Okafor and Tyus??

[kurrdog53 [enjin:7013678]]

How do you all feel about getting Okafor at the #1 or #2 pick and trying to land a mid-1st round pick to grab Tyus? They are best friends and might flourish together in the NBA. I, for one, am not a huge Okafor fan, but clearly he had a huge freshmen year for the NCAA champs. Could we trade Gorgui for a pick around 15-20? Or Kmart? Or ideally Pek? Tyus may not be a star in the NBA, but he would be a good backup to Ricky and a Plan B if Ricky never stays healthy or improves. It might mean Lavine is strictly a SG.

PG- Ricky/Tyus/Lavine
SG- Martin/Lavine
SF- Wiggins/Shabazz
PF- Payne/Bennett/Shabazz (our weakest position)
C- Okafor/Pek

Thoughts?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

If I was going to get a pick in the 15-20 range, I'd be looking at wings and bigs before backup point guard.

Caris LeVert, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Jaob Poeltl are several names I'd be targeting.

PS: I would test Dieng's value on the trade front. I wonder if a playoff team would rather have him instead of their pick.

[AbeVigodaLive]

You don't trade up into the first to nab a guy who (if all goes right ) gives you only 12 minutes per game.

That's not a knock on Jones. But the team has to be hoping Rubio is healthy... and playing at a high level. And will take him to that 36 mpg range.

It's just poor value to use a 1st round pick for those remaining minutes.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

You don't trade up into the first to nab a guy who (if all goes right ) gives you only 12 minutes per game.

That's not a knock on Jones. But the team has to be hoping Rubio is healthy... and playing at a high level. And will take him to that 36 mpg range.

It's just poor value to use a 1st round pick for those remaining minutes.

We literally can't afford to bank on Ricky's health anymore. He has submarined multiple season at this point because of his injuries and the fact that we haven't had a good backup plan for him since we got him. Tyus is the perfect backup PG in the NBA. He can run an offense, he doesn't turn the ball over and he can get his offense within the flow of an offense or take over when needed. He won't be as effective at the next level because of his size, but that is literally the only knock on him. We really don't need bigs or wings if we take a big with our first pick.

Wings: Wiggins, Bazz, Martin, Lavine, Bud, Hummel

Bigs: PEK, KG, Dieng, Payne, AB, Hamilton, First pick.

PG's: Ricky, Lo Brown

One of these positions is not like the others.

[AbeVigodaLive]

You don't trade up into the first to nab a guy who (if all goes right ) gives you only 12 minutes per game.

That's not a knock on Jones. But the team has to be hoping Rubio is healthy... and playing at a high level. And will take him to that 36 mpg range.

It's just poor value to use a 1st round pick for those remaining minutes.

We literally can't afford to bank on Ricky's health anymore. He has submarined multiple season at this point because of his injuries and the fact that we haven't had a good backup plan for him since we got him. Tyus is the perfect backup PG in the NBA. He can run an offense, he doesn't turn the ball over and he can get his offense within the flow of an offense or take over when needed. He won't be as effective at the next level because of his size, but that is literally the only knock on him. We really don't need bigs or wings if we take a big with our first pick.

Wings: Wiggins, Bazz, Martin, Lavine, Bud, Hummel

Bigs: PEK, KG, Dieng, Payne, AB, Hamilton, First pick.

PG's: Ricky, Lo Brown

One of these positions is not like the others.

Then get rid of Rubio. The team isn't getting to the next level (mediocrity) without him playing big minutes or playing well... or getting him out of here who is helping.

The team needs help EVERYWHERE. A backup PG where if all goes well he gets 12 minutes is simply poor value... no matter how much you dig Jones. Or I dig Jones.

Either count on Rubio. Or get rid of Rubio. Simple as that. But to trade up in the 1st round to protect against an injury that hasn't happened? That doesn't sit well with me.

There are far too many other areas of concern. Let's put it this way, if Rubio goes down, the team is losing 55 games again. So who cares who the backup is.

[Brandon BassHole [enjin:8183321]]

Rubio, Bazz and Bennet for the lakers pick

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

You don't trade up into the first to nab a guy who (if all goes right ) gives you only 12 minutes per game.

That's not a knock on Jones. But the team has to be hoping Rubio is healthy... and playing at a high level. And will take him to that 36 mpg range.

It's just poor value to use a 1st round pick for those remaining minutes.

We literally can't afford to bank on Ricky's health anymore. He has submarined multiple season at this point because of his injuries and the fact that we haven't had a good backup plan for him since we got him. Tyus is the perfect backup PG in the NBA. He can run an offense, he doesn't turn the ball over and he can get his offense within the flow of an offense or take over when needed. He won't be as effective at the next level because of his size, but that is literally the only knock on him. We really don't need bigs or wings if we take a big with our first pick.

Wings: Wiggins, Bazz, Martin, Lavine, Bud, Hummel

Bigs: PEK, KG, Dieng, Payne, AB, Hamilton, First pick.

PG's: Ricky, Lo Brown

One of these positions is not like the others.

Then get rid of Rubio. The team isn't getting to the next level (mediocrity) without him playing big minutes or playing well... or getting him out of here who is helping.

The team needs help EVERYWHERE. A backup PG where if all goes well he gets 12 is simply poor value... no matter how much you dig Jones. Or I dig Jones.

Either count on Rubio. Or get rid of Rubio. Simple as that. But to trade up in the 1st round to protect against an injury that hasn't happened? That doesn't sit well with me.

There are far too many other areas of concern. Let's put it this way, if Rubio goes down, the team is losing 55 games again. So who cares who the backup is.

Your last sentence makes my point. The Thunder lost Durant and are still fighting for a playoff spot. We need to be in a position where Ricky can miss 20 games and still have a shot at the playoffs because that's all that matters. It can't be an all or nothing thing with his health and whether he's on the team. Ricky is going to miss time and we need someone behind him who can keep us in the playoff hunt so that come playoff time we make it in and have Ricky available to play every game. I don't think trading Ricky just to get a fully healthy PG is the best move because we have to get someone better than him to replace him or what was the point?


Ricky makes everyone better around him and those are the guys you want on your team regardless of their ability to stay healthy for 82 games or 60 because it only matters if they are healthy for the playoffs. Finally I'll say that if you get a good backup for Ricky you can drop his minutes closer to 30 to keep him healthier. He doesn't need to play 40 a game. He's doing it now out of necessity, but nobody should play more than 36 MPG's or you built your team wrong. Sacrificing quality for health doesn't move the needle for us at all. There aren't bigs or wings in the same range as Tyus that are going to be significantly better than what we already have and Backup PG is the second biggest hole on the roster besides starting PF especially when you factor in the time Ricky misses every year. We just signed Ricky to a new extension so he isn't going anywhere. We need to make peace with that and find ways to build around his limitations.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

The Jazz took Gobert when they had Kanter and Favors. Pacers took Paul George when they had Danny Granger. The notion that we shouldn't "waste" a pick on a point guard because we have Rubio is crazy

[Coolbreeze44]

I can see both sides of the argument. Another quality point guard would be great, but trading assets for a guy you hope doesn't have to play much isn't very good value.

[Coolbreeze44]

To me the biggest question with Okafor is his biggest asset, his size. He looks like he labors because of it, and I worry about keeping him in shape to stay healthy for an 82 game season. Most big guys like that get a lot bigger once they come into the league (see Shaq). Jahlil can't afford to add any more weight. He just won't be durable.