Ray for Kirilenko/Korver idea

[snively]

I've been mulling over possible Ray trades from a variety of blogs and forums and one that intrigues me is Ray, Giddens and Scal for Andrei Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and the #20 pick.

I think this addresses two of our teams 3 biggest weaknesses, while filling some of the hole created by Ray's departure.  I believe our 3 biggest weaknesses are: 1. a lack of defensive versatility in the 2-4 positions, 2. a lack of a legitimate back-up 5, and 3. a lack of playmaking off the bench.  This trade is contingent on being able to add a legit 5, ideally Rasheed Wallace in this scenario, through free agency.

The defensive possibilities of a line-up featuring Rondo, Pierce, AK, KG and Perk or Wallace are incredible.  Line-up tweaks with House, Korver and Wallace could add any necessary floor-spacing at the guard, swing or big positions.  Kirilenko's ability to slide between starting and bench line-ups would also dramatically improve the playmaking off the bench.

The financial side of this deal is somewhat nightmarish in 2010, especially with the prospect of resigned Rondo, but hopefully the departure or cheaper resigning of Korver, House and TA would alleviate this.  There are also the health risks with Kirilenko, and the improbability of landing Wallace.

Still, I think it makes for a fascinating, if far-fetched scenario.

[PosImpos]

Eh.  I'm not so excited about AK47

[wdleehi]

No. 

AK is just to overpayed and with the Celtics (much like the Jazz) will be forced to play out of position (PF)

[Eja117]

AK gets hurt too much

[lon3lytoaster]

People are going crazy with the Ray Allen trades. I understood the Amare talk, but some of these are just getting absolutely miserable.

[Bankshot]

Love AK47's game, wanted him on the C's for a while, but he would have to come off the bench behind Pierce and I don't think we can have a bench player making that much money. 

[MBz]

I'd want Ronnie Brewer in that deal.  He isn't a stud by anymeans, but he is a starting 2 guard in the league, and a guy who scores efficiently and could probably score 15-17 a game.  He isn't a good outside shooter by any means, but he is a solid player.

[Roy Hobbs]

I absolutely despise Kirilenko due to his mental softness.  No thank you.

[Evantime34]

I absolutely despise Kirilenko due to his mental softness.  No thank you.

I remember when I traded for him in the fantasy draft league and you proceeded to kill him for about two pages of posts.
I like him but he doesn't fit what we do. He is best on an uptempo team playing the 4.

[Chris]

I am higher on Kirilenko than a lot of people.  I think he is a terrible fit on the Jazz, but could be excellent playing in a system like Boston.  

He only has one more year on his contract, and if it doesn't work out, he could be a commodity next year as an expiring contract.  

I also think Korver is a very under-rated player who plays pretty good defense to go along with his offense.  

Korver could step in at SG, and help to stretch the defense, and he would actually be an upgrade defensively over Ray.  

Kirilenko would give the C's an incredibly versatile 6th man who can defend 4 positions against certain teams.  He would be a great backup to Garnett at the PF spot, because he plays very similar "rover" defense, and he also would be a huge asset to be able to throw on Lebron for 15-20 minutes a game, and give Pierce a breather.  

I also love the versatility it would give us down the stretch to be able to play AK47 at PF and Garnett at Center.  That was something the C's were really missing last year.

I don't think this is in any way a slam dunk, but IMO, it would be a deal that would at least get both teams to the table.

[Eja117]

I absolutely despise Kirilenko due to his mental softness.  No thank you.

Such as what? He's not the first guy that comes to mind when I think of that. Do you mean he's dumb or he's not emotionally tough or what?

[Roy Hobbs]

I absolutely despise Kirilenko due to his mental softness.  No thank you.

Such as what? He's not the first guy that comes to mind when I think of that. Do you mean he's dumb or he's not emotionally tough or what?

His bursting into tears because his playing time was reduced in the playoffs, his constant threats to return to Russia because Jerry Sloan "hates him", etc. I don't think there is a player in the league who has complained more to the media in his career than Kirilenko has.

Additionally, teammates (Deron) have publicly questioned his work ethic.  No thank you.

[RAcker]

No no and no.  Please no.

[bdm860]

This is one of the few trades I think makes reasonable sense for both sides and wasn't ridiculously far fetched.  (I don't usually read a lot of the trade threads though so there may be plenty other good ones).  But then I look at what some of the other posters thought and it looks like I'm in the minority on this one, lol, oh well nothing new.

I don't view AK47 crying to be a big deal, I mean Steve Francis cried when he got drafted by the Griz, oh wait, err bad example, how about then we’ve seen Big Baby cry.  All I know is if he hasn’t taken his wife up on her offer to let him cheat once per year, then he’s a whole lot mentally tougher than most men, lol.  If I a guy cares enough to cry I don’t view that as a bad sign.

As far as players I've only heard Deron criticize him, and I don’t know how great a leader I think Deron is (though a great pg), so I take that with a grain of salt, has anybody else criticized him?  Don’t follow the Jazz much so maybe they have and maybe there have been a whole bunch of other episodes showing him as mentally soft I’m unaware of.  I’m just saying I like what Kirelenko brings to the table basketball-wise and think he’d be a pretty good fit on our team.

[Roy Hobbs]

If I a guy cares enough to cry I don’t view that as a bad sign.

He didn't cry because his team lost, or that he was playing poorly.  He cried because he wasn't getting playing time.

...has anybody else criticized him? 

Well, the coach and owner has both criticized him repeatedly.  I think the superstar point guard, the coach, and the owner should be enough.