Joe had to take on someone's salary in the Dame trade. So he took on Brogdon, who is now gone, and Ayton, who is over-paid by about 10 mil but only has 2 years left. Ayton is also a decent trade chip, and there is still the possiblity he becomes a long term piece. Deni was acquired for the draft capital we got in the Dame trade. (and we still have some left over). But the Blazers wanted a young-upcoming forward for Dame, and they got him. So mission accomplished. We will eventually get a 1st rounder for Grant. I think Joe matched so that he could get back what he paid to acquire Grant (plus more perhaps). Matching Thybulle was stupid. But at least it wasn't Allen Crabbe level stupid.
I have been watching a lot of Deandre Ayton highlights as of late. I didn't think he could play the 4 effectively but the more I watch him run the floor the more he reminds me of LMA. (Very good mid-rage shot) If Robert Williams can stay healthy maybe we should experiment with him and Clingan at the center and start Ayton at the 4. (assuming we move Grant) What is the worst that could happen......we end up tanking?
Ayton would be fine at the 4 offensively. He'd get eaten alive at the 4 defensively. This is not something we should even consider unless another team has two centers on the court.
Looking at the top 8 teams in the West from last year and their projected starting C-PF this year I can see 2 problems, but those two are problems for everyone (KD and Zion) Half the teams don't have 4s who are one of their main scorers. Sure there is the "switching" issue but in a half-court scenario, Ayton is not that slow. OKC -Hartenstein/Chet Minnesota-Gobert/Towns Denver- Jokic/Gordon Clippers- Zubac/? Dallas- Gafford/PJ Phoenix-Nurk/KD Lakers-AD/Vanderbilt New Orleans- Missi/Zion
Chet would kill Ayton in the half court. No contest. Ayton also can't guard Gordon. Not even close. He can't guard Vanderbilt either. And he can't guard whoever the Clips run at the 4. This will not work. It will look bad and it will make our whole team look terrible on defense. It's not just that Ayton can't stop those guys from scoring... he can't rotate with them. So there will always be a player open. They'll kill us even without their 4 scoring on Ayton. This defensive unit will just convince everyone on the team that it doesn't matter how hard they work on defense. The other team will just score anyway. This is not saying Ayton is slow. He's a mobile 5. He is not a mobile 4. He's a very SLOW 4. This is not fair to do to Ayton or anybody else on the team.
sorry if I missed this, but where were people insisting that ayton would be the full time 4 vs. a tactically used 4? coaches love having weirdo switch-up-the-energy lineups they can throw at other teams.
I assume that was the proposal. Judging by the list of power 4/5s that we'd be matching up against. Plus I said in my original post we could try it if the other team is playing multiple centers at the same time. I think we should avoid it If possible.
If they put a smaller player out there then you are right, it won't work...... on defense. But the ones I listed I don't see as a problem. Most starting 4s don't have great handles. And the ones that do, no one is stopping anyway. Chet does. He has skills, but it's not like he is blowing by people. I think a longer Ayton can guard him just as well as a shorter quicker PF. He won't shut him down, but who will? Suggesting he can't guard Vanderbilt is hilarious. The dude takes about 5 shots a game...for a reason. If they want him to change their game plan where he takes more against us.....great. No one needs to rotate over to help. The guy has no handles. I think Ayton's mobility is similar to Towns.
It doesn't matter if they have handles. They are faster without the ball, too. So if they cut and get open Ayton's teammates will have to rotate to cover until Ayton can get there. If they can shoot and Ayton follows them out there, they can cut to the basket and they'll be dunking or Clingan will stop them and they'll have an easy dump to Clingan's man for a dunk. This will make for a TON of extra effort and confusion on the defensive end. Ayton simply isn't quick enough to hang with 4s. You want to make Vanderbilt a 15-20pt per game scorer? Having Ayton guard him will probably help in that goal. I don't think Ayton is as mobile as Towns. Hey, if they try it and it works, great. I just don't think it will. And I hope they don't keep trying it once it doesn't work.
Ayton...Throughout his college career, he was used as a power forward instead of center; Dušan Ristić was Arizona's starting center instead. On December 9, 2017, Ayton recorded what was, at the time, a season-high 29 points and 18 rebounds in an 88–82 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Yes, I've made the same comparison. Ayton actually has a better mid range shot than LA as well, and is no less athletic. Apparently that is too "2012" for many on this forum.
Ayton has been in the NBA for 6 seasons. 82 games says he has never played a minute at PF in 6 seasons. BBREf, which is pretty liberal with their positional assignments says he played 10% of his minutes at PF in one season; that's it but yeah, since the Blazers have 4 C's, and the two primary C's are drop-cover C's, let's fantasize that Ayton can change his stripes and gain lots of quickness I see a list of PF's for other teams above that has some assumptions and omissions, mostly bad. One assumption that's bad is thinking that NBA teams don't know how to take advantage of a slow PF. And Ayton will be a slow PF. He's going to be screened all the time and he'll have to make decisions on screens and picks. His instinct will be drop coverage and if he's on the floor with Clingan that will create some good comedy. I guess it might help the tank though
* in the 2012-13 season, 24% of shots in the NBA were from the 3pt line * last year, 40% of shots were from the 3pt line pretending that everything is about the same as it was 12-13 years ago is foolish
bleh bleh bleh bleh, you already magically know that it won't work, even though many teams have had success with two bigs. LA and Lopez aren't any different athletically or skillset than Ayton/Clingan. There's a thing called putting your best players on the court.
don't forget Wilt and Luke Jackson in the 60's. Hakeem and Sampson in the 80's. Duncan and the Admiral in the 90's. by the way, contrary to your assertion, I do not believe that Ayton is as quick or as reactive as LMA. I'm also skeptical that prime Aldridge would be anything but a C in today's NBA
That doesn't mean your PF has to shoot 3s. Ayton doesn't shoot 3s but he still has a 61.6 TS%. A lot of the top PFs in the league are not really good 3pt shooters.
