Plausible impactful players who could turn season around

[jaketwice]

(1) Tayshaun Prince:

WHY might he be available?

Detroit sucks (11-22)

WHAT does he make? $6.7M/2 years.

WHO would we need to give up to get him?

Brandon Bass and Fab Melo?

Sullinger and Courtney Lee.

Where would he fit? ...we'd bump Pierce to two guard, and be bigger. ...we could still make another move, even if we did this.

(2) Al Jefferson

WHY is he available?

He is in a contract year, and the Jazz can keep either him OR Milsap. Plus, whoever gets him will have to overpay for him. Milsap is a better team player.

WHAT does he make? $15M/contract year.

WHO would we have to give up to get him?

Half the roster. Probably Lee, Green, possibly Bass, and a rookie and a pick. Also, we'd possibly have to take back a bad contract, and involve another team.

WHERE would he fit.

Jefferson would provide a scoring punch we lack, and would take enormous pressure of Pierce and KG. He's got a great half court game, and although a minus defender, at least gets touches, and so should be motivated to defend to some extent. Playing with KG (who could guard the better defensive big could allow him to show improve on defense.

(3) Larry Sanders

WHY might he be available?

He isn't. He leads the league in blocked shots, and boasts an 18.4 PER. He makes $2M/year.

(4) Marcin Gortat

WHY might he be available?

Phoenix sucks.

WHAT does he make? $7.3M/2 years.

WHO would we have to give up to get him? Probably Bass, Green, Lee, and either both rookies, or one rookie and a pick (probably they'd prefer Melo, given that they are losing a center). Another team would likely need to be involved, and we'd have to take back a Beasley type of contract.

WHERE would he fit?

He would be our starting center, KG could move back to PF, and all would be right with the world.

(4) Emeka Okafor

WHY is he available?

Washington SUCKS. (Worst team in the league). Also, they have Nene.

WHAT does he make? $13.5M/2 years.

WHO would we have to give up to get him?

Probably, most painfully, Sullinger, as well as likely Bass, and Green to make salaries work. We'd also have to take back a bad contract, either from Washington, or a third team facilitator.

WHERE would he fit?

He would start for us at Center. He is not that great, and would come relatively cheap; he would not be able to fill all of the necessary minutes, and he's probably not going to get us a championship - but he'd get us a heck of a lot closer.

(5) Nene

WHY is he available? (See Okafor, above).

WHAT does he make? $13M/4 years.

WHO would we have to give up to get him? (See Okafor, above).

WHERE would he fit? He would start at center for us. He needs the ball a lot, and would take scoring pressure of Pierce and KG

(6) Demarcus Cousins.

Just, no.

Feel free to chime in.

[Who]

I like Tayshaun Prince in a straight swap for Jeff Green.

I would love Okafor or Nene from Washington. There is a good chance that one of those guys, probably Okafor, could be available at a cheap price. Good opportunity for Boston to upgrade their team.

[Adelaide Celt]

I think Emeka Okafor would be great as well. Have been wondering if we could get him for a few weeks.

Would slot in perfectly as the starting C. Surely the Wizards wouldn't demand too much?

[hpantazo]

I like Tayshaun Prince in a straight swap for Jeff Green.

I would love Okafor or Nene from Washington. There is a good chance that one of those guys, probably Okafor, could be available at a cheap price. Good opportunity for Boston to upgrade their team.

Yes, I would love Okafor, but certainly wouldn't trade Sullinger for him. I think there is a good chance we can get him or Dalembert without giving up Sullinger or Bradley, which makes them the two best candidates imo.

[jaketwice]

Would Detroit swap Prince for Green straight up? What if we added a second rounder?

Could we then send Bass, Sullinger, and Lee to Washington for Okafor? Would those two trades improve our team enough?

[Who]

Would Detroit swap Prince for Green straight up? What if we added a second rounder?

Maybe. It could be a good move for Detroit.

A long term piece (J.Green, 26 years old) for a short term piece (T.Prince, 33 years old soon). They may feel J.Green feels in better with their rebuilding process alongside Brandon Knight, Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey.

Someone who grow alongside their young talent and offer them a better future than an accomplished and capable but aging Tayshaun Prince.

[jaketwice]

He's kind of a guy in Garnett's mode. I see him fitting in, somehow, with KG, Pierce, Terry. We could reduce his minutes, to get him on the floor with Pierce and KG.

...if we could pull in Okafor, we'd be about 8 deep:

Okafor, KG, Pierce, Prince, Terry, Rondo, Bradley. I think we'd need to find a way to keep Brandon Bass with that rotation; but if we could keep Bass - I think that's a team that could legitimately come out of the East. Bradly on Wade, Pierce/Prince on LeBron, and KG on Bosh. With no real Miami Heat answer for Rondo.

[Evantime34]

Avery Bradley and Chris Wilcox.

[crimson_stallion]

No way I'm giving up Bass and Fab Melo for Prince...

Do we not have enough old guys on this roster?  We should not be taking anybody over 30 years old unless they are superstars, come super cheap or fill a MAJOR need.  I don't think Prince does either.

We already have Pierce and Green at SF, adding Prince makes no sense unless you are trading Pierce or Green to get him - and Prince IMHO is not worth either of those guys at this stage of his career.  Likewise Fab Melo is really starting to show some promise with the Red Claws and I thin he has huge potential.  Talented 22 year old 7-footers do not grow on trees, and if it's up to me I'm not giving one up for an old tweener.

Also none of this "move Pierce to SG" talk - if that happens we are fail.  Pierce's physical gifts are his strength and height.  He can use these to his advantage when guarding SF's, yet he still has a negative defensive rating because his lack of foot speed still sees him getting torched from time to time. 

