(1) Play Cole Aldrich and Toure Murry already, for Christ's sake!!! We need to see what these guys can do. With Chandler out in the middle and now Felton hurting, it's a no-brainer to give these guys some time. We need help in both areas -- up front & in the backcourt...Aldrich was a lottery pick and Murry has clear potential on both sides of the ball. I think they can help us. I'd like to see a 10 game sample MINIMUM, starting tonight. I mean I can't believe Aldrich didn't get any time last night in Detriot against their big frontline. Crazy.
(2) After 10 or so games, we reassess. If Aldrich and Murry aren't the answer -- cut them both along with Chris Smith (who will still get all his money guaranteed btw -- we owe JR Smith NADA. Chris got his money--why does he still need a roster spot?????). That would open up 3 roster spots. Target the following frontcourt & PG upgrades on minimum deals:
Big man options
• Marcus Cousin - skilled 7' C that could immediately help out in the scoring and rebounding departments.
• Hassan Whiteside - best rim protector out there we could possibly get for the league min. His shot-blocking is legit and could be a game changer, esp. with all of our guards getting beat off the dribble seemingly at will. The rest of his game needs work but could be an asset as well in time.
• Kevin Jones - 6'8" 250-ish PF that's really a solid player. I know the Cavs really like him, he's just fallen victim to the numbers game there the past couple of seasons, going up and down from the DL to the big club. Right now he's not part of their 15-man team. Dude's a competitor, an excellent rebounder and he'd provide some nice inside/outside scoring. Instead of Martin and/or Stoudemire playing inconsistent mins and not looking all that effective, this young dude could just jump right in and go, play big mins if necessary with no restrictions. Played well for the Cavs when he was up. We really need to come to a conclusion with Martin and STAT -- if they're true cogs to this team anymore or just 2 guys barely holding on. We could still add Jones now while continuing to evaluate these guys too. We're talking about trading one of our better young players for a guy like Ken Faried -- Kevin Jones might be just as good a player here for us that we could get for peanuts w/o giving up a thing.
PG options
• Jeremy Pargo - Strong, quick PG that's athletic as hell - could help and give us a vastly different look from Beno & Pablo. Has really excelled playing in Europe. Looked good playing for the Cavs during his brief stint in the NBA. For Memphis too.
• Curtis Jerrells - Another quick PG that could help pick up the pace, increase penetration and provide additional scoring. Like Pargo, he really excelled playing in Europe the last few seasons and dominated the NBDL at one point. A left-hander like Udrih -- a little smaller but much quicker, faster.
(3) Provided we executed steps 1 & 2 and nothing's changed, fire Woody. Not ready to do it right now -- still willing to give him a chance if he showed some open mindedness and a willingness to shake things up and try something different (steps 1 & 2). If he refused to try other things or he did and it didn't work, he's gone. Outta here...The team is not responding to him at all. This whole 'play defense and you can do whatever you want on offense' thing is a joke and I don't like how he's handled Shumpert at all since he's taken over (the organization as a whole--Woody included--needs to sit down with this young man and reaffirm that he's not going anywhere and that he's the starting 2G). Shump needs to be built back up mentally. And Dolan needs to let this whole summer league thing with Shump where he sat out the last few SL games go too. I have a funny feeling Dolan is still harboring resentment toward the young man for this and it's ridiculous....Let's be honest though -- these 2 issues alone (along with how the team's looked in general) are enough to shit can Woody right now! Not sure who we could get. Jimmy Todd has prior experience and would take over in the interim...I don't like pairing up Melo with George Karl again. That won't work...I'd actually beg Jeff Van Gundy to come back myself. Never happen though...Have to give this more though, but in the meantime, if Woody keeps failing the way he has, he's gotta go. Period.
(4) Hire Tom Penn to be the full-time GM. I don't think he'd ever come here to work for a boob like Dolan but you never know. Money talks and this guy would be worth every penny I'm thinking...This is a bright young man that knows his stuff. I think we could use someone like this -- I think he might be the best guy available right now...I don't have much confidence in Steve Mills moving forward and H2O, who knows man -- I know he's being groomed for it but has he really learned from the right people up to this point? This organization is a complete mess.
