Quick: Olshey admits mistake by not acquiring any NBA players for bench

"injuries due to fatigue" like what? these guys mostly shoot jump shots.

 

Doesn't have to be on offense. The players have to play both sides of the court. What if Aldridge goes for a rebound and gets a hyper extended back? What if one gets hurt and is out for 16 months? And Aldridge has been playing the post more.

 

out for sixteen months? Well in that case we should probably cut them waaaay back ... like at least 3 minutes per game less. Would that make a big enough difference?

 

Again depends on what players help. If you get rebounders and post defenders; then you are giving a lot of slack. Our starters aren't exhorting a bunch of energy to play both o and d.

 

But you get that there's nothing to trade right? Nobody wants our scrubs and their expiring contracts aren't big enough to offer cap relief. This is the team we've got for the next 3 months, you might as well sit back, pop some popcorn and get comfortable.

 

Get creative and find someone in the d-league. Maybe grab an unsigned player to help fill a need. If oshley has an eye for talent; then look around for the sake of the team.

 

I think you are grossly overstating the fatigue/injury angle Mags. Just admit that you want the team to make the playoffs this year and that's why you're pushing for the bench to be reinforced.

 

Absolutely always want to win.

 

all the stats add up to my stat though

 

I agree, the worst thing is to make a trade to impact the team now. We have money in the off season for moves and we aren't going to win anything this year so might as well see were this bench takes us. If we get a pick cool, if we make the playoffs cool, if we miss and lose our pick oh well. Only trade you make this season is if something amazing falls into your lap like Al Jefferson for exp contracts and Freeland/Barton (of course thats unrealistic) or something stupid like that.

 

I still don't get this concern. Your scenario is totally hypothetical. Freak injuries can happen anytime, but I think Aldridge is more likely to injure himself by slipping in the shower than to hyperextend his back and miss 16 months going for a rebound. Two seasons ago, under Nate, he played 39.6 mpg for 81 games. How does playing 38.0 mpg under Stotts suddenly make more susceptible to such freak "fatigue" injuries?

BNM

 

Well, at least the needs of this team is crystal clear.

*backup PG (Jarrett Jack? Milos Teodosic?)
*bench scorer (C.J. McCollum?)

 

Throw in backup small forward, backup power forward and starting center into that mix.

 

But, you're looking at individual stats, not the impact the two players have on their TEAMS. How do the two players impact their team's offense? How do they impact their team's defense? Those are the on court/off court stats I posted previously that show the Blazers, as a team, are a net 0.6 pts/48 better with Hickson on the floor and the Timberwolves are a net 1.5 pts/48 better with Pek on the floor. The net positive impact both players have on their teams is small. They both make similar positive impacts, but they also have negative impacts on their teams' defense. Just comparing the individual numbers vs. the team numbers, it appears Pek is a better 1-on-1 defender (better at guarding other centers because of his size/bulk), but Hickson is a better team defender (probably mostly do to his much higher DRB% that limits opponents' 2nd chance scoring opportunities).

If you compare all their other stats, including PER and WS/48, they are very, very close, but Hickson is younger and will likely be quite a bit cheaper. I'd really hate to see us offer a max. or near max deal to a center that rebounds as poorly as Pek. His TRB% of 15.5 puts him at 30th in the league and near the bottom for a starting center. Hickson's TRB% of 21.6% is second in the entire league. Given the fact that LaMarcus Aldridge isn't a strong rebounder, I'd hate to see him paired with a weak rebounding center.

We need someone next to Aldridge who can defend the paint and be an elite rebounder. Neither Pek or Hickson are good at defending the paint, but at least Hickson is a dominant rebounder.

BNM

 

^ Agree with much of this especially giving MAX to someone like Pek.

 

Calling Pek an average rebounder is being generous. In fact, he's below average for a starting center. I'd hate to pay big bucks to put a below average rebounding center next to our below average rebounding starting power forward. I'm not saying Hickson is the answer, but at least he's an elite rebounder (2nd highest TRB% in the entire league). He's also younger and will be cheaper than Pek.

If the choice comes down to Hickon and Pek, I'd rather give Hickson $8-9 million a year for 4 years than the older Pek $12+ million for 4 years. I'd then keep working on developing Leonard as our eventual starting center. Leonard is very raw but has much better size, athleticism and potential than Pek or Hickson. Then in 2 or 3 years, when Leonard is our starting center, Hickson can back up both front court positions and still get his 25 - 29 mpg. He'd be a great 3rd big in a 3 big rotation.

BNM