JETSET

I think this was already known. They would still have to take a major pay cut in their first year though. It just comes down to if they would rather play with a 36 year old 7 ftr who has elite offensive skills but provides next to nothing on defense or play with a young well-rounded offensive player who has elite defensive skills. How many more years can Dirk play before that large frame of his has had enough?

A trio of Rondo/Dwight/Josh would never sniff a title so I would rather keep Horford and let Teague walk. Bring in some scrubs on 1 year deals and tank for a high pick in the starstudded 2014 draft. I don't see why people keep insisting on Rondo/Howard/Smith. How do you not realize that this is a terrible combo? This would be like the Nets. The cap would be maxed out and you wouldn't have a shot at a title. Terrible position to be in. I'm tired of being a treadmill team and I don't see how every one doesn't feel the same. I don't want any part of Jefferson or Mayo either. and who says the Celtics would trade Rondo for Horford in the first place?

LOL at one player providing enough spacing for a team. Rondo, Smooth, Dwight and Allen would be rendered useless on offense because the defense would just crowd the lane and dare them to shoot jumpers. That grouping would fail hard.

Are you talking about the last 2 games of the series where Paul looked for his shot early instead of spending the first half looking to get his teammates involved? Tony didn't have much of an answer for Paul in those two games as Paul scored 63 points on over 50% shooting.

I think you are confused. The Grizzlies beat Miami by 18 @ Memphis and lost to Miami by 7 @ Miami. So the Grizz have outscored Miami by 11 on the year. Miami was out of their minds from 3 in the game they won as were the Grizz in the game they won. This will be a tough series if it does end up being the Finals matchup.

Miami will not be running Memphis off the court. That series will go 6 games minimum. They will put up a better fight than OKC did last year, that's for sure.

I want no part of Mayo. Dude is as overrated as it gets. Carlisle was ready to choke him out by the end of the season.

I think Memphis deserves more credit that yall are giving them. This is the best team defense in the league and their bigs can score on anyone. I would probably give the edge to OKC if Westbrook was healthy but Memphis is no slouch. I do think that Memphis is a tougher challenge for Miami than OKC would be due to their style of play and their bigs.

Howard and Paul are not going to take 15 million and it would be a bad idea to keep Josh.

Memphis doesn't have a superstar. They also haven't won a title either. They do have a good shot this year but I would still favor Miami over them if they make it to the Finals. They have also been a bit lucky with Griffin and Westbrook both being injured. I do believe that they would have handled LAC with or without Griffin but there is no telling how the OKC series plays out with a healthy Westbrook.

You are correct. Superstars don't matter. It is odd though that only one team has won a championship in the past 30 years without having atleast one superstar.

It's true that Howard is a better C than Horford, but it is also true that Horford is a better PF and overall player than Josh. It's also true that Horford will cost less than Josh.

Rondo is not the smartest PG in the game. I will take Paul's BBIQ over Rondo's any day of the week. Rondo routinely passes up easy layups to kick it out for a 15 ftr or 3 pt attempt to pad his assist numbers. Rondo routinely slouches during the regular season as well. A team of Paul,Horford,Howard would own those 3 on the offensive end and they would be better on the defensive end. Josh is a tweener. He's not quick enough to stay with the elite SF's but he's not big enough to defend elite PF's.

No they couldn't. Giving Josh or Jefferson $15 million per year or more pretty much guarantees that this team will never win a title as long as they are on the team. You have to have superstars to win titles. Paul and Howard are the only 2 superstars that are available this offseason.

What a #*&$*# post

Rudy is one of the most overpaid players in the league. That would be like having Josh on a max contract.

Alex, you can't be serious. There are only two free agents this year that can help a team win a title and they are Dwight and Paul. Dwight carried a Magic team to the finals with Jameer Nelson as the PG. Paul and Horford plus a bunch of 3 pt shooters and a solid wing defender would equal the best team Howard had ever played on. This trio is by far our best chance at winning a title. I have to question the BBIQ of anyone who thinks differently.

A Rondo/Josh/D12 trio would be terrible. where is the spacing going to come from? Teams can just pack the paint and the offense would be inept. CP3/Howard/Horford is easily the best trio that we can do. It's not even close.

Jefferson is going to get more than 11 million per year. He will be closer to a max than 11 million. At that price tag, you are expected to be a star and not just a piece of the puzzle unless the team is satisfied with what we have been for the past 6 years.

Look at the teams that have won rings since 2000. Every team had a defensive stopper in the post other than the Heat. Mavs - Chandler Lakers- Bynum Celtics - Garnett (Perkins was actually good that year) Spurs - Duncan Lakers - Shaq Pistons - Wallace and Wallace A frontcourt of Horford and Jefferson won't get it done.

I agree with Leadership 100%. Dwight >>>>>> Jefferson. Comparing Dwight and Jefferson is like trying to compare Teague to CP3. Jefferson does not do enough on defense. He is a terrible pick and roll defender. I remember watching our first game against Utah this season and Jefferson was lazy and rarely closed out on Horford off of the pick and roll. Horford had his best game of the season that night with 34 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 blocks. He owned Jefferson all night on offense.

Why on earth would anyone want to pair Smith with Howard over Horford with Howard? It makes zero sense. A pairing of Smith/Howard would end up with Smith taking a ton of long 2's and missing badly on 70% of those shots. Horford shoots the midrange shot at 42% while Smith shoots it at 30%. Horford would also fit with Paul better as he can pick and pop off the pick and roll or roll hard to the basket for an oop or solid post position. Horford is easily the better companion for Paul/Howard and he will cost less. He also has a better attitude and doesn't have to be "the guy". So long Smith, it was nice knowing ya.