# AK47 on the block again?



## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

...according to salt lake tribune via realgm.com

Ive been saying this for 2 years, we need to offer up thomas and mobley to see if utah would bite. That move could potentially save them 30 million+ in 2 years due to thomas and mobley having one less year on their deals, plus if they extend boozer next year, they would be in luxury tax. 

I can see them doing it. Ak just doesnt mesh with boozer/williams it seems anymore. Just a couple years ago he was putting up superstar numbers consistently. 

He is the ultimate dunleavvy type player. A lock down defender, can play multiple positions, long, can shoot peridoically from the outside, and a very heady player.

Imagine this lineup

Starting 5:
Center: Kaman
PF: Camby
SF: AK47
SG: Davis
PG: Davis

Backups:
Center : Skinner 10 minutes
PF/SF: Thornton 30 minutes
SG: Gordon 15 minutes
PG: White chocolate 12 minutes

That is a pretty solid 9 man rotation, and we can go deeper than that with some of the new acquisitions.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Well I would trust that the Clippers are on the phone for this one!


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## joser (Nov 29, 2005)

I am not up for this trade. Injury prone player who can't shoot and i believe that is regressing each year.


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## matador1238 (May 3, 2006)

I have also posted about trading Mobley and Thomas for AK47 or Josh Smith...nobody seemed to care. I think its a good idea to trade for him. AK47 is a excellent passer and defender with a below average jump shot. Very intelligent player which he finds way to score without plays call for him. His contract doesnt end til 2011 with 17.8 million for the last year. I dont know if the Clips will trade for him if they want to have more cap space to sign one of the big names in 2010. I would definitely do it if Ronnie Brewer is included in the deal.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

I'd rather save the money for 2010 then pay him that contract he is earning. He is a great defensive player but that contract can be hard to justify. I would rather stick with what the Clippers got right now, defensive the Clippers should be good.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

His contract is almost the same as paying mobley and thomas the same thing to ride the bench. 

Its one thing if we were trading a solid starter for a lesser player. But trading two aging bench players who make more than they can give back is another. 

Theres no arguing that this deal would make us a lot better, as we get an all star starter in return for bench players. Let alone the fact that from what we have seen and heard, theres no reason he shouldnt flourish in dunleavvy's system since he is pretty much everything dunleavvy wants in a player.

Sure, it would hamper us in 2010, but who cares? By 2010, camby will be gone, baron will be old, and we wouldnt be guaranteed t oget someone.

If we make this trade, it makes us championship contenders now, and for the next couple years. 

That being said, its too much to ask for for this to happen. Clippers have already made more moves than the past 5 years combined this offseason.


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## matador1238 (May 3, 2006)

I think the Jazz would probably wait til after the season to trade AK47. I would prefer the Clips to make a move NOW for AK47 or another impact player. Either win now or never....like Yama said...Baron and Camby aint getting any younger.


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

Weasel said:


> I'd rather save the money for 2010 then pay him that contract he is earning. He is a great defensive player but that contract can be hard to justify. I would rather stick with what the Clippers got right now, defensive the Clippers should be good.


i agree and if we keep thomas and mobley i know they will be a huge part of (hopefully) our success

:smoothcriminal:


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

Yeah. 2009 or bust should be our motto. Weve made all the other moves, why not make the one more move that will put us over the top this year and next year. 

Lets worry about 2010 when it comes. 

Any other stars other than AK47 still on the block?


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Eh, Mobley and Thomas won't be enough for the Jazz. I'd go and throw in the Minny pick and/or a lotto protected 09 1st, but that's it. I still think we need to make a run at a sharpshooter like Redd or Miller. I wonder if Mobley, Pick Returned, Jordan would be enough for Miller and some small filler[Madsen?]. Davis-Miller-Thornton-Camby-Kaman sounds better then Davis-Davis?-Kirilenko-Camby-Kaman in my opinion.


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## matador1238 (May 3, 2006)

qross1fan said:


> Eh, Mobley and Thomas won't be enough for the Jazz. I'd go and throw in the Minny pick and/or a lotto protected 09 1st, but that's it. I still think we need to make a run at a sharpshooter like Redd or Miller. I wonder if Mobley, Pick Returned, Jordan would be enough for Miller and some small filler[Madsen?]. Davis-Miller-Thornton-Camby-Kaman sounds better then Davis-Davis?-Kirilenko-Camby-Kaman in my opinion.


Jazz might do it since they need the cap space for Boozer, Okur, Millsap and D. William. Mobley and Thomas's contract expires 2010. They can trade their expiring contracts after this coming season then give contract extensions to whoever.
I say do it!! This team we have now is a border line playoff team....we need to take a chance and WIN NOW. Josh Smith is my first choice but AK47 will do. We will have a incredible defensive front court with AK47, Camby and Kaman.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

Yeah, 3 years ago anyone would have laughed if i posted that potential trade. But AK is not putting up superstar numbers in utah anymore, plus teams have done a lot CRAZIER things in order to clear cap space the last couple years.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

i wholeheartedly agree that kirilenko can help us....but he would get franchise player type money without making a franchise player type impact....

just horrible value....bad contracts are what kills franchises...i would rather trade mobley/thomas contracts when their value is high for a better player, or just let them expire and take our chances in 2010...


