2025 Regular Season Thread Vol. 4

[batterybro42]

It's hilarious how eager people are to make everything one player vs the other

Well when they play the same position it kinda matters don't you think?

It's all about skillsets. If they complement each other and serve the scheme that the team prioritizes, then what's bad about having 2 guys that CAN play center and PLAY together?? If they can fit together on offense, then there is no concern on defense. I promise you that Bam can guard PFs better than basically every PF in the NBA

Do you think CLE's frontcourt is a dire crisis that needs to be resolved?

I think their frontcourt fits so well this year because Mobley is shooting 42% from 3 on career high volume. They have a true 4-5 that can share the floor together. This entire deal hinges on Bam being able to play the 4, which is going to require him being able to score away from the basket. It is not an argument on him being a good player or not. At a point if the fit does not work you have decide between Ware being 20 on a rookie deal or Bam approaching 30 making the max

[batterybro42]

Some comparisons on older bigs developing 3 points shots:

Horford didn’t begin shooting 3s until his age 29 season, his first season he was at 34% on 3.1 attempts.

Bosh didn’t begin shooting 3s until his age 29 season where he shot 34% on 2.8 attempts. This was the last year of the big 3 so that’s actually pretty shocking to see.

Brook Lopez didn’t begin shooting 3s until his age 28 season where he shot 35% on 5.2 attempts. Went from not shooting them to literally just gunning from 3 lol

Bam has begun at his age 27 season and is currently at 29% on 2.6 attempts but that could very easily jump or decrease as the season goes on, just depends on a hot or cold streak.

Bams getting started 2 years earlier than Bosh and Horford and a year earlier than Lopez. I’m hoping as he continues to develop here he gets up to 38%-40% on 4-5 attempts a night next season or the 1 after.

I wanted to take it 1 step further and eliminate grenades as Bam in 38 games has taken 23 grenade 3s already this season compared to Lopez taking 23 (75 games), Bosh taking 28 (79 games) and Horford 32 (82 games). We for whatever reason can’t find Bam for easy lobs and dump offs but we always know how to find him with 3 seconds left on the clock lol

Without grenades Bosh was at 34%, Horford was at 34%, Lopez is at 35%, and Bam is at 32% so much more along the lines of those guys when just shooting in the flow of the offense their 1st years becoming shooters.

Already done battery, here you go.

Well done, I guess it all depends on this happening and becoming a real part of his game. I have no issues with Bam, I would like it to work, but I do strongly feel that without a serious development in his ability to shoot this thing is DOA

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Well when they play the same position it kinda matters don't you think?

It's all about skillsets. If they complement each other and serve the scheme that the team prioritizes, then what's bad about having 2 guys that CAN play center and PLAY together?? If they can fit together on offense, then there is no concern on defense. I promise you that Bam can guard PFs better than basically every PF in the NBA

Do you think CLE's frontcourt is a dire crisis that needs to be resolved?

I think their frontcourt fits so well this year because Mobley is shooting 42% from 3 on career high volume. They have a true 4-5 that can share the floor together. This entire deal hinges on Bam being able to play the 4, which is going to require him being able to score away from the basket. It is not an argument on him being a good player or not. At a point if the fit does not work you have decide between Ware being 20 on a rookie deal or Bam approaching 30 making the max

So they took the time and developed him into a shooter over the span of 4 seasons. Bam will be similar there by next season id assume

[3ammy3uck3ts]

This team was successful despite Jimmy and Bam not being shooters. Now we’ll likely move Jimmy in place of a shooter, Ware has had a good shooting start to his career and will continue to work on it, and Bam is taking them now and will continue to improve over time. This team going forward will have better shooting in every lineup than we had on our finals teams

[MettaWorldPanda]

Read on Twitter

Yup just like i mentioned. 2027 pick is priority and eases the blow from Rozier trade.

[batterybro42]

It's all about skillsets. If they complement each other and serve the scheme that the team prioritizes, then what's bad about having 2 guys that CAN play center and PLAY together?? If they can fit together on offense, then there is no concern on defense. I promise you that Bam can guard PFs better than basically every PF in the NBA

Do you think CLE's frontcourt is a dire crisis that needs to be resolved?

I think their frontcourt fits so well this year because Mobley is shooting 42% from 3 on career high volume. They have a true 4-5 that can share the floor together. This entire deal hinges on Bam being able to play the 4, which is going to require him being able to score away from the basket. It is not an argument on him being a good player or not. At a point if the fit does not work you have decide between Ware being 20 on a rookie deal or Bam approaching 30 making the max

So they took the time and developed him into a shooter over the span of 4 seasons. Bam will be similar there by next season id assume

I am definitely on board with that type of commitment and patience to see if it can work. But would you agree that if we are sitting at this point next year with no real change to Bam's shooting and him and Ware is an awkward fit that it might be time to start looking at a move?

[MiamiLoyal926]

Dream, yet not all that far-fetched 2025-2026 lineup/rotations:

PG: Fox / Dru Smith (health permitting) and/or Ball
SG: Herro / Alec Burks
SG/SF: Bruce Brown / Jaime
SF/PF: Jovic / Duncan / Highsmith
PF/C: Bam / Ware / Jovic

With Larsson and K Johnson developing between the seams… trying to outplay and take minutes from older “vet” players.

