Center Options

Rays Pompadour · Post #281 » by **Rays Pompadour** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:46 am

A Porzingis conversation begins with Charlotte's lottery pick, wherever it lands. Sign and trades are notoriously difficult, though the Hornets did the Rozier-Walker sign and trade. But one might be arranged with a Zeller sign and trade scenario. I'm not aware of any trade kicker for Porzingis's contract, but to take on his $32M the Hornets would probably have to also renounce Monk's cap hold.

I rate this as a low probability, mainly due to the size of Porzingis's contract and the Mav's front office dumpster fire going on right now. But if true, it says something about Charlotte's desire to finally fix an obvious structural flaw on its roster. It's exciting to think of Kupchak swinging for the fences a bit here.

Rays Pompadour · Post #282 » by **Rays Pompadour** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:21 am

I might also mention that Dallas gave NY two first rounders for Porzingis, so the Mavericks aren't just going to give him away. They're looking to find a running mate for Doncic, so Hayward may be Charlotte's only piece to fill that desire, not Zeller and a draft pick. Perhaps there's a three-way trade out there somewhere...Zeller-Turner-Porzingis? But they're even tougher to execute than sign and trades.

Post #283 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:36 am

Rays Pompadour wrote:I might also mention that Dallas gave NY two first rounders for Porzingis, so the Mavericks aren't just going to give him away. They're looking to find a running mate for Doncic, so Hayward may be Charlotte's only piece to fill that desire, not Zeller and a draft pick. Perhaps there's a three-way trade out there somewhere...Zeller-Turner-Porzingis? But they're even tougher to execute than sign and trades.

Meh the two firsts they gave the Knicks are a sunk cost and irrelevant. KP is a negative value contract and they'll be lucky to get cap relief for him and will probably have to pay assets for the privilege.

The knicks in hindsight robbed the Mavs. I really hope we don't go for KP. He's massively overrated and doesn't fix out needs. To give up our 21 first round pick for him would be a travesty.

Post #284 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:07 pm

Celtics now have Williams, Thompson, Horford, Brown and Fall on their roster.

Wanna make a bet we end up trading for someone like Thompson?

amcoolio · Post #285 » by **amcoolio** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:06 pm

I hope not. Thompson was completely unplayable in the playoffs

LofJ · Post #286 » by **LofJ** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:11 pm

It's too bad Robert Williams isn't a free agent until next summer. We could definitely snag him away from Boston. He can't stretch the floor, but he'd fix our rebounding issues for sure.

Post #287 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:26 pm

LofJ wrote:It's too bad Robert Williams isn't a free agent until next summer. We could definitely snag him away from Boston. He can't stretch the floor, but he'd fix our rebounding issues for sure.

That dude makes Gordo look like an ironman though - doesn't he?

geraldwallace · Post #288 » by **geraldwallace** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:12 pm

Would you guys do a 11th pick for Okongwu trade?

Post #289 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:28 pm

geraldwallace wrote:Would you guys do a 11th pick for Okongwu trade?

Yup.

MPM · Post #290 » by **MPM** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:36 pm

ditto - 11th for Okongwu works for me.

Post #291 » by **BigSlam** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:27 pm

MPM wrote:ditto - 11th for Okongwu works for me.

FWIW: I’d also trade 11 for Bamba as well.

amcoolio · Post #292 » by **amcoolio** » Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:28 pm

BigSlam wrote:
MPM wrote:ditto - 11th for Okongwu works for me.

FWIW: I’d also trade 11 for Bamba as well.

I'd much rather take a chance on Kai Jones or whoever falls out of Moody/Keon Johnson/Kuminga/Barnes (one of them will) than Bamba, but I do think we can get Bamba for cheaper than 11

Post #293 » by **JDR720** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:17 am

The Clippers taking a dump on Rudy Gobert makes me think we don't need a center, we just need to get as many 3pt shooting wings and guards as possible and play them all together.

Liver_Pooty · Post #294 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:14 am

JDR720 wrote:The Clippers taking a dump on Rudy Gobert makes me think we don't need a center, we just need to get as many 3pt shooting wings and guards as possible and play them all together.

Yeah.... Definitely need a center.

Goberts inability to guard the perimeter happens with a guy his size, but he has to punish smaller players down low for doing that. They could've put Ty Lue on him and he wouldn't have done anything. Such a weird, great game.

amcoolio · Post #295 » by **amcoolio** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:54 am

Centers like Gobert are regular season floor raisers, not players you can rely on in the postseason. Which is what I was preaching last offseason yet it got construed into we don't need a center.

Same thing with Wiseman and why I didn't want him. That guy will never be able to play 4th quarters in the postseason. He will just get abused play after play by teams that have an actual gameplan in a series.

bravor · Post #296 » by **bravor** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:29 am

Hornets still need one decent center for the regular season.

I would not overvalue the reality of these play offs anyway. Season has been very condensed and many teams were missing stars or key players
But you dont put 200M on a center, not even on Embiid.

MPM · Post #297 » by **MPM** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:48 pm

Worth noting that 4 of the remaining 6 playoff teams feature a legit big (Lopez, Embiid, Ayton, Capela). Embiid and Ayton have been fantastic, but Lopez is also worth a nod - I've been pretty impressed with him, esp. his defense.

Postseason minutes (all higher than regular season minutes):

Ayton - 35
Embiid - 32
Lopez - 30
Capela - 34

EDIT - With the Nets loss, make that 4 of the remaining 5 teams.

Vanderbilt_Grad · Post #298 » by **Vanderbilt_Grad** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:51 pm

Read on Twitter

I don't think that the message here is that centers suck and the Hornet's don't need one. The message is that centers who can stay on the floor during the finals and contribute to wins are incredibly hard to find. Gobert is largely a one end guy. He's amazing on that one end, but that's not enough in the playoffs against other good teams and coaches.

For guys we've talked about Miles Turner has never been on a team that won a playoff series. His best statistical performance was probably last year when Miami 4-0ed Indiana. Porzingis is similar. Three years in a row the Clippers have taken him out in the first round.

SWedd523 · Post #299 » by **SWedd523** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 7:41 pm

amcoolio wrote:Centers like Gobert are regular season floor raisers, not players you can rely on in the postseason. Which is what I was preaching last offseason yet it got construed into we don't need a center.

Same thing with Wiseman and why I didn't want him. That guy will never be able to play 4th quarters in the postseason. He will just get abused play after play by teams that have an actual gameplan in a series.

Or, that the mindset that having a great defensive center can mask the sheer ineptitude of the rest of the guys on the floor needs to go away.

It doesn't matter how good any one defensive player is these days. The floor is too big and too many guys can shoot for one guy to have enough of an impact on things, especially with the way the rules are currently

Centers can have the biggest single impact due to their size, but they still need some non-trash defenders around them.

NYG · Post #300 » by **NYG** » Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:15 pm

Derrick Favors a fit?