bfwolf

Would it also be an option to give Bibby a one year extension and restructure his contract so that we knock a couple of million dollars off his 2008-09 salary and add a couple of million to what he would expect to make in 2009-2010? Or restructure Joe's contract in a similar way?

According to espn.com, Brand is only 29.

Before this injury, Elton Brand was one of the 15 best players in the league. I'd do the trade in half a second, assuming he checks out with our doctors.

How about we just focus on making the playoffs.

Fair points. Although I think that if you're going to bring Robin into the discussion on rebounding, you've also got to mention that Robin probably makes his defense look better as well, since they've got each other's backs for helpside D which lets them be more aggressive going for blocks.

I have mixed feelings about Brooke Lopez. He's athletic and is a very effective defender, but his rebounding is just average. He's got some sweet offensive moves, but his shooting percentage is nowhere near what it should be for a player of his size and athleticism. I could see him being a very mediocre off-the-bench pro but could also see him being a very good pro.

I imagine 36 will be enough for the 8th seed. 7th seed is a pipe dream.

Calipari is a great college coach because he's an unbelievable recruiter. His actual coaching skills are pretty good for college--not up to snuff for the NBA IMHO.

Back to the original question at hand, I think we could probably get a late-ish lottery pick for Marvin now. Maybe a #11 or so. About what we could've gotten before the last draft, but far less than we could've gotten after the first two months of the season when he was playing much better.

I think that we are best off not trading any of our young talent until we get a better coach. We will almost certainly not get value for our guys now, but once their play improves under a real coach, we could get more.

And with the way we're playing, that seems generous.

As I said earlier, Troy, tell that lease business to the people of Seattle.

My contention is that Salim is not a good enough all around player to get consistent minutes on a mediocre or better team. If he wants to stick in the NBA, he either needs to find a way to play well in limited minutes or he needs to get traded to an awful team. Once Acie is healthy, Salim's minutes will go down again because Bibby and Law are better than he is. And why should it be otherwise?

in the middle of a playoff hunt before? Is this precedented?

Don't be so sure, Pete. Sonics owner Clay Bennett is trying to weasel his way out of a lease right now so he can move the team to OC.