Whole Truth wrote:Pipp 33, can you expand your thoughts on the Centre rotation ? because I think it's not great but adequate, more affected by the decisions being made. Considering the max money Pels have tied up in ZIon, BI & CJ cap wise it would be hard pressed to do better than Vucevic at half the price (Jonas( & a small ball option in Nance. Jonas is 15 10 2 on 60% efficiency, in 25 mins at 15m not 30. Nance can switch defensively & occasionally hit the 3 ball at a 40% clip if open. Jonas is matchup dominant & doesn't complain fuss when benched. IMO, problem with matchup dominant players is in game recognition.
I think the biggest issue is Green not matching up his 2 options ideally. For instance vs Boston. Green had Nance on Progs size & got badly outrebounded, where Prog didn't have to work defensively either with Nance being a non threat & Boston wanted Tillman's speed on Jonas. It should have been the other way around.
Last night with Herb & Daniels on court. The defensive compensation I'd like to see with Jonas & ZIon's offensive efficiency,. Green went all defense with Nance, so with 2 players the team plays 4 on 5 with generally, he had the team playing 3 on 5 with that decision & let CJ chuck the game away as the only real offensive threat. Reason Daniels & Nance were team high's +/- negatives despite Daniels going 4-5 from 3 & punishing Orlando for leaving him open, which is usually how teams run his defense off court.
Down this home stretch, less Jonas & more CJ is racking up the L's.
Earlier in the season when it was Jonas, Zion, BI, Herb, Daniels they went 5-5 against the top of the West with Nance, CJ, Murphy, Jose all injured for a short bench that got outplayed. During this run it was mainly BI until Jose recently got hurt & they're looking like a lottery team with CJ averaging 24 FGA's a game despite Zion individually playing better now than the start of the season.
I don't think any centre will makeup for a player taking a 100 FGA's in 4 games at 35% efficiency. JMO. It's one thing if you shoot a low efficiency & can play defense. CJ gets hunted on top the low efficiency & people wonder why Portland never got anywhere.
Need to upgrade Nurkic was also the cry. He's doing well in Phoenix.
I'm not going to profess to be super knowledgeable on the Pels rotations, as whilst I watch a lot of basketball, that's across many teams, so don't see Pels play every game. I'm an Aussie, so always watch an extended highlight packages of teams with Aussie players, Pels and OKC are the ones I watch most). Gives me something to enjoy, as being a Bulls fan is a miserable experience
Val is certainly not a bad option, but if Pels want to become a better team, that rotation needs to be upgraded IMO.
Vucevic is an option, but he's not very efficient now and his defence is average on the good night. WCJ would be a solid fit IMO, but can't see Magic giving him up easily, as he's on a great contract.
So do Pels just look for some spot minute bigs? Can't see any key bigs that will be available and will suit playing with Zion without the other team wanting BI or other key players in return.
Some cheap options could be a guy like Jock Landale. Can hit the O boards and is a fighter. Can knock down the 3 if open (although % is not great, that is partly due to up and down court time) and will be a cheaper option for 10-12 minutes a night. Duop Reath would be another cheap option, he's not a great rebounder..but certainly a willing shooter and long arms. (Not intentionally suggesting Aussies, they are just guys that will be cheap and I've seen a lot of throughout their careers). Nick Richards may also be an option for back up/spot minutes
Zion is not an easy player to fit a GOOD C alongside, as the depth of quality defensive bigs, who can also stretch the floor is limited and highly sought after. With the Pels cap, there's very little chance they are spending solid money at the 5.
If they commit to playing Herb and Dyson together for extended minutes next season, the quality of the defense from the C spot may not be as important.
Personally, I'd be trying to get rid of CJ for expirings and hope they don't have to add much value to that. Free up some cap, and with Val off contract, they may be able to package the expirings/picks for something . The problem with that is CJ's contract is hard to match with any teams that may be willing to eat it for a few years. One option is CJ to the Nets for Ben Simmons, who is an expiring deal and then move Simmons to a 3rd team, but I just can't see any team eating CJ's deal without some major pick incentives or quality young guys attached to the deal.
Tough team to sort out.......as I really hate watching them with CJ having a green light
Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team
