After 2011/12's historically awful season, the Bobcats are quietly turning things around, writes David Aldridge of NBA.com. After finishing the campaign with a .106 winning percentage and dropping their last 23 games, the club is finding success with a defense-first approach under first-year coach Mike Dunlap. After already matching their win total from last year, the team even feels for the winless Wizards who are in the NBA's cellar at 0-11. Here's more from Aldridge..
- It's early in the season, but it's evident that Pacers center Roy Hibbert isn't playing with the same intensity that netted him a four-year, $58MM contract. Some have speculated that the big man is pressing in order to live up to his newly-raised expectations, and even he acknowledges that might be the case. "Before, I would say I wasn't," Hibbert said. "But if I look myself in the mirror, maybe I'm thinking too much. I wouldn't say it's totally because of the contract, but it possibly could be."
- The Pacers' problems obviously extend beyond Hibbert's slow start, beginning with the absence of star forward Danny Granger. The summer trade of Darren Collison for center Ian Mahinmi has left the club to rely on one-guards George Hill and D.J. Augustin, who don't provide the same type of tempo. Head coach Frank Vogel is already re-tooling the offense to help accommodate the new-look backcourt.
- Aldridge wonders if it might be time for the Lakers to pull the trigger on a Pau Gasol trade. Often linked to trade rumors in Los Angeles, it's clear that management is less-than-thrilled with Gasol's conditioning as of late. There's no indication that the Lakers are shopping Gasol just yet, but Aldridge wonders if a three-team deal with the Wizards and Timberwolves could be a fit. Gasol could return to his natural center position in Minnesota while the Lakers could receive Chris Singleton and Trevor Ariza from the Wizards with Luke Ridnour and J.J. Barea coming from Minnesota. Aldridge's hypothetical would also see Minnesota send Derrick Williams to the Wizards, giving the former No. 2 pick a chance at a new start.
So in this scenario the Lakers would leave the Lakers with 18 people filling 15 roster spots and the following point guards.
Nash
Duhan
Morris
Blake
Ridnour
Barea.
Sounds like a great idea to be carrying 6 point guards
Blake and Morris move or cut. Come on now, lets not bash a deal that makes sense based on D-league roster spots
How does that deal make sense? Trade a Elite(but expensive center) for an expensive forward, a possible decent rookie forward, and two contracts that are just as bad as the two back up point guards we have. Its a dumb trade that shouldn’t happen.
I agree this trade sounds very bad for the Lakers. The last thing they need is two (more) average at best PG’s behind Nash. I can’t believe the scenario was that bad. Ariza is the only player that makes sense but no way would they want 2 more PG’s. They already want to get rid of a PG as it is. They also aren’t getting rid of Morris this season unless he is a necessary piece in a trade to land something undeniable. I mean he has taken a big enough step this year to keep around and hope for a steady improvement like he has already shown.
First of all, why would the Lakers want Ariza back? He’s the one who ditched them in the first place and they already have a defensive specialist in MWP and Metta is more consistent offensive wise as well. Second of all, the Lakers would really not be getting back much in return for one of the top ten Power Forwards of the last five years, if not decade. Barea is too injury-prone, undersized, and is a bit on the expensive side. Ridnour is a decent player but he might not thrive in the Lakers’ system as he is not a good 3pt shooter and wouldn’t be able to handle the ball much with Nash, Kobe, Dwight, etc. all needing their touches. Singleton is just too unproven to be a player the Lakers want.
Here’s a possible deal:
Lakers trade:
Pau Gasol
Lakers get:
Austin Daye
Kim English
Charlie Villanueva
Future first-round pick (from Pistons)
Future second-round pick (from Pistons)
Pistons trade:
Charlie Villanueva
Austin Daye
Kim English
Future first-round pick (to Lakers)
Future second-round pick (to Lakers)
Pistons get:
Pau Gasol
Jeremy Pargo or Donald Sloan
Cavaliers trade:
Jeremy Pargo
Cavaliers get:
Jason Maxiell
whatever decent draft picks the Pistons and Lakers can offer
cash considerations (?)
Yes, this isn’t the best trade offer, but it’s one of the few trades they could pull off in a sudden instance. I’d appreciate criticism and thoughts.
I see how the trade works in a vacuum but there are other parts in play from the Piston’s end. I couldn’t see Detroit making that trade with what they have going on with their bigs right now. Monroe made a huge leap last season and Drummond is making some waves in his “let’s ease him along” minutes. The addition of Pau would likely eat into both their minutes not just this year but next as well. I think Drummond’s playing time is much more important than having Pau around for 2 years giving Detroit an outside shot at an 8th seed.
And it doesn’t address their needs in the first place. They may be set at C, PF and PG for years to come. It’s the wings they need to sort out. Stuckey clearly isn’t the answer at 2 and Prince is outmatched at 3 at this stage of his career.
For the Lakers, I think having Villanueva (who I cannot stand) is actually an upgrade over Jamison off the bench. For the Cavs, I could see Maxiell being a nice addition because I can’t see Tristan Thompson being much better than he currently is. That said, I can’t see this trade happening, ever.
Thanks for the analysis. Like I said, this isn’t an ideal trade, but if the Lakers traded Pau right now, this would be one of the trades floated around possibly. There are also trade exceptions and such that could be worked in. I created the trade using NBA Trade Machine.
Normally I try and give people the benefit of the doubt when they come up with trade scenarios but this sounds like something that a distant fanboy came up with in their dream world. The Lakers trading a talented big man in a league where talented big men are hard to come by for basically 3 cents on the dollar makes absolutely no sense what so ever. They would be trading Gasol and not even receiving the best prospect in the deal.
Williams comes to Lakers or no deal.
Two PG’s and two SF’s? Makes no sense. Only ideal guy would be Ariza.