The Great Debate: Trading down

[BrotherDave]

He's not a piece that's going to put you over the top.

You can say this about every available free agent though. : \

[gamecocksmitty4]

You can say this about every available free agent though. : \

Which is exactly why I would prefer putting that money into short term (1-2 year) contracts with young guys. Just get to the salary floor and continue to build through the draft rather than drag the whole team down by making a mediocre FA signing.

[polarcat]

Which is exactly why I would prefer putting that money into short term (1-2 year) contracts with young guys. Just get to the salary floor and continue to build through the draft rather than drag the whole team down by making a mediocre FA signing.

Agree with ya Smitty that we need to follow the OKC/small market drafting model, but at some point, you strike when you find a player that is in his prime and fills a major void in your team. Too much youth, and you have flashes of the old Bulls teams that Reinsdorf built and the Clippers kept drafting that were immature and never went to the next level. Outside of OKC that hit 2 homeruns with KD and Westbrook, this model is hard to replicate. Unfortunately, the NBA is shaped so that big markets thrive and small markets have to be so much more precise with their blueprint.

[gamecocksmitty4]

Agree with ya Smitty that we need to follow the OKC/small market drafting model, but at some point, you strike when you find a player that is in his prime and fills a major void in your team. Too much youth, and you have flashes of the old Bulls teams that Reinsdorf built and the Clippers kept drafting that were immature and never went to the next level. Outside of OKC that hit 2 homeruns with KD and Westbrook, this model is hard to replicate. Unfortunately, the NBA is shaped so that big markets thrive and small markets have to be so much more precise with their blueprint.

I understand that argument but my thought is that you don't want to get that guy too early. Having someone in their prime doesn't help when we're still in the developing/drafting stage. Throwing out 1 year contracts to young guys this offseason does 3 things. 1) Gives us another year of sucking and getting a high draft pick while also developing our young guys 2) Clears up a butt load of capspace in the NEXT offseason (Gordon's contract + 1 yr contracts + potentially Tyrus's contract via amnesty....a total of POTENTIALLY 40+ million to use for trades and FA) 3) Gives us the chance to find other young guys who could potentially fill out the roster in the long term (ala Adrien and McRoberts).

Not to mention that if you use those 1 yr contracts to put you right at the floor, you can use that cap space to add young players and picks (ala Cleveland-Memphis trade)

[Katmandu]

You're spot on about Mclemore. If he doesn't develop at all and what we see now is a finished product then he is still a very valuable player who can hit 3's in bunches and chasedown in the open court for blocks and play the passing lanes. If he develops he can potentially be a top 5 SG in the league. It's rare to see a player this young with such immense athleticism who can shoot the way he does. The athletic guys normally can't hit water if they fell out of a boat. He has the purest shot in all of college basketball.

But I'd rather pick up Len than get Zeller simply because Zeller's t-rex arms concern me when it comes to reaching up for rebounds and contesting shots.

Sorry to be reaching so far back, but I have to agree with this. If we wind up with #1, which is only a 25% chance, then, by all means, McLemore has the most star potential.
If not, I sincerely hope we get Len. I still hope Biyombo pans out but he had 3 boards in just under 30 minutes last night. I don't think Mullens had any in just over 17 minutes. Our guards actually out-rebounded our bigs.
I like Kemba. I like Henderson more than a lot of people seem to. What this team needs most is low post scoring, rebounding and defense - Len or Noel. Noel has more upside if he comes back from the blown out knee. But Len is more developed and ready to contribute right away. He might not be an All-Star, but he'll be a solid dependable presence in the paint for a long time, IMHO.

[Potato]

What if we traded down and got like a Bennett and Oladipo package bah gawd