Best big for Lakers? (Howard or McGee)

[zimpy27]

I've made it clear on this thread before and I'll make it clear even more with more in depth analysis. As for the center position for the Los Angles Lakers, I am taking the 3x defensive player of the year in Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard for his entire career has been durable in comparison to Noah. Noah is a better passer however play making is not what the Lakers are in need of. The Lakers need someone who can bang with the other 7 footers. Dwight has been banging downlow for his entire career. In addition to this Dwight is built for the center position and look at his shoulders he can carry that position just like he carried the Orlando Magic to the final (Hot Take Alert). Noah can pass the ball well but between the 2/3 guys slated at the point guard, then with LeBron and AD we don't need another play maker/passer. We need someone who can get in the game, alter shots, block shots, rebound, hold down the paint and run up and down the court like the gazelle. That someone is the former #1 pick straight from high school, Dwight Howard.

I think the passing/playmaking aspect is very important, especially the veteran playmaking aspect.
The current bench squad has Caruso and then the second-best playmaker is Kuzma. They are the 2 most inexperienced players on the team (that get important minutes).

Furthermore, this stat looks to be one of the best at evaluating defense and offense: https://www.bball-index.com/18-pipm/

From this list the Lakers lineup is:
Name-- | Off | Def | Total
LeBron- | 3.5 | 1.2 | 4.7
Davis--- | 3.4 | 2.4 | 5.7
Green-- | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.9
Cousins | -1.3 | 1.9 | 0.6
Kuzma- | 0.8 | -0.4 | 0.4
McGee- | -0.8 | 0.8 | 0
Caruso- | -0.6 | 0.5 | -0.1
Dudley- | -1.0 | 0.5 | -0.6
KCP----- | 0.1 | -2.0 | -1.9
Daniels | -0.8 | -1.3 | -2.1
Rondo-- | -1.2 | -1.2 | -2.4
Bradley | -2.0 | -1.2 | -3.2
Cook--- | -2.8 | -3.0 | -5.8

Noah--- | -0.5 | 1.5 | 1.1
Dwight- | -1.1 | 0.5 | -0.7
Gortat- | -2.3 | 0.4 | -1.9
Zubac-- | -1.0 | 2.1 | 1.1


You can see that Noah had similar value to Zubac last season, he's also the best available C by far (based on this metric).

Noah coming into the team would be the 4th/5th best player (depends on Kuzma's leap) and his impact stats were better than Boogie's.

[tamaraw08]

I've made it clear on this thread before and I'll make it clear even more with more in depth analysis. As for the center position for the Los Angles Lakers, I am taking the 3x defensive player of the year in Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard for his entire career has been durable in comparison to Noah. Noah is a better passer however play making is not what the Lakers are in need of. The Lakers need someone who can bang with the other 7 footers. Dwight has been banging downlow for his entire career. In addition to this Dwight is built for the center position and look at his shoulders he can carry that position just like he carried the Orlando Magic to the final (Hot Take Alert). Noah can pass the ball well but between the 2/3 guys slated at the point guard, then with LeBron and AD we don't need another play maker/passer. We need someone who can get in the game, alter shots, block shots, rebound, hold down the paint and run up and down the court like the gazelle. That someone is the former #1 pick straight from high school, Dwight Howard.

I think it's safe to say that most people are aware that Dwight have so many tools he can utilize to be a great offensive weapon and a defensive force but the biggest concern was if he was willing to do everything it takes to help this team esp when he doesn't get his way and also when he feels some pain in his body. Carmelo Anthony can have more offensive moves than at least 25 other forwards and yet 30 teams have chosen to take less talented players instead of him. There are guys who are very limited offensively like Ed Davis and yet teams are signing him up early bec of his grit and willingness to do the dirty work even when not admired by most fans.

[tamaraw08]

Watch on YouTube

Let's act like Dwight didn't have these monster games one year ago...

yes he's the got the ability to do that but the question is for how many games can he put up good numbers esp when he doesn't get touches.
81 games under Charlotte, he had pretty good numbers and yet they along with Washington chose to let him go.
81 games he had 20 games without a block, 49 games with less than 2 blocks, 22 games with less than 7 defensive rebs, 25 games with less than 13 pts etc etc.

