SB Nation User Blog: darkhelmit54

How to consolidate?

darkhelmit54 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:37:09 -0000

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?

I really think we could use another vet on a shorter contract while Rudy, Martell, and Batum come into their own, and I'm of the opinion that it would be nice to come at the 3/4 combo position so that there's more minutes for the guards that are left (Rudy, Roy, Miller). But who really makes sense/is available?

I think in a deal the guys to send out would be a combo of Blake/Outlaw as a better rebounding/defending 3/4 could really help us out over Outlaw's inconsistencies and perpetual leaving of the C on an island when he's in (leading to foul trouble, no second chance points, and bad post defense with open lanes). Losing Blake would hurt short term, and I'd want to bring in a decent shooter and passer at 3/4, but I think in the end it'd be fine with Miller, Roy, Rudy, and Bayless getting a little burn.

My first choice would've been Tayshaun Prince before the back incident, does anybody know how severe his injury is, will he be his old self again, and what the prognosis is?

Now I'm wondering what you guys would think of Boris Diaw? He's a 3/4 who has length, semi-decent athleticism, extremely high IQ, and good concept of team defense and can play 3/4 and run. I think on paper it'd be a good fit, but his contract does have two more years at 9 million per on it, so I'm not sure it'd be worth that.

Any other ideas?

(w/Blake-Outlaw for Diaw)

Miller/Bayless

Roy/Rudy

Webster/Diaw

Aldridge/Diaw

Oden/Pryzbilla

that seems like a very high IQ and good team defense 9 man rotation to me with lots of balance...and a high payroll.

Tayshaun Prince!

darkhelmit54 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:40 -0000

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?

I have loved the thought of grabbing Tayshaun Prince for quite a while now. He no longer fits on Detroit, a team which doesn't need a complimentary vet of his type and features more isolation play and less emphasis on team defense. However, he's an olympian, extremely versatile, high IQ player, that I think could contribute in a ton of ways not on the stat sheet.

Though his game has slipped a lot in the last few years I really believe the experience he'd bring would be extremely helpful in the stability of our team (offense and defense) and he's a capable shooter and defender who can really help our flow. Between him and Miller our team could really have a boost in IQ this season.

I think some of our early struggles are definitely due to guys lack of understanding in their roles and each others games and will eventually not be a big deal. I believe half our problems would go away with a shorter rotation and experience, but I also think Roy really needs to learn to make his teammates better by playing harder off the ball and feeding the hot hand instead of being in such a limited mindset. I also believe that losing Outlaw would really help in team defense (we can't play zone with him in there) and offensive spacing and IQ.

If we could somehow swing Outlaw and Blake (as expirings) for Tayshaun (whose contract goes next two seasons) I think it would be a great move that could help to shorten our rotation, improve overall team IQ, help our defense, and give more clearly established roles to our team, while also giving Bayless a little burn.

Miller/Roy (Bayless)

Roy/Fernandez

Webster/Prince (cunningham)

Aldridge/Prince (Howard)

Oden/Pryzbilla

That's a really solid 8 man rotation with clearly defined roles and plenty of time for everyone (IMO)

Rubio signs deal in Spain, pounce now?

darkhelmit54 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:12:37 -0000

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.

So (as I expected all along), Rubio just signed a six year deal in spain, with a 1 million dollar buyout after the second year (supposedly, you can't be too sure with Spanish media). I think this is where we pounce. Miller will be a perfect stop-gap until Rubio can come over (they have similar games too), and we have a log-jam at PG/SF anyways, this situation fits us perfectly and how many other teams in the NBA would give up much value for the rights to Rubio two years out?

It's pretty much us and the knicks right? And what do they have to trade?

I think this would fit perfectly to have a goal for a long-term core of:

Rubio
Roy/Fernandez
Batum/Webster
Aldridge
Oden

as seven guys we can build around while stocking another five or so vets or projects behind them yearly.

I think we should try to trade a combo of Outlaw/Bayless/picks or perhaps Blake in some sort of effort to grab Rubio's rights!

Desmond Mason a fit?

darkhelmit54 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:49:31 -0000

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.

I know we currently have 3 SF's as it stands, but if we were to say find some trade for Outlaw/Bayless or Outlaw/Blake (not sure for what) would you guys be interested in bringing in Des (who lives in Portland) as a mentor/vet at the 3rd SG/SF? I know his shooting is bad and stats are terrible, but as spot minute role player his stats might look a lot better, and he's not a chucker.

