nate33 wrote:closg00 wrote:?? If-true then no protector for Alex? Do we think we can flip for a FRP later?
I'm sure the Wizards will be open-minded to moving him after December, but I doubt it will happen. The market has already spoken on the value of JV: it's less than the MLE. No team is going to trade much for a guy who was available for sub-MLE money 6 months earlier.
The other issue is that JV isn't really the plug-and-play type of player that a contender would look to add in preparation for a playoff run. JV is the opposite. He is a good minutes eater in the regular season but is the kind of guy who is less useful in the playoffs because he isn't a rim protector or a switchable defender.
I say we will see. If the refs keep calling things like they did in the 2nd half of the season, there will be room for low-post only bigs, even if they aren't racking high block numbers. Consider the teams that went deep into the play-offs this past year. Most, with the exception of the eventual champs, relied heavily on front court heavyweights. The difference with the Celts is they have reliable 3pt shooting from absolutely every position. But otherwise TWolves, Mavs, Knicks, Cavs, Bucks, Lakers, Thunder, all go large in the front court.
If Brother Jonas shows up well against heavyweight teams who expect to contend, I think we will see teams realize they need a beast on the bench as an option. If the refs call it loose all year and allow more clutching and grabbing, then drop-only centers have more value since outside defenders can play it close on outside shooters, plus stall the dribble drive attack long enough for the rim protector to recover. If teams are forced to pull up or step back into long ranged shots then the frontcourt rebounding monster has higher utility.
The teams that advanced in the playoffs were not winning with a pick and pop strategy, but with attacks at the rim. Notice Jonas went for 20 boards in game 1 vs the Thunder. Was the starter for NOP who had the best +/- on the team despite the series loss. OKC noticed, they recruited Isaiah Hartenstein to fill the position.
The teams that advanced in the playoffs were the teams that rebounded the best.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/best-rebounding-team-in-playoffs-this-yearWould not be surprising if that trend continued and contending teams notice. Yes the market has not caught up with the way the games have been called. Or maybe front offices don't believe it will stick. That fans like high scoring games. Maybe. But given that nobody is stopping 3pt shooting, I think winning teams will load up on front court boardsmanship to snatch all those outside shots that do miss. You can do that with long armed swarming rebounders at all positions, but if you have a guy with a +30% rebound rate, you don't need to commit your whole team to the task and can defend the transition attack better.
