FanPost

Gortat Deal

Was playing with the Trade Machine and came up with this three-team trade with the Suns and Celtics:

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=a3f2l2e

The Suns get an upgrade on the wing with Courtney Lee (yes he has had a tough start to the year), and a project big in Fab Melo. If you pad their haul with one of our second rounders, and the Celtics first rounder, that may be enough to entice them. The Celtics get an elite rebounder in Hickson, a backup PG in Telfair, and someone who can (theoretically) stretch the floor in Babbitt.

Gortat completes our starting five, and we still get to keep our project big. Then we can use the draft and our remaining cap space to get to work on our depth.

With how tough the West is, and how tough our remaining schedule is, I still believe we would have a top 12 pick, even after trading for Gortat. Depending on whether Barton or Freeland looks better to finish out the year, I would draft either a SG or PF. At this point the smart money is on Barton, so Anthony Bennett, a PF out of UNLV who has been this years best Freshman, could end up being the pick. You then use your cap space to sign a PG who can backup and play alongside Lillard. Jarett Jack has worked out pretty well for the Warriors, maybe he would be open to a return to the Rose City...

Your 2013/14 Lineup could look something like this:

Lillard/Jarett Jack
Matthews/Barton
Batum/Claver
Aldridge/Bennett/Freeland
Gortat/Leonard