The Offseason: What Should Your Team Do?

[Rip32]

Good lord... Pistons, ok go:

1. Hire a coach (Mike Woodson or Dwyane Casey)
2. Amnesty Gordon, Villanueva or Rip.
3. Attempt to trade Gordon, Villanueva or Rip.
4. Attempt to sign-and-trade Tayshaun Prince.
5. Pray that Kanter falls to you at No. 8, if not, draft a big man. Then either JuJuan Johnson or Keith Benson at No. 33.
6. Force Austin Daye to live in the weight room from July 1 until the lockout is over.
7. Re-sign Stuckey because no one sane wants to see Bynum starting.
8. Spend money wisely, meaning let the market dictate Stuckey's contract (which should be reasonable, considering his market is Detroit and Detroit), and then spread the rest of the Tayshaun money around. Maybe throw Oden some money, but keep his Lt. Dan leg nubs in perspective.
9. There really isn't one quick fix though, sign a post player who can defend and rebound. Sign a big who can score in the post.
10. Pray Dumars pulls one of his magical, "how did he make that work?" moves out.

Really, no matter what they do this off-season, the new coach is the key.

[Andrew]

Butler definitely went to waste after the Bulls picked him up. I'm not saying he's the answer to all their problems or that they'd be celebrating with the Larry O'Brien trophy right now if he'd played, but why bother bringing him in just to ride the bench and hit the occasional three in garbage time? If they bring him back, hopefully he gets a bit more of a run and gives them some effective minutes.

Dump Roy with the Amnesty Clause

If I were the Blazers, I wouldn't do it. Maybe an offseason to rest his knees will help a little (as much as it can, given the condition they're in) and properly recover from the various surgeries. He still has his moments, as he showed a couple of times in the series with Dallas. His knees are letting him down and it's making his contract a bad investment, but I feel he's being thrown under the bus too.

Besides, look how it worked out with Darius Miles. I don't think they can count on Roy to call it a career when it's obvious he can still play, just not consistently at the level he was at a couple of years ago.

[Phil89]

I think the Thunder need another scoring option. Maybe it's time to give Harden the start ahead of Sefolosha.
I also want to see Westbrook take the step the Derrick Rose did. Work on his finishing at the basket and improve his jump shot.
I don't know if he can become as good as Rose, but he sure is right up there in terms of agility and speed.

Durant and Perkins both have extensions kicking in soon. Though Collison's contract drops by $10m so it actually decreases the total salaries.
There could be enough money to sign a decent free agent, depending on whether they decide to re-sign Nazr Mohammed or not.

Hopefully Perkins will have an injury free off-season. He has said that he aims to lose 20 pounds over the summer and get into better shape.

I read a rumour about trading Westbrook for Chris Paul. Interesting, but not very likely.

[Andrew]

Westbrook needs to work on his shot selection and decision making. Rose does too, but I'd say he's a little further along in that regard. As noted during the Playoffs, Westbrook seems to have made up his mind whether he's going to shoot the ball or pass it on any given play rather than taking what's given to him or changing his mind as the circumstances dictate and an opportunity presents itself. More often than not, that led to a bad shot. It wasn't too bad when he had the hot hand but when he didn't, it was costly.

[Valor]

Bulls: We need a better starting two guard who can create his own shot and give us a solid 8-10 ppg, and drop 15-20 on certain nights when needed. As i've said numerous times, if we could somehow get our hands on Courtney Lee without giving up valuable assets like Asik and Gibson, it'll be huge.

[Fresh8]

- Pau Gasol win gold with Spain and feel good about himself again
- Keep Gasol/Bynum/Odom/Artest/Barnes together
- Kobe Bryant rests
- Trade Luke Walton... It's time to do so
- Re-sign Shannon Brown
- Finalize coaching staff
- Upgrade at starting point guard spot

[Sauru]

i think the lakers should just trade the entire roster to the clippers while taking on their roster

[Patr1ck]

I almost posted that, Sauru. I had this thought, that if you traded the entire team to the Lakers, they would somehow be a contender, just by being a Laker.

