The official let's DUMP MEYERS thread

Dude, just stop. Seriously.

 

Why? If Olshey doesn't have some trades in mind what is the point of getting his contract off the books NOW?

 

No, I think I will go on.

 

The trade exempt alone could have Olshey in position to obtain a player, especially if another team needs to dump salary for a said player.

 

Zaza Pachulia can be traded after December 15th. Just saying.

 

Good luck getting that kind of value.

 

Typical knee jerk thread... I had to double check to see who started it. I thought for sure this was going to be a Mixum thread.

Look, the guy has played all of 16 minutes this season, and now were talking about dumping him? Seriously, even if the guy sucks, with Freeland out, who is going to play those minutes at backup center when Lopez gets in foul trouble?

His value is at an all-time low. So, it's not like we'll get anything of value back in a trade. And cutting him is just plain stupid. What would we possibly gain by doing that????

I get that people are disappointed in his lack of improvement, but unless you have a better, realistic option, what's the point of threads like this? Yeah, let's cut him and bring Jared Jefferies and his 2.2 PER back.

So, after we cut him and get nothing in return, who do we get to replace him that would address our need at backup center?

BNM

 

There is little reason to dump Meyers right now. He isn't good enough to get a good return by himself, he isn't getting us a first rounder nor is he getting us a talented young player with upside. He would at best be a player to add into a trade or traded for a veteran big who really isn't good at all. We could add Jason collins and get the same defense from whatever veteran big we could get for trading Leonard.
Leonard is a classic example of a player who left college too early but he is also only a second year player who is on a rookie deal and has amazing physical potential. He was drafted as a project and is a project and isn't a big part of the rotation. We dont have to lean on Meyers and can afford to be patient with him for at least another year.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

Teaching someone how to box out is one of the easiest things to teach. Look how much better Freeland is at it after a single off season. Last season, Freeland, even though he's older and more experienced, looked equally lost. After one off season, he looks like a totally different player. If Freeland can reinvent himself at 26, why are you so convinced Leonard can't do it at 21? It's not a given, but I hardly consider it impossible, or even improbable.

BNM

 

Of course we can't. It was just a hypothetical.

 

Aside from taking face-up mid-range jumpshots what is Leonard's skillset? There has to be a foundation to build off of, I'm not sure I even see a foundation.

 

What's his ceiling? Bargnani? Meh.

 

2012 Stats: 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, 46.1 FG%

2013 Stats: 11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 55.7 FG%

It seemed as if he was set in what he was going to be as an NBA center. He was a low-scoring, slightly inefficient center who could hang his hat on being a big dude who was a pretty good defender.

Suddenly when he's starting with the New Orleans Hornets, Lopez is blocking shots more frequently, rebounding moderately well (although he's about on the same page with his brother as a light rebounder for his height), and scoring efficiently.


Robin Lopez

 

2012 Stats: 3.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 50.6 FG%

2013 Stats: 10.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 53.2 FG%

Obviously there was going to be some improvement with him going from averaging 14 minutes with the Chicago Bulls to getting the starting role with the Houston Rockets. But seeing him improve this much is quite the shocker.

He was averaging 13 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, so it's no surprise that he's come out to average 11.5 rebounds in 30 minutes per game with the Rockets.

However, what he's turned into offensively is something nobody expected.

James Harden has spent the year penetrating and forcing the ball into Asik's hands and seeing what happens.

He's gone from being a stone-handed nincompoop to a dude who can catch the ball and almost look competent in the post.

He's only improved by a few percentage points from the field, but when he was scoring last season, it was a lot of alley-oops and situations where he would just catch and dunk. Now he's actually scoring after moving with the ball.

Omer Asik

* * *

Watching Tristan Thompson play last season was like watching a baby learning to crawl, only to see him running the 100-meter dash 10 months later.

He's confident, more sure-handed, and even developing a pseudo jump shot, a jump hook and rocking rims every time he's in the post.

* * *
2012 Stats: 2.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 36.7 FG%, no three-pointers

2013 Stats: 7.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 49.1 FG%, 48.3 3PT%

Earl Clark was on track to spend another year on the bench, getting minutes in blowouts and whenever big dudes got injured, but somewhere along the way Mike D'Antoni realized what he had in the jump-shooting big man.

Clark isn't dominant in any facet of his game, but he's acceptable enough to contribute

* * *

2012 Stats: 5.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.7 blocks, 45 FG%

2013 Stats: 12.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 blocks, 52.4 FG%

Nikola Vucevic got plenty of time to show off what he could do for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, and it looked like he'd be a fine player in three years or so, given work behind a smart big man who could teach him what to do.

Suddenly he's going out and averaging a double-double, shooting the lights out, showing off some impressive low-post skills, and even defending much better than he ever did a season ago.

* * *

2012 Stats: Garbage and nothing

2013 Stats: 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 0.7 blocks, 49.4 FG%

Andray Blatche spent his final season with the Washington Wizards as a complete bum. He might as well have been shooting one-handed and blindfolded with how sparingly he saw a shot go in.

Blatche had become such a disappointing player that his team's fans openly loathed him and he had worked himself two-thirds of the way out of the league based on reputation alone.

The coming months saw Blatche amnestied by the Wizards and picked up by the Brooklyn Nets for just over $1 million.

Now it's easily argued that he's the best man off the bench for the Nets, and even that he's a formidable defender alongside Reggie Evans.

 

I'm not yet giving up on him, but I don't want to see him play until he's improved. Last night really underscored how thin we are at the 4/5. If Aldridge/Lopez, and even Freeland miss a single game we're screwed against bigger teams. This is why I couldn't understand picking up both Watson and Mo after drafting CJ. Instead of Watson we needed to pick up another big.

Leonard cannot, must not, be allowed to play. It's imperative that he never ever enter the game when it matters. For if he does, all is lost.

 

That's the thing with Big Men, building the foundation is the hardest part. It takes lots of real time reps, and at the detriment to your team are hard to come by. Once the foundation is solid (often years into the league), it is only then that you'll start to see big jumps in effectiveness.

P.S. Repped Treaty

 

I was really hoping we could have gotten Jerm for 2 mil. I think that would have been just enough to keep our size, plus give Leonard more time to develop.

 

It's not all about time though. It's about action on the court. If Jerm were here Meyers would get absolutely no burn and have even less to learn from. We are not contenders on par with the Warriors.

Like our championship aspirations?

 

I just remember how much people got annoyed at Jermaine, and how everyone thought we pulled one over on Indiana when they dealt us Dale Davis on the heels of an All-Star performance for the Pacers. The next year Jermaine blew it up and went on to numerous All-Star games.

Obviously they're different players, but that was after we had already given Jermaine four or five years to develop. Meyers has had not even 1.5 years. He's our third string center. I get that people want a whipping boy, but it's pretty ridiculous how fast some of you jump on him. He was playing against the absolute best center in the league last night. Yes, he looked like shit. He needs a big man coach. He needs some playing time.

I think some of you hate him because he looks like a big goofy frat boy.

 

http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/01/sports/sp-13781