Draft Picks / Free Agents / Trades; Let's talk targets

I agree that Moose is better suited to defend opposing 5s but that again pulls Dre away from the basket and negates his off the ball blocking ability and rebounding. Something the Celts did to us when Moose and dre switched and Dre guarded KG away from the hoop
More teams we face seem to be trying to get Dre onto their stretch 4 to pull him away and allow their penetration. Moose is a good hands defender but his foot speed is on par with his verticle. Its like watching Laimbeer guard Larry Bird/ train wreck. You just know its gonna end poorly for us. I love Moose but I honestly think he will be a hinderence to the team moving forward due to his inability to guard the 4s. You cant coach foot speed right Roscoe? As Ive stated in numerous threads, this season went from finding out if Dre will be any good to, find out who we can use to compliment Dre moving past this year. I am all for losing Stuck and trying out our rooks for the remainder of the season to see if either will be any use next year. Or if we will need to get more 2s and 3s

As Quickdraw McGraw 2K was saying Tay is a convenient punching bag here, but I think the Pistons need to address the 1 and 2 spots way more than the 3. Their guards are horrible.

Knight looks like he's trying to pass a field sobriety test most games.

ok, u got me...damn near covered my screen in water squirting outta my nose when I read that ..

I disagree with the pistons having the best outlook... Tigers arent exactly going to be chopped liver this year.

I can't disagree with you. For a while now I was thinking that the Pistons should probably trade Monroe because it just didn't seem him and Dre could co exist. However, I am starting to think they are looking good together. Time will tell if Monroe can improve his defense, but I am no longer ready for the Monroe/Dre experiement to end.

So are you telling me that you are NOT impressed with Knight's league leading 5-1 turnover to assist ratio. In bizzaro world he would be the second coming of Ervin Johnson as he is able to find himself in the air with the ball and with no other option but to pass to the invisible man on the sidelines or his opponent. That my friend is magical!!

Totally missed the Tigers. To be honest I am only a baseball fan when the Tigers are in the playoffs, otherwise I am full on retard when it comes to baseball. All the Tropical Thunder fans out there know you are never supposed to go full on retard!!

I think Monroe is the key to us acquiring the right SG or SF. Singler will indeed make a very good glue guy, I would argue that he's a better shooter, ball handler and passer than Tay......but not necessarily a better player or finisher in transition; I gues what I'm trying to say that Singler is a more skilled-but less athletic Tayshaun who can play the SG or SF position. So, because of Kyle's versatility we simply need a SG or SF, whichever comes first.

Tay was the best finisher in the league at the rim last year, converting a shade over 70%. He is an awesome finisher.

I agree with you a little bit that Moose is a good trade, but it depends on what we can get back. I am personally more interested in building a decent starter, and a strong bench. Any '20ppg wing' is going to cost us all of our cap room. That model is being extinguished by Stern. Need to be smart.

Inspector gadget dunks everything in transition.

Joe was actually in attendance of the Baylor-Ok State game on Monday that featured Marcus Smart (PG) and Isaiah Austin (C). Assuming that we just miss the playoffs this year and actually end up with a pick in this years draft, I believe that we'll draft a PG. There are 3 really good ones and 1,2 possibly all 3 will be available when we pick:

Trey Burke; Best Case: Chris Paul, Worst Case: DJ Augustine, Likely Case: Ty Lawson
Michael Carter-Williams; Best Case: Penny Hardaway, Worst Case: Javaris Crittendon, Likely Case: ???? I think this kid is going to Boom or Bust, Dud or Stud with no in between.
Marcus Smart; Haven't seen him play yet, so I won't comment.

If Joe drafts either of these guys on draft night, I'll be one happy camper.

So, I finally got around to reading all 12 pages of this now very long thread. Thoughts..

Greg Monroe. If we're going to make a BIG trade, it's going to involve him. We could be on the receiving end of a salary-cap dump (Gay). We could be involved in a second-tier trade (Knight). But if it's going to be BIG, it's going to be Monroe. And it's very, very important to make sure that we get equal value back in that deal. Monroe's a borderline top-20 player in the league. He's 22 years of age. He's got great intangibles. There really aren't many players in the league who would be available to match that value. And also...let's keep in mind why we're thinking about moving Monroe: Drummond has the higher low-post ceiling - offense, defense, rebounding, everything. Monroe's a great passer, and that works with the high-post/low-post Monroe/Drummond game. Buuut, he can't hid mid-range shots and he might never be able to. And he can't guard stretch-fours out to the perimeter (a new development in the league), and he's probably never going to be able to either. If we trade Monroe, it's not going to be for someone who has all the same limitations, like Cousins. It's going to be for a stretch-four, a three, a two, or a one.

Evaluating trade possibilities among other top-20 types...

K. Bryant(34), D. Nowitzki(34), P. Gasol(32), D. Wade(30), T. Parker(30) are all too old.

D. Howard(27), M. Gasol(27) and A. Bynum(25) are all centers (i.e. don't fix the problem) and are not options.

L. James(28) and K. Durant(24) are untouchable.

C. Anthony(28) is the Knicks "star player" / premiere free agent attraction...and Monroe is not...thus, I do not think a deal would be made.

