The Offseason: who wants some cake?

Now that the free agent cake has had a large chunk taken out of it, I thought it was time for me to revisit the potential offseason game plan. After all, let's face it: who doesn't like cake?

Curry has advocated a nice plan that would certainly give us the depth we'd need to conquer the West (and beyond), but I'd like to try something a little different. An approach that I feel addresses our weaknesses and doesn't quite put us in luxury tax land. Now that Corey Maggette and Mickael Pietrus are off the boards, let's start with arguably the best available (restricted, mind you) free agent at the 2: Ben Gordon.

The problem with going after Gordon is that the Hornets are at/over the cap. They could offer him their full midlevel exception, but if Gordon turned down a 5 year 50 million deal from the Bulls last year, I find it hard to believe that he'd jump away from Chicago for a little more than half that yearly salary (the midlevel this year is about 5.8 million). This means that to get Gordon, Bower would probably have to arrange a sign and trade deal. So who would we give up for Gordon? I personally wouldn't want to touch any of the following players: Paul, West, Chandler, Stojakovic, Wright. That leaves Mo Pete, Shoes, Hilt, Ely, and Butler. Does anyone honestly believe the Bulls would trade Gordon to us for any of those players? Short of us giving away all of them, I don't see it happening (not even then, actually). Plus, if we make any deal that sends Mo over to Chicago, Gordon would have to start... which would be bad.

Instead, I'm going to offer a different approach. It will require a little bit of that whole "suspension of disbelief" thing, but it could work. Think "improbable", but not "impossible". Keep in mind that none of this has any grounding in reality; I'm simply musing on the subject. Here's the 3 step plan.

Wouldn't it be nice...

1. Send Hilton Armstrong over with Mike James for Andris Biedrins in a sign and trade. Shoes makes sense for a point guard-less Golden State, especially now that it looks like Chicago may not open to deals involving Kirk Hinrich. James is a poor (very poor) man's Baron Davis. He's fast, he doesn't always like to pass, and he'll throw up contested 3s all day if you let him. The warriors are dying for a point man, and James' recklessness (which is somewhat effective) could be a good fit.

As for Biedrins, the Warriors only use him off the bench (which is a crime given their lineup), so Hilton will be just as useful for them considering he is one of the quicker big men in the game. His 40 minutes averages are far from Andris', but Nellie might be willing to spend more time developing his skills (something Byron had no interest in). Plus Hilt would cost less for them keep, making room for Maggette's contract and anyone else Chris Mullin wants to overpay (4 years, 17 million for Ronny Turiaf? C'MON!).

2. Resign Jannero Pargo. I'm fairly positive we can do this without it counting against our cap. Sure, we could use a backup who is more "pass-first" minded, but Pargo did do well this year all the while managing to avoid Byron's doghouse (despite a field goal percentage hovering near 43). Yeah, he's streaky (but so is Gordon), but he's comfortable with the team and the coaching staff. I still don't think the shot to save our season should have fallen to him, but I'd welcome him back in a heartbeat.

3. Assuming we still have the option (after a very hypothetical trade for Biedrins), offer the full midlevel to Josh Childress. He's restricted, but I'm not sure that Atlanta will match any offer, considering he really isn't their top priority. Childress is super talented, he can play the 2, 3, and 4, and he has a release that will confuse anyone who tries to guard him. He's likeable and he loves Tyson. He's a more solid backup than Bonzi and gives us depth with his versatility. Of course, if we do land him, you'll probably have to switch out you old Josh Childress Wallpaper.

If we couldn't drag Childress away, my vote would be to re-sign Bonzi. It wouldn't be ideal, but then again, if we pull of the above sign and trade, I'd be cool if we signed Curry.

Here's how the Top 10 Bees stack up if my plan goes off without failure

PG: Paul, Pargo
SG: Peterson
SF: Stojakovic, Wright, Childress (or Wells)
PF: West, Ely
C: Chandler, Biedrins

Does the word unstoppable come to mind? It should. Granted, this probably won't happen, but on the off chance it does, you heard it here first.

Peace.