Post#624 » by fishercob » Mon Dec 2, 2013 6:23 pm
On the issue of Gortat's age: while Gortat is indeed older than Asik by two and a half years, he has not logged heavy minutes during his career -- less than 23 mpg. By way of comparison, Nene has played 29+ mpg over his career, Okafor 32 mpg, Noah 29, Chandler 29, etc.
Gortat has less tread on his tires than such younger players as Marc Gasol, Al Horford, Roy Hibbert and Andrew Bynum (even with all the time he's missed). He's only played 1000 more minutes -- 30ish games worth -- than Greg Monroe. He may have even less relative wear and tear given that he started playing basketballs seriously at 18.
The point is, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Gortat as aging or old -- even three years into his next deal. He's been very durable during his career. I think his foot injury last year was the only lower body injury he has had, and there were whispers that he could have returned sooner than he did (things were bad in PHX last year).
"Some people have a way with words....some people....not have way."
— Steve Martin