I think the only real priority this off-season is being able to pick up a backup 4/5 that can spread the floor and shoot with range. Stretch fours have become all the rage over recent years but I'm not saying this to have a token stretch four. The way our team is presently constituted, our biggest need is both shooting and having a reliable player to come off the bench that can play 4 or 5 and preferably both (and not some guy who's 6'7" that we pretend is a center). To complement Favors and Gobert, we need someone who's more offensive-minded or who at least is a shooting threat. Defense isn't as important. I really liked the idea of Spencer Hawes but he ended up in Charlotte. During that discussion people talked about drafting Kaminsky, which I thought would have been ideal, but alas. I'm still somewhat disappointed that we exchanged Kanter for a bag of Cheetos. It would have been nice to at least get a decent rotation player for him like Ilyasova who was sent out as a salary dump.
That being said, there may be a few guys out there who may or may not be obtainable. Some of these guys aren't very good, but I believe their value to our team is much increased by being able to help our offense function more efficiently and open up the floor for other players. As we also have a lot of assets, I believe it's time to go into competition mode. If we're going into next season with the only big guys on the bench being Booker, Pleiss, Lyles and Cooley, then we're not looking to compete. We would not be able to survive at any competitive level if Favors or Gobert were out for any period of time.
A number of people I'm not sure what their status is but I'll just mention all possibilities from top to bottom:
I think Ryan Anderson would be ideal. With the new cap jump his contract is probably pretty reasonable so I doubt NO looks to move him. Kelly Olynyk would be an excellent pickup and has good size. Josh McRoberts plays a small role and I believe I've periodically heard rumblings about him being moved. Probably an unpopular choice and may be overpriced, but I'm a little curious about Andrea Bargnani as I haven't heard anything about him this off-season. I don't think he's a guy you build around but I think he could play a pretty solid and important role complementing Favors/Gobert. I've heard reports of Channing Frye and his contract being something needed for a dump, but I'm not sure how that stands after seeing all the deals this summer. Getting further down the list, what's the status of Chris Kaman's corpse? A guy that I actually wished we had played more when he was with us was Steve Novak. Despite his deficiencies elsewhere, the fact that he can shoot threes at an elite level I thought was worthy for a bit more burn on a team that lacks shooting. And, the last one I can think of that I really wouldn't mind signing is Mr. Red Rocket himself, Matt Bonner.
tl;dr we need a backup center/pseudocenter and preferably a floor-spacing one. The guys we have won't cut it.
That being said, there may be a few guys out there who may or may not be obtainable. Some of these guys aren't very good, but I believe their value to our team is much increased by being able to help our offense function more efficiently and open up the floor for other players. As we also have a lot of assets, I believe it's time to go into competition mode. If we're going into next season with the only big guys on the bench being Booker, Pleiss, Lyles and Cooley, then we're not looking to compete. We would not be able to survive at any competitive level if Favors or Gobert were out for any period of time.
A number of people I'm not sure what their status is but I'll just mention all possibilities from top to bottom:
I think Ryan Anderson would be ideal. With the new cap jump his contract is probably pretty reasonable so I doubt NO looks to move him. Kelly Olynyk would be an excellent pickup and has good size. Josh McRoberts plays a small role and I believe I've periodically heard rumblings about him being moved. Probably an unpopular choice and may be overpriced, but I'm a little curious about Andrea Bargnani as I haven't heard anything about him this off-season. I don't think he's a guy you build around but I think he could play a pretty solid and important role complementing Favors/Gobert. I've heard reports of Channing Frye and his contract being something needed for a dump, but I'm not sure how that stands after seeing all the deals this summer. Getting further down the list, what's the status of Chris Kaman's corpse? A guy that I actually wished we had played more when he was with us was Steve Novak. Despite his deficiencies elsewhere, the fact that he can shoot threes at an elite level I thought was worthy for a bit more burn on a team that lacks shooting. And, the last one I can think of that I really wouldn't mind signing is Mr. Red Rocket himself, Matt Bonner.
tl;dr we need a backup center/pseudocenter and preferably a floor-spacing one. The guys we have won't cut it.
