Mob Byers wrote:The-Power wrote:Mob Byers wrote:I'm just confused on people slotting Bjelica at center?
Why? He's played minutes at Center before, he isn't getting younger and he's not a great fit next to our other Centers on defense, but complements our non-shooting 4s (Green, possibly Kuminga) well and works nicely in a five-out offense if we want to run it.
No he really hasn't, that's why it's weird to me. See below
I could see him as the 4 next to Dray @ 5 but he is not a center and shouldn't get a lot of minutes there without Dray on the floor
Miami clearly saw him as a 4/5 last year. In the last two seasons with SAC, he played a lower share of minutes at the 5 but the line-ups were MUCH better in those instances. It's quite normal for players to transition upwards in the position order as they age (e.g. Aldridge). Why shouldn't he be able to play the role that, for example, Kelly Olynyk has played for years (very comparable players by the boxscore). Or better yet, think of David West who was always a PF until he played virtually exclusively at C for us.
As of now, I think he clearly is the best fit next to Dray if we want to increase our spacing. We have missed that option for some time now. I don't see him as a great fit on defense next to Wiseman. Next to Looney – maybe, but I do believe Looney greatest value is when we want to play switch-heavy defense with some size and in that case Bjelica doesn't fit again.
Also, let's not forget that Bjelica was a starter the two years before this last one. It is natural in the NBA to downsize as the game goes on. Bjelica off the bench against back-up 5s of other teams is very different from Bjelica as a starter versus teams' regular starting 5s.
We'll have to wait and see but I do believe at this point that Bjelica is likely used to provide us with a different option at the 5 that we have been missing as of late. That is his main value as far as I'm concerned. Bob Myers was also talking about a bringing in a shooting big – and that is him.
