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JT's had a fairly good sophmore year last year. He hit a slump towards the middle of the year but seemed to sort of gotten it back on track towards the end. With the addition of Cousins and Dalembert, and Landry manning the 4 spot, what sort of numbers do you expect from JT?

It is nice having a four-headed monster up at the 4/5

I have no idea what his minutes or his production are going to look like. I could realistically see him as 4th big in the rotation or as high as 2nd big. If they all play platoon minutes nobody will have really great production.

he is pretty good imo we should play him while cousins is on the floor

SacKingZZZ wrote:I have no idea what his minutes or his production are going to look like. I could realistically see him as 4th big in the rotation or as high as 2nd big. If they all play platoon minutes nobody will have really great production.

This is definitely what I am curious to see. He looked like he was going to be a stud last year at the beginning of the season. He fell off a bit, but if he can play as good or better than he did at the beginning of last year, he could end up being our best big next year

SactownHrtBrks8 wrote:

SacKingZZZ wrote:I have no idea what his minutes or his production are going to look like. I could realistically see him as 4th big in the rotation or as high as 2nd big. If they all play platoon minutes nobody will have really great production.

This is definitely what I am curious to see. He looked like he was going to be a stud last year at the beginning of the season. He fell off a bit, but if he can play as good or better than he did at the beginning of last year, he could end up being our best big next year

Unless Whiteside gets an offensive game I see him as a backup 5. Cousins will be the 5 and JT will be the 4. Landry's production didn't increase with added minutes so it's really easy to see his place is in a 6th man role.

Jason's issues are related to foul trouble and his ability to play defense. He fits well offensively and he will continue to see around 30 minutes of game time. If he stays on the floor he will get 8/9 rebounds a game and 14-16 points. I really think this is the year he puts it together.

One thing i do hope to see is if his constant whining will stop. He's getting a bad rep with the officials for that and it's not good the team as a whole to have a guy like that.

With so many bigs, foul trouble for him will only be an issue if he does bonehead fouls that get us in to the penalty quickly. I won't mind if he gets in to foul trouble laying some hard, necessary fouls on the other team.

tough to know what his role will be for upcoming year, but I'd like to see him start at the 4 spot with DMC. Landry can come in as 6th man and still produce, but I really expect some improvement from JT this year. Realistically, say 15ppg, 9rpg with a few assists and a block or two per-game.

JT shot 50% in 4 out of the 6 months of the year and finished shooting 47%. JT is a career 48% in 2 seasons. Just some perspective Duncan is a career 51%, Bosh 49%, LAldridge 49%, Dirk 47%, KG 50%, Durant 46%. JT is in this type of player consistent offensive skill sets. Although these guys aren't great post men they make it up by running the floor or forcing bigs to defend their jumpers then using speed to attack the basket.

The problem last year was they had no KMart or Garcia to spread the floor the entire NBA learned to crowd the paint for Tyreke and JT.

JT has lots of little things to work on. But he on the court at all times because he can play offense and defense well. He never loses games for them and usually comes up with a big stop or shot in crunch time.

A Greene/JT/Cousins frontline plus Tyreke at SG is just Lakers sized playoffs style material. That is a team that can win a title when they are mature in 3-5 years or so.

If he smartens up and doesn't lead the league in fouls again like he did last year, AND if Cousins and Whiteside don't steal too many of his minutes, I can see him at 14/10.

He was 12.5/8.5 last year and that was having his minutes regularly severely limited due to foul trouble. He put up 15 or more rebounds a handful of times, and showed he can get a lot of hustle and finish points when he's on the floor. I don't ever see him as a 20 point guy, but if he can average a double-double, that's as solid as we can ask for.

Can JT be had for a 2011 unprotected 1st + young talent...?

Who's unprotected 1st?

Edit: Nvrm i'll post in the Garcia trade board topic.

SactownHrtBrks8 wrote:One thing i do hope to see is if his constant whining will stop. He's getting a bad rep with the officials for that and it's not good the team as a whole to have a guy like that.

With so many bigs, foul trouble for him will only be an issue if he does bonehead fouls that get us in to the penalty quickly. I won't mind if he gets in to foul trouble laying some hard, necessary fouls on the other team.

That's one of my main fears with he and Cousins playing together. We are quickly going to be the most hated team among refs.

KM44 wrote:Who's unprotected 1st?

Haven't checked the thread yet, but I'm guessing the Suns? If so, hell nah! Suns are going to demolish during the regular season next year.

cdt3 wrote:JT shot 50% in 4 out of the 6 months of the year and finished shooting 47%. JT is a career 48% in 2 seasons. Just some perspective Duncan is a career 51%, Bosh 49%, LAldridge 49%, Dirk 47%, KG 50%, Durant 46%. JT is in this type of player consistent offensive skill sets. Although these guys aren't great post men they make it up by running the floor or forcing bigs to defend their jumpers then using speed to attack the basket.

The problem last year was they had no KMart or Garcia to spread the floor the entire NBA learned to crowd the paint for Tyreke and JT.

JT has lots of little things to work on. But he on the court at all times because he can play offense and defense well. He never loses games for them and usually comes up with a big stop or shot in crunch time.

A Greene/JT/Cousins frontline plus Tyreke at SG is just Lakers sized playoffs style material. That is a team that can win a title when they are mature in 3-5 years or so.

