Boozer hearts Detroit (or Jersey)

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nets take DaJuan Blair.

He’s my third favorite Jazz power forward free agent.

I’m with you joejoejoe.

thank you joejoejoe and Wolverine. I have said on this website before that Boozer is perhaps the fourth best player on the Jazz. Better to get Amare or wait until 2010 to get Bosh.

Of course, the Pistons also need a point guard, now that Joe D admits that he f-ed up in trading the only point guard he had. Here’s to hoping that Will Bynum and Stuckey spend the entire offseason trying to develop a three-point shot so they don’t get defended like Big Ben when he has the ball on the outside.

Ugh, the idea of having Boozer in a Pistons uniform does not pleases me at all. I’d much rather use the 4 picks this year to fill in the holes and hold on until the next offseason and take our chances there.

Though I’m hoping Joe D works his magic and can trade for someone like Bosh.

Gonna have to go ahead and disagree with everyone above. Normally I’d just state my claim and puff my proverbial internet chest, but I respect the hell out of joejoejoe’s opinion (I don’t know y’all others) so I’ll have to explain.

@joejoejoe:
He’s my third favorite Jazz power forward free agent.

That would make both Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap better, in your opinion. Fortunately for the sake of brevity, I can state my preference against those two in just one sentence: “for our team to be successful, we need a center who acts like a center and a PF that acts like a PF”.

Raise your hand if you’ve complained about Rasheed avoiding the post and tossing up 3’s in the last few seasons. If you’ve complained about this, you don’t have much of a right to rattle your saber for Mehmet Okur, who has been Jerry Sloan’s AND Carlos Boozer’s weakness for the last few seasons. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. But I think our collective love of the guy has gone to our heads, and nostalgia has more to do with wanting him in a Pistons uniform does than it might actually benefit our team.

A few years ago, Okur might have been a great signing for Detroit’s PF if we had a stud Center next to him. In fact, if he was in Orlando right now in place of Lewis, you could just go ahead and call off the Finals.

Okur is a PF in a Center’s body, just like Rasheed, and he’d only be successful next to a tough, defensive-minded 4 who can rebound like mad and protect the defensive end (see: Paul Millsap). Not much offensive focus needed next to a guy like Okur who can stretch the defensive end.

As for Millsap, he can’t hit a damn shot outside of 5’. I don’t care what anyone hopes or prays, he’s only effective in the post. That’s great and all, but do you want that out of your PF? So who do you put at Center next to him? You put two big bodies there, plus their defenders, and how the hell do you expect Stuckey and Bynum to drive to the hole? Millsap is a 5 in a PF’s body. He’s undersized, but plays like a Ben Wallace center. This is great and all, but it clogs the paint unless you have a center like, well, rasheed or okur…

Millsap + Okur work better together than Boozer + Okur. But it ain’t about Boozer’s weakness, it’s about Okur’s skill set. Utah will be a better team when it has a real frontcourt with the right skill sets manning the 4 and 5. Detroit won with a solid defensive shut-down specialist and a defense-stretching post/jump player in the 4 and 5. Utah has never had that. It ain’t a knock on Boozer.

I’m dead set, balls-to-the-walls confident about this— put Carlos Boozer next to a center who actually plays like a center and any defensive weaknesses he may have will disappear. His situation in Utah is retarted next to Okur, and it has been the Jazz’s downfall in the frontcourt. You put Boozer next to the right player at the 5, he’s better than any Bosh, any Stoudamire you can hope for.

Last, we can get our hands on Boozer for less than $13M. Paying more for Bosh or Stoudamire, who are NOT FRANCHISE PLAYERS AND HAVE NEVER CARRIED A TEAM ON THEIR OWN is pure foolishness.

Long story short—

1) pair Boozer with a solid, big 5 (like Gortat), and you’ve got a winning front-court.

2) spend more than $14 for Bosh or Stoudamire, say hello to the lottery for years and years to come. They are NOT premier stars who can carry a team on their own, thus they will never be superstars.

I take Boozer over Amare. I posted this elsewhere, but I was impressed at how good a rebounder Boozer is and how bad Amare is. Plus, Amare costs more and he’s a terrible defender. And I suspect his offense is inflated by getting freebies from Nash.

http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/starting-power-forwards-rebounding-numbers/

Given the choice though, I take Odom and a non-sugar diet because of his versatility and because he’s a better guy.

