I really don't want to go through a "rebuild" w/those draft picks. I've got to think Paul Allen has no desire to either. We could probably parlay the picks into young players, and I think we should pursue that if necessary. The thunder seem like the best place to look, depending on how they do in the playoffs and how much their owner is willing to shell out.

They can't keep all four of Westbrook/Durant/Harden/Ibaka long-term.

I think either Ibaka or Harden would fit nicely w/Batum & Aldridge personally.

Ibaka for NJ's pick (if 4/5/6)? Would he be worth it? Might need to stay competitive to keep Aldridge and bigs generally take longer to develop in general. This makes Aldridge somewhat of a five, but it keeps him in the post. We can straight up absorb him w/cap space I think.

OR

Matthews and #12 for Harden (resigned)?

They'd save money on Matthews cheap contract (of which we've already paid quite a bit of through that huge signing bonus). Is it enough of an upgrade for us to go through with it? Do you guys like the fit? I think Harden is extremely well rounded and it'd be fun to have that beard here.

Anyone interested? Seems like a high motor guy at 3/4 with a nice shooting touch would fit in very well here. His rebounding could come in very handy in an up-tempo game. The defense is an issue, but with Camby, Aldridge, and Wallace I think he'd be surrounded by the right type of guys.

IF we're amnesty'ing Roy, then I think that Batum probably moves down to the 2 and that marginalizes Wesley. Utah needs a 2, loves Wes, and they have identical contracts pretty much, plus moving millsap frees up time for favors, okur, and their young C they drafted this year. 

Wes + (future first rounder?) for Millsap/Bell.

At that point we can move Batum to the 2 and allow him to create a bit more, not have to play Gerald at 4 on defense at all (but can have him play inside more when Millsap bounces out on offense), and play a much more up-tempo game.

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There are rumors on the Cal boards about Oklahoma coming to the Pac-10, and insisting on bringing Oklahoma St along with it. The third team being mentioned is Texas Tech. Supposedly Texas wants to go independent, and Texas A&M wants to go to the SEC. This would obviously require 1 more team to make it even and re-alignment. 

If this happened hypothetically, who would you like to be the extra team, how would alignment look? Oklahoma would obviously be a big coup, but Texas Tech and Oklahoma State I could take or leave. 

As far as an extra team, I think Nebraska would've been great, too bad they jumped ship already to the Big-12. I think the teams to focus on would be TCU then to go along with Texas Tech. 

This would make the title Pacific sort of irrelevant for sure, but perhaps could remedy our being left out of the LA market. Maybe re-align to the original PAC-8 (Washington's, Oregon's, Stanford, Cal, UCLA, USC), and the Central-8 (Arizona's, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma's, Texas Tech, TCU). Obviously our division would be stronger, but that would probably be for the best. It could make recruiting easier too with extra exposure.

Would Utah be interesting in having Wes Matthews back? What's the value for these two (limited) players.

So it seems like Utah is in a bit of a bind here. I know there are rumors that they're looking for the PGOTF this draft, but unless they have a deal lined up with Harris, they should make a move, also do we know if they're that enamored with Kemba or Knight? It seems like they might want to add a center, seeing as they only have Jefferson (a 4/5) and two 4's who want to start in Millsap and Derick Favors. I could see them going after Kanter or the other C highly ranked and then grabbing Jimmer with the #12 pick. 

If they were to take a C, it sure seems like Millsap should be available, and seeing as they have no decent 2's at the moment, and there are none highly ranked in the draft, maybe they'd want to take Matthews back. Both have similar contracts I believe (that decrease significantly from here on out), Matthews was a fan favorite and fit their system well, and here he won't get tons of minutes IF we keep Roy. We could use a little more toughness, and Lamarcus can play 5.

POR: Miller/Roy/Wallace/Millsap/Aldridge

bench: draft pick b/u PG, Camby, Batum, Oden(?) etc.

I wouldn't mind following it with a trade w/Minnesota and possibly grab back Webster after sending Rudy, filler, and a prospect their way. 

I feel like there's a lot of panic and speculation on what lineups would work, worry about centers, Roy's integration, and lack of shooting with Wallace on the team. Here I'm just going to offer some thoughts on the rotation taking some of these things into consideration. Also I'd like others input, and will give my own on which players should or should not play together based on what would work hopefully not fielding lineups that are too undersized, have no defense, have no ballhandling, or have no shooting on the floor. 

