Who is the long-term answer at SF? I say it will be Nic and that Martell will be gone when we make our championship run. Nic is going to be awesome.
I'm not sold on Nic yet, sure he could develop into the answer but at this time he needs much improvement. Nic has been the main reason for some of our horrific starts lately, his offense is completely non-existent at times.
I think it's Nicolas for sure. His defense is already top-notch, it's just his offense that needs to come around and that just takes time and practice. I wouldn't give up on Martell on this team just yet though. I still want to see how he looks and how he fits in with this team. And he'd be a valuable player to have in case Roy gets injured, or Rudy or Nicolas over the long haul of the season.
El Fantome is off to a much better career than Martell already. Martell was horrible his first few years, and only late last season did he look like he might turn out to be an ok player. But Martell's primary skill is supposed to be 3pt shooting, but his career average is 37%, which is what Batum is shooting this season. People are excited about Martell because he looked good in that one pre-season game, and on paper, he should be a very good player, but he has to prove it on the court at some point.
I'm reserving comment until I know for sure what the outcome of Martell's injury will be. I suppose I could say if Martell comes back and plays like I "think" he could/should?......then he's the guy. I don't believe a Wally Pipp situation would be in play here. Actually, I think Batum will accept a backup role....for, uhm, a couple more years, perhaps. My ensuing question then might be, if Martell and Batum are cemented at the 3, then will it be time to move Outlaw and draft or trade for a banging, low-post entrenched backup PF? Perhaps. Outlaw just doesn't crash the boards as I'd "expect" him to. I'm glad I won't have to make that decision, though. Travis certainly does many other things very well.
Nic's defense alone makes him the clear choice. I think he'll be great once he develops his game a bit more.
Barring some trade for a veteran high quality wing defender (Battier, Artest, etc.) then I have to believe it's Nicolas. You don't get many 19-20 year old wing defenders as polished as Nicolas already is in the NBA. Think about this, he's still raw as hell and already is a far more valuable complimentary player than Martell ever was in his first 3 years: better passer, better understanding of spacing, better handle, more length, more quickness and athleticism. All he lacks is a consistent jumper and some strength, two things I expect will develop nicely over the next couple of years. Maybe he'll be a changed man after sitting out for a year and being just a little bit older and that much more mature, but one of my biggest complaints about Martell is that his confidence has always seemed to rattle so easily (or maybe it's just his focus?). He's talented in his own way, but he's never struck me as someone who has that self-contained grit and determination you look for in a hard-core competitor; his body language has never said 'winner' to me.
The "happy" face represents the fact that Batum actually might turn out that good. It isn't guaranteed - but it is possible. The "sad" face represents the fact that Worthy could come out of retirement tomorrow and beat Webster like a red-headed step-child.
Batum. He could be a special talent. He should at least be an average starter. He's already just below average starter in terms of PER. When you factor in defense, he may be quite close to average as a starter already. I love his upside and he's virtually no-risk. He's not boom or bust. He's boom or...average.
Like the vast majority, I have to believe it's Nic. If he weren't, I don't see why there would have been any hesitation in trading him for Wallace at the deadline (since it was stated Nic was the hang up in that deal).
I'm a pretty big Webster fan, but he hasn't played in about a year and he's missed a year that, in terms of his age, is important to his development. Given that and given what Batum has been showing this year, I think that Nic is the clearly better long-term answer at this point. Ed O.
