Meh. I just don't see Zellar being able to rebound or defend at the NBA level. If you have to roll the dice, at least gamble on Leonard who just might turn into more than an adequate back-up. Actually, I would take Henson over either.
You think we will be competing for a title in less than three years? At best I figure two years to acquire assets, maybe make a trade after that and then have one year to gel. I don't see it happening sooner than that.
The issue is not whether Zeller is at risk to retire due to age before Aldridge. The issue is that being older leaves less upside, so he's less likely to improve by leaps and bounds than a younger player. If Zeller were so overwhelmingly good right now that he didn't need to improve further, that wouldn't be a problem...but he's not overwhelmingly good. Being decent now with marginal likelihood to get a lot better is limiting the likely talent on the team a couple of years down the line.
