im not completely sold that Yi will be GREAT or anything.  i don't want to trade jrich, plus we could get a nice player at 18.  i just don't like all this trade j rich talk and im not sure if yi will actually be worth it in the end.

There's a good chance Yi will be gone at 5.

I'm not opposed to trading away JRich, but I'm not sure Yi is the answer to the Dubs' questions. Indeed, he raises plenty more like:

1. Is he the rare big guy that can play in Nellie's system?
2. When (not if) Nellie retires, is Yi the rare big guy likely to thrive in the NBA at all?

If both of those questions can be answered with a "yes," then I say, sure, trade JRich and our pick to get Yi. I just don't know if #6 will cut it.

As for JRich, I know he brings a lot of good to the team, and guy's got heart like very few athletes in the biz.

Here's the problem though:

1. He's not a great defender. Never has been, never will be. If G.S. is going to get tougher, then they need lockdown perimeter guys. JRich takes away minutes from whomever those guys are going to be.
2. He's at a position where talent is relatively easy to acquire. If Monta can't hack it at the point, then he's going to be slated toward the 2 spot. We got Monta at the 2nd round, and with a year's worth of seasoning, he's become, at the very least, a replacement-level player. Remember Spree? Choking incident aside, he was one of the league's best all-around 2 guards for a few years. Where'd they get him? 25 pick (I think) in the 1st round.

Any chance you get to convert a quality little guy into a quality big guy, you take it. It's just the way it is in this league.

Please don't let this be true. JRich means so much to this franchise and this fan base, it would be so heartbreaking to see him traded at this point in his career when he has worked so hard to improve every year to be the fabulous player that he is now. I agree with everything sarchasmic says about both his strengths and his deficiencies, and swingmen / small forwards are one of the more common positions in the league, but I am one of the people in the anti-Yi camp. I am so sick of hearing about this guy that it's pushing me further and further away from him. Can we just rename this site GoldenStateofYi.com already and call it a day? I know it's been a slow offseason so far but come on, enough is enough. And who cares that him and his people want to play in a market full of asians? If he thinks he needs that to be successful then I REALLY don't want anything to do with him. There are asian people all over the place, give me a break. I don't see Yao complaining in Texas, and Houston is no San Francisco....only way I make this deal is if you replace JRich with TMNT and filler I.E. Sarunas, and then we'll talk. Maybe.

Boykins??  with Monta, to be Sir Charles favorite midgets.

How bout Villanueva?  Not known for hustlin' in practice, but some upside as a PF.  Could Baron and Nellie get him to live up to potential?

Gadzuric? Horrendous from the charity stripe, but who isn't on our wonderful Dubs.

foyle...if we didn't have his fat ass contract, we would never even think about moving jrich.  dude needs to talk his money and go read a book somewhere.

so i guess the blame falls back on mullin for giving foyle that dumb-ass extension.  but still, foyle is just a waste.

i don't want yi if it means losing jrich.  that deal isn't worth it, straight up.

As predicted, Jack plead out in Indiana instead of going to trial.  The only problem: he plead to a felony (tho it'll get written down as a misdemeanor to limit maximum potential commitment to 365 days in jail -- that is, if he violates probation).  The good news: now jail time as long as he stays clean; they've worked out work alternative and community service options.  The bad news: by pleading to a felony he'll almost certainly be suspended by the NBA at the start of the year, tho that suspension should almost certainly be less than the 10 game minimum for a violent felony (since he pleaded to the non-specif charge of criminal recklessness, tho for firing the handgun).  Bottom line, he'll get his "sentences" out of the way this Summer, serve a short (five game?) suspension, and if he keeps himself clean with the law -- and he's no PacMan -- that'll be it.  It's all up to him now.

The Bucks have no need to trade #6 AND add Richardson's contract to their payroll. Their major needs are PG and SF. There are two very easy solutions for them:

1. Take Conley at #6. Sign Gerald Wallace or another free agent small forward.
2. Take Corey Brewer (a true SF, unlike Richardson, and already better defensively) and re-sign Maurice Williams.

If they deal for Richardson, they lose the high pick AND their cap space AND can likely no longer afford to sign a point guard, a gaping hole.

Richardson's a scoring guard, while they need a defensive stopper at the 3. Villanueva and Bogut don't play much D, so their small forward has to be able to block some shots and guard perimeter scorers. That's why a guy like Gerald Wallace (FA) or Brewer makes so much more sense.

A sign-and-trade involving Pietrus makes a little more sense, plus we could give them a backup PG in Sarunas, a project big in POB, and the #18; all we'd take back in return is Brian Skinner's expiring contract and get the #6. That's still off value-wise unless they really love Pietrus.

I dunno, the Bucks seem like a poor matchup unless we're talking about sending Monta Ellis to be their PG.

