MIN - PHX

[AQuintus]

I was hoping to get synergy to load to look at their scoring efficiency out of the p n' r, but I can't get that to load right now.

So far this year, Pekovic is 1.56 PPP in P&R, and Gortat is 0.79 PPP. Super small sample sizes, though (9 plays for Pekovic and 28 for Gortat).

And defenively, I'm not sure Gortat is better either. Pek may not block a lot of shots, but he's great at clogging up the lane, a very good man defender, and good at guarding the pick n' roll.

On defense (so a lower number is better), Pekovic has a PPP of 0.73 on 59 plays and Gortat has a PPP of 1.05 on 82 plays. Pekovic's defense has been very good and Gortat's has been very bad.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I prefer Pek because he's cooler and funnier and Gortat just talks **** and complains and has menstrual cramps about everything.

[southern wolf]

Scrap that...

PHX gets: Williams

MIN gets: Beasley + Johnson

I've heard the second guy from the Suns has a fantastic smile.

[Foye]

I'm not a fan of this.

Pekovic's presence in the paint creates so many easy opportunities around the basket for our other players. I mean the guy is such a brute force that he has to get double teamed by everybody but Dwight Howard.

Gortat isn't anywhere close to Pekovic on offense. Pekovic is like 3 level above Gortat.
Yes, Gortat's D is better than Pekovic's but the gap is much smaller than on O.

[cpfsf]

This to me feels like a lateral change. I'm not entirely sure which center is "better". My issue is that I believe Pekovic is better suited for the team. He's one of the NBAs better post players and the team has complemented him with plenty of solid shooters. This isn't my main point, but if Pekovic improves his passing game , his life in the post is going to be so much easier. Double teams won't have as much of an impact and the teams offense becomes more unpredictable.

Gortat on the other hands seemingly complains a bit and in FA I'm sure teams will tell him what he wants to hear. Pekovic won't accept a hometown discount, but he is a fan favorite and I think he's enjoyed his experience playing in Minnesota. In all honesty, I think he would be willing to make a long term commitment to the team.

This trade was a lot closer in value than I make it sound. I even thought of this exact same trade scenario in my head a few days ago. Great minds think alike.

[Jukeness]

It's just so nice to have a force down low like Pek, to clean up misses, play good post defense, draw fouls, and just score, for those reasons I would rather have Pek.

[Krapinsky]

I was hoping to get synergy to load to look at their scoring efficiency out of the p n' r, but I can't get that to load right now.

So far this year, Pekovic is 1.56 PPP in P&R, and Gortat is 0.79 PPP. Super small sample sizes, though (9 plays for Pekovic and 28 for Gortat).

And defenively, I'm not sure Gortat is better either. Pek may not block a lot of shots, but he's great at clogging up the lane, a very good man defender, and good at guarding the pick n' roll.

On defense (so a lower number is better), Pekovic has a PPP of 0.73 on 59 plays and Gortat has a PPP of 1.05 on 82 plays. Pekovic's defense has been very good and Gortat's has been very bad.

Thanks!

There's also this from 82games -- Opponent Counterpart PER -- which gives a sense of his man to man defense. Through this year (so small sample size, but Pek's defense has been much improved this year).

Pekovic: 9.6
Gortat: 16.8
Dwight: 15.6
Deandre: 18.4
Marc:15.5
Tim: 16.4
Chandler: 17.6
Garnett: 16.1
Noah: 13.9