what player would you add next year?

[Who]

Backup big man like Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson.

I think Tyrus Thomas is an interesting idea, though. He's the one "flavor" of big that we lack. We have 2 perimeter, high post guys (KG, Wallace), two scrambling hustlers (Shelden and Baby), and one banger (Perk). Thomas could bring us energy, athleticism, youth, and shot blocking. Great option off the bench. Friends with Glen Davis, for what its worth. Most importantly, I think he has the intensity to buy into our system and play really hard-nosed defense. As a member of the Bulls playing against the Celtics We've only seen his intensity channeled into foolish aggression and technical fouls, but I think with the structure our team provides his energy could be re-directed into something very positive (a la a giant Tony Allen).

I love the idea of Thomas, but does anyone know what his contract situation is for next season?

Charlotte cannot afford to pay Felton + Thomas contract extension. That would put them over the luxury tax (assuming MLE contracts for both) which appearantly they are unwilling to do.

Thomas is a restricted free agent.

It's unclear what the Bobcats plan is here but it's probable that at least one of those two guys is going to be pried away from the Bobcats this summer.

[Rondo_is_better]

Backup big man like Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson.

If not, out of perimeter players, maybe Dorell Wright. Not great in any one area but solid at everything. Nice all-round player with a lot of unfulfilled defensive potential.

Dorell Wright is as dumb as a rock. Paul Pierce did the most standard move in his arsenal at the end of game 2 and shook Dorell out of his shoes with a simple head fake, step-back. He's like Tony Allen without the defensive ability.

Wright = very good ball-handler + good passer + 39% from three + solid pull up jumper + excellent finisher in transition and good cutter + good-to-very good rebounder + excellent athlete with size/length, quickness and explosiveness + mediocre defender (not a stopper, should not be used against marquee offensive players).

A lot of small positive contributions in multiple areas which allows him to have a pretty big impact overall (for a role player).

I also like the idea of Wright and TA playing together off the bench. Use TA as the backup point guard and let Wright share in some of those ball-handling duties. I think those two would be a nice combination together.

You're making Dorell Wright sounds like a 2-time MVP. If he's so good at all those things why does he have marginal success on the floor. Why isn't he playing more minutes for a terrible team like Miami?   

[JBone4eva]

Thaddeus young would look incredible in green. young, has decent range and can run and finish with Rondo. Wish we could make that happen.

[RebusRankin]

An athletic big and an athletic swingman.

[Who]

Backup big man like Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson.

If not, out of perimeter players, maybe Dorell Wright. Not great in any one area but solid at everything. Nice all-round player with a lot of unfulfilled defensive potential.

Dorell Wright is as dumb as a rock. Paul Pierce did the most standard move in his arsenal at the end of game 2 and shook Dorell out of his shoes with a simple head fake, step-back. He's like Tony Allen without the defensive ability.

Wright = very good ball-handler + good passer + 39% from three + solid pull up jumper + excellent finisher in transition and good cutter + good-to-very good rebounder + excellent athlete with size/length, quickness and explosiveness + mediocre defender (not a stopper, should not be used against marquee offensive players).

A lot of small positive contributions in multiple areas which allows him to have a pretty big impact overall (for a role player).

I also like the idea of Wright and TA playing together off the bench. Use TA as the backup point guard and let Wright share in some of those ball-handling duties. I think those two would be a nice combination together.

You're making Dorell Wright sounds like a 2-time MVP. If he's so good at all those things why does he have marginal success on the floor. Why isn't he playing more minutes for a terrible team like Miami?   

Dorell Wright has the skill + athleticism of an All-Star talent and the mentality of a role player.

Which means he is unlikely to ever maximize his offensive talents and become the go-to-guy that he could become (skill wise, athleticism wise) ... but is still a good role player with the potential to become an elite role player (if he improves his defense -- his weakest area).

Also, Dorell Wright was the third best player on the Miami Heat last season after Wade and Haslem. He was a big part of Miami's success, especially late in the season during their winning streak. 

[BadNewsBarnes]

I like the Tyrus Thomas idea.  I was hoping we were going to find a way to snag him at the trade dead line. 