This trade doesn't really make sense for either side. The Warriors aren't going to want to take on useless players with big salaries that don't help their cap situation, and the Bucks aren't going to want to bring in a shooting guard when they already have Redd at the position, and when they can bring in a legitimate small forward in Rashard Lewis, AND keep their high draft pick, possibly getting their PG of the future in Conley.

As a side note, what a nice team that'd be:

PG: Conley/Mo Williams/Boykins
SG: Redd/Lewis
SF: Rashard Lewis/Simmons
PF: Villanueva/Patterson
C: Bogut/Gadzuric

That's pretty solid, folks: great offensive team, couple of defensive specialists, 3-pointers galore. Definitely could make a splash in the Least.

In the playoffs, it didn't seem like he had lost much athleticism/explosion. The problem was that he didn't bother using it:

He's playing like Ray Allen (jump shooter from range) when he should be playing like Carmelo Anthony (barreling into the lane and finishing with strength and size).

The last couple years he's taken 6.4 three's in 38 MPG and 5.9 in 32.9 MPG, nearly double what he did when coming into the league. While his percentage has increased, from bad to decently good (37%ish),  he's costing himself alot of opportunities by not attacking the basket or refining his post game. Richardson's skills and our system should allow him to shoot closer to 50%.

UNFORTUNATELY, Richardson has been unable to even shoot 70% from the free throw line, which means when he does attack the basket, he's leaving a ton of points on the line. Realstically, he should shoot above 75, 80% if he wants to be a more reliable, elite scorer.

And that's why i think Richardson will be stuck as a marginally efficient, 20PPG scorer, instead of a stud 25-30 point scorer: he's drifting farther and farther from the basket and he doesn't shoot FT's well enough to get easy points in the paint or at the line.

the only trade i would do with J Rich in it is if we get back Garnett. other than that no way. Giving up way to much just fo Yi if we do trade J Rich for Yi he better be avg. 20 point and 10 boards a game. And J Rich is back from his form did you see the playoffs. he did come back from his knee injury.

Woeful is legendary in Milwaukee (not as much as Michael Hunt), but this is not happening.

I've been close to the Bucks for a while because a player on their team is a geuninely good friend of mine and he was told that the Bucks will re-sign both Charlie Bell and Mo Williams, most of their cap space goes poof. They plan on drafting Conley (who had a STELLAR workout this week) and retaining Patterson on the relative cheap.

I asked about this J-Rich stuff and he literally laughed and said "Pree, why would we bring in J-Rich if we already have Redd?" He admitted they needed some big man help, but said if this deal happens, he'll be surprised.
End it.

But this trade makes ZERO sense for either team, especially if the Bucks are intending to keep J-Rich. What they need is a PG and a SF who is a great perimeter defender, ideally one who can guard a 2, 3, or 4 since Redd and CV aren't great defenders. Gerald Wallace is PERFECT (and Julian Wright would work fine too).

If I'm them, what I do is sign Gerald Wallace outright, then move the #6 pick to the Celtics (who would give either that pick or the #5 for Marion or just grab another piece) for Rajon Rondo and some pieces like Perkins (Rondo is an amazing fit for a team like that).
Let's use #6, Gadzuric, and a S+T'd Boykins  for Rondo, Perkins, and Delonte West

They could go something like this:
PG: Rondo / West
SG: Redd / Charlie Bell
SF: Gerald Wallace / Bobby Simmons
PF: Charlie V / Skinner / Markota
C:  Bogut / Perkins

As for the Warriors, I hope that they get a guy like Brewer (athletic, oversized 2) or Horford if they move up.

YI IS NOT WORTH GIVING UP JASON RICHARDSON.

Get it through your heads.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Yi-drawing-interest-from-Warriors?urn=nba,36913

I'm really not feeling this deal though.

And I do agree, where would we be if Foyle didnt have such a big contract?

If Yi is gone bye #6, then who do we take?
COREY BREWER!...the best player in the draft!

The Wizard of OZ (OptionZero).  He detailed why we should trade J-Rich, primarily because he has become another perimeter shooter who is increasing his propensity to shoot 3's and lost what made him almost an all star a couple short years ago.  Just how many of those perimter players do we need?  It is so discouraging to have most of top players shooting 3's and not driving and slashing to the basket.  Yes, you know who: Harrington, Jax, J-Rich, Barnes, and periodically Baron.  Of all of these players, besides Baron who is untradeable to us as long as Neelie is coaching, J-Rich has the biggest contract and therefore can give us the cap space we need to ultimately improve our team.

because you are giving up a player who can prove what he can do AND a lottery pick for ONE lottery pick that hasn't shown any promises of being the next all star.  Its a HUGE gamble and if he turns out to be a disaster then you're screwed big time.

I don't see why the Bucks would even want another scoring SG.

But if they did, this is a pretty good deal for the Warriors...

Why? It frees up $11mil.  We can go sign a Rashard Lewis or Gerald Wallace type of free agent.  Plus we'd be able to resign Monta and Biedrins with reasonable financial comfort.  Yi or whoever else we'd get at #6 would just be a sweet bonus.