No. Gasol is pretty much Duncan on defense. Fine shot-blocker and post defender, but horrible at the PnR. Ibaka would only play well as PnR defending big, but he'd also be available to help out on Pau getting beat. Sure, a team can counter with a stretch-four, but I don't think you realize how much better offensively Gasol is than any big the Thunder have. He is still the type of player who can force doubles. Against the Spurs, he'd draw Duncan and would probably go toe-to-toe with Tim, all while giving OKC better passing, spacing and shot-blocking than Perkins is currently providing.
Of course OKC has to replace Jackson, but they have to do that no matter what. That's what they have their MLE/$7.5 Million TE for.
He might be better than Wade (might be, since I think Dwyane's career would have an Indian summer if he were to go to Phoenix), but he's not Wade. He has no rings or championship experience. If the Suns are serious about becoming contenders, they need to start bringing in the right players to get them there. That may not be the only move they'll need to make the playoffs. They have the assets to bring in another strong player to help bolster their hopes. But it's silly to just hope for internal growth to be enough to get you over the hump. I can't think of a recent champion that didn't have season vets with loads of deep playoff experience guiding them. Maybe 2004 Detroit?I agree Bledsoe is overrated, but he's better than Wade right now. Going forward Bledsoe will improve while Wade will continue to decline, not to mention the Suns aren't a talented enough team to give Wade the rest he needs (~30 games off) and still make the playoffs. Not much point in having a 'proven winner' in their ranks, especially paying him $40m over 2 years, if they finish outside the 8th seed.
The Suns won't lose Bledsoe, they'll match any offer he gets this summer which will almost certainly be overpaying him.
I agree Bledsoe would be great with Lebron, but it'd be highway robbery for the Heat to get a young, athletic 24 year old for a broken down, 32 year old Wade with bad knees.
The Suns have the cap space to bring Wade in another not feel it. It would make much more sense to me for them to pay Wade $41 Million over two years than for them to play Bledsoe $60 Million over four.
As far as their depth goes, they were able to endure Bledsoe's injury (he missed 39 games total last year) by sliding Gerald Green into the two-guard spot. They finished a game outside the eighth seed last year, and I don't see why they wouldn't be able to do better with a more-experienced supporting cast.
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