TheProdigy wrote:winforlose wrote:TheProdigy wrote:To those of you who continue to conjure up trades to improve our starting power forward position - newsflash : Jarred Vanderbilt is turning into an elite role player, on a very team friendly contract. You're embarrasing yourself at this point if you can't see how valuable he is. /rant
The only thing I disagree with is “turning into.” V8 has turned himself into an elite role player. That said, I also think he could be an elite role player at the SF, and despite plenty of people telling me he cannot, no one has been able to tell me why. He can defend the SF. He can box out and rebound against SFs. He can play the exact style of offense against SFs. There is nothing he can do at the PF that he could not do at the SF. So we could move Bev to the bench, Dlo to the PG, Ant to the SG, V8 to the SF and still upgrade the PF or C.
You're right that he can play SF, but I do think he loses some of the utility he brings by moving him down to the 3. The skills that make him so valuable in my opinion is being able to switch defensively onto perimeter players with ease, while also being a very good rebounder. If you move him down to the 3, then who are you bringing on to play the 4/5? Chances are it will be a slower player who struggles defending in space. Let's be honest, the number of bigs in this league who can shoot 3s (can't have 2 non shooters on the floor together), rebound well, and defend the perimeter is very low. So if you do want to acquire someone like that, you're going to have to give up significant assets because unicorn bigs are so rare.
1. The weakness in the high wall concept we run is that when our C is guarding the perimeter, their C rolls to the basket. When their big rolls we have 3 choices. Choice A is collapse multiple players to stop the big. When we use Choice A they swing to open corner 3 point shooter who either shoots or swings again and they get an open 3. Choice B is we do nothing and they get lob dunks and easy layups. Choice C is we try and have our PF match their C alone and in the rare instances we have seen this it often ends badly for V8. His lack of physical size and strength makes defending or boxing out against much heavier players very challenging. The best way to fix the high wall is to put a big body in the paint and let them handle the roller. Julius Randle for example has the weight and wingspan to play this role.
2. KAT is one of if not the best 3 point shooting bigs of all time. We don’t need another 40% guy to make the spacing work. Anyone who shoots around 33% can demand to be guarded. Or in the alternative anyone who can shoot 35-36% when left wide open will still be efficient enough to help us. Randle shoots 30.3% this year down from last years 41.1%. Randle is also able to attack off the dribble and is used to being the focus of the defense. Randle demands a defender and a SF will not be able to contain him. This means that either they put a SF on KAT and he shoots over him, or that the PF and C must guard our bigs and V8 is guarded by the SF. This opens the lane for Dlo and Ant, makes it easier for V8 to run in and grab boards, putbacks, and cutting/rolling dunks.
3. Randle is averaging 8.1 defensive rebounds and 9.9 boards this season. Last season he averaged 9 defensive boards and 10.2 total boards. Randle could easily be 15/10 guy.
4. Randle makes 23 next year, then 25, then 27. While this is by no means cheap, it is much cheaper than Simmons, and is in line with what Grant wants to make on his next deal. Turner makes 17.5 next year and then will want a raise as well. We can afford Randle.
5. Julius Randle might not like getting less touches and shots, but he will also get less double teams, less pressure to dominate games, and a fresh start with a fan base that doesn’t boo him. He is only 27 which means he is around the same age as our older guys (KAT is 26, Dlo is 25, ect..) Moreover, if KAT goes out now we have another volume scorer and rebounder who can fill some of the void that missing KAT leaves behind.
6. Price. I think 2 top 8 protected firsts, Beasley, Okogie, and Bolmaro might get this done. Even if we don’t give that package to NY, we could give it to Indiana and they could give Turner to NY and send Randle here.