But you are loving on Monroe; who also fell just as much via PER (22.09 and this year 19.29). So what's the difference? Also, Aldridge just came back from surgery this summer.
The idea isn't to get someone as good as Aldridge, but to get three good players to fill out our roster. That's why some people like the idea of trading Aldridge. Our team has so many holes to fill right now. Our starters are solid, but our bench is the worst in the league. Example, my dad always talked about how badly the Kiki Vandeweghe trade hurt this team. We traded Calvin Natt, Wayne Cooper, Fat Lever, and two draft picks for Kiki. They went from 38-44 in 1984 to 52-30 in one season. Kiki had a couple great years for us, but injured his back and was never the same again.
Almost 6 years and not absolutely needing shots to be effective. If Aldridge isn't scoring he really isn't having a very big impact on the game.
Also, his minutes are close to being a career high. He's essentially duplicating the numbers he put up in the one season where he averaged more minutes - only difference seems to be better FT% but fewer FT attempts with a worse FG%. Funny how PPG, RPG, APG, BPG, etc all seem to have some sort of weird connection to MPG...
If what's his name in IND got max, then... The thing is, DET has Drummond now - I think it's prime time to go after Monroe. Doesn't seem like they'd want to invest MAX into a position where they've got a star in the making on a rookie contract.
You mean caution, this guy could help you win a ton of games by altering what the opponent does on offense?
I think so, with the way max contracts have changed. It's no longer the 6 year, 100 million dollar deal. 4 years, 59 million isn't the albatross type deal the old max used to be.
Yeah, but just because the numbers have scaled down doesn't mean that the hit to the cap isn't the same. You can only have so many max guys and it's pretty obvious that Paul George is a max guy. And while his blocks are up, both his points and rebounds are down. He isn't even averaging a double double so I really don't see how the guy is worth a max contract. Like I said, good player but I wouldn't want to pay him that much.
Your example actually shows why its best to get the best player (even in 5 for 1) out of any trade. The Blazers were a better team AFTER that trade than before it. We added Kiki and Bowie (rookie season - no need for snarky rehash of injury prone career) and became more balanced. And it worked for the Nuggets too. We just need more talent. I think with Aldridge, Lillard and Batum we have really good NBA level guys at those positions. We need still a scoring option off the bench, and a tough rebounder who can defend the post. Leonard will come along some day, but not tomorrow.