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## leidout (Jul 13, 2005)

Mobley will do nothing besides get in the way of Gordon's development. Thomas underachieves at every opprotunity and will also get in the way of Thornton's development.

Both are overpaid, getting old, neither were ever that great in the first place and each year ahead their contributions will be worth less than their salary.

I'd rather have an overpaid Kirilenko, who has at least proven he could be a superstar when the team focuses on him. I don't expect him to be in the MVP discussion again, but he certainly could be an all-star again if he gets starter minutes at PF (his best position). 

Camby's age & injury history should not be counted on to be a full season starter.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

Yup. AK47 when he is on is worth the money he is getting first of all. But even if he gives us somewhere in between (his peak and where he is now), its still better than having TWO bad contracts of bench guys. 

im hoping for another ak47 tantrum like last year that will force utah to trade him.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

leidout said:


> Mobley will do nothing besides get in the way of Gordon's development. Thomas underachieves at every opprotunity and will also get in the way of Thornton's development.
> 
> Both are overpaid, getting old, neither were ever that great in the first place and each year ahead their contributions will be worth less than their salary.
> 
> ...





yamaneko said:


> Yup. AK47 when he is on is worth the money he is getting first of all. But even if he gives us somewhere in between (his peak and where he is now), its still better than having TWO bad contracts of bench guys.
> 
> im hoping for another ak47 tantrum like last year that will force utah to trade him.



you guys keep talking about how bad mobley and thomas are, but that's not being debated....it's fairly obvious that they are not worth the money they are being paid....

their value lies in their expiring contracts....simple as that....the value of the combined contracts of thomas and mobley far outweigh the value of kirilenko.....


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## leidout (Jul 13, 2005)

bootstrenf said:


> you guys keep talking about how bad mobley and thomas are, but that's not being debated....it's fairly obvious that they are not worth the money they are being paid....
> 
> their value lies in their expiring contracts....simple as that....the value of the combined contracts of thomas and mobley far outweigh the value of kirilenko.....


Right now i think we can all agree we're somewhere around 7-10 in the Western Conference. And we can all probably agree that Mobley & Thomas will do nothing beyond minor contributions for however long they last here. So when do you want to make the move up the rankings to 4-6 or higher?

Their expiring contracts are helpful, but who did you actually have in mind during the big 2010 year? Besides Baron, we've always been _terrible_ in free agency, our best success has always come from lopsided _trades_ (Brand, Maggette, Cassell, Camby, Miller for Miles should have been good too...)

Kirilenko's deal lasts 1 year longer than theirs, meaning he might still be a valuable trade commodity during the big 2010 summer when teams are trying to clear space to sign Lebron or whoever. Let's be honest though, who is available to us on this list: 
LeBron, Wade, Amare, Nowitski are going to require max money or championship contenders. 
Manu, Tmac, Yao will be too old/hurt. 
JJ, Bosh & Redd are left as our primary targets... 

But if Kirilenko's game is on, he's about as effective as any of them, only it happens *this season*. After going thru the full list of guys available, Kirilenko looks pretty good from my point of view, we could do a lot worse by signing 30-somethings like Rasheed & Tmac for big money 2 years from now.

BTW, here's a full list of who's available in 2009 & 2010, keep in mind that some players will be 2 years older, which guys are just going to immediately resign with their team or demand max dollars. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10


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## MVP.Kobe (Aug 15, 2008)

It will never come to the Clippers' minds, but I think they should try for shane battier. Elite defender, and he will be getting starting minutes in LA, which he will obviously not get anymore now that Ron Artest is in Houston. He seems like someone to try for right now.


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## leidout (Jul 13, 2005)

MVP.Kobe said:


> It will never come to the Clippers' minds, but I think they should try for shane battier. Elite defender, and he will be getting starting minutes in LA, which he will obviously not get anymore now that Ron Artest is in Houston. He seems like someone to try for right now.


Battier is pretty much a full time starter at SF, which doesn't make sense for us, because we really need Thornton to get every opportunity to emerge. Without Al getting nearly 40 minutes and 20 points a game, our offense and overall success will be tough to come by.

That's why i think Kirilenko is a good option, because he would most definitely would be our starting PF, with Camby getting ALL backup minutes at C/PF. It could work out really well with Kaman & Kirilenko getting 35 mpg and Camby getting 26. Our defense would never miss a beat, Camby's age would be less of an issue in a backup role and Kirilenko is not just a capable scorer, but a great passer to give Kaman & Thornton many more good opportunities to score.


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## MVP.Kobe (Aug 15, 2008)

Actually that is a good point. In that case I would trade either Mobley or Thomas for an actual solid backup for Thornton, or whoever is going to be starting at SG.


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## Showtime87 (Jun 27, 2005)

I'm not too enamored with this guy anymore. His attitude has been terrible over the last couple of seasons and I don't see him ever returning to his 2005 form. I'm just not sure he's worth the risk and the huge contract. Besides, Utah isn't going to be satisfied with just Mobely and Thomas, they'll likely want Thornton and/or another young player in return. I would be 100% behind a Josh Smith deal, but Kirilenko, not anymore.


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## Showtime87 (Jun 27, 2005)

Well, it looks like he's going back to Russia. This seemed to be the most logical thing for him to do in my opinion. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_/ai_n20522854


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