LarsV8 wrote:SkyHook wrote:Is that your (and/or the Rockets) preferred archetype for a center as supposed to what Sengun is? (Unicorn-lite?)
Its not clear exactly what the organization prefers, but it is certainly my preferred archetype.
Sengun is awesome, but he is probably not good enough to be an offensive engine, and can be exploited defensively, so I think he is a high floor, low ceiling player. On my personal views of constructing a well balanced contending team (including cap allocation), I have always seen his archetype as more of a 6th man, who can just come in and punish other team's benches, by dominating the ball and spamming post ups, when your primary guys are off the floor. Off the bench, there is also less likely to be guys who can exploit his defensive weaknesses. To me, that is how you maximize a guy like Sengun. Anything more than that, you have exposure or inefficiency in roster construction. If interested, I would recommend you watch the first quarter of the recent Dallas / Houston game, where we were just absolutely mauled by AD and Gafford. The verticality was unstoppable and Sengun could not do anything. That is one of two basically unsolvable situations defensively, where if you are serious about contending, Sengun just won't cut it as your starting center. Now, most teams would just roll with it because they don't have better options, but we seem to be fortunate enough to have a ton of options for who to keep / who to trade, etc., so I think the thought exercise is worth considering.
My prediction is that we ultimately trade for one or two guys who are elite offensively, which will dominate the ball / shots, so to me, it might not make sense to keep Sengun, who wouldn't see the ball as much, but would still have those exploitable defensive issues. It just isn't a good allocation of that much of your cap space. We might not get anybody, but if we do, I could see a scenario where a cheaper rim running defensive center + 3 or 4 additional firsts, makes a ton more sense.
I have no idea who becomes available, if anyone. Names I speculate might become available soon... Trae, Booker, Melo, or perhaps even Ja, Haliburton. Maybe Harden comes back for a retirement run on a cheap deal. I think most of those guys (particularly the playmakers) get "unlocked" alongside a rim runner with vertical spacing.
While I love our team and prospects moving forward, I do get frustrated that we haven't had a rim protector / runner in 5 years. To me, that is a disservice to the team, Green and Amen especially, as I think these types of big men really do take the pressure off of penetrating wings / guards. I would be furious if we give up on Green at some point, and he lands on a team with a traditional big and it opens up the game for him.
Anyway, just my two cents.
That's a bit more than just two cents!
Seriously though, that's excellent insight into your thinking. I have similar thoughts; it's a big reason why I swat away most any proposal for Kessler.
