They're not going to have any cap space once Darius Miles plays two more games, so scratch signing BG outright off of the list. Plus, Portland has guys who can do what BG does on minimum 1st round rookie deals for another couple of years. Hinrich would be a much better fit for them at PG, a defender who passes the ball. Portland doesn't need any more scoring.
Portland has one guy who has averaged 20+ PPG over a full season since 2000, and that was ZBo (twice). So it's hard to fathom how Portland has guys who can do what BG does on rookie deals when their veterans over the years couldn't do it. Gordon also leads the team in FTA and is 2nd in assists/game at 3.8. Hinrich doesn't give them anything more than Steve Blake does. Though he'd keep the ball out of Roy's hands a lot more.
I'd rather have Roy be my high usage guy, and then probably Aldridge. And BG's Ast/TO is 1.45, so the chances of him getting it to Roy aren't that great. Honestly, I don't get why you guys think BG can be a PG. He turns it over way too much. He's not a creator for anybody but himself. Roy is already averaging 22.8 and 5.3 assists and his assists/TO is 2.67. Portland is +3 in points per game so why would you want less defense on the perimeter and take the ball out of Roy's hands. You wouldn't, you'd want more defense and a guy who can reliably get the ball into Roy's hands, and even occaisionally give Roy a breather on defense.
You have to take into consideration that Andres Nocioni, Joakim Noah, and Kirk Hinrich (injured) are his only teammates that score with any decent efficiency. If he had better players around him, he might get more assists. Gordon to Portland is one of these no brainer moves, that you hope Portlands GM's are too blind to see. They have a shooting guard who likes to have the ball in his hands a lot that would take the pressure off Gordon as a point guard. They need a 2nd scorer, because Aldridge/Oden don't look like great 2nd options right now. They just have to renounce Blake and maybe Outlaw to get Gordon. They really could use an elite shooter. Then have a great 6th man in Fernandez. That team would be set. PG-Ben Gordon/Sergio Rodriguez SG-Brandon Roy/Rudy Fernandez SF-Travis Outlaw/Rudy Fernandez PF-LaMarcus Aldridge C- Greg Oden/Joel Pryzbrilla
Sorry, Hinrich's TS% is 56.9 to BG's 58.0. Hinrich is the better passer, dribbler, defender and definitely better able to handle <i>only</i> making 9.5 mil/year and being a third banana. I'd still take Hinrich everyday of the week and twice on Sunday as the point guard.
Career: Gordon - 55.2 TS% Hinrich - 52.1 TS% Hinrich's had one really good scoring efficiency year in 2006-2007. He's only played in 6 games this year, so his 56.9% doesn't have a very good sample size to rely on. Last year Hinrich was at 50.1 TS%, ouch. You don't want that player on the floor.
For a guy shooting jumpers you can take it. In 2006-07 his TS% was 55.9, so he can do it for a season. In fact, I think Hinrich shot better from 3 than BG that year. And again, the rest of his game far outweighs the few percentage differences in shooting when it comes to being a point guard.
Meh. From what I've seen over the past two seasons, Gordon's a better player on offense and a better match to play next to Rose. Defensively, reputation gets Hinrich nowhere in my book. Observationally, he and Gordon are about equal. Gordon tried to agree to a deal that was reportedly less than Hinrich's. He can likely be re-signed. Hinrich can be traded for cap space and perhaps something useful on top of that. Pretty much a no-brainer for Gordon.
You're observations and mine are quite a bit different. And sorry, but I can't let that one rest. If you can't tell the difference between a guy getting beaten by the other teams best player versus a guy getting beaten by the other teams 2nd or third best player, then maybe basketball isn't the sport you should be commenting on. When was the last time they hid Hinrich on defense? You're a thoughtful guy so give it some thought. There's definitely a difference. And when was the last time Hinrich dribbled the ball of off his foot, or went twice between his legs and lost the ball on the third time? That's the guy you are holding out for? Really? When was the last time Hinrich didn't give up the ball on a two on one fastbreak?
Way to take the conversation down a notch. There's plenty of knowledgeable folks out there who've seen the same things I have. Hinrich was routinely beaten by pretty much everyone last year. And no, he wasn't guarding the other team's best player routinely. Gordon has often held his own against pretty top notch players this year. When was the last time Hinrich was fast enough to be on a fast break? Years ago. He's gotten slow. On the (rare) occasions Hinrich has had the ball in crunch time, he's made Gordon look like Bob Cousy.
Who? Denny? The only guy BG "handled" was Bobby Simmons because Vince and Devin didn't pass the ball all night. And BG hasn't looked like Bob Cousy since his rookie year. He's been living off of that rep for three years now...
This is an interesting debate. From what I've seen, I would lean more towards Hinrich, but admittedly I haven't seen much of either.