Steve Blake would be interesting, decent back-up, can hit the 3.
How about Raja Bell?  If healthy he wouldn't be a bad pick-up.  I think he'd be better than Marquis.

[housecall]

Travis Outlaw doesn't strike me as a player who can be relied upon in the playoffs.

EDIT:  And looking up the numbers, he's made the playoffs once, and shot 31.8% there.

1playoffs appearance doesn't tell what Outlaw brings to the table.TrailBlazers lost in the 1stround that season to Houston.He's a role player that brings more than scoring to the game.Example:J.Posey's numbers are 7/4,but that doesn't define who he is as a player.Would you say from looking at Posey's numbers alone he is a good player?I feel Outlaw brings some intangibles  that are not always found in the boxscores,and he is younger than Miller&Posey.

[Who]

Finding role players who can make positive in multiple areas is pretty rare (like Wright can).

When you acquire a player like that and develop him further (still young and inexperienced with considerable potential + showed good improvement throughout last season) ... that is something you should strongly consider.

[Rondo_is_better]

Backup big man like Tyrus Thomas or Amir Johnson.

If not, out of perimeter players, maybe Dorell Wright. Not great in any one area but solid at everything. Nice all-round player with a lot of unfulfilled defensive potential.

Dorell Wright is as dumb as a rock. Paul Pierce did the most standard move in his arsenal at the end of game 2 and shook Dorell out of his shoes with a simple head fake, step-back. He's like Tony Allen without the defensive ability.

Wright = very good ball-handler + good passer + 39% from three + solid pull up jumper + excellent finisher in transition and good cutter + good-to-very good rebounder + excellent athlete with size/length, quickness and explosiveness + mediocre defender (not a stopper, should not be used against marquee offensive players).

A lot of small positive contributions in multiple areas which allows him to have a pretty big impact overall (for a role player).

I also like the idea of Wright and TA playing together off the bench. Use TA as the backup point guard and let Wright share in some of those ball-handling duties. I think those two would be a nice combination together.

You're making Dorell Wright sounds like a 2-time MVP. If he's so good at all those things why does he have marginal success on the floor. Why isn't he playing more minutes for a terrible team like Miami?   

Dorell Wright has the skill + athleticism of an All-Star talent and the mentality of a role player.

Which means he is unlikely to ever maximize his offensive talents and become the go-to-guy that he could become (skill wise, athleticism wise) ... but is still a good role player with the potential to become an elite role player (if he improves his defense -- his weakest area).

Also, Dorell Wright was the third best player on the Miami Heat last season after Wade and Haslem. He was a big part of Miami's success, especially late in the season during their winning streak. 

If he was the third best player I don't understand why he didn't play more. How often does one of your top 3 players average 20 minutes per game for a season? I won't argue any of your other points because I've only seen him play against the Celtics and that's not enough of a sample.

For what its worth though, he's always been terrible against the Celtics (i.e. a real team, not putting up numbers against the Knicks).

[Who]

Travis Outlaw doesn't strike me as a player who can be relied upon in the playoffs.

EDIT:  And looking up the numbers, he's made the playoffs once, and shot 31.8% there.

1playoffs appearance doesn't tell what Outlaw brings to the table.TrailBlazers lost in the 1stround that season to Houston.He's a role player that brings more than scoring to the game.Example:J.Posey's numbers are 7/4,but that doesn't define who he is as a player.Would you say from looking at Posey's numbers alone he is a good player?I feel Outlaw brings some intangibles  that are not always found in the boxscores,and he is younger than Miller&Posey.

Travis Outlaw is an isolation based scorer who can be taken out the game by a strong wing defender (since he has only one move -- one or two dribble pull up jumper -- and feasts on slow PFs but finds it much tougher against SFs) ... which makes him an unreliable scoring option and prone to absentee offensive performances in the playoffs.

Outlaw is also a fairly mediocre defensive player largely due to his lack of commitment and work ethic both in practices and during games (good length, makes people shoot over the top of him but regularly gets beaten off the dribble when defending the wing and is a so-so help defender). A waste of athletic ability (defensively) ... but maybe this can still change. Maybe he can still develop here.