@QD:
Co-sign re: Amare/Boozer. I’m also very much with you on Odom. Only as a non-centerpiece option if we can’t snag Boozer. But regardless, I’m with you above.

i think chandler would be the perfect fit with boozer if that is who we are going to go with

rumor:
http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Word-on-the-Street-June-2nd-3241

Basically says we might give away Amir Johnson and our 1st round pick to OKC to bring down our cap figure even more. Then says pistons top two targets are rumored to be Millsap and Ben Gordon.

@ Gabe; I saw that post. UGH !! Those two guys aren’t getting us back to the ECF. Period.

In a round-a-bout way, we’re going to pay Ben Gordon 7-10M/yr to come off the bench? From what I remember, and I’m too lazy to look it up, he didn’t have a great reg season. Got hot in the playoffs, like the entire bulls team did, and now we’re going to pay for it?

We’re samll now in the front court and we want a 6’8" PF. Who won’t have any room inside because in part he put up numbers that he did because Okur pulled the opposing #5 outside because of his shot which opened up the lane.

Unless Joe D. has another trade up his sleeve, this is a horrible combination to spend ~20M on.

I don’t think any of those PF’s from Utah are good enough to lead us to a championship or would even fit in on the roster. However, we need a big man, so I guess I could talk myself into Boozer at something less than 12 mil per year.

Signing Ben Gordon is only good if we can trade Hamilton. How about a sign-and-trade with Charlotte for Raymond Felton?

DESPARATELY find a way to bring back McDyess, even though I’d like to see him win a title, in which case, he should take Denver’s mid-level and play there next year.

If we can make it work, we’d have:
3 guard rotation of Felton, Gordon and Stuckey
Prince and hopefully our 1st round pick (SF)
McDyess, Boozer, Maxiell, Brown and Johnson

That’s a 55 win team, right?

The thought of Boozer as a Piston makes me sick. He doesn’t have a “champion’s attitude” and won’t benefit our team’s chemistry in the slightest.

@MB

I second that emotion. I’d much rather spend around $13mil/yr on Boozer than throw a penny at Ben Gordon.

If we do sign Gordon though, that means Rip is gone. He’s clearly not going back to the bench, and Gordon isn’t coming off the bench either— something’s gotta give. Let’s say, for shits and giggles, that this is Joe’s plan:

He’s not got a starting backcourt of Stuckey and Ben Gordon— I think Joe’s under the impression that these two guys basically cancel out each other’s weaknesses. Stuckey is the slasher; Ben is the shooter. Stuckey is big and Ben is undersized, so they switch and guard eachother’s positions (Stuck the SG, Ben the PG). We fix the “our PG can’t shoot!” problem by having basically two combo guards who, by committee, should be able to all the things you want in a back court. I think Ben probably has more ball-handling and decision-making duties than he’s gotten in Chicago, and maybe he does well. One thing is for sure, Joe D sure has a boner for small guys who can put it in the hole (maybe some Isaiah/Joe D bromance still going on).

So let’s say we actually sign Ben Gordon. What do we do with Rip? What are our next moves? Here’s our current roster (MINUS free agents) with Gordon:

Stuck/Bynum
Gordon/Rip/AA
Sharpe
Maxiell/Amir
Kwame

Holy shit, we need some pieces. What do we do?

@ Mike Payne: Agree completely regarding spacing, Boozer/Okur/Millsap.

@ Joel: I agree. There’s alot of holes there. Rumor has it that Bosh was to make an announcement yesterday. Anybody hear anything? Probably an update to his twitter account or shoe deal or something.

If the OKC thing is true, you gotta believe Joe D is looking at something else. Hell, for 7/7/6 you could have Sheed, Dyess and Gortat I think. That’s 20M and it’s a better team than Gordon/Millsap signings.

Send Tay & Rip to Tor for Bosh. Sign Gortat. Use AA at the 2/3, use Sharpe at the 3 and use Bynum as 6th man at the 1, and you can move Stuck to the 2. Then we BEG Fabio to come back, promise him playing time and hair care products for life and then we are at least better than this year. But Christ, 20M for Millsap and Gordon? You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Ben Gordon is flaky in every way, he asserts himself in some games and looks like a winner, and then you don’t hear a peep out of him.. on the court that is. Off court there’s plenty to examine, because he’s always putting stuff out there about how worthwhile he is and how the Bulls ain’t shit. Now, I know the Bulls ain’t shit, I been knowing that since I was a little tyke. But if you’re wearing the Bulls uniform, you’re supposed to be about it.