[3ammy3uck3ts]

I think their frontcourt fits so well this year because Mobley is shooting 42% from 3 on career high volume. They have a true 4-5 that can share the floor together. This entire deal hinges on Bam being able to play the 4, which is going to require him being able to score away from the basket. It is not an argument on him being a good player or not. At a point if the fit does not work you have decide between Ware being 20 on a rookie deal or Bam approaching 30 making the max

So they took the time and developed him into a shooter over the span of 4 seasons. Bam will be similar there by next season id assume

I am definitely on board with that type of commitment and patience to see if it can work. But would you agree that if we are sitting at this point next year with no real change to Bam's shooting and him and Ware is an awkward fit that it might be time to start looking at a move?

I do not because regardless it’s still a better shooting fit than Jimmy/Bam.

[MettaWorldPanda]

If we had Garland and Mitchell with Bam and Ware we would be talking about championships not how Bam and Ware fit lol

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Read on Twitter

[MettaWorldPanda]

I hope we can flip Rozier for Bruce Brown in all this. Probably needs to happen cause Middleton and Brown equal 54 million. Portis, Middleton, Brown, and Davion Mitchell would be a decent haul.

[DayofMourning]

I hope we can flip Rozier for Bruce Brown in all this. Probably needs to happen cause Middleton and Brown equal 54 million. Portis, Middleton, Brown, and Davion Mitchell would be a decent haul.

Who we waiving?

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Read on Twitter

[3ammy3uck3ts]

Davion Mitchell is a helluva defender

[MettaWorldPanda]

I hope we can flip Rozier for Bruce Brown in all this. Probably needs to happen cause Middleton and Brown equal 54 million. Portis, Middleton, Brown, and Davion Mitchell would be a decent haul.

Who we waiving?

We won’t have to waive anyone. J Rich can be tossed into the Suns deal. Rozier, J Rich, and Butler out and 4 coming in. We have an open roster spot.

[greg4012]

Well when they play the same position it kinda matters don't you think?

It's all about skillsets. If they complement each other and serve the scheme that the team prioritizes, then what's bad about having 2 guys that CAN play center and PLAY together?? If they can fit together on offense, then there is no concern on defense. I promise you that Bam can guard PFs better than basically every PF in the NBA

Do you think CLE's frontcourt is a dire crisis that needs to be resolved?

I think their frontcourt fits so well this year because Mobley is shooting 42% from 3 on career high volume. They have a true 4-5 that can share the floor together. This entire deal hinges on Bam being able to play the 4, which is going to require him being able to score away from the basket. It is not an argument on him being a good player or not. At a point if the fit does not work you have decide between Ware being 20 on a rookie deal or Bam approaching 30 making the max

Evan Mobley is shooting 2.8 3PA per game at a 42% clip (4.5 3PA per 100 possessions). Kel'el Ware is currently shooting 1.5 3PA per game at a 39% clip (5.0 3PA per 100 possessions) as a rookie while adjusting to every facet of the NBA.

As a rookie, Mobley was shooting 1.3 3PA per game at a 25% clip (2 3PA per 100 possessions).

Ware is ALREADY shooting 3s at a higher rate than Mobley and nearly as well.

Let's add another layer--Jarrett Allen is shooting 0 3PA per game at a 0% clip and has never averaged even 0.5 3PA per game for his career. Bam literally just started working on his 3 ball and is currently shooting a lackluster 27%. But Bammy already shared some of the progress numbers comparing Bam to others and just last season, Bam closed out the year shooting 35%+ from 3 on over 1 attempt per game.

I understand if you vehemently believe that Bam will never become average from 3. I disagree. But, even if that's the case, the pairing of Bam and Ware is set up to be more dynamic offensively and provide better spacing dynamics than the Cleveland frontcourt is this season. CLE just so happens to have the #1 offense in the NBA.

If Ware didn't have a shooting skillset, then I think there'd be a convo to be had. But Ware was specifically drafted as a 3&D center (that can obviously also rim run) because of the compatibility with Miami's core personnel and what they want to do.

[DayofMourning]

Miami trading Butler to the team of his wishes is in stark contrast to Cronin and Dame. Thats a feather in the cap for us.

[DayofMourning]

Davion Mitchell is a helluva defender

I expect Miami would be interested.

[marson]

Miami trading Butler to the team of his wishes is in stark contrast to Cronin and Dame. Thats a feather in the cap for us.

It's strange that the league didn't intervene the way they did with Dame saga.

[heater4life]

A team going from 6’5 Haywood Highsmith to Bam at PF is a massive upgrade. Team was missing Herro last night to break down defenses. We need players that can penetrate and dish to Ware and Bam. We currently only have one in Herro and that ain’t enough.

This is the single biggest detriment to Bams offensive game. Even Herro isnt phenomenal at putting pressure on the rim.

You compliment Bam with an athlete that attacks the PnR, opens up his athleticism, quickness, offensive rebounding and jumpshot.