I think role players are always undervalued and look way worse when on bad young teams, because their skill is finding seams and being in the right positions, he could help anchor our defense in spot minutes and teach Batum and Martell a thing or two, plus he has experience with Nate.

Go after Kurt Thomas with our trade exemption?

darkhelmit54 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:12:03 -0000

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.

He fits well as a backup for Lamarcus with a nice jumper and solid post D (like Lamarcus). By all reports he's a very high character person and teammate. And how much better will our defense look without Outlaw missing rotations and not boxing players out.

Afterwards we could definitely do the Outlaw for Memphis' pick deal...

which would leave us with...

Miller/Blake
Roy/Rudy
Webster/Batum
Aldridge/Thomas
Oden/Pryzbilla

The best frontcourt D in the NBA?

and Bayless/pick combo to trade (for what?)

With AI going to MEM/Conley more available?/ (Nash/Conley?)

darkhelmit54 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:16:38 -0000

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

Bottom line: I love the though of getting Nash IF we were to have a high potential young guy behind him, because Nash isn't the long-term answer, but I do think he'd be a fantastic fit for our young team for the next three years with his role diminishing each year.

I think an aging vet at PG like Nash (or Miller) coupled with a young prospect like Conley (or Rubio) would be a great combo heading into next year, I'm just not that confident Bayless will ever grow into a real PG, or that we'll do any better next year with just Blake.

Is this realistic?:

1.) Bayless/Blake for Nash (and we absorb the contract with cap space)

2.) Outlaw/? (Pendengraph, etc) for Conley Jr (with them signing AI)

3.) Sign or trade for Kurt Thomas (with a 2nd rounder or something)

Nash/Conley

Roy/Fernandez

Batum/Webster

Aldridge/Thomas

Oden/Pryzbilla

For everything we hear about Nate/Nash wouldn't work

darkhelmit54 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:18:24 -0000

I find these two quotes very interesting.

Oregonlive Story

Blazers coach Nate McMillan agreed. When asked to identify some of the NBA's toughest players, his answers were unexpected. The first name mentioned? Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns.

an Arizona Paper

And while there was certainly much to discuss regarding the veteran -- and plenty to dissect about woeful shooting and team hexes -- Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan singled out another painful catalyst behind his team's 102-92 loss to the Phoenix Suns before 18,422 at US Airways Center:

Steve Nash.

"I think the guy is Nash," McMillan said. "He is still orchestrating that offense and getting everybody involved and (regarding) time, score and situation, he is probably as good as I've seen. That guy is a two-time MVP. Shaq did some good things; all those guys did some good things. But that show runs with Nash."

Nash would get us a few more turnovers, but could still play off the ball as a shooter ala Blake in the half-court, Brandon would still be our iso guy, and Nash wants fewer touches/minutes as he age to preserve his career, and Brandon would have to carry less of the load (which is currently very unrealistic long-term) while getting some more easy buckets off cuts (which will benefit our other players once he learns).

Getting Nash would help us now, but long-term it'd help us a lot with Brandon's off-ball development and the development of our bigs with all the easy buckets they'd get. It'd also help the team learn how to sufficiently get easy buckets on the break for the long-term.

I'm not a proponent of Nash for the next 3-4 years, I'm a proponent of Nash and a prospect him behind him. It could be Jennings, Rubio, etc etc (though I think we'd have to give up Bayless to get Nash)

Stephen Curry, the perfect compliment to Brandon Roy?

darkhelmit54 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:36:02 -0000

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.

Logically in our backcourt partner for Roy we need a player who can: Play off the ball, lead the break, have good court vision, space the floor for Roy by shooting well, and make solid entry passes.

Steve Blake does one of these things well (space the floor with shooting), yet is terrible on the break, has poor court vision, and doesn't make great entry passes.

Bayless' has no concept of how to play off the ball, a suspect shot at this point, and sub-par court vision. He's a scorer, and can develop into a quite good one, but doesn't have great complimentary skills for Roy at this point in time.

Sergio runs the break exceptionally well and has great court vision and entry passing skills, yet his jumper is suspect (along with D), and he can't play off the ball as a result of his lack of jumper or post skills.

I firmly believe believe we need to upgrade the PG position by using Blake and Bayless. I think Sergio could be a great 15 mpg backup PG in the league, and wouldn't be opposed to keeping him (essentially as Roy's backup).

