Hey Masai! Is Boston the hold up?

[Axel]

I'm 50/50 on whether Boston should trade Rondo. An elite PG can help develop the younger players by making their lives easier. If the young guys only have to worry about making their cuts/screens/etc and not having to worry about the quality of the pass, then they can focus more on their own game and should develop more quickly. To develop a young PG at the same time might be too much at once.

If I were Boston, the offer would need to blow me away or the rest of the young pieces aren't developing, and you need to bring in a true stud to build around.

[tkfu]

Bill Simmons..I find it difficult to gauge whether he's actually really smart or dumb as fuck..it's like he seems to know what he's talking about,but at the same time he doesn't..

I think Bill Simmons is really, really good at reading, absorbing, and regurgitating the current sports fan zeitgeist. Occasionally even anticipating it by a little bit, and thus appearing to be a little bit ahead of the curve. He's also an excellent writer with a carefully cultivated 'everyman' voice.

[golden]

Bill Simmons..I find it difficult to gauge whether he's actually really smart or dumb as fuck..it's like he seems to know what he's talking about,but at the same time he doesn't..

Bill Simmons is a media guy who is paid to get attention. We are talking about him and his article. The answer is clear.

[LBF]

Bill Simmons is a media guy who is paid to get attention. We are talking about him and his article. The answer is clear.

I don't think the answer is that simple.

[Mundy]

Bill Simmons is a media guy who is paid to get attention. We are talking about him and his article. The answer is clear.

I don't think the answer is that simple.

Agreed. Anybody who's read his Book of Basketball knows how extensive his base of knowledge is, but he has so much on his plate that he doesn't waste time on bottom-dwellers unless they're the Celtics.

Simmons put these videos out on his own website/network, so he doesn't owe anybody an explanation for his opinions. Sure, it's a small branch of ESPN, but:
a) he's still pretty independent, and much of what he does is based of pop culture as much as sports
b) even when he's an analyst, he's on ESPN so he'll only ever cover nationally televised games, which means (almost certainly) contenders. He won't pretend to know a bunch about the Raptors until they matter.

The worst part is that he could end up being 100% correct in his assessment and we could honestly win like 7 of our first 20 games, at which point we blow it up. My only hope is that if we DO trade Rudy and Lowry it's early enough in the season that we could compete with Philly for that top (see: bottom) spot.

[ebrian]

There is always a hold up, because everyone is trying to trade for the best available players. We're down the list because we don't have great players.

It's like in highschool when girls are waiting to be asked to the school dance. The uglier girls get asked last. (Sorry, very superficial but that's how teenage boys think).

[Balls of Steel]

I don't see it

And while Toronto may be waiting on those teams, maybe you have Charlotte waiting on Toronto? Maybe Cleveland is waiting too? Or maybe Toronto is waiting for them? Or maybe none of these teams are waiting for another but different teams who the previously mentioned teams are waiting for are on hold due to some other team?


Hopefully point is taken here: Rondo appears to be the 2013-14 trade blocker.

What do you think?

I cannot see why Gay would be of any value to most teams. Call me naive but I also can't see Rondo here (with or without a 3rd or 4th team involved).

[Shantz]

I cannot see why Gay would be of any value to most teams. Call me naive but I also can't see Rondo here (with or without a 3rd or 4th team involved).

This wasn't a trade proposition of Gay for Rondo, but pointing out that a Rondo trade could be the first domino that needs to fall before a Gay trade happens.

It seems like we at the Republic are assuming the following teams may have an interest in Gay, and have assets that may intrigue Masai:

Cleveland
Milwaukee
Charlotte
Detroit

....and possibly others, but these seem to be the big four.

Of these, I think both Milwaukee and Charlotte would have interest in both Gay and Rondo. Detroit's Interest in Rondo most likely ended with Jennings, and Cleveland has Kyrie.

I think this will be my favourite subplot of the season...

[thead]

Cleveland makes the most sense of any team, and has 5 total 2014 picks (2 1st rounders and 3 second rounders). If they continue to grow organically they will be a big threat in four years. Rudy accelerates things quite a bit

[thead]

Detroit has no picks and unless they would do something like Rudy & Landry, for Monroe, Stuckey, and Charlie V is not even on the radar for me. If we can't get picks out of a team for Rudy, then a young big like Monroe would pair beautifully with JV for 10 years to come.

[mcHAPPY]

I cannot see why Gay would be of any value to most teams. Call me naive but I also can't see Rondo here (with or without a 3rd or 4th team involved).

See Shantz reply.

Not proposing trading Gay for Rondo.