I don’t really want that dude here, I had enough attitude with Iverson/Rip/Sheed this year.

Our pieces need focus.

I like the idea of trading our pick for cap space. I was starting to smile as I read the first part of Gabe’s post. Then I threw up in my mouth.

Let’s remember that this is an unsourced rumor. I have faith that Joe D is not stupid enough to sign Gordon.

MB and Joel:

I’m with both of you on not liking what I’m hearing, especially when it comes to the Ben Gordon part of the rumor. The only way signing Ben makes sense is if we trade Rip. But does Stuck/Ben/Tay/Millsap/Kwame make noise next year? If all we do with our money is sign Millsap and Gordon (and dump Rip), then if we aren’t able to re-sign Dice I think our team is actually worse next year. Is Millsap>Dice+Sheed? Or to put it another way, is Millsap+Kwame>Dice+Sheed? Even with Sheed’s bullshit taken into account, I don’t think just adding Millsap (and subtracting Sheed) automatically upgrades our bigman situation from where it was last year.

Also, re: the draft, I really think this draft class has players that can help us. As QD and others have said before, the problem with keeping draft picks is they come with cap holds that would cut down on our space. Still, the draft’s the cheapest way to add players, and it would help leave us room to just throw money at the PF/C positions, rather than spending even more money on a guard.

Found it. This was the big announcement? He’s got another endorsement deal? Warner Music Canada ?? God knows we need another NBA player / rapper in this universe. Hope that’s not his plan. How about working the weights and some outside shooting Chris? Hell, it’s only your job.

“Yesterday, it was announced that Chris Bosh entered into an agreement with Warner Music Canada to produce a unique DVD and CD to be released this fall. In addition, Bosh has become the first athlete to launch his own application for iPhone and iPod touch on the Apple App Store.

I’m really hoping all this Ben Gordon nonsense is just misinformation to get Chicago to spend more…

I hope Bosh is going for the “Incrediband” comedy/music angle, because if he’s serious about his music this could end up being very embarrassing. Guy’s definitely the most tech-savvy “superstar” out there though, if that’s good for anything.

Regarding the draft: I’m with Gabe on this one. There are a ton of good PG’s and and few decent SG’s too that will be available with the #15 pick. We get a Johnny Flynn-type guy with the #15, we can throw all our money at the front court positions, where’s we’re in dire need of help.

My typing skillz are whack this morning.

I know for sure I’d do the following trade:

Rip
Tay

for

Bosh
whatever else to make salaries work

Then I’d sign Gortat
Put Stuckey at the 2
Draft a point guard #1 (possibly move up in the draft by trading this year’s 1 and next year’s 1 and get DeRozan or Harden and put them at 3)
Bynum starts at PG
Sign some veteran pass first PG

C – Gortat
PF – Bosh
SF – Afflalo/DeRozan/Harden
SG – Stuckey
PG – Bynum

Bench
PF – Amir
PF – Maxiell
SF – uh oh
SG – uh oh
PG – uh oh

@Joel:
My typing skillz are whack this morning.

too much LARP and microdots last night? :)

@MP:
Some level 3 warlock punk hit me in the dick with his foam battle-staff, causing me to vomit up the Hot Pockets and Mountain Dew I’d consumed in preparation for battle.

Why does Ben Gordon keep appearing in Pistons rumors? Is there a leak at the Palace—does Gordon really, really want to be in Detroit? I am stupid confused.

Look on the bright side, the more Ben Gordon gets mentioned in rumors, the less likely he’s coming to Detroit. Isn’t that how it works?

@ QD: So I can put those Chris Paul to Det rumors in the junk drawer?

Just to clarify, I think Boozer is the best of the 3 Jazz PFs by a solid margin but my guess is that both Millsap and Okur will give you more bang for the buck in the free agent market. I’d rather spend the Boozer entree money ($13M?) on a sample platter of appetizers from Kleiza, Brandon Bass and Milsap.

