Official Draft Positioning Thread, aka: The Tank Cave

[fishercob]

I don't see us "keeping up" with Sacramento for the worst record, barring more injuries. They're going to move Salmons and/or Brad Miller and just get worse.

[MJG]

I don't see us "keeping up" with Sacramento for the worst record, barring more injuries. They're going to move Salmons and/or Brad Miller and just get worse.

I agree. Really, they're the likely front-runners even if they move nobody. If they do manage to send out a couple of their better players for nothing special in return, there's no telling how bad they'll get.

[DCZards]

Grizz shoot 36%, 3-15 from 3 and have 18 TOs and still beat the Hornets without Rudy Gay.



Oh yeah, Paul and West were both out.

Tyson Chandler was out as well for the Hornets.

[FreeBalling]

I don't see us "keeping up" with Sacramento for the worst record, barring more injuries. They're going to move Salmons and/or Brad Miller and just get worse.

I agree. Really, they're the likely front-runners even if they move nobody. If they do manage to send out a couple of their better players for nothing special in return, there's no telling how bad they'll get.

We got Tap coaching. How could we win any less. He will bring home the 1st place prize.

[no D in Hibachi]

Just wondering, would you rather have Javale McGee or Blake Griffen long-term?

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

Just wondering, would you rather have Javale McGee or Blake Griffen long-term?

Blake Griffin. And I got no beef with Lemonhead, it's just we've got our starting center coming back in Haywood. I think Griffin could start for us next year (with the right management... otherwise Jamison still starting for us and playing 40+ a night is inevitable), Lemonhead won't be.

[nate33]

Just wondering, would you rather have Javale McGee or Blake Griffen long-term?

Blake Griffin. And I got no beef with Lemonhead, it's just we've got our starting center coming back in Haywood. I think Griffin could start for us next year (with the right management... otherwise Jamison still starting for us and playing 40+ a night is inevitable), Lemonhead won't be.

Agreed. I'd rather have a PF/C rotation of Griffin/Haywood/Blatche over a PF/C rotation of Blatche/Haywood/McGee.

If we could draft Griffin and then package Jamison + McGee for one stud SG, we'd be set. It'll never happen because it would ruin Portland's chemistry, but imagine trading McGee plus Jamison for Brandon Roy. Our lineup would be:

PG Arenas/Crittenton
SG Roy/Young
SF Butler/DMac
PF Griffin/Blatche
C Haywood/Blatche

[crackhed]

Just wondering, would you rather have Javale McGee or Blake Griffen long-term?

Blake Griffin. And I got no beef with Lemonhead, it's just we've got our starting center coming back in Haywood. I think Griffin could start for us next year (with the right management... otherwise Jamison still starting for us and playing 40+ a night is inevitable), Lemonhead won't be.

i dont see any scenario where griffin could be a starter for the wizards next year. long term, at the moment my choice would be mcgee. i'd rather trade blatche (he has the questionable work ethic, not mcgee or griffin).

[ZonkertheBrainless]

I'd hate to trade mcgee before he's developed into his full potential to maximize his trade value. Everybody is tradeable, it's just are you going to get fair value in return? Like we could trade gilbert now and we'd get pennies on the dollar. Mcgee is the same way, there's no way you're going to get what he's worth.

If we get Griffin, then we have a frontcourt of Jamison, Griffin, Blatche, Haywood, and Mcgee.

Why would Mcgee be the first person you think of when trying to get rid of this logjam? Why not Jamison or Blatche? Why not have a two headed monster of Haywood and Mcgee at center and Griffin and Blatche or Griffin and Jamison at the four?

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

I don't think it was more than a hypothetical, it wasn't that we HAVE to go with one or the other. If we get lucky we will have both on our roster next season. But we have a starting center in Haywood for the foreseeable future, in my mind with Arenas he's a player to build around because he can anchor a defense. Jamison is older and the minutes for Griffin will be easier to find next year and beyond.

That said, if we do land Griffin you wouldn't do the trade Nate proposed???

[ZonkertheBrainless]

I never comment on trade proposals. I'll comment on trades that are actually made, because they reflect what someone would actually be willing to do. Saying Portland would be willing to give up Roy for basically Mcgee is an assumption, and you know what the word "assume" means.

Last time I saw Portland play it looked like they had a legit starting four and a legit starting five. Why would they want mcgee?

