[Zki41]

keep

roddy - in my opinion he should be our first pg from the bench. his defense is very good, his j has some range, he's our only player who consistently penetrates the paint, he isn't a ball hog + he's our only young player. yes, he makes some mistakes but not as many as jj...

gooden - he's a hustler, brings energy from the bench. i never thought that i would be satisfied with his game but he's a good hard worker who would be the perfect player from the bench if his baketball iq would be higher. in addition he's our only player who can defend small centers (like nene)...

jkidd - his toe! i can't believe how many threes he missed by standing on the line. but ok, he runs our offense, makes clutch plays, other players better and he can't handle fast pg's (fortunately he's strong enough for sg's), overall a leader who should get ~30 minutes per game...

matrix - our only player who plays defense consistently, no-brainer, but he should run the pick&roll with kidd more often (carlisles fault) and make the easy layups...

dirk - ...

jet - the hardest desicion, but i think as a 3rd scorer he would be an extremely effective player. he's just too streaky for a second option and he feels the weight if the j isn't falling. even if he found his place in the starting lineup, i think he would kill other teams from the bench. defensively he needs a strong partner in the backcourt (roddy)...

timmy - also a streaky player, but in my opinion he should get his 10 minutes every night. if his shot is falling, give him more minutes, if not, take a seat on the bench. his defense is decent, i like how he doesn't allow easy buckets...

go

jj - in the nba are so much veteran pg's that would help us more than jj does now. i understand that carlisle like his energy from the bench but he's extremely inconsistent + he makes tons of mistakes. just because he flops here and there a charge, his defense looks not as awful as it looks for mavs-fans. even if he would score 30 points per game, his opponent would score 50...

carroll - got his shot at the start of the season, doesn't deserve a seat at the aac...

damp - he was the biggest surprise in the first months but his injury kills him. clearly we can't give him up until summer but i just hope he gets back on track because he's the only big man in our roster...

jho - biggest disappointment, enough said...

eddie - i like him, but not good enough...

ross - we acquired him as a defensive stopper but i only see average defense from him, his offense isn't existent...

singleton - hustle, thats all...

I agree with most of this ... but I think if we are going to trade for somebody who can impact us before the trade deadline, we have to include Gooden.

I am a supporter of the Josh/Gooden/Barea/Carroll for Iggy/Dalembert type of deal. Dalembert's contract expires in 2011, so it is not a bad deal at all. Plus, Dalembert can start for us. We don't lose any depth really ... Roddy will benefit from Barea's minutes being hone.

I think you are being a little hard on Ross and Singleton ... they are getting paid about a million each. They are just paid to sit on the bench, and only come out for emergencies as 11th and 12th men on the roster.

Najera has a non-guaranteed contract next year ( I believe) which makes him packable with Dampier in terms of salary cap relief for a potential S&T type deal. Since we are on the topic ... I don't know what our chances are in getting a max contract player. If we do get one, we have to consider what to use our MLE for as well. With so many free agents this off-season, I feel that we can get a great asset for the MLE. For example, if we hypothetically get LeBron, then I think somebody like Brendan Haywood would be great to get for the MLE ... proven rebounder and shot blocker and for once we would be solidified at the center position with him and Dalembert.