Woj: Nets Sign LaMarcus Aldridge (Vet's Minimum/1 year)

[MrDollarBills]

yeah i mean i dont get it either. id expect this kind of hate after we got harden. but people are upset we are getting washed corpses and washed up bums like blake/aldridge like its 2009 or something?

This is what I'm saying...they act like we signed these guys at their peak. Blake is a shell of his former self. Aldridge is 36. These casuals are upset over the names and not the actual reality of what these guys are capable of. It's hilarious, silly, and it shows you how uneducated a majority of the Fandom is.

A lot of these clowns need to take a deep dive on basketball reference into Aldridge and Griffin's metrics and calm the **** down.

Ummm....I just looked at his recent games against good teams all this year and I’d really suggest to watch them....good god.

I can’t even fathom how to even guard this team at full strength.

I'm not saying he's a scrub or that he's a walking corpse like Prok is saying. All I'm saying is that he's not prime LMA, which other fanbases think that we've signed.

He will help on the boards and will be a solid option to have since he can hit threes at a good clip. Defensively I don't expect much. Either way I'm happy but I think other fans are crying foul for no reason and they look like fools.

[HardenGoat]

Other fans are just venting because the last thing they want is a dominant force getting stronger. Plus there are simply a ton of LA fans, many that jump on the biggest ship sailing at the time in their home state. The LMA and Griffin being washed argument is a clear example. I assure you if either of those players went to their team of choice the emojis would be laughing with tears. Enjoy this now. Cause it wasn’t long ago they were rubbing salt in wounds every chance they could get. Piss on them.

[Sharcm1]

LMA gives the nets one main thing that they don’t have. A player who can be an actual center but can step outside. He gives them the center that other centers have to guard on the perimeter. The nets don’t have that. Yes blake can shoot outside but as much as the nets want to play him at center he isn’t a center. This would be my rotation when everyone is back playing

Harden/Johnson
Irving/brown/chioza
Harris/shamet/TLC
Durant/green/ griffin
Claxton/LMA/dj

I would keep green and griffin interchangeable. Who ever is having a better night. I like that they can give KD rest. I would bench dj.

[Paradise]

LMA: 36% 3pt, 83% FT, 54% TS%, .051 eFG%.

That is a legitimate upgrade to Jordan in any situation.

[CalamityX12]

Another addition made!

Read on Twitter

[Whiskey Slick]

Another addition made!

Read on Twitter

LOL

Would have been even funnier if the real Harden posted it just to troll all of the haters.

[Papi_swav]

Should the nets pick up Otto porter jr if he is waived.

Absolutely. He is the wing defender we need right now

[Hello Brooklyn]

I mean, I was told Griffin was awful and washed up and was one of the worst defensive players in the league...he's had legit impact in the two games he's played so far, and I'd say one of his best attributes in those 2 games has been his defense, in terms of his man defense, his switching, and his ability to take charges.

LMA is a big body that can score and block shots. His man defense is still legit. He's a good guy to have for matchups against skilled bigs, like Embiid or Davis. I also think a lot of his bad defense was because he was mailing it in, a lot like Griffin in Detroit.

High IQ vets that can still contribute, like Griffin and LMA, aren't just growing on trees, every contender would love to have guys like that for the playoffs, rather than have to trust some young player that has never been in a big spot before. Claxton has been awesome, but whenever he starts struggling (and he will, no doubt about it), it's a really nice luxury to have Griffin and Aldridge to bring in and trust them to execute. They've been there, done that, and are still capable players.

I'll gladly take Griffin and Aldridge over a guy like Drummond, that's for sure.

Aldridge knows how to play defense and has been in big games.

Frankly I wasn't fully comfortable with Jordan on Embiid. He's been so lackadaisical at times its frustrating.

Aldridge is just a smarter player. Claxton doesn't have the size to do it.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Should the nets pick up Otto porter jr if he is waived.

Absolutely. He is the wing defender we need right now

Kind of a stretch to call Otto Porter a wing defender at this point.

But why not.

[Hello Brooklyn]

After thinking about it more this would be more preferred lineup

Harden/Brown or TJ
Kyrie/Shamet
KD/Harris
Green/Griffin
Claxton/Aldridge

I think this gives us more defensive versatility. Its hard to play Kyrie/Harden/Harris together on defense. Also this lets KD go back to his natural position.

Sucks to take Johnson out of the lineup but I just don't think we have the minutes for him.

Jordan is completely out of it for me. I don't think we need him anymore.

