Clips sign Cole Aldrich - 1 + 1 player option

[nickhx2]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DerekWetmore/status/619535577298251777[/tweet]


very good signing for minimum. i hate this doc 1 + 1 stuff though. i do not want any contract to interfere with our cap room next year.

[Ranma]

To be honest and my surprise, I'm actually fine with Doc's approach this year. I like what he's doing so far. Of course, the job is much easier with Jordan back onboard, but getting W. Johnson and Cole Aldrich are solid, if not spectacular, additions to fill out the roster. I'm even okay with the player options on those deals since they will be expiring 1-year contracts by the summer of 2016, which should make them easier to move. I also assume both will be on vet minimum deals.

Now it's up to Doc the coach to make things work. If things don't work out, I don't want to see buyouts but I think there is little danger of that happening again with these two particular acquisitions. Obviously, I also don't want any more first-round picks given up but the Stepien Rule should handcuff Doc's ability to do that.

I'm even applauding the pursuit of Josh Smith. He still needs to complete the Crawford trade with Cleveland, but overall, things look pretty good so far.

1st Unit

• B. Griffin
• P. Pierce
• D. Jordan
• J. Redick
• C. Paul

2nd Unit

• A. Rivers
• L. Stephenson
• C. Aldrich
• W. Johnson
• J. Smith

Reserves/Assets

• C. Wilcox
• B. Dawson
• J.Crawford
• J. Hamilton
• L. Hudson

[nickhx2]

except for the whole foregone conclusion of signing DJ stuff happening, i have to agree. we're going after guys that will actually help on defense, as opposed to guys who can only score more.

will have to change my mind if we do sign boozer but for the moment we look good.

[mj_shoefanatic]

Not sure about this p/u but w/e.

[islanders11040]

Knicks fan here. Opinion/scouting report on Cole:

-Great Rebounder
-Good help defender/Blocks
-An OK man to man defender. I felt he should have had the ability to be good at this but lots of times big men would come in and score on him too easily.
-Good freethrow shooter- doesnt really draw too many
-Never takes jump shots
-Takes crazy looking/out of control hooks that wasnt too effective. It either looked way off(70-75% of the time) or looked real impressive with swish's(25-30%).
-A very willing passer. So so in its ability to hit its target-sometimes tends to throw it away
-Pretty much a perfect end of bench dude who can come in and play 10-15 minutes to throw his body around and make some hard fouls
-Well liked dude by teammates.


Good signing if its for cheap.

[nickhx2]

Knicks fan here. Opinion/scouting report on Cole:

-Great Rebounder
-Good help defender/Blocks
-An OK man to man defender. I felt he should have had the ability to be good at this but lots of times big men would come in and score on him too easily.
-Good freethrow shooter- doesnt really draw too many
-Never takes jump shots
-Takes crazy looking/out of control hooks that wasnt too effective. It either looked way off(70-75% of the time) or looked real impressive with swish's(25-30%).
-A very willing passer. So so in its ability to hit its target-sometimes tends to throw it away
-Pretty much a perfect end of bench dude who can come in and play 10-15 minutes to throw his body around and make some hard fouls
-Well liked dude by teammates.


Good signing if its for cheap.

thanks for the info. good help defense is exactly what this team needs. love all of what he does for his role!

[Texas Chuck]

Definitely a nice pick up for the minimum. Another big body is always useful with the size in the West.

The 1+1 doesn't really hurt space for two reasons:

He almost certainly opts out because he should have no trouble getting at least another min contract.
Even if he opts in, its a min contract and could almost certainly be moved for cash if you needed to save the difference between a min salary and the min cap hold. Some other team would gladly buy him out for you in exchange for a small profit on the deal.

[BlzMwt]

essentially aren't these 1 + 1 player options a backfire either way?

if the player has a good season they will opt out next year to get a better contract, and we likely won't retain

if the player has a bad season they will opt in because they won't do any better as a free agent

is this correct or am i wrong in this thinking?

also what's the status on trading crawford to cleveland? anyone know?

[og15]

I like the signing for a 10-12 mpg guy. Doc has wanted to get better on defense but hadn't been signing players that you know, defend

[mttwlsn16]

I know nothing of him since his Kansas days. ^Knicks fan above has me encouraged.

[Ranma]

Fred Katz, Bleacher Report (8/20/14)

The four-year vet averaged 3.3 blocks per 36 minutes last season, and swatted 8.1 percent of two-point shot attempts while he was on the floor, a figure that would lead the league by a hefty margin if strung out over enough minutes. And on a team that has just one guy who consistently defends on the perimeter (the Knicks need you, Iman), rim protection is a skill Derek Fisher's squad can't take for granted.
...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fT7QKJHSGM[/youtube]
...

This is what the great shot blockers do. DeAndre Jordan is the king of this style, which can be high-risk, leading to fouls if executed poorly considering it involves pendulum-like arm swinging. But if a guy has the ability to wait for the scorer to make the first move, that's how to get blocks in these scenarios.
...

The Knicks defense needs Aldrich for that reason alone. Add in an 18.6 percent career rebound rate, in line with those of Chandler, Tim Duncan and Kevin Love, and throwing Aldrich into the rotation should be a no-brainer, considering the Knicks' struggles on the glass.

Can Cole Aldrich Play Real Role for the NY Knicks Next Season?

[nickhx2]

I know nothing of him since his Kansas days. ^Knicks fan above has me encouraged.

i used to play poker. my coaches and i used to have one pretty solid rule. part of being successful in poker is simply making good fundamental plays and minimizing your idiot factor. basically avoid tripping over yourself trying to do fancy things.

nba moves feel a lot like that. unlike years previous where he was trying to build some kind of historic offense and reinvent the modern nba era with mullens/hawes/turkoglu (lol), this time around he's worked to fix the flaws and maintain the good things we've done. i'd say doc has done a pretty decent job so far of being solid and staying out of his own way.

[illastrate]

Solid signing. Aldrich for vet min > Hawes for MLE. And he'll probably be more effective too. Can't complain for end of the bench guy.

[Texas Chuck]

i used to play poker. my coaches and i used to have one pretty solid rule. part of being successful in poker is simply making good fundamental plays and minimizing your idiot factor. basically avoid tripping over yourself trying to do fancy things.

FPS was always my weakness too.

[QRich3]

Solid towel waiver on the bench.

In all seriousness, I have no problem with him as a 4th big, if he's the first dude to come off the bench for DJ/Blake, we're in trouble again. The Spurs will be subbing David West in, the Thunder will sub Adams in, the Cavs will put Tristan Thompson on the court. I hope we don't have to call Cole Aldrich's name first.

[nickhx2]

i used to play poker. my coaches and i used to have one pretty solid rule. part of being successful in poker is simply making good fundamental plays and minimizing your idiot factor. basically avoid tripping over yourself trying to do fancy things.

FPS was always my weakness too.

hahaha yeah someone gets it!

[Thechosen11]

we need more shooters

[Quake Griffin]

I'm in on ANYBODY who plays defense.

[LACtdom]

we need more shooters

*points to the door*


just kidding but seriously we do not need more offense.

[nickhx2]

i actually agree, we need more shooters. they just need to be able to defend the 4 and the 5 lol