Cavs Interested in Kosta Koufos

[pinoycavsfan]

id rather wait for a healthy okafor than get koufos.

 

[Jordan]

id rather wait for a healthy okafor than get koufos.

And I'd rather wait for a healthy Oden or Shaq to come back as a 28 year old and signing for the minimum. All three things have an equally likely chance of happening.

 

[Sir John]

A lot about this Koufos rumor doesn't make sense.

* I'm no fan of Waiters but trading him for a backup 4th big of limited upside seems...lopsided from a raw talent / upside perspective.

* Despite the above, why on Earth does Memphis do this? Koufos is playing a critical role in their rotation. They're 17-4, in first place, and this is their window to make a run. They need Koufos far more than Waiters. Moreover, Memphis has their chemistry and rotations working. They'd have to worry about integrating Waiters and his pouty, mercurial attitude in the middle of the season. And take on the risk of him dragging them down or causing problems. And taking too many shots on the court. Nothing about it makes much sense from Memphis' point of view.

* Koufos isn't a bad option -- in a void. If he was a FA or being given away in a fire sale, I'm all for it. But he's also not the perfect Missing Piece. Not a guy you bet the farm to acquire. The price must be right -- which is low.

* Packaging him with a washout like Prince makes the deal worse, not better. Pass.

* Tossing in even more assets to get Shumpert? I'd hope for that Memphis pick, Cavs do better. Pass, again.

There's no need to start grasping for panic trades. The Cavs have righted the ship enough that the season isn't lost.

At least wait for the trade deadline, gives the team more time to see what they truly need, and more possibilities to come available on the market.

Or god forbid, wait until the off-season and get a truly fantastic piece.

Studies routinely show: those that can delay gratification are happier and more successful.

 

[Cavsfan161]

Would anybody here trade Dion for him?

 

[Cavatt]

Underwhelming

 

[crowned1]

Would anybody here trade Dion for him?

No way..

 

[Cavatt]

I've watched some Grizzlies, but I don't think this guy is a starter. Even his highlights are a little underwhelming. They spend the first minute on an offensive putback from an easy board in a game where he is 1/7. Lot's of easy dunks in there. I don't see the aggression or anything I want from a guy that size. He has the physical profile of Gortat, but none of the intensity.

I said it in the Dion Thread and it was misunderstood, but are you going to trade Dion for a Center who is not better than either Andy or Tristan? Just seems counter intuitive. Cut these guys minutes who have been super productive for us, so that we can play a stiff in their minutes because he has size? What are we gonna get an extra block out of him? TT makes up for his lack of blocks(which is not even that bad right now since he is averaging a block a game and some of them aren't even being reported) by the extra possessions he gets.

Tristan is looking better and better. He had a little trouble with Valanciunas last night, but has been going toe to toe with a lot of big guys lately, and he is learning from it. Who knows by the end of the year. So far looking at our bigs rotation, whose minutes do you want to cut?

I prefer like some said above to see if we can't get Okafor when/if he becomes available. Also, Kirk is ballin in the D-league. If he improves his body at all this year, I'd like to see him brought up. The schedule has been tough, but getting Haywood some minutes to see if he can contribute at all might be a good idea.

I'm just not that interested in trading for an underwhelming guy this year. We have way more to work with next year, and we will have a much better idea of what the actual problems are with the team at that point too. I really don't think we have a good grasp on the team yet. Some of our former weaknesses have become strengths in a short time. Roles are still wet cement right now.

 

[Derek]

The one thing that worries me about Kosta is I feel like he's one size smaller than the guy we really need.

Enormous 7 footers: Marc Gasol, Omer Asik, Timofey Mozgov, Nene, Robin Lopez, Bogut, Noah......
Casual 7 footers: Tyler Zeller, Pau Gasol, Kosta Koufos......

We need someone who can root bodies out of the paint with their ass and mass. Take up a fuck-ton of space, punish guards who take it to the rim, score garbage points.

Having a true center with mass will open Love's game to insane levels.