[BEazy]

The difference between us and Charlotte/Washington is that they were not competing for a championship. We are, so there that for motivation. I’m sure Dwight wants to win a chip...

[Marionettetc]

I honestly think if Howard's available for a buy out you gotta get him. He can still play and I don't personally hold his year with us against him like some of our fans.

I watched every game that season, he played hard and our team just didn't work out at the end with Kobe's injury. Had composition issues and I don't think it was his fault alone.

[jkokkotos]

The team is doing its due diligence by checking out every guy available, but if we get down to which one of them could have even a 12 mpg role in a Playoff Series next May, then it comes down to Noah & Dwight for me.

I'm obviously not an expert on Gortat, but I watched 3-4 games with Washington last year before Wall went down & he was constantly getting outplayed as a starting Center on the court. And that's 2017-18 Gortat who was 33 years old, don't try to tell me he will play spot minutes as our starting Center next season at 35 yrs old. The guy wasn't a high-caliber NBA starter even at his "peak". At his absolute best, he was a double-double threat, slightly above-average on Offense and average at Defense. That's his absolute best, what do you think he will be next year if we get him? No thanks, taking Noah/Dwight over him is a no-brainer imo, at the very least they both were far far better than Gortat at their best (which means, since all of them are a shell of what they used to be, we might as well take a flier at the best basketball player & not the worst one) & they are still younger than him right now (Gortat 35, Noah 34, Dwight 33). Unless our Front Office decides that Noah/Dwight are injury-prone & not worth being relied upon for a permanent rotation role, then let's take this Polish Hammer or whatever out of consideration please.


Speights is definitely the worst defender of the bunch, but he's definitely the best shooter of the bunch too. Can he play Playoff minutes for us? I doubt that. I could be wrong, but I think he is such a huge defensive liability that the spacing he'll provide us with, won't make any difference. It might not even be enough to offset his negative defensive impact imo.

I would understand choosing Dwight but personally give me Noah, he was a very good defender in 2018-19 for Memphis in the exact role that we will ask of him, he brings some more veteran leadership some grit & toughness to our team & locker room (Cliché I know, but in Noah's case I think it's true), his passing game is the best out of all candidates & he's the only one among them who could help us with offense-initiating duties after Boogie's injury. Noah is someone who will speak up even to LeBron (or Rondo, AD,Vogel), if he thinks that something wrong is going on. He'll bring the necessary intensity & professionalism during workouts. Also, the fact that he is accomplished-enough (DPOY, 2xAll-Star, All-NBA, 3xAll-Defensive) & yet will gladly accept a bench role if that's what it takes to win, will definitely help us. I'm not inside Rondo's mind, but if a guy like Noah is coming off the bench as Javale McGee's back-up for 18 mpg & puts the team's success above everything, then Rondo better not "demand" a big role over Caruso/KCP/AB unless he first proves he's a better option than all these guys during our training camp.

[Spanish_Laker]

The difference between us and Charlotte/Washington is that they were not competing for a championship. We are, so there that for motivation. I’m sure Dwight wants to win a chip...

Exactly, he played for two irrelevant franchises with no playoff chances. He would be really motivated here in a contender.

[Ball so hard]

I don't like any of the names being mentioned. I'd much rather stand pat and wait for the buyout market.

Why waste a roster spot on players like Gortat or Noah. One is extremely injury prone and the other hasn't been good in a few years. Howard is a clown and a cancer... i don't want him anywhere near this team.

[Kilroy]

I don't like any of the names being mentioned. I'd much rather stand pat and wait for the buyout market.

Why waste a roster spot on players like Gortat or Noah. One is extremely injury prone and the other hasn't been good in a few years. Howard is a clown and a cancer... i don't want him anywhere near this team.

I'm the same way, but then again, those guys are going to be dirt cheap, and if something better came along, we could just waive them anyway.
Plus, if we get the disabled player exception for Cousins, we'll still have 2 spots open. So we can sign one of these geriatrics and still go after Iggy, or whoever else becomes available.

