Two league insiders prophesy a move to land Bulls restricted free agent Ben Gordon, an undersized shooting guard who could share the backcourt with big point guard Andre Miller. - SI.com
Hmm. I don’t like that idea even a little bit. I am a die hard Allen Iverson fan. Since Billy King traded away by far the best little man scorer in the history of the game, I am 100% opposed to bringing in another, lesser player of the same cloth as AI.
What do you guys think?
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13 comments ↓
Heck no to this one, unless we’re anticipating next year being Miller’s last with the team. I can see having Gordon and LouWill around Miller as a way for those two to improve their PG skills, so that in 2009-2010 our starters are Gordon, LouWill, Iggy, PF, C. That’s the only way that makes sense to me unless we’re turning Gordon or LouWill into that super-sub. If LouWill continues to do stuff like be our best player in the playoffs (thanks, Pete), I don’t know if he’ll accept being relegated to being a super-sub, he’d wanna start, right? And Iggy’s passing and decision-making would have to improve by a lot if we’re not gonna have a traditional PG back there.
Sixerzguy - “Heck no to this one” is right. If Gordon, LouWill and Iggy are in the starting line-up we have just become the shortest team in the NBA and that couldn’t be a winning combination.
I also mentioned what you said about Williams on Deep Sixer. Will Lou Williams be happy as a bench player because again I don’t think he is a starter on a championship caliber team.
I do not envy Stefanski right now.
I’m confused…exactly how would we land Gordon…are these rumors saying we’d trade Andre Miller for him, or lure him away via free agency?
I can’t believe I’m saying this, because I’ve always bashed Ben Gordon for being overated…but he would be a great addition for this team. What are our three most pressing needs?:
1. Power forward with an offensive post game
2. A backup PG to groom when Andre M gets old or we lose him.
3. A SG, that can shoot from outside, that can move Iguodala to his natural 3 position.
Ben Gordon would make a lot of sense at the two spot. He’s one of these guys that is in no way an elite player, but he IS a guy that would bring an automatic 17-19 ppg to the starting lineup. He’s also a guy that can absolutely light it up from 3 point land…unfortunately his mid range game and decision making suck. But we really need Andre Miller to NOT be our #1/#2 option…he needs scorers to pass to, that would be an interesting backcourt tandem, and would allow the Sixers to spread the floor a bit for once.
That said…he should not be an ideal option at all…and if that’s the guy we squandered our free agent money on instead of landing a big man, then all I’ll say is we’d better land a PF via trade or move up in the draft to grab a good one.
Dave T, totally agree on how Gordon could be used, he does 10X better what we wanted Willie to do. But here’s my biggest problem with Gordon - his ego. One thing I don’t like about this Sixer team is a lot of them think very highly of themselves, and I’m sure that was reinforced by their little playoff run, and the two games at Detroit. Iggy thinks he’s a max player. Thad says he’s a natural 3, and he’s got all these fans on their knees behind him. Carney thinks “his best is yet to come.” Sammy complains about his role. LouWill was our best player in the playoffs, which I’m sure he noticed. Now we’re gonna add Gordon to the mix, who held out for a big contract this year, because he thought the Bulls were undervaluing him? Signing Gordon would be worse than “not ideal”. We need to get rid of our ego guys, not get more of them, unless the goal is to become the Philadelphia Bucks for next season.
David Lee would be a great pickup for this reason. But why are you and Dannie so high on Brandon Rush? Exactly how is he going to excel in the NBA, what is he gonna do for his future team?
I like Brandon Rush for all the reason we all hate Willie Green. Rush never takes bad shots or as Pete says “momentum killing shots.” He makes us very big at the guard spot which helps protect us if we end up with a shorter PG down the line. Also he is as good of a shooter as Willie and Lou Williams are now if not better especially from three. He is a fantastic defender at 6′7 who could probably defend three positions (main reason I like him). Fits in our up tempo style as well since he can run and finish.
Remember how I coined the term “RajaBowen” talking about Rodney Carney’s development? Well I think Brandon Rush is already at that level now with the potential to be a better offensive player than Carney.
Fully agree with you on Brandon Rush Dannie.