[Eja117]

Kirk Heinrich? I don't know if the salary would work out

[hardlyyardley]

Steve Blake would be a perfect fit

[gpap]

Here are a few that come to mind:

-Tyrus Thomas
-David Lee
-Brendon Haywood
-Jermaine O'Neal
-Grant Hill
-Brad Miller
-Drew Gooden
-Al Harrington
-Udonis Haslem

Also quick question regarding our own: Is Marquis Daniels under contract for next year? Because if so, I think he deserves another chance. He's too talented a player (IMO)

[housecall]

Travis Outlaw doesn't strike me as a player who can be relied upon in the playoffs.

EDIT:  And looking up the numbers, he's made the playoffs once, and shot 31.8% there.

1playoffs appearance doesn't tell what Outlaw brings to the table.TrailBlazers lost in the 1stround that season to Houston.He's a role player that brings more than scoring to the game.Example:J.Posey's numbers are 7/4,but that doesn't define who he is as a player.Would you say from looking at Posey's numbers alone he is a good player?I feel Outlaw brings some intangibles  that are not always found in the boxscores,and he is younger than Miller&Posey.

Travis Outlaw is an isolation based scorer who can be taken out the game by a strong wing defender (since he has only one move -- one or two dribble pull up jumper -- and feasts on slow PFs but finds it much tougher against SFs) ... which makes him an unreliable scoring option and prone to absentee offensive performances in the playoffs.

Outlaw is also a fairly mediocre defensive player largely due to his lack of commitment and work ethic both in practices and during games (good length, makes people shoot over the top of him but regularly gets beaten off the dribble when defending the wing and is a so-so help defender). A waste of athletic ability (defensively) ... but maybe this can still change. Maybe he can still develop here.

Who thats where im going with this,expecting him to develop here on a better team with better players.I don't think his ceiling has been reached.

[the_Bird]

Fundamental question; do we still key in on having cap space in the summer of 2012?

If so, the priorities this offseason are to re-sign Ray Allen (2 years, $20M-ish contract), re-sign TA, and bring aboard some cheap help at the backup point (Earl Watson?) and maybe another cheap, athletic frontcourt player.  You aren't going to get a Mike Miller or a Travis Outlaw, since they'll both likely command three-year, full-MLE deals.  You'll also have to decide about Perk, giving him an extension and tying up some salary.

If you believe the team can keep contending for at least another two seasons (and it sure looks like it can), then I think you can be more aggressive. 

Re-sign Ray Allen to that same deal. 

Offer a full three-year MLE contract at Mike Miller; he'd be ideal off the bench, and he's still young enough where you won't be kicking youself too much for that contract in 2012. 

Get Perk signed to an extension, STAT.  He's such a key component to what we do defensively, he's not the guy you necessarily want to rebuild around, but he's ideal for what this team needs.

Talk to Pierce about a reasonable extension, as well.  Maybe two years beyond his current contract, at something like what's being bandied about for Ray's extension.

Re-sign TA on the wings.  Spend the LLE on someone like Watson, or if someone like Warrick doesn't get any better offers (how much is he worth?  I'd just love to see a real athletic frontcourt playing with Rondo, love to see a second unit that could really push the ball).

If you did this, I think we'd be a legit title contender for the next two seasons.  Come 2012, we'd still have on the books:

Rondo: ~10M
Perk: probably $8M-ish, he might be earning a raise this series though
PP: ~$12M
Mike Miller: ~6M

That'd be around $35M - $40M, committed.  There'd be other salaries, too - if you re-sign BBD, our draft picks, salary holds for other guys.  When you add it all up, probably little to no cap space, but we also wouldn't really be in a bad situation, either.  Outside of Piece, the guys we'd be paying would still be in their prime. 

I've changed my stripes.  Before, I was all about leaving flexibility to pursue something big in 2012, but this team has shown itself to be good enough to keep the core intact - and to add a little extra salary in complementary areas - where I think you go full-bore and make as many runs for the title as you can.