Something I've been thinking about regarding free agency and the draft...
With everyone worried about what Drummond will be, I have to wonder if there isn't a more logical option to take most of the guesswork out.
But how would we feel if Oden had reached, say, 70% of his potential (and stayed healthy enough to sustain that)? What if he only became a serious shot-blocking presence, terrific rebounder, and great athlete who could get us 10-12 a night via hustle and athleticism? Wouldn't we STILL view him as a likely championship piece next to LMA and lock him up with a max contract?
Here's why I ask... I feel that Javale McGee IS that player. I think he's roughly 70% of what we all wanted Greg to be, and he doesn't need shots to be that player. He'll get you around 10 pts/game on hustle, fast breaks and putback dunks. He's a beast of a shot blocker (which would allow the team to run more, playing to our best player's greatest strength), and a terrific rebounder. Add to that, he's (serious) injury-free and if we could snare him from Denver (I doubt they'd match a max offer), we'd be hurting a division rival. If we couldn't, we'd be saddling them with a bad contract. At 24 years old, he's young enough to continue on our rebuild mode, yet veteran enough to pair with LA down-low now.
Before you come at me with "he's the dumbest player in the NBA", I ask you to consider 2 things. First, pretend he WAS Greg Oden. If Oden were putting up McGee's #s, I think we'd all be very ok w/ locking him up long-term with a max deal. Instead, we'd be doing that with a much healthier player AND hurting a division rival.
Second, it's important to recognize how awful his teams in Washington really were. It's worth wondering how many of those strange plays of his were PURELY out of boredom, frustration, or for SOME form of entertainment? Yes, he's had a few goofball plays over the years, but if you watched him play for Denver, he played smart, inspired, and tenacious ball. He even had an incredibly heads-up play where he let the ball come off the rim before he put it in on a putback dunk late in a playoff game - not necessarily THAT special until you understand that he had mistimed his jump and literally just floated in the air, hands around (but not touching) the ball, waiting for it to come off the rim...). The frontal cortex in males doesn't finish growing until the average age of 25. McGee is about to turn, 25.
Throw a max at McGee at 12:00.01 in free agency so you can resign Batum and you've got a very solid, young, talented and LONG 3, 4, 5 locked up for the forseeable future with 2 lottery picks to add...
Why aren't we talking about him more?
With everyone worried about what Drummond will be, I have to wonder if there isn't a more logical option to take most of the guesswork out.
But how would we feel if Oden had reached, say, 70% of his potential (and stayed healthy enough to sustain that)? What if he only became a serious shot-blocking presence, terrific rebounder, and great athlete who could get us 10-12 a night via hustle and athleticism? Wouldn't we STILL view him as a likely championship piece next to LMA and lock him up with a max contract?
Here's why I ask... I feel that Javale McGee IS that player. I think he's roughly 70% of what we all wanted Greg to be, and he doesn't need shots to be that player. He'll get you around 10 pts/game on hustle, fast breaks and putback dunks. He's a beast of a shot blocker (which would allow the team to run more, playing to our best player's greatest strength), and a terrific rebounder. Add to that, he's (serious) injury-free and if we could snare him from Denver (I doubt they'd match a max offer), we'd be hurting a division rival. If we couldn't, we'd be saddling them with a bad contract. At 24 years old, he's young enough to continue on our rebuild mode, yet veteran enough to pair with LA down-low now.
Before you come at me with "he's the dumbest player in the NBA", I ask you to consider 2 things. First, pretend he WAS Greg Oden. If Oden were putting up McGee's #s, I think we'd all be very ok w/ locking him up long-term with a max deal. Instead, we'd be doing that with a much healthier player AND hurting a division rival.
Second, it's important to recognize how awful his teams in Washington really were. It's worth wondering how many of those strange plays of his were PURELY out of boredom, frustration, or for SOME form of entertainment? Yes, he's had a few goofball plays over the years, but if you watched him play for Denver, he played smart, inspired, and tenacious ball. He even had an incredibly heads-up play where he let the ball come off the rim before he put it in on a putback dunk late in a playoff game - not necessarily THAT special until you understand that he had mistimed his jump and literally just floated in the air, hands around (but not touching) the ball, waiting for it to come off the rim...). The frontal cortex in males doesn't finish growing until the average age of 25. McGee is about to turn, 25.
Throw a max at McGee at 12:00.01 in free agency so you can resign Batum and you've got a very solid, young, talented and LONG 3, 4, 5 locked up for the forseeable future with 2 lottery picks to add...
Why aren't we talking about him more?
