Len or Noel?

[Damkac]

Len. No attitude issues, less health issues and he is bigger. I hope that Bender will be Suns PF of the future and he fits much better with Len than with Noel.

[bwgood77]

Shots defended at the rim by the above players or their shooting percentage at the rim on the offensive end?

Shots at the rim defended by them. So this is basically rim protection in one graph, as the title suggests. Seems like Len is a good one.
Plus he is so much better offensively than Noel that it's not even funny. Add the injuries, the attitude, and this is getting to be a no contest - as the voting indicates.

Aren't Lopez and Hibbert a better option according to that graph?

For fg% allowed at the rim, yes, but as far as block rate goes, no. However, if you compare them in rebounding, they are far below. Looking at updated block rate per 48 on ESPN, Hibbert is slightly ahead, and Lopez is quite a ways behind, but Hibbert plays fewer minutes.

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/blocks/sort/avg48Blocks

For rebounding though, among centers, Alex Len ranks 18th per 48, though 4 ahead of him play 15 minutes or less. Hibbert ranks 43rd and Brook Lopez 52nd.

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/rebounds/sort/avg48Rebounds/position/centers

I also think without Chandler and more minutes, his rebounding rate will improve, as people have demonstrated when he starts and plays heavy minutes.

I also assume you want to get rid of Chandler at some point and in that case we need a quality rebounder. Paying him a fair amount of money is fine if we draft a C in the 2018 draft with one of our two picks (hopefully we get MIami's), and pay Alan Williams a minimal salary. So the 2nd and 3rd centers wouldn't cost much.

[Frank Lee]

I pick Chandler for the next two years. Neither of these two will be better than him over that time period.

[thamadkant]

[gfycat][/gfycat]

Top Rim Protectors This Year - Blocks / 36 Min vs. FG% for Shots Defended at Rim

Shots defended at the rim by the above players or their shooting percentage at the rim on the offensive end?

We don't need inside scorers, because we have enough scorers. We need rebounding and shot blocking.

I agree Suna have enough scorers. But the sacrifice is the offense is inefficient and league worst assists and assisted points percentage.

Its ugly ISO. The team has 3 ISO scorers that take turns. This is not effective.

Not when you have teams like Raptors and Warriors that have elite ISO scorers too but are miles ahead of Suns in regards to ball movement and assisted score.

Basically Suns offense completelt reliant on individual skills of their scorers... There is little to no strategy or setup.

Having an inside scorer at the very least helps perimeter defense to ease off and drop down inside... Allowing open looks or an additional half a second lool at the rim for shooters.

[-SDU-]

For the team we are building for the future with Bender, Chriss, Booker etc as cornerstones, I think Len is the better fit because of his ability to fit in offensively better with those guys.

I think Noel is probably, arguably the better player right now but Len is the better fit and im pretty convinced that long term he will be the better of the 2.

[Mulhollanddrive]

What can Noel do better than Len? It's not rebounding, scoring, rim protection, scoring effeciency, free throw %.

Perception is he has elite defensive intangibles, but he's barely a rotation player in a team that would play that player.

[nevetsov]

Better the devil you know, than the one you don't.

[Mulhollanddrive]

I wonder if we're playing Chandler more than Len with trade / salary in mind.

Keeps Chandler in the shop window and keeps Len's value down for extension.

We'll only really know who the better player is between Noel and Len once both start and play against quality opposition.

[jcsunsfan]

Nerlens Noel is the player that GM's always fall for. They draft a guy thinking he is going to be the next Larry Nance and they end up with Tim Perry or Stromile Swift.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

What can Noel do better than Len? It's not rebounding, scoring, rim protection, scoring effeciency, free throw %.

Perception is he has elite defensive intangibles, but he's barely a rotation player in a team that would play that player.

Steals. His ability to get deflections makes him particularly useful defending the P&R. I wouldn't want him defending Embiid, however.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I pick Chandler for the next two years. Neither of these two will be better than him over that time period.

Do you believe the suns can be competitive over that two year span? I dont so to me its a moot point. Actually if you think chandler adds a couple wins even more reason to move him since that directly hurts draft position and in turn hurts the longterm goal of building a contender.

On the original question id take len but its close.

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[Saberestar]

The last game was tough for Len. I mean, he is really bad defending the pick and roll, he creates always a good shot for the other team.

I have seen Len plenty of times during the season stay in no man's land after a pick....he reacts so slow....

I want someone that can defend or switch on a pick and roll/pop.
I prefer Noel over him just for that reason.

Watson seems to punish bad defensive actions lately, and that is why he barely played against the Mavs IMO.

[GotEm]

Neither. Wish they could go back in time and take Adams or Gobert.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Neither. Wish they could go back in time and take Adams or Gobert.

Nah homie. Shoulda just signed prime Shaq.

[GotEm]

Neither. Wish they could go back in time and take Adams or Gobert.

Nah homie. Shoulda just signed prime Shaq.

Was never an option where as drafting Adams/Gobert was.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Neither. Wish they could go back in time and take Adams or Gobert.

Nah homie. Shoulda just signed prime Shaq.

Was never an option where as drafting Adams/Gobert was.

Ya we know.