[air gordon]

Butler definitely went to waste after the Bulls picked him up. I'm not saying he's the answer to all their problems or that they'd be celebrating with the Larry O'Brien trophy right now if he'd played, but why bother bringing him in just to ride the bench and hit the occasional three in garbage time? If they bring him back, hopefully he gets a bit more of a run and gives them some effective minutes.

yeh Thibbs never gave him a chance. guess he didn't want to break up the continuity. Butler could be had for cheap. i say resign him and give him a chance to play his way his way into the rotation

Bulls: We need a better starting two guard who can create his own shot and give us a solid 8-10 ppg, and drop 15-20 on certain nights when needed. As i've said numerous times, if we could somehow get our hands on Courtney Lee without giving up valuable assets like Asik and Gibson, it'll be huge.

the rumor was Houston wanted Asik for Lee. i don't see Houston asking for less.

[Andrew]

Yeah, seems likely. I did think he'd get a bit more of a run but I guess Thibbs was well and truly set on his rotation at that point. If he re-signs, maybe he cracks the rotation in training camp. We'll see.

Lee wouldn't be bad but I'm hesitant to give up Asik this soon. Maybe as part of a deal for a bigger name but probably not for Lee.

[Sauru]

I almost posted that, Sauru. I had this thought, that if you traded the entire team to the Lakers, they would somehow be a contender, just by being a Laker.

thats what i am saying. i bet if they flipped teams somehow the lakers still get the better record even looking far worse on paper lol

[Andrew]

I disagree, give the Clippers a better roster (or at least more talented in their top three or four players combined) and they'll finish with a better record than the Lakers. It happened in 2005 and 2006.

[Patr1ck]

I think the sentiment we are getting at is either the Lakers popularity and history with fans, media, and winning seems to give them an edge, whether it's something intangible like players actually believing they can win, or that whole conspiracy thing with the nba and larger market teams. Look how quickly Steve Blake went cross town? Do you think if Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon or Chris Kaman would jump on that same opportunity if it was given to them?

I like that you disagree, though. I'm pretty sure the Lakers are just flat out a better organization.

[Andrew]

I definitely agree that they're the better organisation, though I still reckon if the teams swapped rosters they would actually finish better. I don't believe in curses or anything of that nature but you could probably say there's a losing atmosphere about the Clippers, they've had so many losing seasons, so much misfortune and so much embarrassment with Sterling that you wonder if they can ever get it right and whether it is just a matter of time before players like Griffin and Gordon look to move on. After Griffin's rookie year though, this has to be the most optimistic outlook they've had in a while.

[[Q]]

the problem is that Donald Sterling doesn't give a shit. look at the difference between him and someone who is a fan of their club like Mark Cuban. 10 years ago, Dallas emerged as a major player in the west after a long period of mediocrity and the clippers were primed to follow in their footsteps after acquiring brand to team with odom, qrich, miles, dooling, maggette, etc. they then dumped miles to rent miller for a season and had nothing to show for it afterwards. same thing happened when brand left for philly. dirk stayed all of these years and they managed to keep very good pieces around him and they finally got the right squad and they won it all this year. i don't see Blake & EG staying once their rookie contracts are up.

I disagree, give the Clippers a better roster (or at least more talented in their top three or four players combined) and they'll finish with a better record than the Lakers. It happened in 2005 and 2006.

that's only 2 years out of how many? even in their relatively unsuccessful runs in the mid 90s with Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel, Vlade Divac, and Cedric Ceballos they still managed to do better than the Clippers

[Patr1ck]

Remember what happened with Brand. He got superstar-itis after that good season and instead of continuing his work ethic in the off season that he did before, he played in the nba europe thing and came back and got injured for most of the season.