Why? I definitely agree that you don’t want to overspend on one player, thereby preventing yourself from signing complementary parts necessary for championshiop contention. It’s not an easy balance to strike, but I would much rather have our current line-up plus Boozer than our current line up plus Milsap, Bass and Kleiza. I just think we win more games with the former.

Also, I’d be surprised if you could get all three of those guys for 13 million.

I’d love if the Pistons could pull a trade for Bosh and then sign Gortat.

I think MP makes some great points about the spacing Boozer would provide as our PF. With no Sheed and likely no Dyess combined with the fact we weren’t a good 3 point shooting team last year, we have to acquire some shooters this summer. I know he has health concerns and questionable defense, but when he plays the guy will give you 20/10 with good shooting percentages and he’s entering the prime of his career. I’m a big Milsap fan, but if we get him needs to be paired with a big man that can spread the floor.

I still can’t believe we’re talking about Gordon. Didn’t he turn down 50M/5yr last year? The guy can light it up when he’s on. The problem is how long it takes to find out if he’s got it going or not. And isn’t he 6’2"? We’ll have Stuck chasing around the #2 and then turn around and expect him to man the point?

In the end, what’s are the finals about? How the bigs match up on each team.

What were the ECF/WCF about? big guys matching up with big guys.

What’s Clev worried about? (other than Bron leaving) Replacing possibly Andy V & wallace and Big Z’s age.

What are the bulls lacking? A low post option and scorer.

What was Boston’s downfall? Their interior guys hurt (Powe/KG)

What’s our problem? No Dyess or Sheed.

Anybody see a trend here?

Isn’t the question with Boozer mostly his health? Yeah, I know, he stabbed the Cavs in the back so he must not be a character guy, but seriously, if we could guarantee he would play in 75+ games and in all the playoffs, isn’t he clearly a better fit for Detroit than Okur or Millsap.

Plus, Detroit should be thinking Big, Big, and Big in what they acquire. We are fine at guard. Tay is still a good starting SF, and maybe AA or Herrmann could be decent at backup next year. But the holes at the 4 and 5 are enormous.

Toledo Joe: +10

We’ve got Kwame, Amir & Max. With a sprinkling of Sharpe possibly next year. Right now and based on last year, that’s a D-league front line.

Also read where T-Mac has been seen at Tim Grover’s gym in Chicago working out. All together now: Contract Year !!

NO Boozer, NO Ben Gordon. Why would anyone think that replacing Rip with Ben Gordon is a good idea??? Bosh maybe, but he is overrated… I think that the “Birdman” is a free agent. We need someone like him to get the fans excited again. What about a team leader? It sure isn’t the coach. Will Stuckey turn into that? Who knows, but I think that that became a lot more difficult when CB was traded. Who is he supposed to learn from?? Hopefully he acquires a 3 point shot and some confidence in the point guard position in the off-season, that will be a start. Are any of the potential free agents/trades going to fill that void? I know boozer, and gordon don’t qualify as leaders. There is one guy that everyone is forgetting about. Ron-Ron! If the “incident” never happened, I think we would see him in a Pistons uniform next year….

I think we just need to make a move and go with it. Some say Boozer is over-rated, some say Bosh is over-rated, some say Milsap is over-rated, others say Gordon is over-rated. Who is rated properly? Right now we need talent in the low post. We need guys who are a threat to score and can adequately defend, and we need to make up a system for our players to succeed. Bosh would be my #1 priority, but Boozer/Milsap/Brand/Kaman are just fine.

@Garrett:
I’m with ya, buddy. I just want that big chip to fall, then let the rest sort out. I’m far too anxious to know what my team will look like next year, and I hope Joe has an answer at or around draft date.

My lineup looks a bit different, that’s it. I prefer Boozer/Odom in free agency, if not then a trade for an all-star PF, if not then Bosh/Millsap/etc. I don’t want Bosh in Detroit, primarily for economic reasons, but I’m likely in the minority on that.

Long story short, I’m with you. Pick up the phone and put some ink on paper, Mr. D.

@Colin

The reason I’d rather have depth without elite talent in ‘09-10 is I don’t think Detroit is one player away from being a championship contender so it’s better to develop a deep team and flip some of the depth mid-season with bad contracts if you are close for an elite player at a discount.

