Should consider Rodney Carney

[RAcker]

I loved Carney coming out of school, but it concerns me that he hasn't been able to earn consistent playing time on terrible teams.  Unfortunately, he seems to be a bench player, through and through.

As mentioned above, he'd be an okay player as the fourth wing.  I'd prefer a more consistent defender, but Carney could fill a role (he's certainly a good scorer).  However, I wouldn't want to give him more than the minimum.

This got me to thinking...are we all more comfortable with proven vets(who have probably been starters in the past) with a little more mileage on them rather than shoot for what Roy basically called career bench players that may be a little younger?  I would think considering where the C's are right now that the answer would be a clear yes.

[winsomme]

If Carney was so good, then why didn't Minnesota even extend a qualifying offer to him to make him a restricted free agent? Why would they just let him go for nothing? These are just some things to keep in mind when considering Carney. Alot of people are in love with his athleticism, and I think that's why alot of people like him, but he is not a very good basketball player, it took 8 or so years for people to realize that Stromile Swift wasn't a good basketball player(who by the way is a free agent), it's just that Athleticism factor and that word "potential" that people seem to be infatuated by. 

I don't think anybody is claiming that he is a huge talent. for me, I think he is just further along in terms of his development than say Walker and JR.

he actually seems like a very similar player to me as Giddens...except a little bit taller and closer to a SF dimensions-wise...

i could definitely see swapping him and JR with Minny and having it work out for both teams because MIN can wait a couple more years for JR to put his game together and we could benefit from Carney being ready to step and play minutes as a backup SF.

Maybe Carney is more developed because of his playing time last year, but if you put Carney on this team last year, you can bet that he would have had the same treatment as Bill Walker and Giddens and not see any playing time at all. You can also say the same thing if u switch it around, if Bill Walker or JR Giddens took Carney's place last year, you can bet that they would have seen similar minutes as Carney.

The point I'm trying to make is that we already 2 very similar players in Bill Walker and Jr Giddens on this team and bringing in Carney would be a waste of time. It would be signing someone for the sake of signing a player, but it wouldn't really accomplish the need of having a capable backup for Pierce. Now if we lost one of Bill Walker/JR Giddens, and we were signing Rodney Carney to replace one of the two then I would have no problem with bringing him in. But with the current roster situation, I don't think Carney is the right player to fill the roster out.

I basically agree with you here. I don't think it would be a waste to the degree that you are saying, but it is possible the Walker or JR improved to the point where they would be on the same level and duplicating abilities.

like i was saying, though, the ideal move would be to swap JR for Carney. that way you don't lose the roster spot and get a player that is at least as good as JR who has had two years more service time and is more likely to be a reliable contributor this season.

I guess i am higher on Carney than most. I think he really started to put it together at the end of last season and we could end up being the beneficiary of that improved game.