Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuca
|
With the way JO's been playing this year, injured and not, absolutely. He's really not necessary in this offense unless everyone is missing their shots, and even then, he likely will, as well.
Now, I'm 90% sure this deal won't go through, but if it does, Indiana finally gets the slasher/dunker they've never had (Freddie Jones was nice, but he wasn't much of a slasher and rarely could dunk on people), along with actual creativity from the SG position. Sure, Carter still takes more 3's than he should and isn't dunking as much as he used to, but those few times would be absolutely spectacular to a dead Indiana crowd.
Gaining 3 players for just 1 means we have to make a cut. One of Stephen Graham, Harrison, Andre Owens, or Travis Diener. As great as Andre's been this year defensively and even in improving his shot, he's not a PG, and is rather worthless at SG. The addition of Marcus Williams gives him no role on the team, so I would cut him. However, the more likely situation is the cutting of Stephen Graham, who played great his last game and hasn't had many chances all year. I like him, but I guess O'Brien doesn't. He's strong and quick enough to defend, but he's also a smart guy and a decent shooter. So, expect one of those two to lose his job, unless the smart move is made of trading Harrison for a 2nd rounder. Bird's too proud to trade a first rounder he drafted for a future second.
Say this does go through, that leaves us with this depth:
C- Foster/Murphy/Magloire/Harrison
Magloire would probably play backup or even start for a while, but fall out of favor with O'Brien because of his slowness. Murphy playing Center is horrible for our rebounding, so I hope in this situation he never would again.
PF- Granger/Murphy/Foster/Diogu
Same situation with Ike. Too slow and raw for O'Brien. He was great earlier on in the season, but if he's not going to play, I don't see the point in not trading him with Murphy for someone more explosive at Center. When Bird built this team for running, he completely forgot about finding people who can actually finish strong. Dunleavy's creative with the ball, but he can't take a hit and still finish. Granger usually misses from the interior unless it's a straight-away dunk. Murphy can hit anything on a good night from anywhere, but still isn't going to dunk on anyone very often. Harrison and Diogu can't jump fast enough, not to mention Ike can still easily be pushed around. If anyone watched the Sacramento game, Mikki Moore would be perfect for that role. If Ike still has some value, maybe we could pry John Salmons away, also, giving the team a considerable amount of depth. As unlikely as it is, maybe we could throw in Ike and Harrison and get Sean Williams for New Jersey. Doubtful, but it'd be amazing for this team. If anyone's noticed, Indy's had a total of 0 alley-oops this year and probably for the entire franchise's existence. That's pathetic with Jamaal Tinsley and Mike Dunleavy on the floor.
SF- Dunleavy/Granger/Williams/Graham
Graham's great, but he'd likely be off the team at this point. Dunleavy's minutes would take a serious hit when we don't go with small ball, which would probably be fine for a half-court offense on the days his shots aren't falling. Problem is, it seems the days Dunleavy's shots aren't falling, Granger's aren't, either. He really needs to work on driving to the basket and probably go up to 240 pounds next season. He's decently quick, but far too weak to take a bump from even Travis Diener. Too bad for Williams with this. He might have to bulk up and play the 4, but he and Danny should be fine as our future 3/4 combination, which can also play 3/2. Honestly, Williams is going to be a better player than Granger, whether it be in Indiana or not.
SG- Carter/Daniels/Rush/Dunleavy/Shawne Williams
Of course Vince is going to start. That should be the only given with this potential team. Daniels and Rush are interchangable as Vince's main backup, depending upon Daniels' knee and Rush's shot at the time.
PG- Tinsley/Marcus Williams/Daniels/Diener/Owens
When Tinsley's hurt, Daniels will likely play a few PG minutes. Under no circumstance should Dunleavy ever be the PG of this team. He can pass and dribble well for a 6'8" guy, but that's the problem. He's too tall and always loses the ball in double teams. I don't know how O'Brien would feel about having a poor shooter as Tinsley's primary backup, but with Daniels' height, Diener's shot, and O'Brien's man-crush on Owens, Williams could fall to the end of the rotation before season's end.
JO talks with New Jersey
Re: JO talks with New Jersey
Linear Mode
