NO THANKS! Unless of course, you are offering Dwight

Just wanted to get this up for discussion.

Obviously, there is no way I would part with Monta for any combination of those guys (maybe some GSOM members might). But it does lead me to a couple of interesting points

1.) Who would we want in exchange for Monta??

2.) Do we even want to trade Monta right now?

I'm kinda feeling Monta right now, as I now a lot of other fans are. I also know that the saying "buy low, sell high" applies here. And much like the housing market, it's hard to peg exactly the right time to sell.

That said, as a fan, i would be pissed if management let Monta go for anything that wasn't a major blocbuster deal. I may be over-valuing Monta here, but I'm fine with that. In fact, it seems to be the way that most teams approach trades (with inflated opinions about the value of the players they are putting on the block)

here's the link

Scoop du jour - Magic want Monta?

So teams can take their pick: Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, Brandon Bass, J.J. Redick, Ryan Anderson, whomever they want.

Not sure how reliable this source is, but here's the original article

more after the jump (including the poll...I put it in the wrong place and can't figure out how to move it)

Just a little more analysis, but here is some elucidation on points one and two above

1.) Who would we want in exchange for Monta??

I know that this site has extensively detailed some of the options here, but I must say, Iggy is probably the highest on my radar. Heck, I might even entertain some crazy talk about bringing back Arenas (ahh, never mind, I don't even want to think about that guys contract).

But then I take a step back, and try to think about our team as currently constructed. Where do we need to improve? We could obviously use some more bench depth, but not at the cost of one of our best players. And if we are going to improve, here is my run-down of our starters at each position:

PG: Steph - Tons of people are really high on this guy right now, and he is clearly a cornerstone of our future, no way we move him (or even demote him to the bench). We are set at starting PG

SG: Monta - Plenty of offensive punch, but lacking somewhat on the defensive front. Wouldn't be a problem, except that we are already commited to dealing with one defensive liability (see above). But our problem (at least as I see it) is that if we trade Monta, our offense may suffer. In my humble opinion, I think we should keep Monta through the end of this season, just to see how our team works together. I'm sick and tired of constantly blowing up our roster. If we trade Monta (plus whoever else) for an All-star, then I might be ok with this, otherwise I think we wait and see. He is still young enough (and good enough) to warrant some extended patience to see if his game continues to mature

SF: DoorL - I think we could use some improvement here. The SF is such a skill position, and while I like our new addition, I am still not completely sold on him. I would love to see us get another high-level player here, but it looks like we are either going to have to get really lucky in the draft, or sacrifice a major element of our current roster to make this happen

PF: Lee - Are you kidding? We just got this guy...I have no complaints

C: Biedrens - Dre, you are my favorite Warrior. I rock your jersey almost all the time, even though so, so many people give me a hard time about it. Still, I wish you were beefier, and a better shooter, but I want to stick with you regardless...Some of the other readers though, may want to exchange you for someone like Hibbert or Gasol jr. Maybe even take a risk on Oden

2.) Do we even want to trade Monta right now?

This is where I'm most interested in hearing some debate.

One on hand, the guy is an immense talent, he can get put points up on the board. But as someone else pointed out in an earlier post: he can be stopped. He's not an asset on defense. He's undersized. He has T-Rex arms.

On the other hand though, Monta is one of those players that just looks a little bit better than almost every other player on the court. Playing within himself, and not turning the ball over or playing lazy defense, this is someone who could reasonably contribute significantly on a champonship-caliber team. Can we win it all with an ultra small backcourt? I dunno, but it would be fun to watch us try!

thanks for reading!