[Papi_swav]

Should the nets pick up Otto porter jr if he is waived.

Absolutely. He is the wing defender we need right now

Kind of a stretch to call Otto Porter a wing defender at this point.

But why not.

Probably would be the best wing defender we can get on the buyout market

[FlipFlopShot]

After thinking about it more this would be more preferred lineup

Harden/Brown or TJ
Kyrie/Shamet
KD/Harris
Green/Griffin
Claxton/Aldridge

I think this gives us more defensive versatility. Its hard to play Kyrie/Harden/Harris together on defense. Also this lets KD go back to his natural position.

Sucks to take Johnson out of the lineup but I just don't think we have the minutes for him.

Jordan is completely out of it for me. I don't think we need him anymore.

At this point we don't need Green either.

I like Griffin and Claxton playing together either that be starting or not. I like Shamet, Harris and Brown to be rotational. It's up in the air for Jordan and Aldridge, but for this case Aldridge takes Jordan's minutes.

That's 9 man rotation come playoffs.

So
Kyrie / (one of trio)
Harden / Shamet
KD / Harris
Brown / Griffin
Aldridge / Claxton

Or
Kyrie / (one of trio)
Harden / Shamet
KD / Harris
Griffin / Brown
Claxton / Aldridge

[Hello Brooklyn]

After thinking about it more this would be more preferred lineup

Harden/Brown or TJ
Kyrie/Shamet
KD/Harris
Green/Griffin
Claxton/Aldridge

I think this gives us more defensive versatility. Its hard to play Kyrie/Harden/Harris together on defense. Also this lets KD go back to his natural position.

Sucks to take Johnson out of the lineup but I just don't think we have the minutes for him.

Jordan is completely out of it for me. I don't think we need him anymore.

At this point we don't need Green either.

I like Griffin and Claxton playing together either that be starting or not. I like Shamet, Harris and Brown to be rotational. It's up in the air for Jordan and Aldridge, but for this case Aldridge takes Jordan's minutes.

That's 9 man rotation come playoffs.

So
Kyrie / (one of trio)
Harden / Shamet
KD / Harris
Brown / Griffin
Aldridge / Claxton

Or
Kyrie / (one of trio)
Harden / Shamet
KD / Harris
Griffin / Brown
Claxton / Aldridge

Yeah strong disagree on Green. We absolutely need him to guard wing players.

I'm fine with starting Aldridge over Claxton though. Whatever works best.

[Prokorov]

LMA gives the nets one main thing that they don’t have. A player who can be an actual center but can step outside. He gives them the center that other centers have to guard on the perimeter. The nets don’t have that. Yes blake can shoot outside but as much as the nets want to play him at center he isn’t a center. This would be my rotation when everyone is back playing

Harden/Johnson
Irving/brown/chioza
Harris/shamet/TLC
Durant/green/ griffin
Claxton/LMA/dj

I would keep green and griffin interchangeable. Who ever is having a better night. I like that they can give KD rest. I would bench dj.

I think blake is more of a center then aldridge. he can roll and while he doesnt block shots he doesnt defend the paint a bit by taking charges at such a high rate.

Aldridge has been pure pick and pop for the last few years. blake isnt a dunking machine but he is still aroll man who is athletic enough to finish whether it s alob or pocket pass. Aldridge isnt blocking shots unless its 1 on 1 post defense.

The biggest thing is alrdidge cant switch on to smalls. i think that will be the most deciding factor for limiting his play. we are reduce to drop pick and roll coverage, something we have stunk at going back to brook lopez.

[Prokorov]

After thinking about it more this would be more preferred lineup

Harden/Brown or TJ
Kyrie/Shamet
KD/Harris
Green/Griffin
Claxton/Aldridge

I think this gives us more defensive versatility. Its hard to play Kyrie/Harden/Harris together on defense. Also this lets KD go back to his natural position.

Sucks to take Johnson out of the lineup but I just don't think we have the minutes for him.

Jordan is completely out of it for me. I don't think we need him anymore.

If we are gonna sit harris, i think it would need to be for Green or Brown. So I like that lineup to start to help prevent teams from hot starts. then bring in harris if we get cold. I dont see a scenario where blake or LMA start over Harris in a big lineup next to claxton.

But I think Nash will got big 3 + Harris until he is forced not to.