The problem with Gordon isn’t his talent level so much as his percieved worth of his level most people wouldn’t have a problem signing him for around 5 mil a yr. with him coming off the bench in which case he’d be good for us , I don’t want him starting.I don’t really want any of the guys from Utah they all have problems , Bosh would be great if his price tag wasn’t so high , I’m wondering if starting over with the best young talent we can get via trades and the draft.I’m all for reloading this summer and instantly becoming contenders again,but it looks to me the kind of players we need to do that aren’t out there this year.It’d be nice to pull a Boston land some stars be rolling again but those kinda deals are once in decade things. what I don’t want to see is a botched attempt that at its best gets us to the 4 or 5 seed in the east get swept in the playoffs and have Joe decide he has to do all over again.

I think Boozer at $10-12 million a season is not only reasonable, but welcome. 20-10 while shooting over 50% is high quality, even if he is a bit of a defensive liability but as someone else pointed out, pairing him with a defensive minded center would help prevent some of the issues brought up with him.

Stuckey/Hamilton/Prince/Boozer/Defensive-minded center

Now, that can’t compete? Stuckey’s only going to get better, Hamilton and Prince are very consistent, Boozer is an upgrade over McDyess (20-10 vs. 9-9) and more than likely whoever’s at center will give more effort and more impact then Rasheed. I’d pencil us in for 45-50 wins, and if Stuckey continues to improve the team is young enough to get better.

DETROIT IZ ONLEE WUN PLAYA AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

CARDOS DOOZER!!!! FTW!!!

TRADE AMIR NOW

On a lighter note a trade rumor from CelticsBlog:

" Steph Marbury. Detroit gets to save Money and start from scratch. Mine as well they trade one of the best PG’s in the game, Get red of your 2nd and 3rd best players for an expiring deal. Save huge money down the road. Sign Two studs in 2010. Draft a stud in 2010, because your record was garbage. And bam! your right back on top.

 The Celts become the Deepest and best team ever. And win three more titles in a row. And make the franchise Mega-rich.

 Prince and Hamilton come into the game together, for Pierce and Allen, and give are Vets the rest they need.

 Sign a Center and we are Perfect."

I didn’t know LawyerBoy was posting over at CelticsBlog now? Roy Hobbs explains how the trade won’t work, under the CBA instead of following the other comments and saying how absurd the trade is while others say Ray Allen for Rip and Tay is an “ok” trade because Tay would become their “Posey”. I’m glad that Celtics’ fans think Ray for Rip and Tay is a fair trade, I didn’t realize we were trading for a 1999 version of Ray Allen. And then you have this gem from “yagru”:

“Fuk that isht.. rip hamilton is someone i never want to see wearing celtic green.. i HATE the way that dirty fuk plays”

Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

TRADE AMIR NOW!
YOO R ALL KURSED FO BENCHYNG DA SUPASTAR!

My worry with Boozer is not so much his porous defense (though, make no mistake, he is a lousy defender, and that is extremely important to remember when you’re about to hand a guy $12-13M a year) as it is the gaping leadership vacuum he appears to bring to his teams.

I firmly believe that franchise players absolutely must be leaders – that these players’ ability to transform collections of self-interested individuals into cohesive teams drives their squads’ success even more than does their ability to fill up stat sheets.

Look at the discipline that Chauncey Billups in a single season instilled in what had been a wild and deeply selfish Denver team. Look at the maturity and professionalism that Tim Duncan inculcated in the Spurs for the entire decade past. As much as I hate to credit that asshole Kevin Garnett for anything positive, look at the sea change he brought to Boston, the razor intensity. Franchise players shape their teams’ culture, and basketball is the ultimate team sport, the most reliant on culture and chemistry. More often than not the most successful basketball teams are those whose players trust and like one another. It’s one good reason why our dearly departed Pistons won so many games before Joe dumped Chauncey for trash.

I’ve read a lot of articles about Carlos Boozer in recent weeks, and not once in that time have I seen a single positive quotation about him from any teammate. Not once! Teammates don’t seem to have anything to say about Boozer one way or the other. I do however find Utah reporters complaining that Boozer steals rebounds from teammates. I find endless blog posts and web comments from Jazz fans who cannot wait to ship him out of Utah. I find a litany of spurious injuries causing Boozer to miss loads of games nearly every season. (Either the man is cursed by the injury gods, or he’s a wuss who refuses to play through discomfort that wouldn’t sideline other players – or maybe he just doesn’t care all that much how his teams do, so long as he gets paid.) I find an injured Boozer telling the media in December that he would “absolutely opt out” of his contract after the season and go to whoever would pay him the most – because, you see, a “franchise guy” who misses 30 games every year and can’t get his team out of the first round obviously deserves a raise. Maybe the above is why the president of the Jazz last week wondered aloud to the media whether Boozer would ever learn how to lead a team.