Here are some of my general initial thoughts:

Roy and Miller shouldn't play together much - it's too slow, Roy doesn't play well enough off the ball, and they don't compliment one another all that well.

Roy and Aldridge shouldn't both be off the floor at the same time. Neither Wallace, Matthews, or Batum can create well enough on their own and it turns into Andre and Rudy playing iso and poor results.

Wallace shouldn't play PF against the bruisers too much, he's got a history of concussions and it mitigates a lot of his strengths having him bang down there.

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I think nearly everyone agrees that Rudy and Martell really need to be rotation players, and that Bayless has looked somewhat deserving of some burn the last couple of games. An obvious partial solution is to not play Blake heavy minutes, and I'm really hoping this is just a transition move as there's no way Blake's guarding real SG's on a regular basis and Rudy or Webster could contribute so much more in that role...

However, how could we go about consolidation? If we were looking to trade who would we send out and what would we target coming back?

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Any chance of Blake/Outlaw (both expiring) for Prince on Detroits end? They save money and retain some flexibility for sure and remove a player largely unproductive for them?

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We already have some log-jams and I think long-term Rubio might fit perfectly here for a nice three guard rotation of Rubio, Roy, and Fernandez (with some Batum thrown in at 2 perhaps). We're one of the only teams in the NBA that can give up value for someone two years out and still be in win-now mode. Imagine Roy, Aldridge, Batum, Fernandez, and Oden maturing over the next couple of years with Miller and then as Miller falls off Rubio (with seasoning) steps into the fold. I love it.

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While there are rumors out that he wants a lot of minutes and a multi-year deal, who's gonna give it to him?

Des has had terrible stats and injury plagued last couple of seasons, but he's always been a role player and recently has played on teams that played rat-ball and all isolation where role players look terrible. He's supposedly an incredible character guy, a very hard worker, a lockerroom leader, and a very good team and individual defender.

I know his agent is asking for much more than he is worth (money and playing time wise) but I doubt he can get it anywhere else, and we might make a lot of sense for him.

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Milwaukee just signed Hakim Warrick and blew some cap space...and they now have about a million 4/5's on their roster. 

Bogut/Gadzuric/Johnson/Warrick/Illyrsiac etc.

A vet like Kurt Thomas serves no purpose for them right now, and could help us out a lot as far as adding basketball IQ, toughness in the 2nd unit, and playoff experience. He also might fit the second unit well as he knows how to play on running teams and half-court teams. 

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Steve Nash

1.) The suns are exploding themselves and starting over.

2.) Nash doesn't make sense to an expiring team.

3.) We could use some vet leadership on our team.

4.) Nash wants a contract extension badly.

5.) Suns might want young local talent that can score to build with Amare (Bayless)

Iverson

1.) Likely will sign in Memphis

2.) Leaving Conley Jr mostly useless with Mayo there.

Conley Jr

1.) Friends with Oden

2.) Improving jumper

3.) Still young

4.) They like Outlaw

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I find these two quotes very interesting.

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Our backcourt is simply too inefficient. Roy is a top 10 player in the NBA, we've seen that this year, so I think we need to look at the backcourt from a standpoint of how best to fit him. Roy is an incredible drive and kick player, very strong rebounder for his size, and good ballhandler. But he is not a great distributor as his court vision is lacking, he doesn't push the tempo at all, and he isn't a great post-entry passer. However in this draft one player really stands out as a fit: Stephen Curry. While everyone knows about his fantastic shooting ability, what is underrated about his game is his incredible court vision and passing skills. Bob Knight's offered him very high praise calling him "the best passer at the college level" he's ever seen, I don't take that lightly. Curry is very good at pushing the ball in the open court and playing off the ball. He's a natural fit next to Roy and could space the floor incredibly. And he could be had too in the 8-15 range it seems.

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Currently the divisions mean nothing at all, and winning one is pointless as it doesn't guarantee anything. Not to mention the obvious hangups of POR, OKC, and Minnesota being in the same division, and NO being in the west. 

By changing to two large divisions winning one would be very significant, and it should get a large reward. I think a bye in the first round of the playoffs would really help the league as it could trim playoff teams to 12, and fans of each team would really think they had a shot.

The playoff's are so overblown right now everyone (nationally) is bored by the time they're half-way done. If the top four teams don't play in the first round there will be some holdover anticipation, and all the teams that face them will have won a series first (making their fans confident), this would add tremendously to the drama.

