Throwing Some Free Agent Money Around + Poll

We appear to have 3 weak spots right now.

Backup PF.
Starting PG.
Starting SF.

Ideally, you would like your starters to be in the top 20 or better at their position, and your backups to be in the top 45-50 or better at their position.

At PG, we are three deep in backups. None of them have yet demonstrated that they are a top 20 PG. We have at least 2 in the top 45, and I’ll include Bayless as a third, if he could get the minutes.

At SF, we are three deep in backups. Nic is going through a rough spell right now, but by next year, at least, he’ll be in the top 45, along with Martell and Travis, assuming they all get the chance to play enough somewhere.

At PF, LMA is in the top 20, but we don’t have a top 45 backup.

The problem with your proposal is we are already thin at PF, and Okur is not going to be better than LMA on our timeline. So while it certainly would resolve the PG situation, it weakens us at PF. Maybe KP can draft a backup PF. I am not persuaded that the guys you want would be available even with giving up LMA, unless we are also going to throw in Rudy plus more.

You are absolutely 100% correct on one point that seems to be little recognized around here sometimes. That is that any free agent who can play is a potential pickup for KP. It is wrong to say, “Oh, we don’t want a PF because we have one already.” It is entirely possible that, perhaps on draft day, perhaps later, KP makes a blockbuster trade which leaves us with a big hole in our roster, one which he will fill by signing a free agent.

You have to give to get. It is not beyond the realm of possibility to give up LMA, Rudy, Joel, or any of our PG/SF collection. None of them are untouchable — the draft, our cap space, and our collection of young talent all make it very feasible to plug any holes that they leave behind if they go. But obviously, if you give up LMA and/or Rudy and/or Joel, you would be expecting to get something pretty good in return.

I’m assuming Greg will turn the corner in a month or three. Despite his struggles, I still think he is untouchable, and Brandon is untouchable unless we’re getting Chris Paul or LeBron. I don’t think there are any other players out there that would induce KP to give up Brandon, and even Paul is debatable — KP has built this team around Brandon Roy, and rightly so. But everyone else on our roster could be traded if the right deal came along.

Says it all. We have talent and depth, but right now we have three spots that could be improved. The hope of course is that Webster can fill the hole at SF when he returns, but I doubt we’ll know that until 3/4’s of the way through the season since he will have missed 1/2 of it, and it will take another 1/4 to see his game. While we wait, we know that backup PF and starting PG are clearly points of weakness. I think Outlaw and Frye are getting close to their “ceilings”. Blake is also at his ceiling and Sergio is still time away from being a #1 PG – and we don’t know if he’ll ever get there, and Bayless is still on the bench. if Webster doesn’t move into that top 20 SF bracket, then we can probably fill that spot as well as the 2nd team PF without gutting the team. After all, if Batum improves enough to play 2nd team SF minutes, then we can deal with Frye, Outlaw, Webster, Raef’s contract, free and restricted agents, money and salary dumps, and draft picks to fill those slots. But PG will be the tough one.

My veiw is always the same. KP has essentially completed the first major step. He’s leveraged a group of misfits on a losing team into the picks and trades necessary to rebuild this team from scratch and create a solid winner that will settle in the 50-55 win per year category – and reach the playoff’s.

Now, we have the next step. And that is to leverage a talented group of young players, cap space, draft picks, money and whatever into a championship team. that can win 8 – 10 more games each year.

I wish him luck.