mhd wrote:nate33 wrote:nate33 wrote:Fair point, but one must also consider the off-court impact. It's good for chemistry to have two centers who both expect time, and a 3rd center who knows he is the 3rd stringer and only expects to play if there are injuries or foul trouble. I don't see any of Porzingis, Gafford or Bryant being willing to accept the 3rd stringer role. Better to get an aging vet like Robin Lopez or Taj Gibson, or a young guy who doesn't feel entitled, like Vernon Carey (if he can play at all).
Is there any way we can reacquire Mo Wagner?
Been thinking this over and now I find myself siding with Doc. I'd bring back Bryant if I could do so cheaply (say $5M or less).
Given Porzingis' injury history, it would be wise to have two other playable centers on the roster, not just Gafford. Bryant gives us a guy very similar to Porzingis on offense to fill in when Porzingis inevitably gets hurt.
If Bryant is too expensive, or doesn't seem willing to take on a 3rd stringer role, we'd definitely want a decent over-the-hill vet as a 3rd stringer (Robin Lopez type), not just some rookie walk-on.
I disagree. I know I'm the resident Bryant hater, but
I don't think any team can win with his defensive deficiencies. He's going to want PT, and I'd rather have a vet who is willing to sit, but is professional enough to be ready to play if need be. If Gaff & KP are healthy, he gets at most 8 MPG. I'd rather use the roster spot on a developing big or a vet.
Win what? What are we in position to win? The '10th seed' ? A play-in game or two? We have developing talent but nothing where you can look at the line-up every night at any position and say "my guy beats your guy".
What we need most are assets. That's draft picks, young developing talent, and tradeable pieces. You have seen this year, we were nearly stymied at the trade deadline because we lacked ^^^^ sufficient to pull off any deal.
What we landed was an upside talent who's value in $$$/minute played is pretty poor given the size of his contract vs his injury history. We are banking on our medical management/bio-data team to squeeze better value from him than any other team has done in the past. Could work. He's only 25. Ted has apparently poured a ton of money into upgrading our medical staff. Brad used to get injured a bunch until he quit sugar and worked out year round. Mayhaps Kristaps can rejuvenate.
But what you know is that from history, he sits like 40% of the games. (Figure off the top of my head, haven't looked). Let's use your figure. If KP and Gafford are healthy you say Bryant earns 8 minutes. Okay. But on the games when KP sits Bryant will play 24 minutes. And the games where Gafford is in foul trouble. And the games where Bryant is hot from outside he will earn more, the games where he has a mismatch. The games where his FG% is above 70% as it has been in the past. The games where he is rebounding well on the offensive side. Where he sets better screens than any player on the team. Where the pick and roll game makes him look nasty. There are games where -- offensively-- he will play Gafford and even Porzingis off of the floor.
I agree with you that his defense is deficient. But other teams don't overpay for defense. They do overpay for gaudy stats in the box score. Other teams front offices and fans will see the nights where Bryant plays and is tough to stop. They'll understand why he sits when KP is healthy, but covet him for their squad when he is lobbing the ball in from outside, and roaring after he makes a dunk. That kind of player has a value even on your bench. If healthy. When Bryant is healthy and playing well he is one of the most efficient offensive players in the game. Yes Bryant is at times deficient if you rely on him as your starting 5, and defensive lynchpin. Still, you say he will want PT if he is not a starter. Good, man, you don't want a player who is fine signing a check and doing nothing. But nothing in TB's history shows that he is a chemistry wrecker when he is on the bench. To the contrary. He is the player most likely to re-injure himself with vigorous celebration. If the All-star game had a towel waving contest, TB wins every year.
Ultimately though, he is an asset. Do we want to win a few more regular season games that a workmanlike veteran big might give us? Or do we want to collect assets for trades and future picks where we make a sudden jump due to an influx of talent. My point on Bryant is, he is currently an undervalued asset because he's returning from injury. But you can bet that he will work hard to recover the value he had started to build in the Bubble year. And when KP is out he will have many chances to show that value. Then you have a young big talent with a coveted skill set (stretch 5) who is inked for solid value, who, if you choose to go a different direction, can be traded for better value than any RoLo patchwork plug in secondhand vet.
We don't have the luxury right now to pass up assets that might help us in the future for those that keep us treading water. Whatever Ted says, we are rebuilding. And have been since Tommy was the GM. Tommy re-shapes the roster every year with some significant and radical shake-up. As he should until we actually have a squad that can win the final game of the year. Hate on Bryant all you want, but what he does well has value. And upside. If we can get that for cheap then we are ahead of the game. And can cash in on that value when it is ripe to do so.
If not for availability concerns, Porzingis would fetch a much higher asking price. When he's at his best, he's a fringe All-Star big man.