Wasn’t the Pistons’ single most obvious problem last year their complete absence of leadership? They looked lost, adrift. It got worse as the season wore on. Today the team still essentially has no coach. Why would Dumars spend all his cap money on a player who would do precisely nothing to address this most vital need?

Some people are leaders, and some people are not. Boozer is not. Please, Joe, stay away.

I think everyone has to remember that this is a two year process. Detroit has about 17mil to spend this year (maybe 21mil if they send Amir or Kwame in a trade). They could get two players (or one really expensive one named Bosh or Stoudamire) for that price.

But, then, next year, the Pistons will have about 7mil to spend using the MLE. That could get another quality player or two complimentary parts. They can also trade Tayshaun whose contract would be in its last year (another 11mil to work with). Kwame comes off the books too (4mil). Raises for Bynum and Stuckey would likely take the Pistons near the Luxury tax.

So, start with a core of Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Bynum, Maxiell, and Afflalo. You can add to that three players worth 7mil or more (plus draft picks and a couple veteran minimum contracts to fill out the roster).

Great thoughts and observations, Bill Higgins! Thanks.

I think Rip is the team leader now.

@Bill Higgins:
Agreed fully— however if you can name a PF with any level of leadership skill that puts up numbers anywhere near Boozer, I’m listening. In Utah, there aren’t any leaders, not even Deron Williams.

When it comes to leadership, it just ain’t available in free agency this season.

Fortunately, the one thing we CAN count on from Carlos Boozer is 20 points and 10 rebounds. We can worry about leadership in our other positions and let him do what he do.

Oh and to clarify:
however if you can name a PF with any level of leadership skill that puts up numbers anywhere near Boozer, I’m listening.

Meaning any PF available to the Pistons in trade or free agency.

Exactly. We’re not bringing Boozer to be our leader. We’re bringing him in to be our PF. Our leadership issue is a completely different monster, and more than likely our leader will be Mr. Stuckey heading down the road. Leaders aren’t always born, they can sometimes be made as well.

And as Higgins pointed out, what 20-10 PFs are on the market that are also leaders? Unfortunately, none. What people don’t realize is that this is going to be a 2-3 year project. It’s not just going to be Boozer and done. There’s more than likely other moves that’ll come along the way, and maybe we find our leadership somewhere else. But I do find it a bit silly to turn down 20-10 because he isn’t a “leader.”

As for leadership, I think Stuck can grow into that role very quickly. He certainly wasn’t coming into camp last year as a “leader” with CB there. And then being traded for AI, it’s certainly tough to become a leader at PG when you don’t have the ball in your hands alot and all the baggage AI brings. And now that Sheed is not coming back, I don’t think Tay or Prince have a problem deferring to Stuck. A solid year of running the team starting from camp will make Stuck the unquestioned leader, IMHO.

If Boozer wants a 44M/4 yr contract or a 50/5, sure. I think he’s good value at 10-12 per year. Even though he’s scheduled to make 12.7 this year, he’s got to understand that his best bet is to seek a little less per year and tack on a year or two rather than the other way around. And given the number of potential FA’s next year (though I think the bulk resign with their current team) he will be far down the pecking order next summer if he doesn’t opt out this year. There’s the injury concern, yeah I know, Boozer and injuries?? Plus, he also risks somebody exploding this year who may be more attractive. If he opts out, he’s got a deal in place, if he doesn’t opt out he didn’t.

I really think Kaman, who will give you ~15/8 per game is ripe for the picking. He plays more than adequate defense, has an above average post game and actually doesn’t mind playing center.

I go back to a post on another thread, this is a big man’s league in terms of matchups. KG/Perkins. Dwight. Matching LA’s length in Bynum/Gasol. Matching Melo/Martin/Birdman/Nene. Even though Rose is the guy in Chi, teams still have to match the length of Noah/Thomas/Miller or they will get killed on the boards. FWIW: Boozer/Okur. To a large extent, you still need to match up with Shaq. If Clev had pulled the trigger on the Shaq trade, they would have had an easier time defending the 3 vs. Orlando. Excl’g superstars Kobe/Bron, this league is a inside/out game, not a outside/in game for the foreseeable future. For all the 3’s Orlando takes, it would be impossible to get as many good looks without Dwight inside.

