spearsy23 wrote:Trader_Joe wrote:I don't think Lopez would have been the right fit for the team either but I just want to point out he's a much better defender by almost every metric
-Lopez blocks shots, Kanter doesn'tt (1.7 vs. 0.3)
-Kanter allows opponents to shoot 58% at the rim, Lopez 50% which is a large difference. In fact Kanter allows the highest percentage of any big man playing over 25 mpg, only guards are ahead of him. Lopez is 1.5 percentage points within the likes of Horford, Drummond, Gortat, Davis, Gasol, Jordan Chandler. Kanter is on par with Kyle Korver
-Lopez has a better defensive rating by about 3 points.
-Lopez is at least 7'1" in shoes with a 9'5" reach, Kanter a 9'1.5 reach. (Lopez has clearly grown since he was measured at 19 and pretty much on par with Hibbert size wise as even their color commentator mentioned on air 2 years back)
This is all completely fair, but at the end of the day we're talking about two players who are going to hurt your team defense. Neither is good as a team defender, both teams allow significantly more points with them in the game. But at the end of the day, Brooklyn has been worse on both ends when Brook was in the game, while Kanter significantly helped Utah's offense.Basically Kanter fits better, and they both suck on defense, even if Brook sucks less.
Also, Lopez has at least one year of PO experience where he was
-top 5 in PER
-the #1 scoring big man for the PO, PF or C
-#1 in blocks tied with Ibaka
-Put up 22.4 points / 7.4 rebounds / 3 blocks / 1.4 assists / 1 steal / 6.3 FTA per game against the vaunted Chicago D (Noah, Gibson and of course Thibs)
Sure, but if he was that guy today he wouldn't be sharing time with Plumlee. And he wouldn't be traded for Reggie Jackson. 
Kanter is the better rebounder, younger, healthier and the safer choice as a restricted FA, but I think Lopez would have offered more upside (and risk as he wouldn't commit to opting in to his final year).
by more upside do you mean 'at their very bests'? If so, I'd agree. But we've most likely seen Brook's very best, and as great as it is, it's unlikely he is ever that guy again for a significant amount of time. From this point forward I'd say Kanter is likely to reach higher levels. It's also important to note, Brook has been assisted on 61.5% of his career field goals and Kanter on 53%. Who knows what will happen if he gets 10% more easy attempts?
 
A. Brook sucks much less on D..not really close especially when he's one of the best shot blockers and his rim protection on par with the names I listed as opposed to Kyle Korver as a comparison. He's also much longer and alters many more shots with his length.
B. At age 26 you think we've seen the best of a player who had to relearn how to walk and never relied on athleticism? (Keeping in mind those are numbers from his first ever POs against one of the best defensive teams in the league)
Ikgauskas had the same foot reconstruction and was an AS twice afterwards, played 75+ games the following 5 years and 70+ the remainder of his career. Lopez is already rebounding better than he did the last two years, playing comparable D and his per 36 numbers near his averages. He's almost back to the player he was despite missing a year, having to learn how to walk again and learn a new system from a new coach. It's scary how much better he should be if not for 7 coaches, the injuries and all the roster turn over around him. And remember he was much better than Kanter at his age.
Its also funny how we always hear bigs take longer to develop yet Lopez didn't and Kanter was touted for being fairly polished entering the NBA. Apparently he was as he hasn't imrovoed.
C. Kanter has shown little imorovement since his rookie year having nearly identical stats per 36 and regressed with shot blocking.
D. Sharing time with Plumlee?
They play together often since they have no other bigs and has been outplaying Plumlee and getting more minutes since he came back from tweaking his back.
D. Your using sample sizes that don't make sense. The guy is coming off an major injury and joining a dysfunctional team and relegated to playing with two of the worst starting PGs in the game. He was best with healthy Deron or Devin Harris (who played with Kanter) who wasn't much of passer. In full sample sizes (ie where he played the majority of the season and not a 17 game sample from last year or this year where he's coming off a a year off and very rare operation) the team has always been much better in games he plays vs. doesn't as well as whens he's on the court vs. off.
Simply put Lopez is a significantly better defender, better on O and better overall. Kanter is among the worst defensive bigs in the league but will want a max and starting job. OKC made the safer choice with the younger, healthier and restricted player and the right one but taking on Lopez had both greater risk and reward.
Overall, my points are simply the following..
OKC made the right trade
They paid slightly more (Pleiss + #1 which), but got a C that makes more sense (younger, healthier, restricted), some wing depth and a back up PG... but if they traded for Lopez, I think they would have a higher ceiling, but a lower floor as well. If Lopez plays the way he's capable of, he's IMO a markedly better overall player..a good deal on D and a significant amount on O. But, because he could opt out after this season and because he has foot concerns, OKC took the safer smarter route on a player who's destiny they control. 
At the same time, I'm glad they did make the trade.
I wanted no part of Reggie Jackson. 
I would have taken Perkins and some combo of Lamb/PJ/Picks over him. 
There was no market for D.Will or possibly Jack as other teams filled their PG needs other way. It would have been nightmarish paying $40m next year to a PG trio of D.Will/Jack/Jackson when none of them are top 20 PGs. Jackson cannot shoot (especially from 3), isn't a distributor and has been called out by his teammates for selfish play. He also would have kept us well into the tax and limited 2016 options.