joedumars1 wrote:Biyombo at center at ibaka at PF could cause some problems defensively. Can Gordon guard 3s? Can he hit his threes at SF? If he can do that they might be scary. Not sure what biyombo and ibaka were getting either
Yes. Gordon is insanely athletic and is probably better off guarding on the perimeter anyways.
The offense is definitely a question mark though. I think Biyombo was signed to start for them given Vogel's past preferences at center and he obviously give you nothing on that side of the ball. If Vucevic is kept he's a really nice scorer, but not someone who's going to carry the team. Ibaka is just okay offensively. He's not a plus player in that regard. I'm not sure what Gordon can do besides finish at the rim. Jeff Green is... Jeff Green. He will have his moments and then disappear for a long time.
Payton is intriguing. He can really get to the rim and break down a defense. Not much there in terms of shooting but if surrounded by guys who can do so he would be fine. Unfortunately for Orlando that's not the case. If Augustin plays they're in trouble anyways so not much more to say there. Fournier can shoot, and that's about all he does well, but he's not enough of an all-around scorer to carry an offense either. Hezonja will probably get a nice bump in minutes and I'm still really high on him but he's a big unknown. I would have liked to see him get a good chunk of time backing up both spots on the wing but with Green in for a year that's not going to happen this season.
Unless they're planning on winning games with scores in the 80's or low 90's I don't really see it. They're starting to consolidate the young talent they had, just not particularly well in my opinion. Dumping Harris for what amounted to basically nothing, unless you're counting Ilyasova as a integral piece to the Ibaka trade, is looking worse and worse every day.