Not to mention landing Cassell was too late in his career for the team to really improve. I felt the same way about the Baron Davis acquisition.

On the note of Blake Griffin, he signed an extension along with Bledsoe and Aminu. Smart move on all accounts.

[Andrew]

I disagree, give the Clippers a better roster (or at least more talented in their top three or four players combined) and they'll finish with a better record than the Lakers. It happened in 2005 and 2006.

that's only 2 years out of how many? even in their relatively unsuccessful runs in the mid 90s with Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel, Vlade Divac, and Cedric Ceballos they still managed to do better than the Clippers

Well, yeah, the Clippers having a better roster or better top three/four players than the Lakers hasn't happened very often. Those Laker teams you mentioned were still better than the Clippers, even when they missed the Playoffs in 1994 they finished with a better record.

[air gordon]

the problem is that Donald Sterling doesn't give a shit. look at the difference between him and someone who is a fan of their club like Mark Cuban. 10 years ago, Dallas emerged as a major player in the west after a long period of mediocrity... dirk stayed all of these years and they managed to keep very good pieces around him and they finally got the right squad and they won it all this year.

this is a bit of a revisionist historian argument. all the criticisms of Cuban....He let Nash go. Traded a then young-injury free PG named Devin Harris plus 2(?) 1st round draft picks for Kidd (i'm sure benji remembers commenting on this). continuous bad contracts given to mediocre players.. continuous distractions for being outspoken/criticizing the refs....the big contract to a 30yr+ Nowitzki... we forget/forgive him all of a sudden

was there anyone here giving Cuban credit for putting together a title contender before the season started?? i know i sure didn't

[Andrew]

Agreed, though it's probably fair to say he cares more about his investment beyond revenue, more so than Sterling.

[Patr1ck]

^That's an understatement. Mark Cuban said it during the celebration, that he didn't care about the money. He wanted to win. What did Sterling do this year? Traded to save money.

[hova-]

the problem is that Donald Sterling doesn't give a shit. look at the difference between him and someone who is a fan of their club like Mark Cuban. 10 years ago, Dallas emerged as a major player in the west after a long period of mediocrity... dirk stayed all of these years and they managed to keep very good pieces around him and they finally got the right squad and they won it all this year.

this is a bit of a revisionist historian argument. all the criticisms of Cuban....He let Nash go. Traded a then young-injury free PG named Devin Harris plus 2(?) 1st round draft picks for Kidd (i'm sure benji remembers commenting on this). continuous bad contracts given to mediocre players.. continuous distractions for being outspoken/criticizing the refs....the big contract to a 30yr+ Nowitzki... we forget/forgive him all of a sudden

was there anyone here giving Cuban credit for putting together a title contender before the season started?? i know i sure didn't

The Harris move turned out to be pretty good I guess, the Nets didn't land any great player since then and traded him away (at least they got Deron Williams, which is definitely great, but they did not get to the Playoffs once since acquiring Harris I guess).

Giving a 30+ Dirk a four-year contract? For 17M$ in the first year (this year? That must be great if you ask me. That is only the 10th highest salary in the league and he was definitely better than that. And also, as long as he stays healthy, I doubt he will become worse over the years. He's at his peak right now as he looks more experienced and is just playing as well as ever.

One thing I agree on is that some contracts are off. Brendan Haywood might be the best example. But still, the Mavericks' front office had quite a few good moves.

[debiler]

You can't argue with Dirk's contract. His game isn't based on athletics, but on smart moves and his amazing go-to-move. I say he will still be able to pull it off in three years as effectively as today. I think resigning Chandler to a reasonable salary will be crucial for the next season. I'm not sure about Butler, though. Shawn Marion still has some years in him (plus his contract is still running until 2014), and Corey Brewer needs to be developed. So playing time at the SF spot will be limited anyway. Haywood's contract is a total killer. But I can see no way they could get rid of him (and I don't see Mahinmi as a backup for Chandler yet).

