The Rondo Kool-Aid is starting to turn into that horrible idea you had as a kid when you tried to mix a pixy stix into water thinking it would turn out a delicious beverage.
How about something like: Draft- Mudiay, Dekker Sign- DeAndre Jordan @ 4/63 million (starting at 15) Ed Davis @ 4/20 million (5 million a year flat each year) Wayne Ellington @ 3/9 million (starting at 2.922865 million) Ronnie Price @ vet. min. Jabari Brown (?) @ vet. min. Mudiay/Clarkson/Price Bryant/Ellington Dekker/Young/Jabari Brown Randle/Black/Kelly Jordan/Davis/Sacre That team is dynamic, young, can play defense, has a strong inside presence, and has creative pieces around the perimeter. I dig it.
The only thing that is scary is his FT? His shooting % is in the 30s. His lateral quickness is gone. Steals don't equate to being a great defender. He washed up and nothing hes done if 3 years proves otherwise. Lets say youre right and he only plays well when hes happy. Why would you want a guy like that on the lakers? What if hes not happy? Rondo is garbage.
That free throw line though. I'd put Monroe over Jordan simply because of his atrocious FT's. And I know you'd like that. Although DeAndre is a formidable inside presence defensively, he doesn't really keep balls in play when he swats balls out of bounds. Imo, whatever Deandre brings on the defensive end is really counter produced by his awful free throw shooting, especially during crunch time.
Jordan is bad at a lot of things, but it's hard to deny his ability to change/alter shots at the rim AND go get rebounds. I'm not sure a better defender/rebounder will come available within the next few years. The reason I picked him over Monroe in that scenario is because Mudiay can do two things effectively at the next level right now: run a fast break and run the pick and roll. He's got an absolutely natural feel for the pick and roll and a combination of he and DeAndre Jordan would be an immediate weapon. The kind of weapon we thought we were getting with Nash/Howard but 5 years earlier in their careers.
One important thing; DJ is an active participant in setting such great screens. Howard not so much...
Come on now.... free throw thing is easily solved. Like Big Man Camp back in the day and Kareem working one on one with Andrew Bynum, I'm sure we could bring in Rick freaking Barry to teach DJ how to shoot them underhanded. Rick, dude, let it go!
The statement about putting together a young team that can win 55 games being our goal is why I think we'll gamble on young RFA's like Butler/Kawhi/Knight/Middleton. A core of Knight/Crawford/Middleton/Randle/Okafor or Towns along with Kobe is that young team that can win 55 games next year while having the youth to be 1 or 2 FA's away from contending when Kobe expires. If Knight isn't possible, I think their backup plan would be trying to get Dragic for around 15M. Or if they get lucky & offers to Butler or Kawhi don't get matched, they could hit up Rondo about taking a paycut. If none of that is possible they might alter their draft strategy & take a PG & sign Monroe or Jordan since they're both young enough to fit that mold of a young team that can win 55 games. Or another alternative could be drafting a wing, getting Rondo to take a paycut, then signing Monroe or Jordan. Potential lineups: Knight/Kobe/Middleton/Randle/Okafor or Towns Dragic/Kobe/Middleton/Randle/Okafor or Towns Rondo/Kobe/Butler/Randle/Okafor or Towns Rondo/Kobe/Kawhi/Randle/Okafor or Towns Mudiay or Russell/Kobe/Middleton/Randle/Monroe Mudiay or Russell/Kobe/Middleton/Randle/Jordan Rondo/Kobe/Johnson/Randle/Monroe Rondo/Kobe/Johnson/Randle/Jordan All with Clarkson & probably Ed Davis leading the 2nd unit. Quite a few of those lineups would require us to dump contracts like Young/Kelly/Sacre/Hou 1st which isn't a big deal imo.
I really like the FA suggestions of late: Jordan, Middleton, GSW's Green, SA's Green, Butler, Leonard, and Mo Williams. I think all but Danny Green, Middleton, and Mo are total pipe. Is that the consensus and you guys are just wishing or is there some realistic hope behind these suggestions? Jordan...how????
We need to go after Danny Green. UFA, top 10 defender at SG according to RPM, hits a high percentage of 3's, etc...grab him.
Just to clarify, I want Middleton, but he's an RFA. Screw it. I'm not going through this crap next year with this damn team while we sit and wait on a 10 day moratorium and everybody else gets swooped up...17 wins in March is completely preposterous. Spend some money, Mitch!
There should be no potential lineup that has Rondo. I like Knight, but I'm not sure he's that much of an upgrade over Clarkson. Beware of dudes putting up big stats on mediocre teams...especially in a contract year. Rondo, by any statistical measurement, is worse than Clarkson since he became the starter. If we land Towns or Okafor, I have no trouble with us wrapping up money in RFA's as long as we've signed Ed Davis and maybe Ellington to reasonable contracts. My guess is Kobe, Young, Randle, Clarkson, Okafor/Towns, Kelly, Ed Davis, Black, Ellington, Houston Pick, and Sacre would come in at around 50-51 million. That’s JUST enough to offer one max deal if we dump Sacre and then use the room exception to get to 12.
Butler, Leonard are for sure pipe. We should not be wasting time going after Restricted Free Agents when you can get just as capable players at a cheaper rate. Those guys are easily commanding 12+. When you have guys like Green, Middleton, Carroll who can fill in that defender/shooter role quite nicely at half the price AND are unrestricted, which makes them more realistic targets. DeAndre Jordan is a UFA, so there's always a possibility he'd want a change of scenery. Gasol and Aldridge should get offers as UFA as well, but they're mostly pipe because I doubt they leave the good situation that they are in, but you never know, that's why it's Free Agency.
This. I know Leonard is pipe, but in some weird world where we end up drafting a big man and we get a PG for cheap (Lin or even Clarkson) I could see us being willing to wait for San Antonio or Chicago to match a max offer. Any other UFA though besides Gasol and Aldridge is fair game to me. I don't think DeAndre Jordan is pipe if we're willing to pay him. Will the Clippers match a lucrative offer? They've never done that in their franchise history. Will the Clippers give him a max deal for 5 years? Who knows?
I've never been a fan of DeAndre Jordan, however . . . I could see him being an incredible fit alongside Randle to provide rim protection. Not going to lie, that potential combo truly intrigues me. Maybe more than any other name we've been throwing out beside Marc Gasol which I think is complete pipe without question at this point. I'd much rather spend on Jordan than a PG like Dragic. But as ever, it all depends on whether we get a top 5 pick and who we end up choosing in the draft.