While we're at it the season's way too long now to hold national interest, and has so many games it really takes a toll on injuries, energy levels to teams, and really messes foreign players up. Too many stars take tames off, and with the rise in foreign popularity many players are playing in the offseason (which is good for global interest). 

Realistically a number of things can be done to correct these problems that generally contribute to a lot of teams/players taking games lightly and playoff series being blowouts. 

In entertainment the concept of "leave the people wanting more" is a big deal, and realistically the league should trim its playoffs, total # of games in regular season, exhibition games to increase the importance of each game and reduce injuries, WHILE making the divisions more regional to encourage rivalry AND reward division winners to make it meaningful.

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http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bgnqr5

POR In: Prince

POR Out: Raef/Bayless

DET in: Raef/Amare

DET out: Prince/Wallace

PHX Out: Amare

PHX In: Wallace/Bayless 

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First things first, Jerryd did look very good last night. I'm not his biggest fan but he looked great driving the hole last night. I do have reservations about his demeanor overall and think in the long-term he may play a little too much like Ben Gordon and want to be the star, when we already have one in Roy. A lot will be determined on if he can improve his passing, moving, and shooting skills, and his attitude in doing so...BUT HE IS A STRONG LONG TERM POSSIBILITY I ADMIT...

But let's talk about someone else too, have you guys been watching Stephen Curry at all this season? While tweener guards are normally not my fave, the reason is that they are normally gunners w/o conscience who have a hard time playing off the ball and can't contribute if not hot (think Mccants, Felton, etc) and what makes them good is how often they're hot. However, with Curry I can't help notice how well he moves without the ball, goes after determined rebounds, and hits teammates if they're open. The guy knows how to pass the ball quickly around the arc, score backdoor, and everything else...

bobby knight analysis

Bob Knight says Curry's best asset is his magnificent passing, imagine if he had Rudy cutting or was hitting a rolling Oden on some of those plays.

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There are major divisional problems in the NBA. Obviously there are more people on the east coast than west so teams out here have to travel more, that's just going to be a given, but honestly Minnesota and OKC in the NW division? The NBA has talked of re-alignment for next season already, and it's very necessary. But part of the reason the travel schedule is so eccentuated is the grind of games played. Now I understand more games = more money, but I think that many are burnt out on the NBA by the time it's over or are still in football mode when it starts. It kind of feels like the NBA is a lot of people's second sport.

NBA games can offend times seem sloppy, and it's noticeable that players are tired at times. A positive step the league has taken is the limiting of players to 19 as I feel the average rookie is more prepared to contribute than beforehand, but I think another good move would be to shorten the season a little bit and re-align it. 

One thing comical about the current setup is that teams being in your own division really doesn't mean anything at this point so there's no extra rivalry whatsoever between "division" rivals. I think more should be on the line personally, and by consolidating the league to 2 conferences, 4 divisions a lot of restructuring could take place.

This may also be one of the only ways to correct the ridiculous imbalance in West/East that's plagued the league for the past eight years.

I think it could breakdown something like this:

Western Conference

Far West: Denver, Golden State, Lakers, Clippers, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Utah
just the 8 furthest teams west for the most part

Mid-West: Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, Minnesota, San Antonio, Indiana, Oklahoma City
a very vertical conference with a lot in the South and North clumped, but not a bad thing

Eastern Conference

Southeast: Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, Wash DC, Memphis, NO, Houston
Everyone's together for the most part except DC, but it's not an extremely terrible travel schedule for them

Northeast: Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, NJ, NY, Philly, Toronto
self-explanatory

I really think while the Texas triangle is split up and DC is in the South the travel schedule for those teams doesn't end up that bad overall, while Minnesota, Portland, and OKC divisions make a TON more sense.

With the two divisions I think the top 3 from each division and at large two remaining should go to the playoffs. This makes the division games much more intense and if one is truly stronger than still five of the eight teams will go. Teams should play divisional games 4X and all others (including conference) just twice. With this type of schedule there'd be 70 games in a season. 

I think the benefits of a 70 game season:
fresher legs, a little more spaced out, higher division rivalries (w/playoff implications), and bad teams don't have to play 82 games in misery. I'd even challenge to say the playoffs should go to 5-5-7-7. This would mean better scouting, players giving their all, less games missed due to injuries, AND
The league could line up the games for better ratings, plus with 70 games (and playoffs) would they really lose out on any TV revenue? The league could still fill all the TV time IMO as it only broadcasts (nationwide) on Wed/Thu/Fri anyways.

