Ideal Fits - A Trade Discussion Generator

[thead]

In attempt to get us to think outside the box I thought it might be interesting to see where a player we have now would be an ideal fit somewhere else. We got a long summer ahead of us and it might be interesting to see if we end up with some trades that haven't come up yet.



Par Example:

Landry Fields -

pros: great off ball movement - strong defensive identity - unselfish - rebounding
cons: ulnar nerve.

Ideal Fits

1.) Indiana.

With the emergence of Paul George at the 3 and the inside out style of play, an unselfish player that shares the ball and can keep his man in front of him would allow the bigs to stay home more and make the paint an even more perilous situation to be in. If his shot returns, great! Indiana has a complimentary starting 2 that can knock down corner 3's. If not, most of the offense is going to go through George, Hibbert and West anyway.

HOW: With the emergence of George and their terrific post season run, the only thing truly lacking is a deeper bench. Landry Fields - Amir Johnson - Aaron Gray for Danny Granger + pick gets this deal done.

WHY: Danny Granger is not a bad player, just an injured one. If I'm Indiana I want to off-load a player in order to strengthen my bench. Amir would strengthen an already stingy big rotation. Fields is the gamble but if healthy will be a great asset.

2.) Chicago

He would be right at home in the defense first program of Thibs. The offense being oriented on a drive and kick game would allow a sneaky back door cutter like Fields to thrive. A perimeter defense oriented on Rose/Fields/Deng would likely be amongst the stingiest in the league.

HOW: DeMar DeRozan and Landry Fields for Carlos Boozer

WHY: DeMar replaces Rip, Landry plays 6th man and Gibson can take his much earned starting role.

3.) San Antonio

If ANYONE can get 8.5 million dollars worth of production out of an unselfish team oriented player like Fields, it is San Antonio. He may be priced out of going there but his skillset is ideal.

How: Boris Diaw/Corey Joseph pick and cash for Landry Fields.

Why: Adds a nice compliment to the trio of Green, Leonard, and Manu. Manu is aging and either Landry or Green will be sliding into that 6th man role over the next 2 - 3 years. Fields has the perfect attitude and skill set to play San Antonio ball.

There ya go people. That simple. Instead of thinking like our GM, try and think like the other 29

[magoon]

Okay! Let's do Rudy!

PROS: Extremely athletic, solid defensive player, draws opposing defenders to give teammates more looks, good chance of regaining high-level shooting form

CONS: Mediocre basketball IQ - needs a true floor general PG to truly excel. Also, there's his giant salary to consider.

Ideal fits:

1.) Cleveland. They have the cap room (only $32 million committed next season with everybody important already covered). They don't have a quality starting SF (Alonzo Gee is a solid role-player but he's not the threat that Kyrie Irving needs) and they actually want to trade for an SF rather than sign through free agency because the only top-tier SFs this year available as free agents want max money (Iguodala and Josh Smith) and Cleveland needs to upgrade at both SF and SG at a minimum and they don't have enough cap room to do both unless they trade away some bodies. And they very clearly want to jump to the playoffs.

HOW: Rudy to Cleveland for Gee, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Zeller and cash/picks (yes, multiples - Cleveland has so many that they can afford them).

WHY: Tristan Thompson is the only player here that Cleveland will really miss, but it's much better for Cleveland to be looking to sign a power forward in free agency than a small forward (David West, J.J. Hickson, and Paul Millsap will all be looking and none are max-deal seekers like Smith and Iggy are) or alternately Cleveland can hit up the draft for Nerlens Noel or Anthony Bennett (or trade more of their wealth of picks for extra talent). Cleveland upgrades severely at SF without taking on too much additional money (only raises their commitment by about $5-6 million) and is poised for a strong, balanced team to make their return to serious competition.

2.) New Orleans. Like Cleveland, they have lots of money wiggle room next season ($34M committed). Like Cleveland, they are on the cusp of playoff competition (although of course the bar is much higher in the West). Like Cleveland, they don't have a good starting small forward (Al-Farouq Aminu hasn't worked out like they hoped). Like Cleveland, they have a good playmaking point guard (Vasquez). Unlike Cleveland, they have one big salary star player (Eric Gordon) who is unhappy and wants to be traded. New Orleans is going to trade Gordon - that's a given - but wouldn't they prefer to get something better than a few role-players in the bargain? Well, with Rudy that's doable in a three-way trade.

HOW: Rudy to New Orleans, Eric Gordon to either A) Phoenix or B) the Clippers, and Toronto gets A) Jared Dudley, Shannon Brown and pick(s) from either or both NO/Phoenix or B) Caron Butler and Eric Bledsoe, plus maybe a pick from NO.

WHY: New Orleans has already been explained, so let's jump to the other teams. Phoenix wants Gordon back and Gordon wants to go back, so facilitate the deal because NO doesn't want what PHX can offer, but Toronto would cheerfully take on Dudley and Brown (who are the quality backups at their respective positions the Raptors need). The Clippers are already apparently trying to work a deal for Butler/Bledsoe for Gordon, but NO is balking because it's not enough value; again, Toronto facilitates, getting NO the star player for star player NO wants, and taking on the bench players the Clippers are willing to give up. All three teams walk away happy: two of them get star players, and the Raptors get good bench players, picks and lose Gay's salary. (This is the sort of trade that Masai Ujiri is known for making, I might add.)

3.) Philadelphia. Again, a team with a decent amount of cap room ($46M committed) that needs a starting-quality small forward (Evan Turner and Dorelle Wright ain't it) and has a top-notch playmaking PG (Jrue Holiday).

HOW: Evan Turner and Jason Richardson plus a pick of some kind for Rudy.

WHY: Turner/Richardson represent about $40M of salary commitments over the next three years, so taking on Rudy over two years actually saves the club a few million bucks while upgrading them at small forward (and not coincidentally getting rid of Richardson, who will be out most likely well into November/December with his knee injury). The Sixers now have cap room to round out their team more successfully and chase a playoff spot in the East.