Bima, With a new CBA shinking current salaries and salaries going forward, that cap room could turn into enough cap room to make a very significant offer to a free agent such as Kendrick Perkins now that he has been traded. And if we can't get him then we could put offer sheets out on Jeff Green or potentially Mark Gasol that would make their teams think twice.
Dragic is the beat unknown pointfuard in the league... I guess none of you watched the western conference finals last year. He needs time to work on his consistency, but when he gets hot, the defending champs even can't stop him. There were extended periods of time the suns kept Nash on the bench because of dragic.
I like Dragic FOR THIS TEAM better than Flynn...simply because he's a better defender. If your backcourt already has Kevin Martin in it, you can't afford to have another undersized guard who can't play defense occupying the other spot.
Max, I hope you're right. The stats I've seen say he'll give up 11 points per 10 possessions of his man, just like Aaron. I fear it's like all these "team-oriented" and "playmaker" labels people are throwing around -- based on... I don't know what, other than the lingering frustration with Brooks. This dude turns it over like no other PG in the league. Not even Hollinger mentions that, but it's a fact. Ah well. Lowry gets the minutes anyway.
Don't be surprised if the second unit run really well with Dragic. He will fit in nicely and run, run, and find the open man. No more dribbling for 18 seconds and passing the ball to a player who's now forced to take a bad shot. Bye Bye Steve FraEEEERR AB.
Are you reading anything related to his actual performance and stats? Anyway, yeah, I will "be surprised" if he doesn't turn the ball over like no-hands Thabeet. Sheesh. I give up. All of you guys win. The sub 30% 3-pt shooting, 60% free-throw shooting, amazingly turnover-prone, Brooks-defense clone, statistically, is actually and magically: team-oriented, a great playmaker, a great shooter, a bulldog defender, and will win the starting job from Kyle. I'm ON BOARD. LET'S DO THIS, DRAGON! LET'S GO!
The playmaker stuff is vastly overrated. I just think he probably plays better defense than Brooks and/or Flynn. But don't get me wrong, Lowry is the better player. Dragic is a second team PG.
The best thing about the trade is Poor Adelman won't be able to put in Brooks. Hallelujah! No more 2-15 shooting nights. At least Dragic passes.
Kyle Lowry is better defensively, and a better rebounder. Dragic has a better offensive mind and can spark an offense much better. I'll be the first to admit, I don't read stats 3 hours a day and get big on guys who score a lot of points, or rack up a lot of assits etc... I watch the game and when I see a guy moving well without the ball, distributing the ball, and breaking down a defense by driving in and either dishing out or finishing, I will like the guy. The suns are always my favorite team once the rockets get eliminated every year, because I believe the way Steve Nash plays basketball is a thing of beauty, so I have seen a lot of Dragic. I know this is cliche, but the kid has a lot of upside. Solid shooter, good scorer, and able to run an up tempo offense, plus a bonus of learning behind Steve Nash to start off his career. He is also a much better defender than one might think. Amare and Nash had a lot to do with the Suns deep (and I would say very solid) run in the playoffs last season. Had it not been for Dragic though, the Lakers would have possibly swept the suns, or made the series not even close. A lot of the games in that series were very close, and like I mentioned before, down the stretch, Dragic would get hot, and Gentry would leave Nash on the bench. That is saying something. I will be the first to come on here and eat crow if the kid is a failed experiment, but I haven't been this excited about a prospect in some time.
Yep. Maybe they'll even renounce their rights to Jake Tsakilidis, Maciej Lampe and Torraye Braggs, too!
Good post. I agree with your points. Dragic, has a definite playmaking ability in the halfcourt game, especially off the high pick, that I don't know if Lowry has or not. One point I would like to make here is the difference between our system and Phoenix's. Phoenix plays probably 95% pick and roll in halfcourt sets. We............haven't. I am going to be watching to see if Adelman uses Dragic in pick and roll sets. I think he excels there. And I think Adelman is flexible enough to use the pick and roll creatively with Dragic in his offense. The other think I'm wondering about. What happened to his shooting? Has he had a significant injury that has screwed with his mechanics? Or has the league caught on to his shooting and everybody is blanketing him when he is out there? He was an incredible shooter last year. Don't see how that skill just goes away, especially for a 23-24 year old player. They actually incrementally improve with age once they have the solid base skill down. What happened to his shot?
Yep. Maybe they'll even renounce their rights to Jake Tsakilidis, Maciej Lampe and Torraye Braggs, too!
