Jason Terry: What is his trade value?

[kg_veteran]

It seems to me that the player most likely to be traded in the offseason, at least according to "common wisdom", is Jason Terry. I've already seen (and discussed) quite a few trade scenarios involving Terry, but in my mind a lot of them probably overvalue Terry and/or undervalue the players coming from other teams. With that in mind, I thought I'd open it up for discussion: What is Jason Terry's trade value?

My two cents:

Jason Terry is obviously a very good player. He's just below an All-Star level. His PER for his three years in Dallas has been 18.4, 18.4, and 18.9, respectively. His scoring efficiency is off the charts for a guard, at least during the regular season. He's also improved his defense to the point where he's an average defender, statistically speaking. So what's the problem?

Terry is not a point guard. He doesn't have the ballhandling or the passing skills you'd want in a point guard, and he doesn't have the court vision either. He can occasionally rack up big assist games if the Mavs are hitting all of their shots in their set offense, but he just isn't a playmaker who consistently creates for others. Defensively, he's not a good fit at the point guard spot, either, because (despite his improvements) he still seems to be a step slow against quicker point guards.

Terry also isn't a traditional shooting guard. While he is a great shooter and he has the ability to drive, he lacks the size to get off his own shot consistently against bigger defenders. If you put a big, long defender on him, he can be significantly bothered. On defense, he just doesn't have the size, height, or strength to guard bigger SGs. They can either post him up or shoot right over the top.

So there's the problem. Terry is a "tweener". A "combo" guard. A man without a position. What's wrong with that? Well, IMO, it severely limits the number of teams that can fit him into their scheme, offensively and defensively. In order for him to be a good fit, it seems to me that he needs to play with an excellent wing player who can create for his teammates and allow Terry to just be a scorer and spot-up shooter. On the defensive end, that wing player needs to be able to cover a number of positions so that Terry can guard the weaker offensive player in the opposing backcourt.

One other thing. Terry's not a spring chicken, and he makes a lot of money now, so any team looking to acquire him would have to have pretty immediate championship (or deep playoff) aspirations.

So what teams fit this definition? IMO, there are only a few:

Houston (McGrady)
Los Angeles (Kobe)
Cleveland (LeBron)
Miami (Wade)

All of those teams are weak at the PG spot. All of them would be able to utilize Terry because they have wing players who can create for their teammates and help Terry out defensively. And, all of those teams seem to need another guard/scorer who can take the pressure off of their dominant wing player to score all of the points.

Bottom line, if you're looking to deal Terry, I think the deal has to go through or involve one of those four teams.

Thoughts?