all of that is true, but the differences in "adeptness" in those areas aren't as substantial as their reputations would indicate IMO. bosh is more aggressive, but a lot of the perceived differences in their abilities are due to bosh being the #1 option on his team and getting a lot more opportunities. maybe not quite as much, but bosh is guilty of that a lot also. ask toronto fans. agreed that is bosh's primary advantage, but i doubt it's enough for the blazers to justify the cost. he certainly is. o'neal might have been at least a "co"-primary rebounder if he could stay healthy, but he's missed 15 games and they've had to limit his minutes somewhat when he does play. i think unwilling is overstating the difference. aldridge does get to the basket on a good percentage of his post-ups. we just don't call that many post-up plays for him.
the more he says it, the less i agree with him. bosh is clearly a better player than aldridge. offensively, bosh is better in every aspect. as far as defense is concerned, you'd have to expect bosh to be better defensively in portland than he is in toronto. bosh can't be aggressive defensively in toronto because if he gets in foul trouble, game over because they don't have anyone to pick up the scoring slack if he sits. that's not something that would be a problem for him in portland so i'd expect to see improved defense out of him. he showed in the olympics(which obviously isn't the nba) that when he's able to focus on defense, he's very good in that area.
Aldridge gets plenty of opportunities. This year, Aldridge is averaging 15 shots per game, and Bosh is averaging 16. What's accounts for the difference then, from Bosh's 23 PPG to Aldridge's 17.5? Free throws, and that's a whopping 6 points difference in the free throw department. Bosh is averaging 8.1 ftpg, whereas Aldridge is only average 3.8 per game. Plus, he converts them at a higher rate. (81% to 74%) That's a humongous difference which shows the difference in aggressiveness between both players. These numbers are even more in favor of Bosh if you want to look at the last couple of years. Not nearly as guilty as Aldridge. I can't stress how much pressure would be put off of Roy's back if we were to obtain a second go to scorer. Rebounding is a moot point though. Portland is a good enough rebounding team that the PF won't need to rebound as much. Even still, Bosh is a better rebounder than LA. He doesn't need to be posted up to be able to get to the foul line. Facing up and driving is something that Bosh does so much more than Aldridge and it usually leads to an easy bucket or a foul.
again while there is a difference in aggressiveness to some extent i think it's being overstated. from what i've seen over the course of a typical game aldridge gets WAY less isolation plays called for him than bosh, and a much higher percentage of his shots come from pick/pops or other plays specifically designed to get him an open perimeter shot. also for some reason we frequently tend to go away from posting aldridge even when he's having success getting to the hoop. i'll let you argue with toronto fans about that one. they seem to think that as good as bosh is he's still lazy at times. there's no reason to think aldridge won't work in that roll. right now if anything i think nate wants to share the ball too much, developing oden or showcasing outlaw or whatever. for me it's a cost/benefit thing, and the cost is massive.
Aldridge can easily pass up an open shot and take an open lane to the basket (which he usually has). The facts and stats are there. If you choose to ignore them, then so be it. Of course, but this is mainly because Bosh has less motivation to do well. His team is in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs, and even if they do make it, they're just going to get bounced in the first round. The future in Toronto is much less bright than it is in Portland. Bosh is better right now. That's what I'm going off of. Will Aldridge get better? Probably, but his ceiling is most likely the current Chris Bosh. I'm going to take the proven product over the developing player. The cost is what, 5-6 million extra a year? That's really not a lot when you take into account the difference between the two players. (I'm going off of Aldridge/RLEC for Bosh) Bosh puts us at a much better position to win the championship, plain and simple.
Hmm, if it's true Toronto is willing to move him...Chris Bosh/Moon/Parker to Miami for Beasley and Marion? You heard it hear first...
What you aren't factoring in is that Aldridge is playing in an offense that features one All-Star (Roy) and one up-and-coming star in Oden, but despite all that he's still putting up good numbers. He has a plethora of scorers around him, but he's still getting his. Could Bosh do that? You compared their fga per game, but isn't Bosh the focus of that offense?
Really? It makes sense for both teams, easily. I would do this trade if I was either one of them... Toronto gets something back for Bosh saying he won't re-up. Miami gets the obvious..making them instantly better IMO. Plus, what if LeBron wanted to sign with these guys in Miami?
Bosh is very good, but there's no guarantee he sticks around in Portland (same with LA, to some extent, but at least Aldridge has grown here the last few years). Messing with the main 3 is dangerous, too, because they all complement each other so well. I wouldn't be upset if we traded Aldridge for Bosh in the lineup, but I wouldn't be all too happy about it either. LA's high post ability and willingness to defer to Roy/Outlaw/Oden bodes well for our future. Bosh has never had a chance to show that, true, but he would not be numero uno here and maybe in a year or two wouldn't be numero dos. Can he take that? Also, I am definitely down on players who talk contract bullshit during the season...during a playoff push. Either keep quiet or deal with it in the offseason!
Good point. Aldridge has been here through the worst of times, and now he is on a team that is on the cusp of making the playoffs. Bosh is going through a little trouble in Toronto and now he wants to bolt town (like so many before him). Raptors fans must really hate life at times. Pretty much any star they've had has wanted to skip town. Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady, and now Bosh. I'm not sure if Vince wanted out, but he sand bagged it until they traded him. You get the impression that Toronto is one of the least desirable destinations in the NBA.
the cost would be immediate loss of all cap flexibility, but the actual dollars would be a lot more than that. best case if we traded today, assuming LMA would have signed for a little less than max and bosh's 2010 deal is back-loaded - 09/10 bosh 15.8, LMA 5.8 10/11-12/13 bosh 57, LMA 39 +very conservatively 12 mil in extra luxury tax in 11/12 and 12/13 assuming we have to max out oden. that's $40 mil extra over the next 4 years, and it could easily be much greater depending on when and by how much we exceed the tax limit. also assuming we continue to have 3 max deals on the books the difference stays 6-8 mil in 13/14 and beyond.
