bowiac said:The mind boggles at how quickly Philly will rebuild. They could pretty easily end up with a roster next year will be Michael Carter-Williams, Gary Harris, Andrew Wiggins, Thaddeus Young, and Nerlens Noel, plus whatever else they end up with to stay over the salary floor and their bevy of 2nd round picks.
bowiac said:The mind boggles at how quickly Philly will rebuild. They could pretty easily end up with a roster next year will be Michael Carter-Williams, Gary Harris, Andrew Wiggins, Thaddeus Young, and Nerlens Noel, plus whatever else they end up with to stay over the salary floor and their bevy of 2nd round picks.
BigSoxFan said:That lineup would have zero low post scoring. I do agree that they've accelerated their rebuilding with the Holiday trade but they really didn't maximize the value of Hawes/Turner.
Well, I don't think they're gonna compete for a title immediately or anything, but that's an unbelievable defensive team potentially, and they have plenty of cap space to replace Young with a post guy if they need.BigSoxFan said:That lineup would have zero low post scoring. I do agree that they've accelerated their rebuilding with the Holiday trade but they really didn't maximize the value of Hawes/Turner.
bowiac said:Well, I don't think they're gonna compete for a title immediately or anything, but that's an unbelievable defensive team potentially, and they have plenty of cap space to replace Young with a post guy if they need.
They've also got ~26M in cap space, so if they really want to go for it, they could try and sign Carmelo, LeBron, or Bosh, depending on how the various opt-outs shake out. Hell, if they can unload Thaddeus Young's contract (likely) and Jason Richardson's (more difficult), they could try to sign two of those guys.
Yeah - I'd take Embiid #1 regardless of need. Even if they think Noel is Larry Sanders, I'd take Embiid and sort out the position mismatch later.nighthob said:If they land #1 I can see them taking Embiid to build the sort of defense that teams will go entire quarters without scoring on.
It's not a defensive problem, but I watch a lot of Rockets games, so I'm perpetually terrified of creating an Asik-Dwight Howard situation offensively. It obviously depends how limited Noel's offensive game is, and whether they have the perimeter shooting to make up for it. I love MCW, but he'd pose problems there.nighthob said:I don't think it is a mismatch, defensively. Noel as the primary help defender would wreak havoc in front of Embiid. This would be Garnett/Perkins Lite.
This. No doubt in my mind ainge woulda completely blown it up along w KG and Pierce by moving Rajon this past summer too.Jed Zeppelin said:Rondo not tearing his knee and being healthy/available at the draft is a fun alternate history to think about.
Nick Kaufman said:I think Philly should worry about getting some veteran presence. I think it's tough for a very young team to develop when they re losing and they don't have some old hands aboard to steady the ship.
Not that I think this is wrong, but I'm asking for devil's advocate purposes here... Do we have any evidence of this?Nick Kaufman said:I think Philly should worry about getting some veteran presence. I think it's tough for a very young team to develop when they re losing and they don't have some old hands aboard to steady the ship.
bowiac said:Not that I think this is wrong, but I'm asking for devil's advocate purposes here... Do we have any evidence of this?
Basketball players learn more from their teammates on the floor than they do from the coaches. I've seen this at every level but every situation is different.Nick Kaufman said:I think Philly should worry about getting some veteran presence. I think it's tough for a very young team to develop when they re losing and they don't have some old hands aboard to steady the ship.
bowiac said:Not that I think this is wrong, but I'm asking for devil's advocate purposes here... Do we have any evidence of this?
bowiac said:Of course. I was genuinely asking if anyone had seen it studied. In the absence of that, it comes down to our null hypothesis of course, as with anything else.
Why not look at whether young players with "veteran leadership" (needs to be defined obviously), develop better than players without? That wouldn't be perfect, but I think it would shed some light.JakeRae said:
I don't think you could study this. There simply isn't a functional data set out there for addressing the question and building one is impossible.
Glen Davis - F/C - Magic
Glen Davis has given his word that he will be signing with the LA Clippers, according to Yahoo! sources.
Everything is all but official, as Big Baby can't officially sign until 5pm ET. Assuming he is not claimed off of waivers in a shocker, Davis will add some much needed frontcourt depth to the Clippers. However, in a backup role, his fantasy outlook isn't that great.
Big Baby’s presence as a pop-only artist should mesh nicely with Jordan’s game and allow Griffin to rediscover his Lob City roots for short stretches. Davis isn’t a spacing salve. His shot has no gravity; he doesn’t draw extra defensive attention, and teams are happy to let him hoist. But he can work in this offense, provided he dials it back a bit, and turns some of those midrange jumpers into dribble handoffs that keep the offense flowing. Davis is a mean screener, having learned at the feet of Kevin Garnett, the league’s sensei of illegal picks. And in those rare minutes when both Paul and Griffin hit the bench, Davis can wobble and butt his way to the occasional post-up bucket, though he’s struggled on the block this season.
The real dividends come on the other end, where Davis is a solid defender who moves his feet well and is borderline unmovable in the post. Tom Thibodeau, the league’s premier defensive perfectionist, adored Big Baby in Boston, and the Magic acquired him in the first place in part because Dwight Howard hated trying to move all that weight down low. Howard plays in the Western Conference now, on the team with whom the Clips are competing for the no. 3 seed. Zach Randolph’s team is making a playoff push, and Z-Bo reminded Griffin again in Memphis on Friday that guarding him on the low block is a very unpleasant job that can flat overwhelm Griffin at times. There is also LaMarcus Aldridge’s post game and Robin Lopez’s offensive rebounding in Portland, and big front lines in both San Antonio (if the Spurs ever get healthy) and Oklahoma City. Heck, even Golden State can beat you up a bit with David Lee and Andrew Bogut.
Another big body will be nice to have around, especially since Davis already understands the aggressive Thibodeau strongside overload system Rivers has brought to Los Angeles. Davis gets the scheme’s help principles, he competes hard, and he slides those big feet around faster than you’d expect.