[eltacoman]

Mcgee is a very blessed player we got to hold on to him .... i hope we dont trade him

i got a questions... if we dont land the #1 pick... would trading back a few spots like minnisota did last year for mike miller and love be a good idea ?

for example... if we trade back with minnisota for mike miller & there lottery pick (6-8) for Deshawn & Songalia and our lottery pick ( 2-4)

one of these players will be there at the 6th 7th or 8th spot

Greg Monroe, Jordan Hill, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Al-Farouq Aminu
Ricky Robio might declare too and hope Hasheem Thabeet gets picked before we pick

is there a team that we could trade with like minny did with memphis last year ? ....
could we turn Deshawn & Songalia into a solid player, at a position of need and still land a player we would have picked with our initial 1st ?

[nate33]

Why would Mcgee be the first person you think of when trying to get rid of this logjam? Why not Jamison or Blatche? Why not have a two headed monster of Haywood and Mcgee at center and Griffin and Blatche or Griffin and Jamison at the four?

My thinking was that with a PF and C tandem of Griffin and Haywood, we'd be better off with a combo PF/C like Blatche rather than pure C like McGee. (I don't think McGee can play PF.) Also, McGee presumably has greater trade value.

It's purely hypothetical, I know. The stars would have to align perfectly for us to be in the position to trade Jamison + McGee for a SG as good as Roy. It wasn't really a serious trade proposal, but rather an exercise in why I think Griffin would be more valuable than McGee.

[queridiculo]

I don't like the idea of trading McGee even with Griffin and Haywood in the fold. Front court depth is an incredible asset to have and by holding onto McGee we'd have a chance to build around those two young guys if the Arenas experiment fails.

I'd rather trade a combination of Butler, Young and/or Blatche to give us somebody to pair up with Arenas in the backcourt to be honest.

Not that I wouldn't rather give up Jamison, but teams are much more likely to go for Butlers cap friendly contract and relative youth, than to give up an asset for an aging Jamison that carries a somewhat hefty contract.

[fishercob]

Why would Mcgee be the first person you think of when trying to get rid of this logjam? Why not Jamison or Blatche? Why not have a two headed monster of Haywood and Mcgee at center and Griffin and Blatche or Griffin and Jamison at the four?

My thinking was that with a PF and C tandem of Griffin and Haywood, we'd be better off with a combo PF/C like Blatche rather than pure C like McGee. (I don't think McGee can play PF.) Also, McGee presumably has greater trade value.

Nate I disagree on both counts. I think McGee can play PF -- he just haven't seen it tried yet b/c we don't have a true center other than Haywood to play him with. Over time, I think his skill set may, in fact, be more suited to PF than C.

I also think Blatche has more value. He's a better player right now and for the immediate foreseeable future, and he's locked up super cheap. McGee's cheap, but he's much greener than Blatche and not as ready to help a team win.

[closg00]

^^^
Don't forget that If we are lucky-enough to land Griff, we can let BTH walk if we can't afford him - his contract is up in 2010 correct? That gives us Griff/Blatche/McGee or even Thabeet/Blatche/McGee if we have the #2.

[fishercob]

I wish I could put money in Vegas on Thabeet being a complete bust. The guy's a total stiff.

[penbeast0]

Hell, I'm up for dumping the bunch of them and starting over (not a new idea) . . . Haywood, Jamison, and Butler to Miami for Marion and Beasley (possibly can get their first too) . . . gives Miami a playoff team to help keep Dwade and gives us young talent, gets us out of Jamison's contract, and if we can resign Marion for a reasonable amount we do so, if not we have cap space (though given past history I have little faith in the Wiz management's ability to use cap space wisely).

Gil / M.James
Stevenson / Young
Marion / Dom
Beasley / Songalia
Blatche / McGee

See how they develop around Gil and whether we actually have anything because the team we have now will never develop into much more than it's been the past few years, a first round exit without one of the kids stepping up big and I don't really see them doing so.

Only downside is that Beasley plays the PF and that's the strongest spot in this year's draft.

[Benjammin]

^^^^
I have to say that trade proposal made me throw up a little in my mouth. Giving up Butler and Haywood to get Beasley and dump Jamison for a declining/expiring Marion doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I think Beasley's ceiling is a better Jamison/Rahim type of guy, not worth Haywood and Butler in my book.

[mhd]

I think it could soon become a two-horse race between us and the Kings. Clips win last night.