[Prokorov]

After thinking about it more this would be more preferred lineup

Harden/Brown or TJ
Kyrie/Shamet
KD/Harris
Green/Griffin
Claxton/Aldridge

I think this gives us more defensive versatility. Its hard to play Kyrie/Harden/Harris together on defense. Also this lets KD go back to his natural position.

Sucks to take Johnson out of the lineup but I just don't think we have the minutes for him.

Jordan is completely out of it for me. I don't think we need him anymore.

If we are gonna sit harris, i think it would need to be for Green or Brown. So I like that lineup to start to help prevent teams from hot starts. then bring in harris if we get cold. I dont see a scenario where blake or LMA start over Harris in a big lineup next to claxton.

But I think Nash will got big 3 + Harris until he is forced not to.

[Prokorov]

From the spurs board.... FWIW

He was pretty much our Blake Griffin. He might be useful for you because you don't have to depend on him scoring like we did but he really brings nothing defensively anymore. He has never played a bit role before either so who knows what you are going to get in just 20 minutes or under a night.
Also, he always complained about playing the 5 here and now he is going to be mostly doing that for you.

[Packers+NetsWIN]

After thinking about it more this would be more preferred lineup

Harden/Brown or TJ
Kyrie/Shamet
KD/Harris
Green/Griffin
Claxton/Aldridge

I think this gives us more defensive versatility. Its hard to play Kyrie/Harden/Harris together on defense. Also this lets KD go back to his natural position.

Sucks to take Johnson out of the lineup but I just don't think we have the minutes for him.

Jordan is completely out of it for me. I don't think we need him anymore.

At this point we don't need Green either.

I like Griffin and Claxton playing together either that be starting or not. I like Shamet, Harris and Brown to be rotational. It's up in the air for Jordan and Aldridge, but for this case Aldridge takes Jordan's minutes.

That's 9 man rotation come playoffs.

So
Kyrie / (one of trio)
Harden / Shamet
KD / Harris
Brown / Griffin
Aldridge / Claxton

Or
Kyrie / (one of trio)
Harden / Shamet
KD / Harris
Griffin / Brown
Claxton / Aldridge

Yeah strong disagree on Green. We absolutely need him to guard wing players.

I'm fine with starting Aldridge over Claxton though. Whatever works best.

Agree 100% that we absolutely still need Green. He has been a great veteran for the team this season, has played in almost every game this year (a troubling problem with this team has been availability), and has performed well above expectations. He is shooting 40% from three on almost 4 attempts a game and has been clutch in many key moments - like the corner three against the pistons.

I'll even take it one step further and say that while I do agree this team does need a wing defender, jeff green may in fact be the answer to that problem. Green has been forced to play the 4 this year due to injuries, not having a ton of talent at the 5 at the start of the year, bringing along bigs like griffin and I assume Aldridge slowly. While he has lost a step since his prime, I still think he has the ability to guard defenders on the peremieter and hit the 3 ball more effectively than anyone on the current or potential buyout market except maybe otto porter. But porter is much more injury prone, less experienced, and will take time to adjust to the Nets' system. I think the nets should use the following rotations whenever everyone is up to speed and healthy during the playoffa:

1: James Harden/(one of the Big 3)
2: Kyrie Irving/Bruce Brown (or Shamet/Johnson if Brown is playing poorly)
3: Joe Harris/Jeff Green
4: Kevin Durant/Blake Griffin
5: Nic Claxton/LaMarcus Aldridge

Johnson can be used in moments where the Nets need another ball handler, Shamet in moments the Nets need another shooter, and Jordan when they need more rebounding. Nice 3 guys to have if disaster strikes

[Claud]

Can we wait and see what the man ACTUALLY brings to the table before killing him? Damn.

I think a motivated LMA should easily be an upgrade over DJ offensively but I still have my questions on defense and rebounding.

People were trashing Blake signing left and right but he's actually been contributing to WINS by playing smart D, taking charges, etc.

I don't think most fans take into consideration the fact that they come to our team thinking they're winning a chip so their motivation to be their best and prove they can still contribute will be through the roof.

Let's see what he has left in the tank. The starting C spot is his for the taking if he shows us something.

[mycorrizae]

I think, as much as we **** on DJ, he's better than LMA at the main things we need, which are rim protection, as a lob threat and as a rebounder. Claxton is a much better defender and a lob threat. LMA might give us a different look but unless he's been sandbagging, I don't see how he's a better option than BG or Jeff Green as a floor spacing big. I think our smallball lineups will be better defensively and offensively.

But who knows, LMA used to be awesome, maybe he gives us something more than another mediocre center option.