Post by eric on Feb 19, 2015 16:50:27 GMT -6
Most important move. Blazers get Arron Afflalo. They are amazingly thin on the wing: Wes Matthews is a fine SG, Nic Batum has been an awful SF (for an albatrossy $12m this year AND next), and nobody else is getting 10+ minutes per Blazers game. Claver was included in the trade, McCollum has improved a lot over last year but is still young and unproven, Dorell Wright seems to be having the best year of his career but can't sniff the court for some reason. Playing only 2 or even 3 wing players is unheard of in the modern NBA, this was a major need for the Blazers that they've filled in a major way. Trading Thomas Robinson for Alonzo Gee is a downgrade, but Portland didn't and still doesn't have a problem at the big positions. This sets up the Blazers to take the 2 seed (Memphis falls back, Clippers and Spurs too far back to catch up), and 92% of NBA champions have come from teams with the best or second-best records. Huge.
The Heat get a big upgrade and some young(er) blood, but they're so far behind the Bucks it's hard to see them getting any higher than the 7 seed.
Nets trade Kevin Garnett for Thad Young. Does anyone want the 8 seed in the East? Anyone?
How about them PISTONS? Reggie Jackson even though his growth has stagnated is a huge upgrade over D.J. Augustin. Kyle Singler can play a little bit and the spacing downgrade is a pretty big concern for a team that wants to play two behemoths, but with every other team openly forfeiting the 8 seed they only need to catch the Hornets, and how hard can that be?
Speaking of forfeiting the 8 seed, the Suns! I don't know what everyone's fascination is with Eric Bledsoe. His stats are pretty good but not incredible: never broken 20 PER, never broken .150 WS, defends well for his size but undersized, average shooter at best. For reference, 79 players have managed to reach both composite stat marks in the same season in the past ten years. (Two players have done so every one of them: Tim Duncan and LeBron James.) And yet the Suns felt willing to trade away an All-NBA guard in Dragic (for friggin' Justin Hamilton and picks) and a pretty good guard in Thomas (for friggin' Marcus Thornton). All I can figure is they took Dragic's threats to not resign seriously, went into a clinical depression/existentialism, and decided to tank. Leaving the door wiiiiiide open for...
The Thunder!!! After refusing for years to amnesty Perkins because Toughness and Intangibles, and losing James Harden in part because of it, they pull the trigger on a massive series of trades. Jackson and Perkins OUT. Augustin, Novak, Singler, and Kanter IN. Kanter is immediately their best center, but probably will and should come off the bench because there's still only one ball. Novak and Singler provide a desperately needed jolt of spacing: Morrow, Durant, and Ibaka were the only guys who could hit threes on the team. The ideal rotation is now...
starters: Westbrook, Morrow, Durant, Ibaka, Adams
bench: Augustin, Waiters, Singler, Novak/Collison, Kanter; Waiters and Kanter getting the most touches, Novak or Collison (who has slipped badly this year) depending on matchup
...naturally I expect Roberson will still play for no apparent reason, and Kanter will get buried behind Perry Jones or some d*mn-fool Brooksy thing, but the Thunder are MASSIVELY upgraded from a roster fit perspective and slightly upgraded from a talent perspective. They'll still get crushed by the Warriors in round 1, but the 8 seed is theirs to lose. That should convince Durant to stay hahahahahahahahahahahaha sorry okc.
The Heat get a big upgrade and some young(er) blood, but they're so far behind the Bucks it's hard to see them getting any higher than the 7 seed.
Nets trade Kevin Garnett for Thad Young. Does anyone want the 8 seed in the East? Anyone?
How about them PISTONS? Reggie Jackson even though his growth has stagnated is a huge upgrade over D.J. Augustin. Kyle Singler can play a little bit and the spacing downgrade is a pretty big concern for a team that wants to play two behemoths, but with every other team openly forfeiting the 8 seed they only need to catch the Hornets, and how hard can that be?
Speaking of forfeiting the 8 seed, the Suns! I don't know what everyone's fascination is with Eric Bledsoe. His stats are pretty good but not incredible: never broken 20 PER, never broken .150 WS, defends well for his size but undersized, average shooter at best. For reference, 79 players have managed to reach both composite stat marks in the same season in the past ten years. (Two players have done so every one of them: Tim Duncan and LeBron James.) And yet the Suns felt willing to trade away an All-NBA guard in Dragic (for friggin' Justin Hamilton and picks) and a pretty good guard in Thomas (for friggin' Marcus Thornton). All I can figure is they took Dragic's threats to not resign seriously, went into a clinical depression/existentialism, and decided to tank. Leaving the door wiiiiiide open for...
The Thunder!!! After refusing for years to amnesty Perkins because Toughness and Intangibles, and losing James Harden in part because of it, they pull the trigger on a massive series of trades. Jackson and Perkins OUT. Augustin, Novak, Singler, and Kanter IN. Kanter is immediately their best center, but probably will and should come off the bench because there's still only one ball. Novak and Singler provide a desperately needed jolt of spacing: Morrow, Durant, and Ibaka were the only guys who could hit threes on the team. The ideal rotation is now...
starters: Westbrook, Morrow, Durant, Ibaka, Adams
bench: Augustin, Waiters, Singler, Novak/Collison, Kanter; Waiters and Kanter getting the most touches, Novak or Collison (who has slipped badly this year) depending on matchup
...naturally I expect Roberson will still play for no apparent reason, and Kanter will get buried behind Perry Jones or some d*mn-fool Brooksy thing, but the Thunder are MASSIVELY upgraded from a roster fit perspective and slightly upgraded from a talent perspective. They'll still get crushed by the Warriors in round 1, but the 8 seed is theirs to lose. That should convince Durant to stay hahahahahahahahahahahaha sorry okc.
