QUOTE (BG7 @ Jul 10 2007, 08:15 PM)
I really don't understand the point of this move. Why add another role player to the team? If Joe Smith doesn't bring serious defense or offense and is just another veteran big man who serves as a 'filler', why add him and further clutter the roster?
We have a handful of big men on the team with more than suffient potential. Tyrus is coming into his own, Joakim is going to have a solid rookie impact, Big Ben is always going to get his 10pts 10rbs, and we have a good and young backup center in Aaron Gray.
No need to clutter the 4/5 spots with guys who don't really address a need! Let Tyrus/Joakim handle the PF position. That will give both significant playing time and will have a big impact on their development.
I'm satisfied with the following starting lineup with the primary backups:
PG: Kirk Hinrich/Chris Duhon/JamesOn Curry
SG: Ben Gordon/Thabo Sefolosha
SF: Luol Deng/Andres Nocioni
PF: Tyrus Thomas/Joakim Noah
C: Ben Wallace/Aaron Gray
Either get an impact player, or stick with this roster. No more role players, please.
I disagree, and I think 1 more role player who can play the SF/C positions is exactly what this team still needs.
With Big Ben, TT, Noah, and Gray, there's just not going to be an awful lot of minutes available for a big name impact player. And even if we drop TT or Noah in a trade, there's still going to be 2 guys ahead of whatever impact player we might try to pick up.
On top of that, at least I personally actually want TT and Noah to start pulling in good minutes this season. I think we really need to both see what these guys can give us (esp. TT) and give them minutes to allow them to grow up (esp. Noah).
But, we still have 1 issue; health. Noah has that shoulder, Big Ben is up there in years, and a bunch of us are going to be worried about TT's health until he adds a few more pounds. IMO, I think there's probably 10 or so games each of the next few years where Big Ben just won't be able to play, on average, and possibly a few more if he suffers a bigger hurt. On days that Big Ben can't play, our lineup is Gray, TT, and Noah. Nocioni becomes our backup PF again. Or if Big Ben or one of the kids gets in foul trouble, then we don't have any depth. We could really use 1 more big man just to give us a little bit of depth, even if he isn't a dominant player.