I just think the games would be better prepared for and harder played if the players got more rest in between them and the coaches had more time to prepare which would result in more competitive games and higher TV ratings.

Did anyone catch the Sergio interview? All pretty normal, saying the right thing type of stuff, but some interesting translations (to say the least) through google translator. I'm loving his improvements this year, though I think most of it has to do with giving him a chance and not playing him with Jarret Jack (and others who don't move w/o the ball).

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.publico.es%2Fdeportes%2F178589%2Fclaro%2Fjodio%2Fpekin&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=es&tl=en

not child safe (I'm not sure what the original meaning of that is)

Love the interview with Koponen, that is the coolest thing about BE, the contacts that are made. With Freeland blowing up (supposedly) what are the odds we could get an interview with him somehow? 

I'd love to package Outlaw/Blake/Bayless for a vet PG, it'd be fun to go into next season:

Vet/Sergio/Koponen

Roy/Rudy

Webster/Batum

Aldridge/Frye (re-signed for cheap)/Freeland

Oden/Pryzbilla

not to mention a first round pick and four seconds! with tons of cap room!

Jason Quick said today in his chat that Lucas "isn't near" returning to the bench yet. Seeing as how our team really has no big man coach (other than him who was more size than technique). Could we use someone else to kick LMA's butt to play aggressive and push Channing around? Someone to make GO excited/challenged? What about AC Green?

He always played hard and gave everything he had. He was an all-star who made much of a rather limited natural ability by playing very hard and aggressive. He became a good passer w/ very high IQ, and fantastic defender on running teams.

The guy is from Portland, graduated from Oregon State, is a very loyal guy with high "character" (though some may not like how outspoken he is, he does seem humble), and I haven't heard anything about what he's doing now. 

He and Nate are contemporaries so I would think they would be familiar with one another, and they both played such a scrappy game I would imagine they'd have a lot of respect for each other.

I I think it'd be good to have another younger assistant on the bench with the team to help in their maturity and intensity more than some of our other guys (most of whom are more guard associated).

Does AC Green fit the bill?

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While tonight's performance from the two was very good and the team looked decent, the fact remains that Martell returns in a month and that Bayless is sitting on the end of the bench. 

Both of these players are very one-dimensional, Travis: jab-step, shoot; Blake: spot up shot, and don't move one bit w/o the ball. 

Realistically are either really in our future?

Nice with the injuries they are getting their trade value up, but I can't help but think long-term we'd be better off if Sergio and Bayless were both getting more time, along with Batum when Martell comes back.

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the little guy is intriguing (from a purely self-indulgent highlight real fascination if nothing else)

Obviously:

we need help on the break, we have mostly mild-tempered players, and our PG needs to be able to handle the ball on the break under pressure, shoot, and stay out of Roy's way.

Hopefully that guy will be Jerryd Bayless...but if not, how would Nate Robinson fit in around here?

If Bayless doesn't pan out, would Robinson be worth taking a chance on, or is he just a midget chucker?

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Going into this season there is a ton of excitement with the potential and somewhat sure things we have, but there are also a lot of questions with such a young team, and a team with so many expiring contracts on the near horizon. MPG will be a hot issue this year and at some point we will have to consolidate with vets or allow some of our young talent to walk in order to properly develop the rest.

In addition it seems that players improve faster when thrust into competetive environments and with vets who can surround them (Roy can do a little of this too) and PG's that know where to get them the ball. It seems like PG's need to develop with vet SF's (who can handle) and post players to calm them down, and young SF's and post players benefit greatly by having a vet PG who can get them the ball in the right places to be successful.

We have the question marks of Oden's health, Outlaw's iso game, Jerryd's ability to distribute, Sergio's mystery, Rudy's adjustment to the NBA, Martell's consistency, and many others...

At what point do we make a move sacrificing potential and talent in order to get some experience and bust open our window right now? We'd need to know the players we didn't trade would be able to handle the extra pressure and grow from it, and we'd need to know which guys were keepers and which guys we were more willing to let go....

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So basically the situation I'm talking about here is dependent on quite a few things:
Bayless showing he can play great with Roy and is as good as we expect
Rudy warranting playing time
Outlaw not fitting extremely well into the offense (as some of us expect)...

