The missing forward: a poll

[mvossman]

I don’t think Zion is going anywhere, so, I’ve removed him from your list.  Stein says PF, but I suspect it is more of a 4/5 than a 4/3, but who knows.  The trick, to me, is improving on GWill, but not sinking so much into the position that you totally block OMax.  You probably also want to leave yourself a path to retaining DJJ, so incoming salary can’t be dramatically larger than outgoing.

Here is an updated list with people who have received some kind of a mention:

L. Markkanen (pipe dream…we don’t have the assets)
J. Grant (probably in a class with Kuzma and a few others where there is not enough D)
D. Green (plenty of D if you don’t give up shooting to get him)
J. Collins (Two years left at big money might be better than longer term guys)
J. Isaac (probably too valuable to Orlando)
T. Harris (will take a pay cut, which helps with DJJ)
J. Kuminga (this is probably the dream scenario)
A. Wiggins (he plays part of his time at PF.  I’d do it if Moody attached)
P. Siakam (we may be out of the running here)
J. Stewart (might solve backup 5.  Questionable as a PF)
K. Kuzma (see J. Grant)
R. Hachimura (meh)
W. Carter (doesn’t solve the PF issue, but would help a ton at backup 5)
PJ Washington (I put him in the J. Grant/Kuzma class)
D. Finney-Smith (serious question…if he wasn’t an alum, would we take DFS or DJJ)
P. Williams (I like this idea a lot also)
M. Bagley (sucks less than he used to in limited minutes on a bad team…not an endorsement)
C. Boucher (could give some time at stretch 4 and 5.  Not exactly “force”)
B. Bogdanovic (I think Exum solves the need for this)
K. Olynyk (underrated guy who moves the ball well and can play the 4 or 5)


Who am I missing (because it is always someone we haven’t thought of)

Nice list.  A few thoughts.

If you are going to put J Grant and PJ in a class of not enough D, then Harris surely has to be in that group.

I would put Stewart and WCJ in same category as guys that would make a lot of sense, but you would need to be able to sneak in 5 to 10 minutes of PF play to make it worth it.

Not a lot of good options in general.  I don't think there is any way it happens, but if there was some way to turn Kyrie into Murray (who is on the block) a lot of problems would be solved.  The timeline would be greatly improved, and our viable options would open up at power forward as it would not have to be as defense focused.