Well, if we are talking about starters now I can see the argument from him being slightly below average. But outside of Green, Siakam, Gainnis and Millsap the line between an average and above average defensive PF becomes pretty thin imo. Think his unique combination of size, agility and spacing he provides offensively becomes even more valuable in a playoff setting vs good teams as well. And I find your post defense concerns a bit odd. Big reason we failed against the Pels in the playoffs was our bigs inability to punish Mirotic in the post. Even Nurk had a tough time with him.
An underrated benefit of acquiring Mirotic would be how his skill level offensively would give Stotts the ability to play Aminu some at the 3. Would be nice insurance in case Moe isn't healthy come playoff time.
There is no doubt in my mind Mirotic would be an upgrade. To me, it comes down to 2 questions. What would it cost to acquire him; what would it cost to retain him. The first point is important because we don't have a surplus of trade assets. The second is important because I am not a fan of leaving the team with no future flexibility. We did that in 2016 and it hasn't worked out for us.
Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about Mirotic. He's on a team that I never follow, nor have I followed his career. However, I've heard that his health is a big X-factor. Is this true, and how bad is his injury history?
Did you not watch game 4? Nurk absolutely abused Mirotic in the 2nd half of that game. They had to start sending a double team (usually Davis). The rest of the series we chose not to even try to expose Mirotic inside so I don't know how that is any indication of his post defense as it is more an indictment on our poor game plan of constantly running PnR against one of the top PnR defensive teams.
Here's a proposal from a Pelicans' site: https://www.thebirdwrites.com/2019/...ns-anthony-davis-jrue-holiday-houston-rockets
Just one. Was this posted earlier? Must have missed it. I know people were talking about Holiday-Turner last night.
Yeah, that's the trade people were referring to. It's easy to miss with all the different threads going on right now.
Woj confirms that Mirotic and Randle have been made available for picks https://es.pn/2G3FGv8 Starting last Friday -- when Davis made his request to the Pelicans -- several teams told ESPN that Demps had made forwards Nikola Mirotic, Julius Randle, and guard E'Twaun Moore available in trade talks. The Pelicans are continuing to explore the market value of those players, sources said. New Orleans is 13th in the West, 5.5 games out of the playoffs with 30 games remaining. One trade those talks could take: trading those players to recover draft picks as part of a more complete post-Davis rebuild.
I don't think that was the game plan though. Sometimes it's easier said than done as you have to tip your hat to the execution of the game plan by the opponent.
This is much more likely where I think Portland will make a move if at all. Maybe not necessarily these players but pieces like that.
