Green or Neal: Who'd you rather keep/trade?

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I would take Neal over Mills simply for the clutch shooting. Neal is incredibly frustrating when his shots don't fall, and he's arguably got the worst shot selection of any Spur this past decade.

However, we can't have enough players who aren't afraid of big moments.

I'm sick and tired of watching Danny Green miss crucial wide open 3 after wide open 3. I think he's a good 9th or 10th man on the roster, but putting him in the starting lineup is a bit much. He's a glorified Keith Bogans.

[Boomersgold]

Keep both. I don't think there are better players in the league that are getting paid as little as what Neal and Green are getting paid.

[cantthinkofanything]

Assuming they have equal value in a trade, I want to keep Green. He's still young and has more upside. Better defender and his shooting can get better. Neal is as good as he's going to get. With the Spurs system, someone else can step in to make 3's. Maybe not as good as Neal but good enough.

[Bruno]

Per Manu's interview a couple of weeks back "Neal is one of the best shooter in the NBA and teams are always in search of a guy that comes from the bench and provides outside shooting. There are not many like Neal around."
And he is probably right.

In general, when Green is shooting I have the feeling he might miss. When Neal is shooting, the mechanics are so perfect, that I am always surprised when he misses.
I think that without 3s falling Spurs PO will be very short.

I agree with everything you said. Green might have great 3P% but he isn't an as good shooter as Neal. His biggest weakness is that he is extremely streaky.

My point is that Mills is also an heck of a shooter. If Spurs trade away Neal, they will have with Mills another great shooter on the bench.

[superbigtime]

Green gets paid more, so he is the guy the Spurs will get more for in return. Neal hasn't been playing consistently but he has way more mojo than Green. Green has more size and is the better defender though. It all depends who Spurs could get. Jax is looking over the hill and making poor decisions, but he has the coming back from injury excuse. I think any of them are vulnerable to a trade. Pair up Dejuan with any trade, get rid of him.

[silverblk mystix]

I'll preface this by saying that I don't want to trade either. But the reality is, this team desperately needs another quality big and it's more than likely going to require one of these two to acquire it.

So with that in mind, here's the reasons for keeping/trading each . . .

Green - Keeping: He's a better, more versatile defender. Trading him would leave the Spurs without a single defense first type in the guard rotation and a lack of size in general. Despite his struggles playing the position full time the past month, he can play SF in a pinch, which is important given their lack of depth at the position.

Trading: He easily loses confidence, is an extremely streaky shooter and because of his offensive limitations, they're essentially forced to bring Ginobili off the bench (because he can't be paired with Neal for long stretches), despite having another guard who's more than capable of playing that role.

Neal - Keeping: He has infinite confidence and is their fourth best scorer (though he's been third best this season). For all their depth of scoring, they don't really have anyone else to fill that role, unless summer league Leonard suddenly re-emerges. If Green is traded, the guard rotation falls into a more natural order: Ginobili starts, he becomes the 6th man and De Colo the backup PG.

Trading: Despite his defensive improvement, he'll always be below average defensively. No matter how well he plays, he'll never be able to close games with any degree of regularity, because it would leave them too small/defensively deficient on the wings.

Please provide the link or the article where Pop has publicly stated that the Spurs need another BIG.

It never happened and it probably never will so stop these wishful thinking threads.

[Strategic]

The thing about trade value is that somebody else has to want what you have. I cannot think of why anyone else would want Green.

[TD 21]

Spurs are too deep on the perimeter. For the moment, it hasn't been an issue because players have been injured but if these injuries end, it could become one. Don't forget the 2009-2010 season where Spurs were too deep on the wing and it ended with players asking to be traded/waived.

To me, even if he is a good player, Neal has to go. Aside of the reasons given in this thread, Mills should also be mentioned. Neal biggest quality is to bring a scoring punch from the bench and Mills can do that nearly as well.

This was my mentality throughout the summer and early on this season, but now I'm not so sure. They need someone besides the big three who can get their own and though Mills has shown the ability to do so at times, he's mostly been relegated to being a spot up shooter.

The best argument for trading Neal is that it would probably force Leonard into becoming the fourth option, which is ultimately what needs to happen anyway if they're going to win the championship. Also, though Neal is nice insurance for Ginobili, they're not winning a championship anyway unless Ginobili is at least close to peak form.

silverblk mystix, are you re ed? I never said Pop said that; it's just common sense that they need a big and that it'll probably require one of Green/Neal headlining a package to acquire one. Unlike the past few seasons, there's good reason to think they'll acquire one. One is that Pop no longer trusts Bonner, in addition to never trusting Blair. Another is the overload in the back court.

[therealtruth]

I don't think any of our guards not named Manu or TP have that much trade value.

[Juggity]

The thing about trade value is that somebody else has to want what you have. I cannot think of why anyone else would want Green.

I can...he has a quick shot release and when he's in rhythm, he's as good a 3 point shooter as anyone in the league.