I'm leaning towards Noah at this point, after watching all the available clips... I think Howard has more in the tank physically, but his head ain't right, still...
And as much as I think people assume the hate for Howard is just a fan thing, I suspect Howard has Zero fans in the lakers FO, also. I think Noah has the lead from that perspective, but if we sigh Howard, it'll be by default.

[zimpy27]

I don't like any of the names being mentioned. I'd much rather stand pat and wait for the buyout market.

Why waste a roster spot on players like Gortat or Noah. One is extremely injury prone and the other hasn't been good in a few years. Howard is a clown and a cancer... i don't want him anywhere near this team.

I'm the same way, but then again, those guys are going to be dirt cheap, and if something better came along, we could just waive them anyway.
Plus, if we get the disabled player exception for Cousins, we'll still have 2 spots open. So we can sign one of these geriatrics and still go after Iggy, or whoever else becomes available.

I'm leaning towards Noah at this point, after watching all the available clips... I think Howard has more in the tank physically, but his head ain't right, still...
And as much as I think people assume the hate for Howard is just a fan thing, I suspect Howard has Zero fans in the lakers FO, also. I think Noah has the lead from that perspective, but if we sigh Howard, it'll be by default.

I can't see Noah not being selected. He had the better impact numbers last year by a large margin and he's been training hard over the summer with other NBA players. He's also been a teammate favorite for a long while.

If anyone but Noah is selected it will be a young player from nowhere.

[Beethoven]

Sorry but what's the problem w Kenneth faried? Why hasn't anyone scooped him up yet in the league?

[jkokkotos]

Sorry but what's the problem w Kenneth faried? Why hasn't anyone scooped him up yet in the league?

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/position/6 -0.68 ORPM and +0.50 DRPM (Overall -0.18 RPM)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/farieke01.html -0.9 DBPM and +0.1 OBPM (Overall -0.8 BPM)

https://www.cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/1090/onoff#tab-team_efficiency
He was 5th, 1st & 6th percentile in three of the five defensive metrics for individual impact on team D. One of which happens to be "Opponent Points Allowed per 100 Possessions Played", where he is 5th percentile with +6.7. The "bright side" is that he is 89th and 74th percentile in Opponent TOV% and Opponent FT Rate, but at least based on my personal experience with such stats the Opponent's FT Rate and the Opponent's eFG% metrics are often reversely correlated in cases of poor rim-protecting defenders (take this with a grain of salt b/c I'm a regular fan not an expert lol). What I mean by that, is that Faried being 74th percentile in "Opponent's FT Rate" means he avoided committing shooting fouls pretty well (not fouling tho doesn't mean he did a good defensive job b/c we already saw that opponents scored a lot more with him on the court than w/o him), meanwhile him being 1st percentile in "Opponent's eFG%" (a +4.4 eFG%) means his opponents shot their 2's & 3's at a much more efficient clip with him on the court than w/o him. In other words, Faried isn't committing shooting fouls that lead to opponent free throws, simply because he doesn't contest shots anyway as evident by the +4.4 eFG% improvement in his Opponent's shooting, which has ranked dead-last among all NBA big men (1st percentile which means 99% of big men were better).

I hope this helps shed some light on why teams haven't signed him yet.

[iamworthy]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

[stan francisco]

Tarik Black
Gudaitis
Milutinov
Kyle Hines

Explore all of these Euro players and more before signing Howard, please.

https://www.flohoops.com/articles/6242901-10-euroleague-stars-who-could-jump-to-the-nba-in-2018-2019

[LAKESHOW]

Noah vs dwight at the facility? Both of em? If they blow this scouting report, we need to get mitch back

[myersia]

Noah vs dwight at the facility? Both of em? If they blow this scouting report, we need to get mitch back

What is it with this Mitch talk? He’s horrible at his job now. Have you seen the hornets? Stop talking about him

[BEazy]

Is there a possibility that we can sign both and waive one of the two way players?? I’d like Howard and Noah on this team.

[myersia]

Is there a possibility that we can sign both and waive one of the two way players?? I’d like Howard and Noah on this team.

Was just about post this. Totally agree

[Ckay]

Read on Twitter

[Spanish_Laker]

Welcome back Dwight! Looking forward to watching him playing with a chip on his shoulder!