I think the injuries have shown what we have sitting on our bench. What have we learned?
Andre Miller is just as good as I thought he'd be.
Jerryd Bayless is still rough around the edges, but he's just as talented as we all thought.
Martell Webster can be consistent.
Jeff Pendergraph and Dante Cunningham deserve minutes.
Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez aren't quite as integral as some of us thought.
What I have taken from all those points is that we need to move some people. When everyone is healthy again (whenever that might be) this team is going to be far too crowded to be productive. The play of Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless, and Martell Webster have made Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and Rudy Fernandez expendable. The play of Pendergraph, Howard, and Cunningham have made Joel Przybilla expendable. I would like to see Pendergraph, Bayless, and Webster continue to get regular minutes in the rotation. When Blake, Outlaw, and Przybilla are all back from injuries next season, it will make it very hard to find playing time for all these guys.
So, I think we need to move Blake, Outlaw, Joel, and possibly even Rudy. If those four players are gone, it will open things up, give guys a chance to keep playing, and hopefully bring in a player that will round out our rotation. Either that, or we need to capitalize on Webster's play and move him while he has value for a small forward that can be a legitimate third scorer.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yk98doj
Miller/Mills
Bayless
Butler/Webster
LMA/Pendergraph/Cunningham
Haywood/Howard
That would be our team until Batum, Roy and Oden come back.
Next season it would look like this
Miller/Bayless/Mills
Roy/Webster
Butler/Batum
LMA/Pendergraph/Cunningham
Oden/Haywood