Post some more of your keen basketball insight and analysis - it's pure gold boi! LOL Calling you pyrite from now on.
Olynk is a free agent so he isnt staying. Plus at 29 Rox dont have any incentive to keep him around. Olynk may be the same player offensively but he is inferior defensively and given the age gap I think AG is worth the premium. At least if we got AG I know Rox would try to keep him around when he is a FA but almost 0 chance of that happening with Olynk unless nobody makes a decent offer for him and he signs with the Rox for cheap. As it is he gone simply because nobody wants to be stuck on a losing team hell Wood would probay not resign next year if he a free agent this year.
Not saying you're wrong but i could find nothing saying Aaron Gordon is a better defender... neither are great.... The advanced stats say olynyk is slightly better defender but not by significant amount...
Olynyk is a superior shooter and rebounder to Gordon. He can play backup 5. I've not seen what you're looking at to say Aaron Gordon is better defensively. I guess the advanced stats I saw are all wrong? Aaron Gordon is a completely over-hyped player. He's a bad shooter most years (closing to Russell Westbrook than Olynyk) and he's beyond the age of significant improvement. He's in his prime right now and he's an average power forward in this league.
Kelly not staying? He might like it here in H-Town. Although Galveston beach sucks for surfing . He could like the beach thou, and the city.
Right. I think AG actually should be solid as a legit 3rd or 4th option. But at this time yesterday it seemed like he was being treated as an every year all star... and apparently a stellar defender, too. Saw various tweets yesterday talking about improving interior defense if you get AG. ?? Never heard AG talked about being a solid defender before? And stats don't say he is anywhere close to a sold defender? This is a guy that has never averaged more than 17.6 ppg. Malik Beasley is putting up 20+ this year. Norman Powell is putting up nearly 20 ppg this year. Not sure why everyone was so excited about AG??
I think of Aaron Gordon as Blake Griffin light... He would be an upgrade but not a huge one... think about what Denver had to give up to get him? The Rockets could have thrown Eric Gordon, KJ Martin, and the Milwaukee pick at them and that would be a better offer... I think Stone saw better value elsewhere... I also think Gordon didn't want to come here after all the losing in Orlando ignoring that a big part of the losing was because of him... I'm disappointed by what they got for Oladipo but I think much of that was because of his injuries and poor shooting. Had he played well there would have been a bidding war for him... They gambled on him playing well and either signing an extension or having trade value... they lost... They could have gotten picks if they were willing to treat him as an expiring contract and taken back salary but they preferred the cap space and flexibility. I think they are going to trade for someone in the offseason with some of the picks and cap space...
26 for a big man is still young they can still improve till age 29 or so. Look at C. Wood only 25 and Randle is 26. Gordon's stats this season is more indicative of his ability than his previous stats cuz he is still young and on an upward trajectory. AG is better defensively just cuz he is more athletic and solidly built. Olynk is a lot thinner and people play him at the 5 which has bigger people he needs to guard. In terms of switching defense for example AG can switch better than Olynk cuz he is a lot faster. I dunno what stats you use but I like Raptor since it ranks every single player in the NBA. AG is like no 117 while Olynk is no 170s. They are equal offensively which is what I can see from the eye test but defensively is where AG is +2.2 while Olynk is -1. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/nba-player-ratings/?player=Kelly Olynyk&season=2021 Maybe AG is indeed overrated but given his youth he is still more valuable than Olynk esp for the Rox. Olynk is kinda worthless to us unless he resigns for cheap next year.
@D-rock I.haz.sad "The thing that excites me about Aaron Gordon is his defensive versatility," said Malone. "[H]is ability to guard some 5s, 4s, 3s, some perimeter players. Not a lot of teams have a weapon like that."
I'll be honest, I don't trust Nate Silver's outfit... they are way too wrong too much and have poor transparency on methodology... "More athletic and solidly built" = he's useless if he loses a step like Blake Griffin, right? More value = higher acquisition cost. Both are role players to me... give me the cheaper one all things equal... Aaron Gordon isn't even a building block for Denver. They weren't willing to give up very much and Porter is their future 4. "They can improve until age 29" That's an assumption. See Tyreke Evans, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Dwight Howard, etc. Dwight's best year was age 26... It doesn't help Aaron Gordon's case that there's been no steady improvement in his game. He gets better at something and then the next year it gets worse... he's very inconsistent... He's had that team to himself for years now. You couldn't give him more opportunity... Julius Randle actually has done something with his playing time...
I could see it go either way. He's going to get playing time and we're only talking a few months before free agency. It's the best chance he has to get paid. He can go for a ring with his new team... if it's not us...
Well the thing is he hasnt lost a step so who cares if he is useless if he lost a step? Zion would be even worse than BG if he lost a step but nobody cares. He didnt cost **** to acquire in fact Rox lost Dipo to get Olynk Denver gave up two bums and a low frp to get AG. Dwight Howard didnt need to improve anymore he was collecting 20 20s in jis prime and dragged a subpar team to the Finals. Also Dwight and Abdur Rahim may not have improved a whole lot but their performance stayed the same and didnt deteriorate till they were past their prime which is my point. All things arent equal AG is 26 still young enough to be part of Rox plans. Olynk is 29 snd prob wont be resigned next year unless he comes cheap.
You're ignoring a major problem... Gordon has money attached to him and he's going to want a lot more to stay around... Is a 15 pt pf who shoots 34% from 3 worth that cap space? Olynyk is being asked to do nothing more than he's done. You're project Gordon to improve when he hasn't showed much improvement in years... I agree, Denver didn't give up much... tells you the value of Aaron Gordon... Would a franchise player go for Gary Harris, a prospect, and a low pick? You also misunderstood... Dwight got WORSE after 26... you're saying he was the same.... he was from about age 23 to 26... it was downhill from there...
