I've got to admit, when we traded perpetual scapegoat Brandon Rush for Lou Amundson (and a 2015 2nd rounder, don't forget!), I was a bit disappointed. I was more than fine with moving on from Rush, but nothing in return but a journeyman "hustle big?" I thought Bird sold low, and given what Rush has done in Oakland maybe he did a bit, but I don't care because it's nowhere near as drastic a talent gap as I anticipated.

OK, "talent" may be the wrong word to describe the gap, but in on floor effectiveness we very much made good on that trade. Think where we'd be right now with Jeff Foster's back forcing him to retire without Lou. We'd be seeing a LOT of Jeff Penderwho, and more likely, a lot of JOB style small ball.

So, looking forward, obviously Roy Hibbert and George Hill are very much above Lou in the "gotta keep" category, but I feel like Lou Amundson, LOU AMUNDSON I SAID, is a guy we absolutely have to keep this summer. LaMarcus Aldridge recently said, when talking about Portland's recent acquisition JJ Hickson, that he'd "always wanted to play with a guy like Lou Amundson," a guy that's always active and makes sure opponents have to stay active and on their toes. We all saw it with Jeff Foster for over a decade, these kinds of hustle guys that really don't have much skill beyond working hard are very much overlooked. They take pressure off the more "face of the franchise" bigs by doing the dirty work.

I really, really, didn't think I'd be saying this but I think Louuuuu is the exact kind of dirty work, strong willed, and most importantly, low cost backup big we definitely need to resign this offseason.