people call richard justice a lot of names (and rightfully so ) but one thing you cannot call him is misinformed. Sure his opinions are terrible, but his connections are legit.
Tim Duncan is not a center. A PF that plays the center position time to time. Along with Amare. Those guys are not centers. Chris Wilcox and Zach Randolph are PF also. I don't know what made you think those guys were PF's
hahaha, he wishes...Diop was better was better than him on his own team, he's definetily one of the most overpaid centers though. Still can't believe he really felt that...luckily Yao lit him up that series to shut him up...
Due to injuries, those guys played a lot of center. Honestly, Sheed and Dice were WAAYYY better at center than Kwame Brown. Thats why you saw them play together more often than Kwame or Maxiell with SHeed or Dice. Tim Duncan as a 7 footer was clearly the center over 6'9 Matt Bonner or 6'8 Kurt Thomas last year. I know he's listed as a PF, but since Oberto had that heart condition and Elson was traded, Duncan is a center by default Randolph had to play center with Kaman and Camby being injured in various parts of the season. You are probably right about Wilcox though. I don't remember Robert Swift or Petro playing too much in OKC though. But whoever their center is, Gortat is still better than those players. In all honesty, in today's NBA center and power forward is somewhat interchangeable, depending on the personell and size. Same goes with shooting guards and small forwards simply being referred to as wing players. Its not that big of a deal to be honest, as long as the player plays at the position, it is fair to call him that position along with his original one. I didn't put Amare on the list, becaue last year, Shaq was healthy most of the year, and when Amare was able to play, he primarily played the Power forward position.
Oh ok. I can't argue with you. I agree but I have one question though. Just for the fun of it. What do you think Hayes is then. A defensive PF or C? Hell with his height he could even probably play the 3 for us in emergency minutes instead of Carl Landry
His connections are very legit, but there's definitely misinformation all over the place this time of year. It's nothing against Richard, who is a terrific information source, but half of any NBA offseason is teams playing the media for smokescreens and other assorted "image" tasks. I don't see Morey in Orlando at midnight if he's not ready to make a serious run at Gortat, and to get any kind of serviceable big will of course take the full MLE, at a minimum. He's not stupid.
There are reports saying Orlando is not going to match depending on the offer because they traded for Vince Carter and considering his contract by them matching any offers its going to put them over the luxury tax. Something they don't want to go over. That's why they are letting Hedo walk.
It was a r****ded mistake not to offer Gortat the full MLE. I certainly hope that information is incorrect.
He's pretty much a smaller version of Kurt Thomas minus the jump shot. I would call him a power forward, because a center has to be able to defend the basket somewhat. Hayes does a a great job taking charges, but he can't block shots. Also, he cannot contest a 7' footer's shot or jump hook. He uses his center of gravity very effectively to keep taller players from getting position, but Gasol was able to shoot over him whenever he wanted to. Same goes for Duncan and Jefferson. Its hard to place him at one single position, but I would say he's almost strictly a defensive specialist, due to his non-existent offensive game. He's still a nice weapon to have though. When he switches off in pick n' roll situations, he actually does a good job staying in front of his defender, and uses his strength to keep players out of the paint and uses his hands well too. Players will make jumpers over him, but they have to take a tough contested one though. His lack of offense would be exposed way too much as a SF though...
It is still 8M over the cap, that is too much for a backup center when they already have 24 year old center who can play 40 min. Almost no chance, just hope other teams will not overpay him.
If you offer the full on the first offer you can't possibly bid higher. If you hit them strong and sincere at 11:01 with a million under the MLE and explain that you already had the investment in Taylor you committed money to, or a million for Wafer or what ever story is plausible while explaining the tax laws, marketing deals and playing time situation, you may get him for that. But if he likes all that but as a full MLE offer, then, you can come back with your own. I wouldn't play it too loose but, we really do need to have some of that MLE if we can keep it; and need to limit the amount we go over the Lux Tax in future deals.
Morey said publically from the start that Rashard would have to come through a sign-and-trade. It's a completely different scenario here. There's much more control from Morey and the Rockets' end.
we got an insider info there, so i don't think Morey is going to offer something that Magic is willing to match.
