Rumor Rumor Thread pre-draft

Which is part of his problem. If he didn't get the ball and then dribble four times and let the Defense adjust, he wouldn't have to put as much effort into shooting jump shots as he does. Its a huge complaint that most have on this board against LMA, even his fans like me. LMA's biggest weakness is not being assertive enough. When is he going to do the one dribble drop a shoulder and take two steps to the hoop and dunk it?
He plays soft on D and plays soft in the post.
I love the guy and don't want to see him leave, but if he stays, in order to win, he needs to be more aggressive and quick with his decision making. Not sit and wait till the defense comes because he isn't a good passer to find the open guy.

 

This!

 

If he got a ton of those open looks that you're talking about, his percentage would be better than it is. My perception is that he works pretty hard for the majority of his points. As far as Garnett and Kobe go, were either of those guys known as help defenders? That's what I was commenting on. I think LA is pretty good at covering his man, but I don't know that it's reasonable to expect him to provide a steady diet of helping other guys' missed assignments and still have the energy to produce in the 4th quarter. Just a comment.

 

So we're seriously meant to envisage a Blazers lineup of Lillard, CJ, whomever scrub we pick up because Batum has been traded for a pittance (oh that's right - Kristaps "the white KD" Porzingis), Kevin Love and Meyers Leonard? Would that be the worst defensive lineup in modern NBA history? I guess people are just focusing on the Warriors' offense and ignoring the whole "NBA-leading defense" part.

 

Love is a 7 yr vet. Aldridge is a 9 yr vet. The max for a 7-9 yr vet is 30% of the CAP (about $20,130,000).
Some other potential PF/C free agent targets:
- Greg Monroe, 5 yr vet. (25% of CAP max, about $16,775,000)
- DeAndre Jordan, 7 yr vet. (30% of CAP max)
- Brook Lopez, 7 yr vet (30% of CAP max)
- Roy Hibbert, 7 yr vet (30% of CAP max)
- Paul Millsap, 9 yr vet (30% of CAP max)
- Tyson Chandler, 14 yr vet (35% of CAP max)

My guess is the Blazers go after Greg Monroe and try to keep LaMarcus. They could free up about $17.5M by renouncing Matthews, Lopez, Wright, Freeland, Gee, Frazier, Afflalo, Kaman, and our MLE. Just enough to grab a max 0-6 yr vet, but not enough to get a 7+ yr vet.

 

Malone was first team defense, so was Duncan and Garnett. The argument just doesn't hold water.

 

Yeah, LMA doesn't expend that much energy on either end of the court. 7 FGA per game within 9 feet of the basket...and you figure he gets 1-2 easy layups without having to do much work.

 

Yeah, I understand the complaint. I mean, I've been on this board since about the dawn of time and I've read the complaints often enough. A), it's not like the opposition isn't keying on stopping him from doing what you want him to. B), it's the variety of moves that he's developed that keeps the defense guessing and opens up opportunities to get to the hole. If that's all he tried to do, he'd be a lot easier to guard. But, yeah, we'd all like to see him take it to the hole more than he does.

 

Your argument that making the first team defensive team indicates whether a guy is a good help defender is what doesn't hold water.

Wish I had more time to discuss this, but work is calling.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/history/awards/_/id/49

Here is a list of all the different 1st team All-Defense rosters.

Sure, there are a lot of defensive specialists on that list, but there are also a bunch of really good offensive players as well.

 

My point is that the argument that his offensive load prevents him from being a quality defender doesn't hold water. There are a number of really good offensive players who have done so well that they have been recognized for their defense.

 

I find it interesting that we both assess LMA the same way, yet you like him and I don't!
Just an observation - not a judgement at all. Like who you wanna like!

 

But that's not the argument. A quality defender can be someone that is really good at one on one defense. All NBA first team defense isn't the "end all" indicator of being a quality defender.

 

No, that wasn't my assumption, but if you are questioning my reasoning, well so am I. I was just thinking we probably would want one new blood each year but this year we probably wouldn't want more than one since we are not rebuilding.

 

Yes, that is the argument. You even agreed with me. He's a good defender, but not a great one. He has the tools to be much better at defense. Someone countered that it's his offensive load that prevents him from reaching his potential and I showed other players with possibly an even greater offensive load who have reached first team defense.

 

Interesting proposition, but our team would literally be like 8 players and a bunch of vet mins.

 

A quality defender is a good defender. All defense are the great defenders. There are only 15 of them of hundreds of players.

 

Being a good team defender is more important than being a good man-defender. Relying on each individual player to guard their own man is a recipe for disaster. A team that plays average man-defense but exceptional team-defense will beat out a team that doesn't play good team defense even if they have great individual defenders.
LMA's man-defense isn't nearly good enough to make up for the fact that he doesn't play team defense. Until he plays team defense he'll never be a good defender.

 

Well your definition of good is against the grain of the real definition of good. I guess we can agree to disagree then. Aldridge's defensive win shares is an indicator of team defense. He was one of the best on the team.

 

Then that stat is flawed, because it's not just that he's BAD at team defense, he simply doesn't play any.
Back when Zbo was a bad defender in Portland, he at least put SOME effort into sliding on help defense. He wasn't good at it, but he'd slide and then let the guy go around him. LMA doesn't even slide.