Picture the qualitative differences here: Love on the court with Asik, Lopez or some other ginormous Center mass.

vs Love playing next to a guy like Tyler Zeller or Pau Gasol.

I'm at the point with this Cavs team where if I can get one of these grown ass man centers, I'll surrender some assets, whether that's Dion, picks, etc.

We're closer than we think, but adding the wrong 7 footer won't make a big enough difference. Adding a fucking grown ass man 7 footer down there might = a championship.

I don't think I trade Dion for Kosta. Kosta is a nice player, I'm just not sure he's the answer.

I'm not quite sure what makes you think Koufos compares to Pau Gasol and Tyler Zeller. He's over 7 feet tall and is listed at 265 lbs. He's bigger than half the guys you listed as "enormous 7 footers". While I agree I would not trade Dion for him straight up, he's exactly the type of center I'd like to see here.

 

[gratefuldead]

i still cant believe how badly we got raped in the salary dump for lebron

we gave boston zeller AND a 1st just to take salary...zeller is playing good now

philly is getting 2nds to take on on $$$$$

of course id rather have lebron than tyler but i have to think griffin got butt raped by ainge

zeller is having a good year

 

[Cavatt]

i still cant believe how badly we got raped in the salary dump for lebron

we gave boston zeller AND a 1st just to take salary...zeller is playing good now

philly is getting 2nds to take on on $$$$$

of course id rather have lebron than tyler but i have to think griffin got butt raped by ainge

zeller is having a good year

People hated Zeller, but I think he is good. I thought it was a loss as well. They say he was bad in the locker room or something, but I have no idea.

He had that shot, and played so well with Tristan, I dunno. Maybe his arms were short, but he was big.

 

[crowned1]

i still cant believe how badly we got raped in the salary dump for lebron

we gave boston zeller AND a 1st just to take salary...zeller is playing good now

philly is getting 2nds to take on on $$$$$

of course id rather have lebron than tyler but i have to think griffin got butt raped by ainge

zeller is having a good year

why did we give a 1st?
It looks like griffin is a bad negotiator, just like we gave a 1st to the wolves

 

[jyan_osu]

why did we give a 1st?
It looks like griffin is a bad negotiator, just like we gave a 1st to the wolves

Probably because every team knew we were trying to clear space in order to get a chance at signing lbj. with that all gms knew they had the upper hand in asking for a little extra.

 

[LeShaq]

Just put this in the Dion thread and will say it again here.

With Dion playing well, there's no need to ship him out. I think he's found his groove, and will continue to progress.

That means we're just missing the rim protector center. Best lineups in my mind would be the following.

Irving
Miller
James
Love
_____

Delly
Waiters
Marion
Thompson
Varejao

Now we just use the trade exception for Koufos (or Okafor, or Withey, or someone). I think this lineup can take us to the finals if we are healthy.

I have no fascination with Koufos in particular. I just want to get someone who is big and capable of clogging the lane and blocking some shots. If Okafor is healthy and easier to get than Koufos that's fine.

Koufos is not a key member of Memphis team. That's why he wants out, it seems. He's playing less than 15 minutes per game. Still, the Grizzlies do need some other option at backup center before they will likely give him up.

I like Koufos because he is huge, is an Ohio guy, and seems open to coming here. He's also pretty young. And he has some offensive ability. But I'm not fixated on him, same as I was not fixated on having to trade Waiters.

 

[LeShaq]

One other thing on the roster. If we keep Waiters and still add a rim protector, I think we have to then drop someone from the roster to stay at 15 players.

My guess is that if we add a big man, the person who would be dropped is Amundson. Him or Price, and my guess is Amundson would be the one to go if Koufos/Okafor/Withey or someone similar is added.

 

[Omar The Horse]

One other thing on the roster. If we keep Waiters and still add a rim protector, I think we have to then drop someone from the roster to stay at 15 players.

My guess is that if we add a big man, the person who would be dropped is Amundson. Him or Price, and my guess is Amundson would be the one to go if Koufos/Okafor/Withey or someone similar is added.

Sweet Jesus you are adorable.