Larry Coon's CBA FAQ page indicates that it is allowable to extend Hickson now: But here's the reason it won't happen: JJ's only making $4M this season. I don't think he's going to sign an extension that pays him $4.3M next year. As an UFA, he'll get far more than that next season.
You missed this part in that section of the FAQ: He's on a 1-year deal, so we couldn't extend him if we wanted to. Guess there's no choice but to play out the season and hope he wants to stay here at a price we can afford.
Calm down. Aldridge has a bum ankle and still contributed in many ways tonight, especially his defense on the final play. Aldridge is an All Star who commands double teams and is one of the top Scorers in the league. Hickson is playing great and has had some good games but to say "it's not close" when they're both playing well is silly. I don't understand why you hate Aldridge so much. What has he done to you? Why are you comparing teammates that are playing together to help us win? Compare them to the opposition please.
Taking advice from the king of hyperbole.... Because ideally Hickson is a power forward. He is playing out of position and he's doing extremely well, but we could just as easily move him to power forward if we traded Aldridge. I don't like jump shooting 4s. Sheed drove me nuts with his constant outside shooting. Aldridge shot 5-15 last night. The only reason why he even put up a semi-respectable number was because of foul shots. He doesn't rebound well for his size, and he doesn't have half the motor that Hickson does. I compare teammates because this franchise has some major decisions going forward and one of them is whether to keep Aldridge. Personally I think Hickson makes Aldridge expendable, and he's proving that point in every game that he plays. Trade Aldridge and move Hickson to his natural position.
I don't know if you noticed, but stotts started Aldridge at center last night. Curious if it was a opponent call, or is the norm from now on. I also noticed that Hickson was playing more of his natural position. Aldridge can stretch the centers out while lillard and Hickson work the paint. Aldridge will post about 6-8 times a game, which keeps teams having to double him.
You act like getting to the line isn't that big of a deal. That's a good thing. And the Heat won a tile with Haslem at center. Why can't we play Aldridge AND Hickson going forward? Hickson is playing great at center. Why fix it if it's not broken?
The Heat won a title with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. They could have had you or me playing center and still won. Don't get me wrong, I love our lineup with Lillard, Batum, Hickson, etc... but as good as those guys are, none of them are LeBron James.
Why do you think that? What was different last night than every other game, where Aldridge is the PF and Hickson is the center? Cause I didn't see it. Aldridge's post ups where pretty much starting at the three point line, that's doesn't seem like a center to me.
Because if you magically put a "C" next to Aldridge's name instead of a "PF" then he is transformed to a center.
After last night's game and before tonight's game, Hickson is 19th and Aldridge 41st. http://bkref.com/tiny/wj84G If you set it at minimum 20 minutes per game.
So would you give Hickson a max deal or close to it? I bet there are other teams out there that would and that will be the issue with resigning Hickson.
If it wasn't noticeable, then it was in name only. Hickson wouldn't sign now even if he could. His value increases every game. 60 games from now he'll be getting offers for more than Aldridge makes.
FFS LMA was in a walking boot 2 days ago. Why in the world would Hickson accept anything less than a huge contract extension at this point? You whine about Batum's agent, but Nic actually got a contract that is fairly close to his production this year. Why would Hickson's agent tell him to accept any extension without letting the market determine his value?