FanPost

Trading For Nash and Gortat

Promoted FanPost

I confess I'm one of those "bad" fans who sometimes enjoys watching Rondo play but most of the time wishes he was a little bit more disciplined. A lot of people have expressed their issue with Rondo: lack of improvement, lack of a reliable jumper, lack of free throw shooting... turnovers. I'm with them. Others, meanwhile, have expressed why they (and we all) love Rondo's game: he played with a dislocated elbow! he's a great passer! we won a championship with him! He dominated the Cavs (we live in the present not in the past). He's a Top 5 PG (no, he's not).

The thing is, Rondo's weaknesses are a burden when we play elite teams: Heat, Lakers, Bulls (let's see if he proves me wrong tomorrow against Rose), and those weaknesses overshadow his strengths.

I believe this team has another run in them; I really do; but it's not happening without a reliable center (and I think we can all agree on this).

At first, trading Rondo for Nash doesn't sound too good, but trading Rondo for Nash AND Gortat? Now we're talking.

Our problem at center would be fixed and we'd have a PG who can actually shoot and pass. Granted, Nash's defense isn't good, but the only guy who is a serious threat at PG in the East is Derrick Rose (and, frankly, I don't think Rondo can lock down Derrick Rose in a 7-game series. And without a great center? Forget about it).

In the short-term, acquiring both Nash and Gortat would make us a better team, while also giving us even more cap space this summer. I believe we can get another great PG in the draft. Rondo, after all, was the 21st pick. But a center like Gortat who averages a double-double of 15.2PPG and 10.1RPG (basketball-reference) and makes around 7 million dollars a year (hoopshype.com)? Those are not easy to find. Heck, Perkins has a contract through 2014-15 and in his final year he'll make more than 9 million dollars (hoopshype), and he isn't as good as Gortat!

The Suns would do this because Rondo fits their run and gun system perfectly, and, yes, even though giving up Gortat might be too much, what they really need is to rebuild through the draft and put pieces around Rondo.

There are a lot of scenarios that could work in this trade: Rondo+O'Neal=Nash+Gortat; Rondo+O'Neal+Daniels= Nash+Gortat+Hill; Rondo+O'Neal+Moore+Clippers' first round pick=Nash+Gortat+Aaron Brooks.

Actually, if we get Aaron Brooks, we'd be looking at a starting lineup of Brooks, Pierce, Jeff Green and Gortat in the future. That's not bad, and we can make another serious run this year!

Anyway, there are a lot of variations, but the important thing is to make a championship run with Nash and Gortat and then look to rebuild via draft, free agency, and sign and trade (Ray Allen, Brandon Bass) this summer.

(P.S.: I don't want Robin Lopez!!!).

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