re: Let's discuss Omer Asik's future in New Orleans

Over the past several years, the Pels have made some of the sorriest decisions on centers. And it may be the way they use the center. Chandler and Lopez and even Withey look like different players once they get out of this organization

Why does it feel like demps builds teams in his head and expect the coaches to work with what he has, not getting the players a coach wants or needs...

Of course they completely changed the system but kept the same players. That was a dubious proposition to begin with

Maybe we did, we never had a healthy roster to see.

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I'd much rather stretch him

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If you stretch him now that's $7 million per year for 5 years. That'd be worse than Junior Gallette, which is pretty damn bad. And another reason Demps may not get fired, his boss has literally made every mistake he's made, sometimes on a grander scale

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or just let him sit.

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I agree, I've said many times don't move him until you need to, and I don't think they NEED his cap space this offseason. But if the question is how do you move him now, the Nets are a possibility. Also, what you see as 2 2nds could also be viewed as a minimum contract journeyman we claimed off the waiver wire and have already replaced with another journeyman.

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What, exactly, does Asik do at this point that an NBA team would want?

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Rebound. He's averaging 14.3 rebounds per 36 since January. He's also averaging 56.6% at the rim since then, and it was even higher, above 60% before he got injured again in late February. When he's healthy he's still the guy he's always been.

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Or that they can't find for much cheaper in the DLeague.

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I didn't say you could give him away this year for a reason. I think the opportunity for that is next year when 2 years in a row of $20 million injections to the cap will leave several teams with a bunch of money burning a hole in their pockets while the deals players are signing will seem crazy. Would you rather pay the 2017 version of Pachulia $50-$60 million over 4 years or Asik $24 over 2 and then have cap space when prices have normalized a bit? That's when the window starts to open to dump Asik for free or cheap.

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Spend it on better players than Omer Asik.

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We'll see what coach Marks brings in, but they are still a dumpster fire that would likely have to over pay even on top of cap escalation to attract FAs. Trading players into cap space is where they will find value. I also think the Nets probably say no to even the 2 2nds just because it requires them to commit to this path on draft night. I would imagine Marks would like to keep his options open at first.

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The thought process by Demps and Gentry going into this season was that we had what we needed roster wise. Just needed a better coach.

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I've been saying for 4 years that Dell was the problem. Dude has no concept of fit in roster construction.

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Just to remind you, there's about a 10% chance you'll get a contributor in the 2nd round. Come on down Ramon Sessions, who is lumped in that category.

There's about a 2% chance you'll get a star in the 2nd round. We need stars, not bench players.

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So you're giving away a 20% chance of getting a contributor, a 5% chance of getting 2 contributors, and a 4% chance of getting a star...

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Get rid of Asik if you can, and if that means giving away two 2nd round picks so we can go and sign another FA, then do it.

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And you'll just end up overpaying for another equally uninspiring free agent.

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If we can get rid of Asik, and somehow Reke, without getting anything big in return, AD not make all NBA, and not resign EG or Ryno, we could have $40 million in cap space.

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That would take divine intervention at this point. Even still, you would have to attract free agents that help the team and have a GM capable of identifying said talent.

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with that we could get easily get two out of Barnes/Batum/Bazemore, but that would mean we have to convince them to come play for us, which might not be easy, but we still have AD and Jrue. Find a cheaper PF like Terrance Jones or Sullinger. Go after a guy like Ezeli or Mahinmi.

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It won't happen, but I think you are not realizing how much the new cap is changing these things. Those guys are going to be much more expensive than you think. Just watch.

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When he's healthy he's still the guy he's always been

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And that is the rub. He's been injury prone recently and is about to hit 30. Plus he's an archaic player in the modern NBA. All the trends point to him being basically unplayable as he ages, regardless of how many REB/36 he can pull down. If he can't do a reasonable impression of the way he used to defend, he's fairly worthless.

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I think the opportunity for that is next year when 2 years in a row of $20 million injections to the cap

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I think next year makes him a more reasonable target. 2 years/$20M is not great, but not terrible either. Someone may bite on him as a 4th big. But, again, we're banking on an injury prone Pelicans player to be healthy?

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Trading players into cap space is where they will find value

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That's certainly true. But Asik just isn't much of a value, unless the Pels attach picks.

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Are you hoping to keep the 2nd round picks and find a diamond in the rough, rather than getting rid of a useless player and adding cap space?

Just to remind you, there's about a 10% chance you'll get a contributor in the 2nd round. Come on down Ramon Sessions, who is lumped in that category.

There's about a 2% chance you'll get a star in the 2nd round. We need stars, not bench players.

Get rid of Asik if you can, and if that means giving away two 2nd round picks so we can go and sign another FA, then do it.

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And you think FA isn't a crapshoot either? FA, as the cap explodes and guys will be bringing in crazy salaries, is the way to go for an already cash strapped team? FA is a good choice for a team in total disarray on and off the court?

I'd rather keep Asik and take my chances on 2 2nds who may turn into rotation players. These are picks in the 30s, not 50s. And the Pels need cheap depth. Plus, maybe they won't have to make panic signings/trades to salvage a garbage bench halfway through the season one year....

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A decent starting center is going to cost you at least $10

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NO! WE DON"T NEED A DECENT CENTER! WE NEED WING PLAYERS! SPEND THE MONEY ON THE WING!

We have our big man. His name is Anthony Davis. We should have no one else at the 4 or 5 spot making more than $5 million a year.

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A decent starting SF is going to cost at least $15. Same for SG

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so there's $30 million.

Mahinmi or Ezeli and Jones can make up the other $10 million, or someone else of that nature (Biyombo), and use the exception for another big. Still have Ajinca. Still have BDJ. Still have QPon. Still have Dante. Still have Frazier. They were all included when i said we had $40+ million to work with.

The goal of this team should be to spend the money on AD and Jrue, draft a SG or SF, get two decent wing players in FA, get role players for center, back up center (Ajinca), back up PF, Dante as your 3/4 guy, QPon and Frazier as your backup gaurds. That's 11 players right there. I'm sure we can find another minimum guy that won't make a difference.

We have no idea what their offseason goals are though, and we won't until we know where we are drafting, and then won't know more until the draft.