GQ Hot Dog wrote:WarriorGM wrote:GQ Hot Dog wrote:I have a question for all you criticizing the Warriors prioritizing the development of Wiseman this past season: Did the teams with the poorest centers make the playoffs this year?
Vucevic didn't make it did he? Drummond was on the Cavaliers for most of the year and he didn't exactly look like he was helping the Lakers. Karl Anthony Towns. Christian Wood rates highly by some metrics.
On the other hand it seems the Nets don't exactly need a center. Is Blake a center? I was suggesting targeting him but was scoffed at by many here. If the Dubs need a center it makes more sense that they acquire one rather than develop one.
Vucevic, Drummond and KAT are three of the worst defensive centers in the NBA and so it's no coincidence their teams didn't make the playoffs. If Wiseman is in that category, picking him would have been a mistake.
The Nets are the single outlier in exactly the same way we were the outlier for 3 years with KD. We proved that you can win championships playing small-ball as long as you have an overwhelming level of offensive talent. Blake isn't a center and wouldn't be useful against an actual center. Luckily for the Nets their first round matchup had an injured and otherwise mediocre starting center. In the second round, while Lopez is useful he's not the sort of offensive player that can take advantage of Griffin's lack of size.
It doesn't make sense for the Warriors to acquire one because good centers aren't available. I still think the Rockets were crazy to move on from Capela as eagerly as they did. But centers like Embiid, Jokic, Ayton, Adebayo or Gobert aren't available to acquire. Even someone like Valanciunas I don't think Memphis would trade. He's proven year after year his value despite his teams' always seeming to want to replace him.
Our dynasty years convinced a lot of fans that centers should be deprioritized but not even our FO believes that.
Part of it is that pretty much the ONLY place you can get a center that plays offense and defense without giving away the team to get them is a top 5 pick in the draft and wait while they develop.
There are flukes, but they are VERY rare and they don't tend to have extended peaks in their careers.