[meru]

After watching the Pistons demolish the Lakers, I've come to a conclusion. I wanna be like THEM. And we're not going to do it with Zach as our star player. Yes, he's a great low-post scorer and rebounder. But he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, he's a bit of a ball hog, he can't block shots, and his defence in general is, let's be kind, not his strongest suit.

Soo... trade him to Orlando for the #1 pick and take Okafor (not Howard, who is so full of himself he'll choke, and turns out to be 2" shorter than advertised). Okafor is Ben Wallace-esque, with better O. He's a GREAT guy, very smart, and at least as hard working as Zach, only with more physical potential (if undeniably fewer skills at the moment).

Another reason: we're going to get diddley for SAR, so why not use him? But imagine a front line of Miles, Okafor and Ratliff - it could rival Detroit's. Now all we need is guards who don't totally suck.

[B_&_B]

When I read the name of the thread... I thought this idea was laughable... but you do make a valid point after reading your post... doesnt Okafor's back problems bother you?? especially for a kid his age.

[blazerboy30]

I would do that deal.......for me, it was SOOOO exciting watching the pistons because they were so athletic. The consistently were running circles around the lakers and jumping over them.

Z-bo is FAR from athletic. A lot of times it looks like he can barely dunk. I would prefer to have Omeka, and have players on the floor whol will more without the ball, pass the ball around, and make their teammates better.

If Okafur averaged around 14 pts, 8 rebs, with much better defense, bball IQ, passing, leadership and athletism.....I would take that over Zach's 20 and 10 a game anyday.

[meru]

Originally posted by <b>JohnnyCash</b>:
doesnt Okafor's back problems bother you?? especially for a kid his age.

Yes they do a bit. But that's why you have doctors to check him out. It sounds like he just fractured some vertebrae - which isn't pleasant, but isn't a chronic condition. Hell, Tracy McGrady has worse problems with his back, but nobody shies away from trades involving him.

The thing I _didn't_ mention is that the Magic might not go for this. I know we all think the sun shines out of Zach's arse, but that's because we're desperate people. The Magic might value Okafor more for the same reason I do. They might go for it in a last desperate bid to placate T-Mac into staying, but if they've decided he's gone, they won't.

One more piece of trivia: Zach and Okafor were high school seniors the same year. Zach was ranked #1 - guess where Okafor was ranked?

[Fork]

Originally posted by <b>meru</b>!
After watching the Pistons demolish the Lakers, I've come to a conclusion. I wanna be like THEM. And we're not going to do it with Zach as our star player. Yes, he's a great low-post scorer and rebounder. But he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, he's a bit of a ball hog, he can't block shots, and his defence in general is, let's be kind, not his strongest suit.

Soo... trade him to Orlando for the #1 pick and take Okafor (not Howard, who is so full of himself he'll choke, and turns out to be 2" shorter than advertised). Okafor is Ben Wallace-esque, with better O. He's a GREAT guy, very smart, and at least as hard working as Zach, only with more physical potential (if undeniably fewer skills at the moment).

Another reason: we're going to get diddley for SAR, so why not use him? But imagine a front line of Miles, Okafor and Ratliff - it could rival Detroit's. Now all we need is guards who don't totally suck.

Honestly, I can think of several trades I'd like to see involving Zach, but this isn't one of them.

Trading a known commodity for a risky #1 pick is not good for us. I really believe it'd take more than just Okafor to trade a 20-10 guy, bad defense and pea-brain or not.

[Oldmangrouch]

We have a 22 yr old who has proven he can give an NBA team 20/10.

Without Zach, we could be the worst offensive team in the league. Please don't give me the "we have SAR!" speech. His value is dropping like a paralyzed vulture.

What do we get in return? A player who none of us knows well enough to disrespect (yet). A player with a bad back. A player whose upside is a slightly better Dale Davis.



I know the grass is always greener and all that, but c'mon now.

[QRICH]

I'd actually want Emeka WITH Zach. But getting the #1 pick to get Emeka w/o Randolph is slim to none. Emeka would be the perect player to put along side Randolph. Todays Insider says the measurments they've seen online are inaccurate, Emeka is 6'9" even barefeet (9'3" standing reach) I think he'd easily handle the 5 in the NBA.

[Terrible]

I think SAR is a much smarter "TEAM" player than Zach, that said I think we should trade Zach, our #13 pick and Q for TMAC or Paul Pierce.

Then you'd have a team of
PG- Damon
SG-TMac/Paul Pierce
SF- D Miles
PF- SAR
Center- Theo

That team would be great inside and out and would be a ton smarter than what we have right now.

It's true that Zach can score at will but he doesn't get the rest of his team involved when doing so. SAR looks to pass out of the double and post up and get to the line when single covered.

I don't know if Zach will ever be there mentally.

[Yega1979]

Getting Okeafor would not make us like the Pistons. Detriot has players who can shoot, we do not. Every year people clammer about and try to copy the current champion. I think it's a little ridiculas.

For example, when the Rams won the super bowl, everyone went out and tried to create a high powered offense, then the bucs won and everyone said "defense wins championships", then the Pats won and everyone is saying, "a good balanced all-round team with no stars wins championships" get real! Whoever scores the most points wins, be it via offense or defense is irrelevant.

Okefor is only putting up 14 ppg in COLLEGE...what do you think Zach would be putting up?

[QRICH]

Originally posted by <b>Yega1979</b>!
Getting Okeafor would not make us like the Pistons. Detriot has players who can shoot, we do not. Every year people clammer about and try to copy the current champion. I think it's a little ridiculas.

For example, when the Rams won the super bowl, everyone went out and tried to create a high powered offense, then the bucs won and everyone said "defense wins championships", then the Pats won and everyone is saying, "a good balanced all-round team with no stars wins championships" get real! Whoever scores the most points wins, be it via offense or defense is irrelevant.

Okefor is only putting up 14 ppg in COLLEGE...what do you think Zach would be putting up?

Actually, he's putting up 17.6 ppg 11.5 rpg.

If Zach was at MSU this season, I'd see him putting up around 24-25 ppg, some where in that neighborhood

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by <b>Yega1979</b>!
Okefor is only putting up 14 ppg in COLLEGE...what do you think Zach would be putting up?

What? Okafor averaged over 18 points a game last year and it would have been closer to 20 until his back injury cut into his playing time.

As far as the main point in this thread, the Magic will never trade Okafor for Randolph. We already have two power forwards who can't play defense to save their lives. When you're the worse defensive team in the league you don't acquire players like Zach.

[QRICH]

Originally posted by <b>MagicStick</b>!


What? Okafor averaged over 18 points a game last year and it would have been closer to 20 until his back injury cut into his playing time.

As far as the main point in this thread, the Magic will never trade Okafor for Randolph. We already have two power forwards who can't play defense to save their lives. When you're the worse defensive team in the league you don't acquire players like Zach.

And we would never trade Zach for Emeka. Blazers - Zach + Emeka = Worst Offensive team in the NBA

[ZBoFanatic]

the whole idea of trading one of our powerforwards is to strengthen our guard position. what the hell would trading for another PF do for us?

[cimalee]

if you guys were the gm we would be a toliet bowl team

[HOWIE]

Originally posted by <b>Oldmangrouch</b>!
We have a 22 yr old who has proven he can give an NBA team 20/10.

Without Zach, we could be the worst offensive team in the league. Please don't give me the "we have SAR!" speech. His value is dropping like a paralyzed