I also stay away from Hedo this summer. He’s had a good season and playoff run and creates matchup problems. But not worth the money he’ll be asking for though.

I think the point that we are not just one player away is important. To get Detroit up to the level of being able to compete for a championship again, they need two pretty high quality bigs (and maybe a solid bench wingman). I don’t know if this can be done in one year. And with some guys, it’s unclear how “quality” they are — we’re not getting Dwight Howard. I think Bosh is the closest thing to a safe bet, but he’s probably going to be the hardest to get. Boozer and Kamen both have injury problems. And again, to be elite, we’re going to need two bigs.

MP, to your question about available PFs with leadership ability, frankly I don’t know. And that’s a great point.

There are young, high-scoring, high-rebounding forwards who seem to me to have real character and leadership ability. (In my mind character and leadership are always linked.) The first who comes to mind is Al Jefferson. When he went down with his injury last season, his teammates were lining up in front of the media to say how much they loved him and needed him and how upset they were that he had been hurt. Jefferson puts up sparkling individual numbers, and he completely revitalized that Minnesota team, which was pretty moribund in the wake of Garnett and full of young guys who when Jefferson arrived didn’t know what they were supposed to do. Under Jefferson’s leadership, several of those guys suddenly seem to have figured it out. He’s supposed to be a really good person too.

Al Jefferson, of course, is not available this offseason, for the reasons I’ve just enumerated. The non-Boozer PFs who are available, Bosh and Amare, aren’t nearly as safe bets.

Bosh hasn’t proven yet that he’s got real leadership ability, though the jury’s still out on him, whereas with Boozer the verdict is in already. I felt a lot more pro-Bosh before this whole bizarre thing happened with his former fiancee and small child, whom, according to the media, he abandoned. I think people are pretty much the same on the basketball court as off it, and resisting paying for the welfare of your own child, if those allegations are true (I don’t have all the facts and don’t pretend to understand the situation), does not strike me as a strong reflection of character or leadership. And, honestly, beyond the leadership issue, I don’t like having to root for people who do things like that – again, if that’s actually the situation, which I do not know. (Boozer of course is currently locked in messy divorce proceedings with his own wife, the mother of his three small children, apparently due to Boozer’s chronic and flagrant infidelity. He’s a real character guy too. I love this game!)

Amare is kind of a head case and a whiner, although I think he has an ability to intimidate opposing players and teams in a way that Boozer does not – and I see the ability to intimidate as a valuable thing to be sought after.

I sure wish the Pistons could trade for Chris Paul. Give the Hornets Stuckey and anyone else they might want. Bye-bye, leadership void.

@JoeJoeJoe:

Fair enough. I agree that we’re not one player away. I just think that if you can get a player of Boozer’s caliber at the right price, you have to go for it. Even if we signed him, we’d have some money left over for another signing and another 7million in 2010 when Amir/Kwame come off the books. Additionally, we can make trades (Tayshaun’s contract expires in 2011). I just think if you know you have to do xyz and y is available at a good price you take it. That being said, I don’t think your strategy is horrible. I just prefer this one.

Maybe, but Chauncey was accused of raping a girl at Antoine Walker’s house.

Anyone thinking of pairing varejao with boozer? Steal a much needed HUSTLE player from a rival, and add a defensive center for boozer to play with? Cheaply? The only thing is, if boozer goes down, there isn’t a lot of frontcourt scoring between kwame and andy. Plus, I hate varejao. But I think having him get calls when on our team might help a little.

Yeah, Colin, that’s why I don’t want to pass judgment on Bosh, given the lack of information available. It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s lies. His current problems are not a good sign, though.

or, even better:

tay and amir for bosh
sign varejao ~8
sign turk ~10

screw both the magic and cavs, while putting out a team that looks like this:

Stuck
Rip
Turk
Bosh
Kwame/Varejao

Thats a pretty darn good team right there. One that, should both the cavs and magic have too much trouble filling the holes left, would be at or near the top of the EC.