I don't know. I don't like the potential of Cousins and JT as a defensive unit. Neither one is going to protect the paint like you need and in a lot of ways JT is a poor mans version of Demarcus Cousins. I still like JT as the spark plug off the bench because he can get minutes at 3 positions. I also still like the idea of him at SF for stretches because that's literally the only time he has an effective post game. He's a tough matchup there and has the footspeed to not get consistently killed on D.

I said it with Hawes, and I mean it even more with Cousins. Cousins is a PF. It's funny because everything I've read lately lists him as a forward too. I mean he can play both C and PF but he will and will have to play minutes at both spots in his career. He can too.

Comparing JT's offensive % to legit number 1 options is pointless. JT is a role player within this offense. The offense doesn't run through him and he gets a lot of his points off of garbage baskets and spot shots.

@ SacKingZZZ What tangible "spark off the bench" has JT provided? The numbers show with him more minutes = more production. The same isn't true for the other guy you would like to start @ PF. Just because a person plays with energy doesn't mean they should come off the bench. That's like saying only lazy people should start.

JT and DMC are not similar players. They share some of the same qualities but Jason will never make a living bangin' in the post whereas DMC won't be an all star always using a face up game. Yes Jason can post occasionally and yes DMC can face up but it's clear Jason is better from 10-18 feet than DMC. I think the inverse is clear as well.

Look we get you're not a JT guy...cool. What I don't get is your reasoning. If you think Landry is a better PF then state that. I just don't understand why you hate Jason Thompson so much. As soon as I saw your name in this thread I new the JT hate was coming.

SacKingZZZ wrote:I don't know. I don't like the potential of Cousins and JT as a defensive unit. Neither one is going to protect the paint like you need and in a lot of ways JT is a poor mans version of Demarcus Cousins. I still like JT as the spark plug off the bench because he can get minutes at 3 positions. I also still like the idea of him at SF for stretches because that's literally the only time he has an effective post game. He's a tough matchup there and has the footspeed to not get consistently killed on D.

I said it with Hawes, and I mean it even more with Cousins. Cousins is a PF. It's funny because everything I've read lately lists him as a forward too. I mean he can play both C and PF but he will and will have to play minutes at both spots in his career. He can too.

Comparing JT's offensive % to legit number 1 options is pointless. JT is a role player within this offense. The offense doesn't run through him and he gets a lot of his points off of garbage baskets and spot shots.

We still didn't see Cousins and JT playing together, I think they'll be good enough defensively, I agree JT is a role player, and as such he is a prefect fit next to DMC, he's decent offensively if he's not asked to create, and he's very active.
I disagree about lane protection, at times when we ran Hawes/JT/Greene frontcourt, we were a tough team to score against inside.

ICMTM wrote:@ SacKingZZZ What tangible "spark off the bench" has JT provided? The numbers show with him more minutes = more production. The same isn't true for the other guy you would like to start @ PF. Just because a person plays with energy doesn't mean they should come off the bench. That's like saying only lazy people should start.

JT and DMC are not similar players. They share some of the same qualities but Jason will never make a living bangin' in the post whereas DMC won't be an all star always using a face up game. Yes Jason can post occasionally and yes DMC can face up but it's clear Jason is better from 10-18 feet than DMC. I think the inverse is clear as well.

Look we get you're not a JT guy...cool. What I don't get is your reasoning. If you think Landry is a better PF then state that. I just don't understand why you hate Jason Thompson so much. As soon as I saw your name in this thread I new the JT hate was coming.

Uh, as with most players? Landry's numbers did indeed climb a bit once he came over, and you have to factor in role as with anything else in this sport. In Houston he was a clear number 1 option at times off the bench. Here he never made it past a solid 2nd option.

No, it's like saying if "energy" is your main contribution it isn't typically the most needed quality at the beginning of games. You need stable and steady play at the start of games until the game settles in more often than energy.

Hahaha, JT hate!? No, I'm merely recognizing the simple fact that JT can supply this team with many positive things, however, consistently solid to great play in any area of the game other than rebounding and energy is not one of those. If I'm not a "JT guy" then I guess I'm not alone, because I'm pretty sure I saw coach Westphal plug him right in there in front of JT at PF as soon as he got here, with JT playing out of position until he finally started Spencer ahead of him. I also think that JT's ability to play multiple positions makes him a better option off the bench. Landry is kind of stuck at PF, I know they want him to play some 3 but who knows how that will work. I've seen JT there and what I saw didn't really disappoint me all that much.

In the end I think it depends entirely on need. I see one talent, and exactly one talent only that harnesses the potential to be a guaranteed starter despite any other factors and that's Cousins.

Honestly I think JT has fantastic potential and will reach it, literally the only thing standing in his way from taking a major leap is calming down a little while he's on the court, he get's too animated which causes the whistle to be blown and then it takes him out of his rhythm. Landry should certainly be a bench player, his minutes totals increased a lot when he came to the kings but his stats only increased a tiny amount, that shows me that he's better suited to coming off the bench and providing scoring as a main option for the the bench unit. I would much rather work with a starting lineup that has a better balance and then have some offensive punch coming off the bench.

My starting unit about 20 min per night
Udrih
Evans
Greene
Thompson
Cousins

My 2nd Unit about 13 min per night
Evans
Garcia
Casspi
Landry
Dalembert

My 3rd Unit about 10 min per night
Beno
Garcia
Greene
Landry
Dalembert

My 4th unit about 5 min per night
Jeter
Casspi
Wright
Whiteside
Thompson