[George7]

Bulls
-the first is obvious.Get a SG who can make his own shot.

-If the chance to trade for another superstar arises,go for it provided they don't trade the entire team.

-give a second chance to Butler.He really has abilities to be one valuable asset of the bench,and is half a year on the team,not going to mess chemistry.

-take advance of those draft picks in this year's draft.Even if the draft is not that good as in previous years there are many great options for the Bulls who can either use their picks or trade for higher ones.
Kyle Singler:the best player,who is expected to be drafted at the last picks of the first round.Bulls can get him and add an experienced and sized player at the perimeter.
JaJuan Johnson and Shelvin Mack are another two nice options in those late 1st round picks
And if the Bulls trade for a somewhat higher pick they can get a player like Honeycutt or Marshon Brooks.Those two will surely fir in the rotation and reading their draft reports in the net, I think they can blend in the Bulls style of play.

A thought as well:Getting another really good PG,either from draft or from the FA's and try Rose at the SG.Not as a permanent solution but he could use some of his playing time there and utilize better his speed and scoring instinct.

[hova-]

You can't argue with Dirk's contract. His game isn't based on athletics, but on smart moves and his amazing go-to-move. I say he will still be able to pull it off in three years as effectively as today. I think resigning Chandler to a reasonable salary will be crucial for the next season. I'm not sure about Butler, though. Shawn Marion still has some years in him (plus his contract is still running until 2014), and Corey Brewer needs to be developed. So playing time at the SF spot will be limited anyway. Haywood's contract is a total killer. But I can see no way they could get rid of him (and I don't see Mahinmi as a backup for Chandler yet).

What's critical about Mahinmi in my opinion is that he is already 24 and still not even a key player. I know big men need time to develope, but at 24 as a Euro, you should already be able to give your team more than 4-5 quick fouls (okay, it was the NBA Finals, still).

I like him as a guy though. He seems to be fresh, I loved how he was screaming out loud in the huddle before game 4 or 5.

The Mavs future does not look that bad, the team will remain a playoff team as long as Dirk is there (just like Duncan in San Antonio), but I reckon guys like Beaubois and Brewer aren't good enough to take over that team. Building via draft will be difficult (although Donnie had some good late picks), so maybe free agency will be the answer one day (you never know with the lockout coming etc.)

To make it short, next 2-3 years are secured for the Mavs.

[debiler]

You can't argue with Dirk's contract. His game isn't based on athletics, but on smart moves and his amazing go-to-move. I say he will still be able to pull it off in three years as effectively as today. I think resigning Chandler to a reasonable salary will be crucial for the next season. I'm not sure about Butler, though. Shawn Marion still has some years in him (plus his contract is still running until 2014), and Corey Brewer needs to be developed. So playing time at the SF spot will be limited anyway. Haywood's contract is a total killer. But I can see no way they could get rid of him (and I don't see Mahinmi as a backup for Chandler yet).

What's critical about Mahinmi in my opinion is that he is already 24 and still not even a key player. I know big men need time to develope, but at 24 as a Euro, you should already be able to give your team more than 4-5 quick fouls (okay, it was the NBA Finals, still).

I like him as a guy though. He seems to be fresh, I loved how he was screaming out loud in the huddle before game 4 or 5.

The Mavs future does not look that bad, the team will remain a playoff team as long as Dirk is there (just like Duncan in San Antonio), but I reckon guys like Beaubois and Brewer aren't good enough to take over that team. Building via draft will be difficult (although Donnie had some good late picks), so maybe free agency will be the answer one day (you never know with the lockout coming etc.)

To make it short, next 2-3 years are secured for the Mavs.

Free agency could be a factor, you're right. As reigning champion, you're more likely to attract quality players who will sign for less money. Especially because our main guys aren't getting any younger.
I'm also curious what will happen with J.J. If he doesn't sign with the Mavs, the 1 spot will need depth, although Jet can play that position, too.