It makes a ton of sense if Aldridge wasn't a pussy. That lineup would be amazing, much better than any lineup we would have with Big Al.
Aldridge being a pussy is a big time issue. I think maybe if you did get Smith and maybe a coach that can really get LMA to buy in and make him think that he could win a ring with that group, he might change, a la Bosh or Gasol when they got traded. On paper, that lineup is fucking excellent and can play with the elite teams. But it does rely on LMA sacking up and deciding to mix it up down low, which we all know he can do.
We will not have cap space again for a while, with Aldridge, Batum, and Lillard taking up a lot of cap space. We have a chance this summer to get a difference maker. When will we have that opportunity again? And adding Smith makes even less sense because that would require Aldridge to essentially play center, which he doesn't want to do. Batum is the small forward in our system, and Smith hasn't played small forward in years. At least Jefferson is a center.
Also, why waste money on some scrub journeyman center when we could do that with the MLE next summer? We have a chance to throw a big contract on someone that will help move the needle.
As I said above, the Josh Smith idea relies on Aldridge buying into playing C. If he does do that, that team can contend for championships IMO. THATS the difference maker you should be going for. The goal is to win rings. Perhaps there are risks involved, but the reward could be tremendous.
The team with Al Jeff is not going to win a ring IMO. He would improve your team, and I suppose that means hes a difference maker. But the end goal is to win a ring. I don't think that core unit gets it done.
Furthermore, going with 4 years at ~$12 million per year on Al Jefferson limits Portland's ability to make moves to become a championship contender. A 4 year deal would go through 2017. LMA is due an extension in 2015, and Batum and Lillard are due extensions in 2016. That sounds like a hell of a lot of money tied up in a core four of a non-contender. Hard to see them fielding a decent team with whatever is leftover. Paul Allen is rich but the luxury tax looks awfully prohibitive, even Mark Cuban has expressed concern about getting into it. And regardless of whether PA will pay it, its
never a smart move to strap your team with big, poor value contracts. Perhaps you can justify it if you know you've got a championship level team. Again, I don't think this one with Al Jeff is a contender.
Going with the stop gaps doesn't press you so hard against the lux tax line. They can also serve as tradeable assets in the form of expiring contracts when stars do become available via trade. I think you'll be in a better position to make a deal when the opportunity comes, and the team with Dalembert or Kwame Brown plus one or two quality bench players is probably roughly as good as the team with Al Jeff and a bench of vet minimum guys and rookies.
And if you're going to argue that the Al Jeff team would be better, I'll let you know my response right now is that if its not a contender and its not a step toward being a contender then who the fugg cares? IMO its not a contender and it makes it harder to take the leap to contention, not easier.
