AWOJ tweets ...

[BGrantFan]

Couldn't one of those risks be letting the players you have get healthy and see what they got? Admittedly that's certainly risky, but right now that option to me is clearly the best way to go right now. Other than Bosh I wouldn't trade Aldridge, and anything else is just bleh. I think PG should still be the teams #1 priority right now. I like Miller but I don't see Portland winning with him. I think Nate may have actually had it right that Miller would be a good PG for the 2nd unit, just the problem was Miller was far and away the best PG on the team and he had to start him.

Doug Gottlieb had a good point today on Steve Nash, and it made me think of 'Dre. He said that your first line of defense is the PG, and if you can't defend there, it ruins the rest of the defensive plan because penetration gets everybody out of position. PHX solved this problem on 'Dre by putting Grant Hill on him, but against the Lakers, they can't move Hill off of Bryant or Artest (or Odom), so what we're seeing is Farmar getting by Nash at will, like what happened in the 4th quarter last night.

 

[BGrantFan]

And you'll do that because you don't really get what I'm talking about.

Seems to be a communication/reading issue on your part.

 

[MrSelfDestruct]

LA is #18 in the NBA for PER among players who can stay on the court for 35 mpg. That's a pretty fucking productive player to give up for some fat ass rookie.

You keep stating this but I'm not seeing where he is #18.

Basketball-Reference

I'm seeing 25th in PER out of a total of 44 players who averaged 35 mins or more per game.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I looked at the link, and the only PF I saw below him was Jamison.

 

[BGrantFan]

You keep stating this but I'm not seeing where he is #18.

Basketball-Reference


I'm seeing 25th in PER out of a total of 44 players who averaged 35 mins or more per game.

I got it from ESPN's rankings on Hollinger's page.

 

[BGrantFan]

I looked at the link, and the only PF I saw below him was Jamison.

I saw 6 PFs above LA on that list, and 5 have been All-Stars, andJosh Smith should have been on this year.

Again, that's solid production for 35 mpg.

 

[MrSelfDestruct]

I got it from ESPN's rankings on Hollinger's page.

Cool deal. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong.

 

[Masbee]

He hasn't "absolutely reached his potential" but isn't it just a little more likely that he's a lot closer to that ceiling than not? And how is it baseless to evaluate that on 4 years of play with little tangible improvement?

And you base this on what?

I gave you examples of players with solid, but unspecatacular careers going into their 5th, 6th and later seaons, and then making All-Star AND All-NBA teams.

What you got?

Some notion that if a player starts out "Good" as a sophmore, and doesn't track higher year by year that he is doomed to stay flat forever.

Sorry if I reject out of hand a concept that is little more than hot air. There is no substance to the concept. Some improve step by step. Some improve in breakthroughs. Some regress.

Since progress is not destined to fit a standard template, why assume one of several options for LaMarcus, when he is still young enough that breakthrough improvements are still pretty common among previous players?

Why throw away what we have, for "potential" unrealized, when we already have "potential" in a youngish player?

Package LaMarcus as the centerpiece for an All-NBA player? Maybe, depending on the price. Trade him for youth and potential on this team right now. I don't agree with that notion at all.

Secondly, I can understand the whole 'bird in hand' theory, but what you're really saying is that you want LMA to hold steady and that the team needs Oden to reach his full potential (which means staying mostly healthy and becoming a dominant low post player on offense and defense) to become a champion -- I find that model for success less compelling now than I did a year ago.

I don't "need" Oden for anything.

I do however, realize he is still on the team, coming back to play, and that obtaining a replacement FOR Oden, while trading out LaMarcus is yet another very confusing plan.

IF you think building around Oden is a bad idea - trade Oden - not LaMarcus.

IF you think LaMarcus is lame and should be traded before the rest of the NBA catches on, AND you want to trade him for a supposed Paint Beast, then trade BOTH LaMarcus and Oden.

 

[Blaze01]

Stop it with the PER, it is not the be all-end all to a debate on a player's worth to his team...In fact it has many flaws....

Neither PER nor per-game statistics take into account such intangible elements as competitive drive, leadership, durability, conditioning, or hustle, largely because there is no real way to quantitatively measure these things, which are often based on opinion.

In addition, some have argued that PER gives undue weight to a player's contribution in limited minutes, or against a team's second unit, and it undervalues players who have enough diversity in their game to play starter's minutes.

I would add to that, that PER may reflect a players' offensive output for the game but it does NOT reflect HOW\WHEN and under what circumstances that player scored his points...

Aldridge's performance in the playoffs is a good example actually...while his playoff PER looks decent, if you analyze his production\shots by quarter, you find that in MANY instances when PHX was making a run on POR, that Aldridge was frequently NON-EXISTENT on offense, he took (and missed) too few shot attempts (as the team's #1 option on offense with Roy out mind you) and often settled for jumpers outside of 10ft, of which he missed a large percentage of...

 

[LittleAlex]

And you base this on what?

I gave you examples of players with solid, but unspecatacular careers going into their 5th, 6th and later seaons, and then making All-Star AND All-NBA teams.

What you got?

Some notion that if a player starts out "Good" as a sophmore, and doesn't track higher year by year that he is doomed to stay flat forever.

Sorry if I reject out of hand a concept that is little more than hot air. There is no substance to the concept. Some improve step by step. Some improve in breakthroughs. Some regress.

Since progress is not destined to fit a standard template, why assume one of several options for LaMarcus, when he is still young enough that breakthrough improvements are still pretty common among previous players?

Why throw away what we have, for "potential" unrealized, when we already have "potential" in a youngish player?

Package LaMarcus as the centerpiece for an All-NBA player? Maybe, depending on the price. Trade him for youth and potential on this team right now. I don't agree with that notion at all.



I don't "need" Oden for anything.

I do however, realize he is still on the team, coming back to play, and that obtaining a replacement FOR Oden, while trading out LaMarcus is yet another very confusing plan.

IF you think building around Oden is a bad idea - trade Oden - not LaMarcus.

IF you think LaMarcus is lame and should be traded before the rest of the NBA catches on, AND you want to trade him for a supposed Paint Beast, then trade BOTH LaMarcus and Oden.

This I agree with.

If Portland has given up on Oden (which I don't think they have) it would benefit them greatly to trade Oden + others for a comparable talent.

Besides which, LMA is nearly impossible to move due to his contract situation. He can't really be moved until after next season.

Something about being a base year player next year and having a poison pill contract this season.

 

[BrianFromWA]

This I agree with.

If Portland has given up on Oden (which I don't think they have) it would benefit them greatly to trade Oden + others for a comparable talent.

Besides which, LMA is nearly impossible to move due to his contract situation. He can't really be moved until after next season.

Something about being a base year player next year and having a poison pill contract this season.

LMA isn't "nearly impossible" to move. You just have to move him to a team with 10M in cap space, or 5M difference in trade values. Normally you're right...that's tough. This summer, there are a boatload of teams with >5M in cap space. PPP ends July 8 (or whenever the moratorium ends). But even with the PPP, it's not prohibitive to trade him to a team with cap space right now. There just aren't many of those until July 8.