I do think Rudy also could work very well next to Roy long-term, as he fits many of the above categories and makes fantastic entry passes.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JyTIQq5H-g

The big question marks with Curry seem to be his ability to adapt to being the number 3,4, or 5 option on the floor rather than the primary option, and his below-average athleticism at the PG position. However, his athleticism is still above the level of Steve Blake, and I'm not entirely sure I see him as a 35 mpg PG in the league, but as a good 'role' player. Another criticism of Curry is his defense, but he is a heady player and while athletically limited, Batum could fit very well as a defensive presence against elite PG's.

I do think he would fit very well next to Roy in stretches though, and as a result we could have a rotation somewhat like this:

position 1 Roy (33)/Sergio(15)

position 2 Curry(20)/Rudy(28)

In this sense he'd really be somewhat of a backup to Rudy, yet he could start so that Sergio spends all his time on the floor with Rudy. Of course if we're able to snag Rubio I won't complain.

Other options I'd like to investigate:

Steve Nash (could finish out career here, ability to shoot helps him to play off the ball a little more)

Mike Conley (perhaps too valuable in Memphis at this point, unless they go after a PG in the draft, Rubio?)

Ricky Rubio (obvious)

Andre Miller (expiring, maybe seeking big last contract, isn't a fantastic shooter, but very heady and good mid-range game, never been good at pick n roll, but Roy would be running that anyways, would make life easy for our bigs)

OT: A better realignment proposal/schedule change/playoff format

darkhelmit54 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:34:16 -0000

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.

Here are the solutions:

New Divisions:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Pacific:

Portland, Sacramento, Oakland, LA (X2), Phoenix, and Utah.

Mid-West:

Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Northeast:

Indiana, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, Boston, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia

Southeast:

Washington, Charlotte, Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando, Miami

SCHEDULE:

preseason:

They're not televised usually, not that interesting, and cost the same amount, not good business strategy.

Have only two pre-season games at the end of training camp (one home, one away) after which teams can make cuts.

Afterwards have each team spend a full week in Europe/Asia having each team play an exhibition game against a foreign team. Add a 100K incentive for each player to play to help entice stars to play in the games and create more foreign interest.

Teams then could spend one more week at home practicing before the regular season begins.

games player: 4

games reduced 2-3

regular season:

According to the new divisional realignment have each team play every team w/in their division 4X (teams in divisions with 8 teams play three times 3 times, alternating yearly), for a grand total of 28 divisional games that are meaningful, helping to create better regional rivalries.

Out of division teams play each other 2X a year (one home, one away) for a total of 44 games.

Total Games : 72

Games Reduced: 10

Not a big hit as far as owners attendance is concerned, more regional associations, and by the end of the season fans are not attending the games of losing teams. This helps to shorten the season a considerable amount and with the games saved all back to backs can be eliminated along with trimming off a week and a half of the season. It also adds to the importance of games, meaning less players taking games off. In addition, TV coverage wouldn't have to be cut at all, which is a large source of the league's revenue.

Playoffs:

Right now the playoff structure is a joke with far too many teams (w/no chance) making the playoffs, and the games themselves dragging on forever, boring the common fan. By giving the division winners a bye there will be a sense of anticipation for the second round of the playoffs, by eliminating two teams from the playoffs, they will be more of an honor to be at and there won't be any blowout series in the first round (3-6, 4-5 in each conference). AND a strong incentive is given to winning the division, adding to the pre-playoff drama instead of things mostly winding to a lull. The first round would have to be a five game series in order to not tire teams out too much, and again, playoff coverage in the playoffs wouldn't be cut at all, just more time given in the first round to the 3-6/4-5 matchups so that there were never more than four series going at one time.

These moves would not sacrifice national coverage whatsoever while allowing the players more rest during the year to ensure a high level of play (13 less games a year), giving stronger incentive to win regular season games, making regional rivalries more significant, and making the playoffs overall more competitive.

Getting Tay Prince in an Amare deal?

darkhelmit54 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:25:20 -0000

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

We get a perfect fit three who we want Batum to develop into long-term anyway, Prince can also play backup 4 in a pinch, and only give up Bayless.

Pistons save a grip of money and get some good young talent to perhaps build around while still retaining a lot of talent.

Phoenix saves money long term (sheed is expiring), improves their defense, and gets a solid young piece in Bayless.