Sixerz, another thing I’d add is that Brandon Rush played the good soldier while at KU. In other words, this is a guy that was a 1st-2nd team All American talent that shelved his own ego and game for the betterment of the team. It’s so freaking rare to have that Spurs/Pistons mentality naturally in a player, and it’s something that doesn’t show up in a stat box, and is important to recognize when found. B Rush has it.
The college-Carney is a perfect comparison; Rodney was a guy that came into Memphis as a one dimensional athlete, an athletic freak that can explode to the hole off the dribble. Over four years, and to his credit, he transformed and improved his game to where he became a great defender, could hit the outside three, and was able to see the floor better and move without the ball. That said…he’s still not a “natural” shooter, is very streaky from 3 point land, and can be real odd in that he’s trigger happy one moment, passive the next, or will launch up some random shot instead of taking it to the rack (most people forget just how good of a slasher Carney is).
Then we have Brandon Rush. Brandon Rush, like Stuckey on Detroit, could walk into a rigid, half court set type team and fit in flawlessly. He understands moving without the ball, floor spacing, is a GREAT passer, top notch defender…and most importantly as Dannie says, has great shot selection. He understands what all the Pistons understand…the flow of the offense. He “gets it”…when to give up a shot, when to pass, where to move without the ball to set up the potential of a good shot. And best of all…he can be passive and defer to teamates, but step up to the spotlight when it counts (see: Big 12 tournament and NCAA tournament when his ppg increased by 4-5).
I’m not saying he’s a future all star…but I do think he’d be able to step in and immediately play 20-25 mpg, and eventually be a Luke Walton or Anthony Parker type guy, great as the 3rd or 4th scorer to chip in 11 - 14 ppg, also great off the bench, wouldn’t care about minutes, and brings versatility with passing, shooting, defense and hustle plays.
Im wondering why nobody is talking about MontaEllis.The kid is young and offensively talented and we need more offense.I would think we could sign him at a reasonable price so we could still land Wilcox.If we need more cap space to do it we can get rid of Green(which we should do anyways).Id rather get two young guys with potential than use up all of our cap room on a very risky Randolph and lose a draft pick.
Sean, check out Pete’s Philadelphia Spurs article. He is preaching exactly what you just proposed about Monta Ellis.
Guys, I think that they should sign Elton Brand as PF, and trade Igoudala for Ben Gordon, their lineup then would look as follows:
PG- Andre Miller
SG- Ben Gordon
SF- Thaddeus Young
PF- Elton Brand
C- Sammy Dalembert
This team could really take us far into the playoffs, and it adresses our needs of a good offensive power forward, and a very goot sharpshooter. And I really think that THaddeus Young will have a breakout year for the Sixers.
Give me you thoughts
Blah - Not a big fan of Ben Gordon the NBA player, loved him at UCONN. I just think he gets way to out of control and takes bad shots. We will have a pretty small backcourt and forces Miller to guard stud shooting guards every game.
Rather have Monta Ellis if you want to go smaller combo guard. I would actually prefer to have Iggy at the 2 and Thad at the 3 with Brand, Miller and Sammy. Or move Miller for a PG with a stronger perimeter game. And add a sharp shooter coming off the bench.
But i don’t think we can get ellis, he is restricted which means his team can match our offer, which will probably happen.
Guys I have a better idea. I changed, my mind about ellis. This guy is absolutely amazing and gives us a real superstar. I think think the sixers with there cap space should be willing to overpay for him. Then the Sixers should sign and trade Igoudala’s big contract to the T-Wolves for the number 3 pick. They could get Mayo and groom to be their future point guard. Lastly with the money gained form Igoudala’s departure they need to sign Elton Brand, when he hopefully will opt out of his contract.
Their lineup would then look as follows:
PG- Miller/Mayo
SG- Ellis/Green/Carney
SF- Young/Carney
PF- Brand/Evans
C- Dalembert/#16
That would be an unstoppable force. And if they think Mayo could be ready by this year, they could trade Miller, for a sharpshooter. With this team they could probably even contest for first seed in the East.
Or instead of getting mixed up with Brand, they could do better by tradin Miller, William/Breen to the Raptors for Bosh. Don’t think they would refuse Miller
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