You never want to make any moves shaman.
But then, I would appear have very little influence over Scott & Steve.
With the Wizards on the verge of holding a fire sale Scott $ Steve are in a position to decide if we want to use next summer's cap space now. I submit Bradley Beal is worth the squeeze. That is all.
See my last post.
We have a glut of wings.
Beal is no doubt a genuine talent.
However...
A) We have a log jam of wings at the 2 & 3
Let the trading begin...anew.
So we could move some of those wings in our log jam for one of THE best wings in the game.
Wizards might take a Lee or a Hardaway within a larger package.
Give to get.
Perhaps.
Would seem a kind of cruel betrayal of Hardaway, as well as he has been playing and as committed as he has been to his coach and team mates.
Again, spoil sport that I am, I took a similar position vis a vis Butler, also an exemplary player.
I am, alas, a bit gun shy about changing horses in mid-stream, Kam.
Beal would likely cost us more than spare parts, least ways, I DO NOT CONSIDER Timmy, Emmanuel, Enes spare parts.
Hard to imagine us even being in a discussion without including our #1 pick as well.
True, I am unduly conservative in such matters, and while I am sure we are going to take plenty of lumps going forward, the last three wins were most encouraging, and validated the patience Fizz has shown in our flawed assets, even as he is playing wheel of fortune with personnel.
I genuinely like the starting lineup that has emerged of Kanter-Vonleh-Hezonja-Hardaway-Mudiay.
True, all still works in progress, but what did Fizz say about our pups learning how to take a punch, and still come back.
I re-watched the second half of the Memphis game yesterday, and was very encouraged by how we came back from a deficit in the third quarter and held on against a tough ass team.
Believe me, I get the allure of a Jimmy Butler and a Bradley Beal.
And is there a precedent for trading our starting center and starting PG and it working out?
Well, yes actually.
Walt Bellamy & Howard Komives for Dave DeB.
Willis moved over from PF to C.
Clyde moved from the bench to starting PG.
Dave became the starting PF.
Bradley became the starting SF. Cazzie the Sixth Man.
I do not see a similar match chemistry wise in our present roster.
KP still out.
Trading Kanter leaves us with NO CENTER.
Trading Mudiay leaves us with Beal & Hardaway as the starting back court.
Again, ALL IN THE REALM OF FANTASY.
But I really like how Kanter and Mudiay have stepped up in recent weeks, and not because it amps up their trade value.
This Knicks team is not in the same developmental stage we were when we offloaded our starting Center and PG 50 years ago.
Oh, and just to draw another parallel.
We made a trade with the Bullets not too long after that, which might give on pause.
We traded SF Dave Stallworth and SG Mike Riordan for SG Earl Monroe.
To my way of thinking, Clyde & Earl was a better balance than Timmy and Bradley would be.
But, hey, what do I know.
We also traded young Cazzie for veteran Jerry Lucas, when Willis began to break down.
I am, you see, a little gun shy about SHINY OBJECTS. The Carmelo Anthony Trade soured me on that concept. Melo put up some serious numbers for us. But the only playoff burn we got was with Jason Kidd, and he flamed out by the second round.
I believe the play is STILL, to construct a sustainable edifice around Porzingis.
And yes, to create cap space.
But I still believe that patience is a virtue and rarely have we exercised such restraint in the past.
I am not frustrated by our conservative bent at the moment, but encouraged.
CHEMISTRY.
Hey, even Don Carlos is toying with the notion of signing on as a Positive Pussy.
Who knows. Maybe Detroit cleans our clock tonight. Not sure we have an answer for Blake.
We shall see.