I remember us trading Chauncey Billups because he wasn't cutting it or we wanted more immediate results.
I also remember us trading Joe Johnson so we could get Rodney Rodgers for the playoff run which ended short of a championship.
Billups showed some flashes while he was here - yet he was inconsistent.
Joe Johnson put up some 15, 6 & 6 type games as basically a Junior or Senior in college while he was here - showed some flashes of what might come with a little time.
I loved Bradley from day one because he had a game changing mental attitude to the game - pit bull defense. I also believed his offense was very underrated - you could tell by his stroke that he should be a decent shooter - he was just nervous and needed some time.
If you have a rookie putting up intermittent game of 16 points and 8 boards and he's actually really only a Junior of Senior in college - I would be hesitant to trade that kid. I don't look at Sullinger's value based on what he's doing right now today. I base it on the following:
1. What will he be like in the paint with about 15 pounds more upper body muscle after hitting weights for two years and most likely a bit more speed and lift because of that extra overall strength and less fat.
2. What will he be doing once he learns how to use that weight more effectively and once he stops getting all the rookie calls?
The answer for me is an easy 15/10 guy 9 whether starting or off the bench) and most likely a 20/10 guy - with a a little bit of a mean streak in him. I like that - a lot.
Melo - hated the pick. But after getting a chance to watch him play a few D-League games?
* great lateral quickness for a 7 footer
* Long and has good timing on blocks
* Most interesting to me is his form and stoke on free throws - it is not good, it is "excellent". That is going to translate into a very effective 12-15 foot face up jump shot in 1-2 years. If that happens Melo is a walking double double at Center and probably will settle with number like 18 / 8 and 3-4 blocks - with good overall defense in the paint.
I'm in no rush to trade a young rookie who just averaged:
20 points, 11 rebounds & 9 blocks over three games - D-League or not. That is showing us a flash of what he's learned and adjusted to going from College level talent in Zone concepts to better level D-League talent while learning man defense for the first time.
I'm in no rush at all - not yet.
These three guys are barely sniffing what they potentially can do and we've got them "cheap" for the next five years.
No, make a Bass plus picks move for a another big man (I agree with Nostar and I'd rather keep Lee than Bass) and when Cap comes off with Pierce and KG start adding major chips to this young core.
it's a win win for me.
The only way I trade these kids right now is for something that is a KG type deal.
Rondo plus Sully, Melo picks, etc.. for a real, true legit, young franchise player. Rondo is a legit piece of a trio that can bring you a ring - but he's not the guy who's going to drop 25 a night for the next 10 years - we need to find "that" guy in any potential blockbuster trade where we give up a bunch of our young talent.
For all we know Melo could just as effective or moreso than Gortat in 2 years.
Time, patience...
This current team is not nearly as far away from being dominant again as many of us think, including me at times so far this year.