You got me excited with Dieng, thinking he was a free agent. But I'm fairly certain he's not until next season, and even then, I think he's restricted. I actually think Pachulia is one of the best fits that you mentioned, as he's a solid defender and rebounder. He's also a very underrated passer and can actually hit a free throw at a competent rate. I wouldn't mind Ezeli either even after he crapped the bed in the finals. But I think they need another defensive 5 on the roster, and some of the guys mentioned on this list (Gasol, Vujavic, etc.) don't really fit the bill.
I like Kyle O'Quinn from the Knicks. I think he could be a solid backup under D'antoni and his contract would be a bargain in this new cap era
well it may be true since Amir Johnson has come through in the past. He certainly isn't some kind of unknown nobody out of the blue poster.
Yes. The fact that he is not a defensive expert does not mean it is not a priority for him. He has been in the game his whole life, let's not underestimate his intelligence. I think the idea that he only cares about offense is a simplistic caricature for fans and sports writers. Like any coach he cares about winning. He had lots of good defensive bigs with the Suns and Lakers. His SSOL Suns teams started 3 players 6'9'' or higher. He signed Hill and Milicic to play next to D. Lee in his second year with the Knicks, both better in defense than offense. He has tried to surround himself with assistants coaches with a defense focus.
Offensively yes. But he's a terrible rebounder and a sub-par low post defender. They would get killed on the glass and in the paint.
Noel, not Okafor, is the ideal fit at center for an MDA coached team. And Chicago had wanted Bev for a long time. Vucevic is another Ryan Anderson. He can shoot and board. But he's not a paint and rim protector. Boban has great length and half court skills. But we don't want to pay half court. We want to scramble as much as possible. Highly skilled offensive interior player who can step out for 3. Can't run. A liability in a fast game. We need to trade for Noel. And then sign a cheap backup like Cole Aldrich or trade for Taj as a backup. Noel and either Taj or Aldrich would be a great center combo on an MDA team.
My mistake, I thought Dieng was restricted this year, but he is signed till next season. I do like Pachulia a lot. He has a decent post-game as well. I prefer Miles Plumlee for his athleticism and rim protection, but I would be happy with either. Ezeli is more of a risk given the size of the contract, but he is probably the best available win-now signing.
Would work great on offense, but it would be a wreck on defense and rebounding. I liked DMo next to Howard as a PF and next to Josh Smith as a C. I am happy with him to play next to Capela. The DMo/T Jones pair was a disaster defensively and I think the DMo/Anderson pairing would be similarly bad. Unplayable in the West. Teams like Spurs, OKC, Warriors would get offensive rebound after offensive rebound. DMo is an average defender with decent lateral movement and positional defense. Pair him with a good defender/rebounder like Howard or Josh Smith and you get a good defense. Pair him with a below average defender/rebounder like T Jones or Anderson and you get a bad defense.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cole Aldrich has landed a three-year, $22 million deal with the Timberwolves, league sources say</p>— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/749651187570397184">July 3, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I agree with this. DMo is the best Low Post player on the team. Offensively speaking DMo fits exceptionally well with Anderson. DMo can handle the rock in the post while Ryan stretches the defense with his perimeter games. Or both DMo and Anderson can stretch the Defense and open the lane for James. This is actually a great fit in my opinion.
I know that having DMO and Anderson platoon at the 5-4 spot sounds really romantic, but who's going to rebound the ball?
There's no need for rebounds when You can put Anderson, Harden, and Gordon on the court together and ensure every shot by the other team goes in. Rebounding can't be a problem if there's no rebounds to get.
