Understand your notion, I simply don't agree with it. And I think that this team would be better with Nic Batum at SF instead of Aminu.
But it's not just Nic at SF. Hendo has been a huge contributor for our bench. I'm not sure we're this good without him. It's Aminu as the starting SF, Hendo and Vonleh contributing to our bench. He's including Aminu because Aminu was his replacement, we didn't trade for a small forward. Maybe we don't sign Aminu if we don't trade Nic. Overall, I think we need to look at the stats for the whole group to see if the trade paid off this season.
Nic is currently averaging 15 ppg, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal. He's attempting 12.5 FG per game and making 5, while shooting 42.6% from the field and 34.8% from three. His totals are 373 total fg's made, 139 three pointers, he has 428 rebounds, 403 assists, 65 steals and 42 blocks. He has scored 1046 total points.
Comparatively:
Aminu - 10.2 ppg, 5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1 steal, 296 field goals, 124 three pointers, 496 total rebounds, 138 assists, 71 steals, 53 blocks, and 829 points.
Hendo - 8.7 ppg, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, .5 steals, .3 blocks, 232 field goals, 48 three pointers, 211 rebounds, 75 assists, 39 steals, 19 blocks, 624 points
Vonleh - 3.6 ppg, 4 rebounds, .4 assists, .3 steals, .3 blocks, 115 field goals, 11 three pointers, 300 rebounds, 29 assists, 26 steals, 23 blocks, 277 points
So here are the averages to compare
Nic - 15 ppg, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, .6 blocks
Group - 22.5 ppg, 12.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.3 blocks
Here are the totals to compare
Nic - 372 field goals, 139 three pointers, 428 rebounds, 403 assists, 65 steals, 43 blocks, 1046 points
Group - 643 field goals, 183 three pointers, 1007 rebounds, 242 assists, 136 steals, 95 blocks, 1730 points
So the overall production vastly outweighs Batum. Two of the guys that are here right now because Batum is not have been very valuable contributors to our rotation. Just for shits and giggles, I decided to go back and look at who would be in the same roles with Batum last year.
So we're looking at
Starting small forward
Backup shooting guard
Backup power forward
In terms of minutes played, CJ and Meyers would be the backups, to go with Batum. Here are the averages to compare - Group A (last year) and Group B (this year.)
Group A - 22.1 ppg, 11.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Group B - 22.5 ppg, 12.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.3 blocks
So the numbers slightly favor the new group. Let's take a look at the totals.
Group A - 524 field goals, 202 three pointers, 757 rebounds, 437 assists, 131 steals, 62 blocks, and 1415 points.
Group B - 643 field goals, 183 three pointers, 1007 rebounds, 242 assists, 136 steals, 95 blocks, and 1730 points
Also, just for comparison, here are the total minutes played
Group A - 4200 minutes
Group B - 4901 minutes
This is important because the ability to play our bench guys has been extremely valuable. CJ and Meyers had the 8th and 9th most minutes played last season. Kaman and Blake were 6th and 7th.