One reason Dieng > Pek

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We need to draft an athlete that can play at the wing. There will be one in the draft when we pick. We just need to pick the right one. I really like a front court rotation with Love, Pek, and Dieng.

If Deing keeps developing like he his, what other team would want to play a Pek-Love-Deing front court over a 7 game series?

I agree that big man rotation would be really impressive, but to answer your question about what team would want to play us...I would say just about any team, because we would still have Martin's defense and end-of-game invisibility as our best option at SG. If you think that our draft pick will make a major contribution next year, take a look at the contribution of this year's draft crop. Heck, take a look at Kobe Bryant in his first year. The first year for rookies is almost always an adjustment year.

The fact of the matter is that time is not on our side. Because the Kevin Love clock is ticking, we need to show drastic improvement next year or he's gone. And our best chance of getting much better next year is to offer up our most valuable but expendable asset in a quest to bring back a very good 2-way SG. With Martin now providing instant offense off the bench, we become a formidable team...offensively and defensively.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Really good discussion, guys. I think the proponents of keeping Pek and the advocates of shopping him in hopes of filling a greater team need both have valid viewpoints. One thing for sure, it's going to be a fun off-season, and it's great to have such a bright diverse group of guys to analyze it. It will be interesting to see which direction Flip goes. I hope he privately discusses his intentions with Love to get his buy-in. I normally wouldn't endorse such a favoritism policy, but retaining Love is such a priority, I would like his tacit approval of big moves (hiring a coach, trading Pek, etc).

As some have suggested, there may not be any deals out there involving Pek that make us better. In that case, we just have to hope that the following factors provide the kind of improvement Love needs to see:

1) A new coach
2) A big second year leap by Muhammad and Dieng
3) Shooting/finishing improvement by Rubio
4) Emergence of Shved as a viable backup point guard
5) Contributions by our draft pick
6) Use of our meager assets, like the MLE, to supplement our roster

I still endorse making a big move involving Pek, but it's not inconceivable that the six factors above bring us another 10 wins, and another 10 wins might be enough to convince Love to stay.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

The Clippers have the best PG in the league. They are having career years from Jordan and Griffin. They have one of the best 6th man in Crawford, and it still looks like they have about a zero percent chance of winning the title. Our goal right now shouldn't be trying to be a contender because it's a pipe dream. We have to look to get into that 5-8 seed range and I think Love will still around. I believe we only need minor tweaks to get there, not blow it up

[Coolbreeze44]

Agree with LST, so many good points being made here. Here's my take: I was disturbed last night when Jim Pete said it was an outside chance that Love would stay. Not that I was shocked by it, just that Peterson's opinion on this carries quite a bit of weight in my mind. I think the first thing we need to do is have Flip sit down with Love and hope Kevin will be honest about his feelings. For all we know, maybe this has already happened. But until we have an idea about Love, how can we really move forward with a plan?

If Love admits it is a longshot to stay, we can start trying to maximize the return for him. If he tells Flip that continued improvement, however modest, would have him inclined to stay, we don't move Pek and try to maximize our draft and MLE. If he says we need major improvement to make him stay, we try to trade Pek for the guard asset we need and hope our young players come on strong. In other words swing for the fences. So I think getting an idea of Kevin''s mindset is the biggest issue right now.

And as LST brought up, I would involve Kevin in every major decision going forward. Get his input on the coach, the draft, potential free agents, everything. Who knows the next time we will get a top 10 player. We need to try to keep this going before we start on another full rebuild.

[KiwiMatt]

Who is this two way wing everyone dreams of acquiring for Pek?

I agree his name should be thrown out there, but in all reality he just isn't that highly coveted. Outside of the Minnesota he really isn't that well know. Free agency proved that. The only realistic trade I can think of is maybe for Eric Gordon and an exchange of 1st round picks allowing us to move up in the draft, but even then I would be hesitant.

I'm in the 'Keep Pek' camp. Dieng has been a pleasant surprise and looks like he will develop in to a legit starting caliber center, but he still needs a couple of season to polish his skills. Pek's contract will become more valuable the longer we hold on to it, barring major injuries. Dieng is also a nice, cheap insurance piece if Love or Pek get injured and miss games.

[mjs34]

Who is this two way wing everyone dreams of acquiring for Pek?

I agree his name should be thrown out there, but in all reality he just isn't that highly coveted. Outside of the Minnesota he really isn't that well know. Free agency proved that. The only realistic trade I can think of is maybe for Eric Gordon and an exchange of 1st round picks allowing us to move up in the draft, but even then I would be hesitant.

I'm in the 'Keep Pek' camp. Dieng has been a pleasant surprise and looks like he will develop in to a legit starting caliber center, but he still needs a couple of season to polish his skills. Pek's contract will become more valuable the longer we hold on to it, barring major injuries. Dieng is also a nice, cheap insurance piece if Love or Pek get injured and miss games.

I would dump Pek even up for Gordon. If Pek is already coming up lame for 20-25 games in the first year of his new contract, and more importantly wasn't able to play through a little pain to go against PHO and MEM last week I think we need to move him while he is relatively healthy. That Bursitis is likely to get worse, not better. Gordon only has two years left after this season, so if his health becomes an issue again we will have some flexibility.

I don't understand the "Dieng has been a pleasant surprise and looks like he will develop in to a legit starting caliber center, but he still needs a couple of season to polish his skills" mantra. Dieng looks like a top 15 starting center right now. Yes, it is a small sample size, but nothing he is doing is difficult to replicate. It is all based on size, BBIQ and athleticism. The guy clearly gets it, and I see no reason he can't jump into a starting role next season. If he does have a few growing pains, I think they would be quickly forgotten after Gordon puts up 15 off the bench, or with starters with Martin moving to the second unit.

[Porckchop]

While a threesome of Love , Pek and Dieng looks sexy a really strong front court doesnt win Championships. Unless u have an all timer like Shaq or Duncan. Even those guys needed uber talent in the backcourt. One will need to be sacrificed to garner that wing. Peks the obvious one to go becuz his defense is way worse than Diengs while his offense is only a lil bit better. Plus Peks past the age where we'll see any improvement.

If fans are happy to just make the playoffs then fine, roll with that frontcourt. Id like to see them get there in the hopes of winning a round or two. For that to happen an athletic wing must be found. If it takes dangling Pek and the 13 to move up and get that guy I say do it. I dont wanna see another past his prime player brought in that only serves as a band aid for 1 maybe 2 years and then ur lookin again.

Im not saying Pek and the 13 pick is the route we should go. Only making the point that all avenues should be considered in finding that player that could get us over the hump.

[WildWolf2813]

Don't trade Pek just to placate a player who is leaving anyway.

If Love stays, then explore trading Pek. I don't want BOTH of them gone within a year.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Trading this year's draft pick for a veteran will be a dumb move. Don't trade it by itself and certainly don't trade it with Pekovic. And please don't throw an unrealistic offer at me saying, "But what if someone offers a top-five pick?" because it won't happen. Pekovic for a vet (Luol Deng?) and we should think about it, but Pek + 13 to move up a few spots or to get a realistic vet? No thank you.

[Porckchop]

I just dont value Pek as much as some do. While he can score in a number of ways hes soft and stops nothing that comes into the paint. If he scores 18 but stops nothing on the other end what have u gained? I guess I prefer big men that can rebound and block shots well. Play solid help D and chip in 10-12 pts on a nitely basis. It seems thats become the winning formula these days.