Move him to SG and you'll be looking at Ray Allen calibre defense - instead of a Def Rating of +3 it'll be more like +7 or perhaps even +10. 

On offense it'll be a benefit because opposing SGs will struggle to defend him, but we will give up more defensively then we will gain offensively.

I also wish people would stop with the Al Jefferson talk.  Jefferson is a borderline All-Star who has no behavioural issues, and he's only 27. All of this means that the cost to acquire him will be high regardless of his contract sitauation.

Considering the cost of acquiring Jefferson, you then need to consider the fact that he is a poor defensive player - he is worse then Jason Collins, Fab Melo, Greg Stiemsma and Ryan Hollins on the defensive end of the floor.  What do we need most from a big?  Interior defense to back up KG.  Jefferson doesn't help.  He gives us inside scoring and strong rebounding but we already get that from Sullinger for the cost of nothing, so why give up half our roster for a guy who gives us everything BUT what we need?

Plus Sullinger still has upside, wheras Jefferson has hit a wall and will not get any better than he is right now - his potential upside is minimum.

Yes I know Cousins is in the same boat and I've been rooting for him, but the difference is that Cousins is only 22 years old so he has massive upside, and he has behavioural issues so it may be possible to get him for a relative bargain.  Adding Cousins to our roster means we have four guys 22 or younger (Bradley, Sullinger, Cousins, Melo) who all have the potential to be very productive players (or solid trade chips) for the next 10 years.  People will take chances on those guys in trades because nobody knows how good either of those guys can get - the ceiling is yet undetermined.  With Jefferson people know exctly what they are getting - they know he won't become the next Karl Malone or the next Dwight Howard in 3 years time.

Saunders I'd love, but I don't think theres any chance of us getting him unless we gave up Bradley AND Sullinger, and I wouldn't be willing to do that. 

Gortat is a nice option.  He gives us everything we need (inside scoring, rebounding, shotblocking) and I beleive he still has room to grow as a player, so I'd give up more for Gortat then I would for Jefferson.

I can also live with either Okafor or Nene.  Both are good rebounders, but can score inside (Okafor off putbacks, Nene in the post) and both are capable shotblockers who take up space.  Nene is an injury concern, so Okafor is probably a safer bet.  I think either would be a major upgrade if we could get them for a realtively modest deal.

[Geo123]

Prince isn't an answer at all in terms of being an impactful player for us.  He's a poor shooter, even poorer rebounder and is a SF that is't quick enough to guard other good SF's any more. 

Jefferson isn't a good player for a good team.  He needs the ball to be effective.

I personally like the idea of Gortat but am not sure what it would cost.  Nene or Okafur would be decent but I personally don't want to give up much to get either which eliminates trading Bass, Green and Sullinger for him.  That's just carzy talk. 

Also, I don't get the logic that just because a team "sucks" as you put it that they will make a bad trade because in most cases they won't.
 

[crimson_stallion]

I personally like the idea of Gortat but am not sure what it would cost.  Nene or Okafur would be decent but I personally don't want to give up much to get either which eliminates trading Bass, Green and Sullinger for him.  That's just carzy talk. 

I'd like to keep Sullinger an Green, but I'm perfectly happy trading out Bass.

Bass has been a defensive liability for us so far, and his level of effort and emotional investment seem to be going down more and more with each passing game.

Last season he gave off the vibe of a player who put in 150% effort every night, but this year it seems like he got the recognition, he got the contract and now he's just going throught he motions.

Lee, Barbosa, Bass and picks for Gortat + filler is a move I would make in a heartbeat.

[pearljammer10]

I personally like the idea of Gortat but am not sure what it would cost.  Nene or Okafur would be decent but I personally don't want to give up much to get either which eliminates trading Bass, Green and Sullinger for him.  That's just carzy talk. 

I'd like to keep Sullinger an Green, but I'm perfectly happy trading out Bass.

Bass has been a defensive liability for us so far, and his level of effort and emotional investment seem to be going down more and more with each passing game.

Last season he gave off the vibe of a player who put in 150% effort every night, but this year it seems like he got the recognition, he got the contract and now he's just going throught he motions.

Lee, Barbosa, Bass and picks for Gortat + filler is a move I would make in a heartbeat.

Bass has become my odd man out as well. Sully can give us what bass gives if not more. If we could turn bass into a big man that can start or play big minutes I wouldn't hesitate. Doesn't have to be an all star just a better player than Collins.

[jaketwice]

Also, I don't get the logic that just because a team "sucks" as you put it that they will make a bad trade because in most cases they won't.

I'm not convinced that our flotsam is necessarily "bad." Lee was highly sought after in the off season, and it may just be something specific to the scenery throwing him off.

A team that "sucks" is more likely to make a trade, because what they're doing isn't working. Carmelo Anthony, for example, is not available, basically at any price; nor is Tyson Chandler - even though he's not New York's best player.

Even though, buy wanting them for our team, we are acknowledging that they are quality players, it should be made clear that the reason they're available because, as quality as they are - they're not going to make those teams winners. NBA is feast or famine.

[KGs Knee]

I surely hope people aren't expecting much return by trading either of Green/Bass/Lee.  These guys have almost no trade value at the moment.  The only way any of them are moved is in combination with either or both Bradley/Sullinger plus possibly Melo.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I think Emeka Okafor would be great as well. Have been wondering if we could get him for a few weeks.

Would slot in perfectly as the starting C. Surely the Wizards wouldn't demand too much?

I think the problen is Emeka's ridiculously large salary. Fo us to come uo with 13 mil is, well, we will have to give up a few players. Some of them Washington might not want.