D. Williams(28) is the same to the Nets...and again, I do not think a deal would be made.

The Clippers have a nice thing going with B. Griffin(23) and C. Paul(27), and I don't think they'd want to mess with that.

D. Rose is a superstar who might be moved bc he's coming off a bad injury, but the Bulls already have Noah, Gibson and Boozer up front, and I can't imagine they'd have a great interest in swapping their star perimeter player for Greg.

**The above I all consider non-options. Possible ones..

K. Love(24). If the T-Wolves really are thinking about shopping him, it'd be an absolute dream come true. Buuut, if they're that concerned about being able to resign him, shouldn't we be too!? Nothing would be worse than moving Monroe and then having nothing to show for it.

R. Westbrook(24). Nothing's been in the papers, per se', but some tension can be noticed between he and Durant. Westbrook appears to want to be THE man. Something to think about..

R. Rondo(26). If the Celtics would rather build around a big man - who's four years younger - this might have legs. Monroe's less of a free agent attraction though.

L. Aldridge(27). Quite a bit older than Monroe, but if the Blazers were interested - not sure they would be - this could be an alright move.

C. Bosh(28). Same deal as Aldridge, though I suspect the Heat would jump all over it. Is he too old?

K. Irving(20). Not sure the Cavs would be interested. Irving's sort of their hope. And Monroe would be less of that.

**Behind that group...I won't get into too much detail aside from mention:

R. Rubio. Perhaps...not sure he'd be equal value though. P. George - I'd be interested, not sure the Pacers would be. J. Wall - I'd be very interested, but K. Irving part 2. Derrick Williams ~ interesting, not sure it'd be equal value. J. Harden - I'd be interested, not sure Houston would be. J. Lin - probably not equal value. S. Curry - hmm? K. Lowry - equal value? D. Gallinari - equal value? P. Millsap - equal value / a stretch four? T. Lawson - equal value? E. Gordon - equal value? E. Turner - hmm, equal value? D. Favors - equal value / a stetch four?

N. Batum, R. Anderson, E. Ilyasova, R. Gay, L. Deng, T. Evans, K. Faried, T. Booker, T. Allen - probably not equal value.

J. Smith, A. Iguodala, M. Ellis - free agent-to-be / not equal value.

P. Pierce, T. Duncan, M. Ginobli, S. Nash. Too old.

A. Horford, S. Ibaka, D. Cousins, Z. Randolph, M. Gortat, A. Varejao, T. Chandler, R. Hibbert, N. Pekovic, J. Noah, A. Jefferson, J. McGee, B. Lopez - Center (not stretch fours).

If we're going to trade Monroe, the best option might be for a top-5 or so pick.

Also, I wouldn't be opposed to taking Gay in a salary cap dump. He's 26 and scores 20 a night. It's not like we're ever going to be able to sign a big time FA anyways.

I wouldn't be opposed to signing O.J. Mayo. Top 5-ish player at a position of need. 25. Scores 20 a night when he's on - appears to be back on track.

Not sure about signing J. Smith. Might not be the best character-wise.

A. Iguodala is an interesting FA target.

M. Ellis and K. Martin are both great shooters we could use?

We really need to see some real minutes with Monroe and Drummond on the floor together. It would be really nice if it happened before the trade deadline.

Since it is not happening, I think that it is safe to say that we will not be trading Monroe. Daye, Villanueva, and Jerebko are probably the pieces being shopped with English, Middleton, and Kratsov as stocking stuffers. I would think that if Joe D strikes out on Daye and Villa, then Jerebko is the easier piece to trade and he goes ahead with it. If he can trade one of those 2 guys, then we probably keep JJ.

I can see why Frank might not tell Jerebko that he is on ice for the sole purpose of showcasing players for a trade. There would be a high risk for that leaking out within the team and hurting morale.

I'd be shocked if the Pistons were thinking about trading Monroe. His salary is next to nothing compared to his production. He might not be the best fit with Drummond, but the Pistons have a couple of cheap payroll seasons to try to make it work.

But there is no such thing as "untouchable" and I'm sure Joe will get some offers for Moose. Although, they'll probably all be craptastic offers.

if Stuckey and Tay are sacred cows? Moose is virginity

Yes

If Monroe starts hitting that mid-range jumper, he would be better to have than any of the players on that list not named Durant or LeBron. There is nothing that suggests to me that he won't be able to do that. If Maxiell can get a reliable mid-range jumper, so can Moose. Trading Monroe right now would be a terrible mistake.

Max came into the league with a decent jumper, Larry Brown said, "STOP IT".
Monroe HAS TO BE TRADED, he's a center and he's noot even close to being the best Center on this team, he and Drummond are not an ideal pair. I would trade Greg Monroe for Zac Randolph, TODAY, IF Memphis took back Rodney Stuckey and/or BoT as the fillers.

We have to be very careful about it. Must get EXCELLENT value back if we're going to do it. A top 3 or 5 pick could be that.

I did not know that.

BTW, his jump shot has one of the highest arcs I've ever seen.