If we get into a situation a month or two into the season where we're saying that Webster and Bayless are going to be a part of our future, there still aren't a ton of minutes to go around, and Frye deserves some playing time (squeeze at 2/3/4) early consolidation might be key in keeping our guys developing (as we've discussed before). Now many times we've been hypothetically discussing who would put us over the top, or another young guy to add to the puzzle, myself included with Conley/Iguodala) but another strategy might be to promote growth w/in our team leadership through the young guys by just adding vet role players (such as James Jones last year) these types of moves might not be the best value wise (KP might not like) but I think eventually we'll have to make a few if we want to develop our guys properly.

So say we're a month in and Bayless shows he needs playing time, Webster and Frye are fitting in as complimentary pieces better than Outlaw, and even Sergio shows some signs of life with Rudy here...

We could make a not so bold move by dealing for a vet at SF to stabilize the lineup with Bayless starting at PG. We've discussed Battier before and I've generally been against, but I'd be in favor if we identified our guys we wanted to develop and consolidated in the process of getting him so it's not necessarily a move FOR Battier in and of itself but more a move for the other guys on the team. He could help our D, keep us calm, handle the ball well, and stabilize the lineup while not needing more than 20-25 mpg and not getting in the way too much, and I think it would make it much less risky to develop a PG with him at SF rather than someone like Webster...

Think about Blake, Outlaw for Battier, Harris (expiring filler), and their first round pick.

I'm not sure that's fantastic value, but if our other guys develop better than its worth it in the long run. A move like this gives Nate a defensive minded no ego vet to work with and helps to shorten the rotation for him, even though he loses two of his favorite guys. It makes a lot of sense for Houston because they already have Artest and others and could use a stable low risk PG like Blake with the other stars they have on the floor and aren't going to have too many minutes for Battier behind Artest, but Outlaw could play 3/4 and backup Scola and Artest as a scoring threat. Could we do better? maybe, is it worth it, I don't know?

I think to make a consolidation move that pushes our other guys into bigger roles we have to be in a place where we have confidence in the young guys we push, and show that we aren't quite in contention level yet (otherwise why rock the boat). But I do love the balance of this... (asuming that Bayless is worthwhile and Sergio is good for 15 mpg off the bench). I wouldn't make this move now and hand Bayless the starting job, but if he works to earn it I think it makes sense (unless Outlaw blows up this year).

Bayless(24)/Sergio(16)/Roy(8)
Roy(24)/Fernandez(24)
Battier(24)/Webster(24)
Aldridge(32)/Frye(16)
Oden(32)/Pryzbilla(16)

Basically four lineups

Bayless/Roy/Battier/Aldridge/Oden (8 mpg) open

Bayless/Roy/Battier/Frye/Oden (16 mpg) middle A

Sergio/Fernandez/Webster/Aldridge/Pryzbilla (16 mpg) middle B

Roy/Fernandez/Webster/Aldridge/Oden (8 mpg) close

good balance of vets and threats in each lineup with clear roles.

1. Bayless is never (in theory) on the floor w/o Roy and Battier (of course this changes with fouls and such. But those are two guys who make his learning easier.

(Bayless/Roy/Battier) (Sergio/Fernandez/Webster) (Roy/Fernandez/Webster)

2. Webster plays more up-tempo and gets to be more of a scoring threat in the second unit fed on the break.

3. Aldridge should get more time with the second unit as a fast-break threat with Frye complimenting Oden so well.
(Sergio/Fernandez/Webster/Aldridge/Pryzbilla for 16 a game) Aldridge's first 8 and last 8 with the starters

4. Frye's time would come mainly with the starters as he would spread the floor for Roy and Bayless to drive and accelerate Oden's development as an interior scoring threat and pick n roll player.

5. call me crazy but I think Sergio might look fine (as a backup) with Fernandez, Webster, and Frye or Aldridge on the floor next to him as scoring (non-iso) threats who pass and move w/o the ball rather than Jack and Outlaw as the main threats (who only score in iso). And he wouldn't be playing with Roy really.

I think a move like this takes us a little out of contention this year, but pays off big time a year later...

compliments Roy

helps out our terrible transition game

defends other PG's (could be a good defender if he played for Nate and was pushed)

great shooter (down year last year)

doesn't need or want the ball in the half court

Fits to make us a much better team on the break (Barbosa - Aldridge - Webster on the transition game flying down the court, while Roy spots up and Oden comes flying on the "secondary break") If there's nothing easy available (75% of the time) he hands it to Roy who starts the offense. The fact is we need to take advantage of Lamarcus' killer speed in the open court and can get a ton of easy points off of it, he's faster than almost any big guys and guards won't stand in front of him. Barbosa won't hurt our half-court game because he won't run the offense and will be a shooter/backdoor slasher.

