Is Nash really the best we could do by trading our best asset? I know we get Gortat also, but I am not blown away by him. If we are trading Rondo, I really think we need to find a way to get CP3.
I think people are underestimating Gortat. He's the real deal - he's a legit center who could help anchor the defense for the better part of the next decade. Plenty of size, long arms, seems to have some strength, too. Good defense, great rebounder, seems to have decent touch, and he's on a very friendly contract. Three more years at about $7M per - less than Perk's going to earn. Not making much more next year than JO.
The 14 games he started last season, he averaged about 14 and 11.
Excellent rebounder. He grabbed the same % of defensive rebounds last year as KG (25.1%). That DRP% compares favorably to a lot of the other big men with high raw rebounding numbers; it's not quite as good as Dwight Howard, but a fair amount better than Okafor, Dalembert, and Tyson Chandler (three players whose raw rebounding numbers were higher). It's higher than Zach Randolph's, Blake Griffin'sm and miles ahead of David Lee and Pau Gasol. I can't find many guys at all that grab a higher percentage of available rebounds than Gortat.
He's a very good defensive player.
He also just turned 27.
Steve Nash is a helluva player, too, could well make us a better team next season on his own. But, this trade would be mostly about shoring up the center spot for the foreseeable future.
EDIT: I'm not 100% sure I'd do the trade. Rondo's a dominant player at times, a guy who can single-handedly just take over games. I'm not sure that you trade that away; he's a jump shot and a little bit more consistency away from being one of the league's true greats.
Gortat and KG would be a helluva pairing, though, and Nash still has a few years left.
Wonder, though, the Nash/Ray pairing would be a little... suspect defensively. Since Nash would be bringing the shooting, would you then THINK about trying to get Iggy for Ray Allen? Would Rondo/Iggy/Pierce/KG/Gortat be a better mix?