Whole Truth wrote:jefe wrote:As a Grizz fan, my opinion of this trade has made a complete 180 in the last six months. I initially hated it (thinking that we gave up the best player for a turd sandwich of salary and whiffed on the pick with Ziare), but it now appears to be a good move.
While JV is certainly the more talented offensive player, Adams is the better fit with the Grizz in that he does the little things to help a team win without taking/demanding alot of shots which has allowed Ja, Bane, and (to a lesser degree) JJJ to blossom on the offensive end. The jury is still out on Ziare, but he has started showing flashes of potential upon returning from his 17 game absence due to an injured ankle. Finally, the Lakers first round pick looks like it might end up being a juicy one this year if they end up making the play-in but failing to advance to the actual playoffs.
Again, JV is a great player and, from an offensive perspective, the best player involved in the trade, but I now think the Grizz won the trade overall.
Fair opinion,
I have a question for you. How much of an impact do you think adding 3J & Bane into the starting rotation helped these Memphis improvements ?
3J's 6 3's a game & versatility at the 4/5 that was missing last yr where Vic could attest I said with him last year Memphis would be top 4 in a division that wasn't as watered down as this season where currently the 5th place Western team is only 2 games over 500. Then you look at Bane over Allen who was a streaky shooter often injured. Bane is a better defender taking 7 3's a game on 42% efficiency, You think Adams intangibles is THE reason why Memphis are where they are ? Last year, Jonas was also one of the best offensive rebounders in less minutes played, he may not be as good a screener as Adams but he was an elite screener himself. Along with his physicality, there's a reason Memphis targeted a similar player/game to replace Jonas as the stop gap option to 3J's development in order to land their wing of the future in Zaire & overpay for, which they did & I too would have done, pay more for what I want/need. So in that vain I have it as a good trade for Memphis pending on how Zaire pans out.
Reference to Adams lower usage. Do you think not having 3J last year might of had something to do with Jonas needing to be higher usage ? Do you think if Memphis had to rely on Adams in that offensive capacity, he would have been the Grizz 2nd or 3rd best player on what ended up a PO team without their 2nd best young talent 3J for a full season & or the inconsistency at SG with Allen being streaky, often injured, where he had many 0 ofr nights vs the emergence of Banes as an effective defensive floor spacer avg 7 attempts at 42% ?... or am I talking **** ?
Ask Pelicans fans, NO's this year.without JV combined with BI win maybe 2 games, though some of the depth on the team, especially the 2nd round pick Herb have been revelations & improving with time. NO's litterally had Satoranksi as their starting PG at a point & have one of, if not one of the worse assist to TO ratio's of any team. Yet after a slow start they are 13-12 over their last 25, improving & heading into the easiest portion of their schedule for the remainder of the season having had one of the toughest scheddules to date as they struggle through injury not having their primary star, ball handler & playmaker in which they built around..
I don't think Adams' intangibles are the only reason why Memphis has improved this year by any means and, again, I think JV is the best player involved in the trade from an offensive standpoint. JJJ's return and Bane's emergence have both been very positive developments. Bane's emergence, in particular, has been a tremendous (and IMO really unexpected) development. I do think, however, that going from JV's 12 FGAs a game to Adams's 5 FGAs a game has, to a degree, contributed to Bane having the opportunity to make that leap. I also think Dillon Brooks's absences this year due to injuries has allowed Bane the opportunity as well.
Another aspect of the trade that was kind of lost on me at the time was the fact that it allowed the Grizz to postpone commitment of salary to the first year that JJJ & Ja will be on their rookie contract extensions (23-24). JV, of course, was set to expire this year and has now extended with Nola for an additional two years IIRC, whereas Adams is under contract through next year. Our front office has been incredibly shrewd in their cap management, and I can't help but think that it factored into the trade as well.
