Pekovic hearing Blazers want him is compliment

I don't know if I could stomach watching Minny that much! Hahahaha

Can we just use advanced stats and shit?

 

Eh, sort of (or at least partially). But really you need to put your eyes on a guy to see how he plays, not just trust stats that can be influenced by how bad/good his teammates are around him.

 

I nominate you as the official S2 scout!

 

No thanks.

 

I don't get the infatuation with Pekovic. It seems like a lot of posters here are projecting their own desires and team needs onto him because he may be the best obtainable center, but let's get serious. Pek is a poor defender and an average rebounder. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves.

He does give you low post scoring, but I'd rather keep Hickson for less money. At least Hickson is an elite rebounder. Hickson shoots a higher FG%, rebounds better, blocks as many shots, and has a higher WS/48 than Pek. He's also 3 years younger, more durable and likely quite a bit cheaper. Plus he can also play PF.

Although he shoots a lower FG% than Hickson, Pek is more of a scoring threat. With Love out, Pek is currently Minnesota's #1 option on offense, but he only scores about 2.5 more PTS/36 that Hickson, who is the Blazers #5 option on offense with almost no set plays run for him.

I said it an another thread, I'd rather retain Hickson, for less money, and continue to develop Meyers Leonard than spend big bucks on Pek. Hickson can then move to the bench and back up both the 4 and 5. He would be great in that role. Meyers is very raw, but he has much more defensive potential than Pek or Hickson. He just needs time (as in 2+ years) to develop, but he has all the tools to be a great defensive center and by the time he's starting, he'll only be 22 or 23. For what it could likely take to get Pek, we could retain Hickson and probably sign a solid veteran back-up PG or SG (Redick or Jack).

Pekovic at anything near a max deal is fool's gold. He will never live up to such a contract and anyone who gives him one will regret it almost immediately and REALLY regret it 2 or 3 years down the road when your 30-year old often injured center is in decline and tying up a huge chunk of your cap space.

BNM

 

Like I said, I haven't watched him enough, if he's really that poor on defense then you're right he's probably not worth the money or effort. It'll be interesting to see how Olshey approaches things this off-season: trades, sign-and-trades, offer sheets, trading into the draft, etc.

 

for the sake of the discussion:
http://www.82games.com/1213/12MIN19.HTM

 

I didn't realize Pek was that old, may as well just go after an unrestricted FA like Al Jefferson. I think he's a better rebounder anyway. Utah will probably not want to spend a lot of money on him with Millsap being a FA and having Kanter and Favors there.

 

Bynum? U cannot be serious! The guy is going to want a max contract (or close to it) and his knees are already pretty fukked up, how can anyone want to take a chance on that?

 

But if we could use Leonard and some other players for him; then we can still retain Hickson too.

 

plus there would be to many "Pekker" jokes

 

MM, why do you hate Leonard? He's not very good, but he has abilities/size/strength/frame/athleticism that can't be taught. By all accounts he's bright enough and interested enough to learn. What's not to like, except that he sucks now?

 

Pek and Jefferson have roughly the same rebound rate.

 

He's unrestricted though.

 

Pek is closer to Aldridge in rate than he is to Jefferson.

 

With what I'm reading I hope that Pek is our "last ditch effort" at C. And that Jefferson isn't even an option, along with Bynum.
I haven't seen Kaman play in a couple years, but maybe he'd be a better option on a 2-year contract - certainly cheaper, and he was once a solid defender/rebounder.

 

Which means Jefferson is better in that area I take it?

 

correct.

 

Roughly the same doesn't mean exactly the same.

http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=pekovni01&y1=2013&p2=jeffeal01&y2=2013

Regardless, they are different kinds of rebounders, Jefferson is a much better defensive rebounder and Pekovic is substantially better on offensive rebounds.

 

I am on board with Jefferson over Pek. They both have their fleas but I can't see throwing Max at Pek just to hope MIN doesn't match. Jefferson probably doesn't get MAX himself. Restricted guys get overpaid more than even Unrestricted as teams have to go above and beyond to try to steal a guy.