And Rudy and Sergio fit great in the "white unit" off the bench as a change of pace.

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So I don't know how much attention you guys have been paying to the eastern playoffs, but one thing I've noticed is the struggle of Andre Iguodala. Philly attempts to use him as an isolation player much of the time and he just can't create as well as they'd like for a first option (because he isn't one) even though they use him that way and didn't pay him like a first option last summer. 

Personally, I'd love to see Iggy on the Blazers as a third option. I could see him being an all around utility 'glue-guy' (kind of a super Udoka whose athletic) in the role he played his first couple years of his career. In the half-court he could shadow off Roy, and play wihtout the ball a lot cutting backdoor off Oden and Aldridge, focus hard on put-backs, and hitting open jumpers too. But his main role and the thing he would bring is defensive intensity (he often guards 1's now and is a steals threat), open court ability (one of the best in the NBA on the break), and an unselfish attitude.

The big caveat is if Iggy is willing to go back and be a 'utility player', but if he's paid well I could see him being very happy doing this. In Portland he would have a definite role with our lack of perimeter D and fast break points, and he would have something to take pride in. In the mean time, he'd  be playing with an young all-star in the backcourt, and two bigs with unlimited potential (on O and D) on a competetive young team in the west (with his best friend in Frye). This could even help with the whole Roy playing point but not defending them dilemma with that being Iggy's role.

My real fantasty: a Roy, Webster, Iggy starting unit that pounds the hell out of other teams and begs them to outshoot them, and a Sergio, Rudy, (whoever is not tired) backup unit that blitzes other teams as a change of pace unit...longshot I know

I think looking into Iggy as a fitting option would be a very worthwhile activity looking into next summer. He's seemed unattainable at multiple points in time but this may be the best odds we ever have of acquiring him if he is exposed as a poor isolation player in the playoffs and more of a third option, and then Philly is unwilling to pay him too much this summer. Their GM is the same man who traded Kenyon Martin when he wanted a big contract, and with the emergence of Thaddeus Young Iggy may be seen as more expendable.

If we could trade up in the draft with Jack to get Kevin Love then I think that we may be able to obtain Iggy (in a sign n trade) for:

Outlaw, Blake, and Kevin Love.

It's a lot to give up, but we need to consolidate badly and he would really fill in the gaps that we need help with. It would also open up time for Frye and Rudy.

The big variables are: his playoffs, how much money he wants, how much philly will pay, and if he's willing to be a third option again.

But doesn't this look nice?

Roy/Sergio/Koponen

Iggy/Fernandez

Webster/James Jones

Aldridge/Frye/Mcroberts

Oden/Pryzbilla/Freeland

---consider these reports ---

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar...of_new_jersey/

Kidd wants out of New Jersey

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ar...to_make_moves/

check out this hypothetical where we cap and roster posture for the future.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=429~498~1711~406~512~796~2768~454~550& teams=5~22~17~22~17~22~17~17~5&te=&cash=

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How are we gonna do it, we have too many assets, look at them?

Oden
Roy
Rudy
Sergio
LMA
Freeland
Lafrentz
Miles
Blake
Joel
Mcroberts
Frye
Green
Jack
Jones
Webster
Outlaw
Koponen

none of our players are expiring next year, Freeland, Koponen, and Rudy are first rounders meaning it's their right to come over not ours, and there's only so many minutes to go around to develop them.

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Who do you want alongside Roy? What are you looking for in a player to do that? What are our current holes long-term?

So the obvious goal here is to promote discussion as to who would complement Brandon best (both in style and things you're looking for and just the players), where you have brandon (1 or 2), how big of a role you'd want Sergio and Fernandez to play, what do you think of Koponen, is Green gonna stay?, and generally what missing piece (If you could go after any non-current-superstar) would make us the best and help utilize Roy, Aldridge, and Oden the best?

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Obviously we need vets, obviously our current guards can't do the up-tempo thing well, but it could really benefit Martell and some of our other guys (Rudy, Sergio), he would improve our defense a ton, and our efficiency in the half-court game too. The nets might be tired of him complaining and the likely destinations (LA, CLE) really have nothing much to offer at all. We on the other hand could offer a high draft pick (not as high if Kidd came over) and some youngish assets.

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