athlete in Carter. The Nets get their help up front with Magloire and Pachulia, which would actually be a tough fit since they already have Krstic, and they bring in Childress to pretend he's Carter. What's funny about this trade is that if you look on the ESPN version and compare the PER that each player has, the Nets are actually getting the better end of the deal in Hollinger's world.
Anyway, there it is, just for J-Lew. If I actually knew what Atlanta needed, or had knowledge of some of the rumors regarding their players, this could have been even better.
2 comments:
Thanks for throwing me a bone Carlton with the Hawks deal. Also, I doubt our 2-teams would make a trade just bc we are both in the exact same position - rebuilding and waiting for a core-group of young players to mature. Also, thanks for answering the Zach questions.
The Hawks still need the same things they have needed the last few seasons - PG play and a more interior presence. Sheldon Williams has actually done a good job of playing solid D and rebounding, but he attempts very few shots. Solid role player and he's been a major contributor, but I'm not sure that is all that you want out of the #5 pick (even if it was a relatively weak draft). Speedy has been injured, but not playing that well as of late. Lue has been playing well off the bench, but he's more of shooting guard in a PG body. The thing I like about the team is that we are playing hard (especially on D this year. Hopefully Marvin Williams (whom returns to action on Friday night) can continue to build upon his summer league effort. Also, Joe Johnson is playing like the best player in the NBA right now. He's awesome, I love him, but we gotta get him some more help.
I'd heard of the Bulls "glut" of swingmen/small forwards during the offseason as well. The thinking was that they drafted two guys who could develop into 3s in the NBA in Ty Thomas and Shelofsha, and already had Deng and Nocioni, who could both start for almost any team in the NBA (they also had J.R. Smith at one point, but quickly moved him).
What people missed is that Thomas and Shelofsha aren't really ready to contribute much yet, and that based on skillsets (which I think has more to do with the position a basketball player should play than their size), Thomas is definitely a power forward, Shelofsha is a 2 guard, and Nocioni is ideally a 4 with good shooting range. So Deng is really the only prototypical 3 man on the team that has to get minutes. If anything, we have too many small guards, although Duhon is an absolutely perfect fit for the city/franchise/coaching philosophy (I couldn't see him doing half as well in most other places), Gordon is the only scorer on the team, and I can't really imagine them moving Hinrich. It actually wouldn't astonish me if the Bulls don't make a major move this year (I also still think they're more than one good player away from being a championship team, although they might be able to take the East this year with the team they have now).
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