You be the GM -- LaMarcus Aldridge

[Rastapopoulos]

OMG this is an absolutely terrible idea.
The point of a rebuild is to get a franchise player, a MVP-level player to lead the team.

By your definition, a "rebuild" is essentially impossible except by luck in the draft or being Los Angeles or Miami. At what point did the Pistons "rebuild" to become the championship team of '04?

Nobody you named is even an all-star or close to it.

I think you're wrong there. I think Harden is in a similar situation to Joe Johnson (or Steve Nash in his earliest days) with Phoenix (or Rasheed with the Bullets): someone with All-Star talent but behind other All-Stars. Is he as good as LaMarcus? Probably not. But that doesn't mean the trade wouldn't make sense for the reasons that I've said: all the good players in this draft are forwards. There are practically no good guards (except maybe Bradley Beal, but he kind of crapped out today - I think Lamb is a bust waiting to happen). With LaMarcus we might never get Freeland, or have minutes to play the high drafted player I'm hoping we get this draft. And I think Harden is actually a top 5 SG in the league, and will be higher very soon with Allen, Ginobili, Bryant and Johnson all on the downslide.

We would be giving up BY FAR the best player in the trade for more quantity of serviceable players.

You might be right. I'm not so sure. I don't think Aldridge is actually a player you can build round. If he was really so great, how do you explain our total implosion? He's still a PF that doesn't rebound particularly well or block that many shots. That wouldn't've mattered at all if we had Greg, but that particular dream has died, and there are no great centers on the horizon. (Even with Camby rebounding at league-leading rates we were still beaten on the boards more often than not.)

I love Aldridge: I have argued that he's better than Love or Griffin. But I'm finding that harder and harder to do. And I don't think anybody could seriously claim he's a leader. Or particularly clutch. And "LaMarcusBall" just isn't fun to watch.

wow, just wow, that is a terrible trade for us.

Well, the good news is it'll almost certainly never happen. But I bet you, if we offered it, the Thunder would actually turn it down. (And not just because of Harden: I don't think you realize how important Collison is to that team.)

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Blazer blockbuster:

If NJ wins the lotto: Make the following trade - We get this #1 pick (selecting Anthony Davis) and send NJ our own 2012 first round pick along with Batum. Then, we do an sign & trade with NJ to otbain Williams.

Are you saying that our pick + Batum is just to remove the "top three" protection from the pick they owe us? That seems steep. Remember, this draft is deep but not enormously top-heavy. We essentially trade a lottery pick next year PLUS a lottery pick this year PLUS Batum for that pick, just because they moved up 3 spaces.

(Of course, if part of the deal was them agreeing to sign and trade Williams, then it would be totally worth it. But that's contingent on him agreeing. And they'd only agree if he said he was leaving anyway. And if he's leaving, it's to go to Dallas, to join up with Dwight in a year.)

 

[BoomChakaLaka]

We already own NJ's number one pick. If (in 2012) it is #4 or worse, we get it. If it is #3 or higher, we get next year's number one pick of NJ (#2 protected).

I'm suggesting two things:

1). NJ would love to get "something" for Deron rather than see him just walk. And he can presumably earn more by signing with NJ than any other team. Thus, we coerce NJ (and Deron) into a sign and trade.

2). Secondly, if they win the #1 selection in the draft this year, then we trade them Batum and our 2012 #1 pick. This is for the rights for us to nab Anthony Davis and to help sweeten NJ's pot by letting Deron sign and trade to the Blazers.


This is a win for everyone. NJ gets something for Deron, Deron gets a Max deal and heads to Portland to play with Aldridge and Anthony Davis. I think we can build around this core!

DWill / Flynn
Matthews / Crawford
Sign a free agent SF and draft best SF athlete with our 2nd round pick
LMA / Hickson
Davis / Pryz

 

[KingSpeed]

Well, depending on who wins the lottery, if it were Washington I would do this:

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7qqv9fx

Essentially it would be Aldridge and the higher of our two lotto picks for Wall, Blatche, and the #1.

Wall
Matthews
Batum
Davis
??

I love this deal. Wall will be the best PG In the league one day soon. He can be better than Rose. I want him.

 

[Tince]

I love this deal. Wall will be the best PG In the league one day soon. He can be better than Rose. I want him.

This is exactly why there is no chance Washington would do this. They would be trading their recent #1 pick and current #1 pick for a one-time all-star and a #4 pick.

Franchises value #1 picks as multi-year all-stars.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

It'd have to be something along the lines of Wall for Aldridge -- no picks from either side.

 

[KingSpeed]

Well, depending on who wins the lottery, if it were Washington I would do this:

It'd have to be something along the lines of Wall for Aldridge -- no picks from either side.

That would be tough unless we have another big man in place.

 

[LameR]

We already own NJ's number one pick. If (in 2012) it is #4 or worse, we get it. If it is #3 or higher, we get next year's number one pick of NJ (#2 protected).

I'm suggesting two things:

1). NJ would love to get "something" for Deron rather than see him just walk. And he can presumably earn more by signing with NJ than any other team. Thus, we coerce NJ (and Deron) into a sign and trade.

2). Secondly, if they win the #1 selection in the draft this year, then we trade them Batum and our 2012 #1 pick. This is for the rights for us to nab Anthony Davis and to help sweeten NJ's pot by letting Deron sign and trade to the Blazers.


This is a win for everyone. NJ gets something for Deron, Deron gets a Max deal and heads to Portland to play with Aldridge and Anthony Davis. I think we can build around this core!

DWill / Flynn
Matthews / Crawford
Sign a free agent SF and draft best SF athlete with our 2nd round pick
LMA / Hickson
Davis / Pryz

In this trade we get the two best pieces (Williams and Davis) for the two worst (Batum and our pick). Not gonna happen my man! Even if you want to take into consideration them wanting SOMETHING for Deron, Batum+ our pick itself might only be enough for the #1, if that.

 

[jlprk]

That would be tough unless we have another big man in place.

Sign Freeman.

 

[magnifier661]

In this trade we get the two best pieces (Williams and Davis) for the two worst (Batum and our pick). Not gonna happen my man! Even if you want to take into consideration them wanting SOMETHING for Deron, Batum+ our pick itself might only be enough for the #1, if that.

Unless of course they have no choice. If d will said he will not resign with nets then that deal becomes very good. But I doubt d will would do that. I mean if he wants to go somewhere else, why would he allow a sign and trade when there isnt a contractual advantage to a sign and trade anymore?