Williams stays in Charlotte: 4 years, $54.5 million

[Zaximus]

29 minutes ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

The Bucks would give Monroe away for a rock and still no one wants him.  I'm telling you moving Zeller for Monroe does not make us any better in the slightest.  Monroe is just a younger version of Al, good post game but slows down every thing on offense and he's fuging useless on defense.  I do not want any more players on this team that stop the ball on offense, we're done with that.  You guys are sleeping hard on Zeller.  Is he ever going to be an all-star?  No, but he played some damn good ball for us last year.  Zeller is an extremely underrated defender, Clifford loves him because he's an exceptional team defender.  Maybe the second best we have after MKG.  Per-36 (not a fan of this stat either but want to use it), Zeller averaged 13/9 last year while shooting +52%.  That's not bad at all.  He's also a good passer which makes him effective on offense, plus he can be a force catching the ball and going to the hoop because he's so athletic.  Zeller is not a bad player at all, the last half of last year was by far the best ball he's played for us and coincidentally that's the first time his primary position was C.  Also, that's when we started playing our best ball and got rolling.  Do not get the Cody hate, in my opinion he's earned the right to try to establish himself as our C going forwards.  Damn if he just had longer arms he would be a stud.  Cody deserves a chance at getting 30+ minutes per game next year.  Let's bring in Cole Aldrich to play those extra ~15 minutes and let's go to battle.

This Marvin deal is incredible.  4 years is a little ehhhhh, but the monetary value is superb. Honestly thought he might get up to 20m/year.  Hope he just keeps getting better for us, I think in our new offense he will. 

Half the east just got better at the center position.  Zeller is going to get DOMINATED by them.  He doesn't have the strength to bang low.  I get it, it's fun hoping the tall white guy is FINALLY going to be good but he's the definition of a bench player.   I'm fine with that, he's a situational player against certain teams, but he will be one of the worst starting centers in the league come opening of the season.

[FuFuLamePoo]

12 minutes ago, Zaximus said:

Half the east just got better at the center position.  Zeller is going to get DOMINATED by them.  He doesn't have the strength to bang low.  I get it, it's fun hoping the tall white guy is FINALLY going to be good but he's the definition of a bench player.   I'm fine with that, he's a situational player against certain teams, but he will be one of the worst starting centers in the league come opening of the season.

I do agree Horford going to Boston scares me he will thrive there but the reality is I think as a team Hawks have gotten worse, Orlando hasn't gotten much better in my eyes, Washington doesn't scare me because they got Mahinmi, I think you're over exaggerating this.  Cody definitely isn't a very strong player, he never has been but I think the strength thing is a bit overrated.  Because honestly there just aren't many good scoring centers anymore.  Boogie Cousins?  Marc Gasol?  Andre Drummond might be the best center in the East and Cody has dominated him on multiple occasions.  Honestly the ideal center in the NBA now is just a super athletic defender/rim protector.  That's why Biyombo got so much and he can't even catch a basketball.  It's not like we need Cody to bang and bruise with guys down low to score buckets, our offense doesn't need that at all.  He grades as a pretty damn solid defender in our system. 

[WOW!!]

4 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

Zeller for Monroe? He is being made available by the Bucks...

Monroe isn't a banger or a rim defender..

[Zaximus]

46 minutes ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

I do agree Horford going to Boston scares me he will thrive there but the reality is I think as a team Hawks have gotten worse, Orlando hasn't gotten much better in my eyes, Washington doesn't scare me because they got Mahinmi, I think you're over exaggerating this.  Cody definitely isn't a very strong player, he never has been but I think the strength thing is a bit overrated.  Because honestly there just aren't many good scoring centers anymore.  Boogie Cousins?  Marc Gasol?  Andre Drummond might be the best center in the East and Cody has dominated him on multiple occasions.  Honestly the ideal center in the NBA now is just a super athletic defender/rim protector.  That's why Biyombo got so much and he can't even catch a basketball.  It's not like we need Cody to bang and bruise with guys down low to score buckets, our offense doesn't need that at all.  He grades as a pretty damn solid defender in our system. 

Orlando isn't better with Bizmack and Ibaka?  Yeah right, good luck scoring on that team in the paint.   Maybe they can trade us their white guy center, he's pretty good at scoring and boards, not much for defense though.   

[FuFuLamePoo]

4 minutes ago, Zaximus said:

Orlando isn't better with Bizmack and Ibaka?  Yeah right, good luck scoring on that team in the paint.   Maybe they can trade us their white guy center, he's pretty good at scoring and boards, not much for defense though.   

I really don't like Orlando's summer.  Oladipo was a great player and Ibaka was pretty bad in the playoffs.  I really don't think you can play Smack and Ibaka at the same time and run a very efficient offense.  Ibaka's shot is too iffy.  Payton (their PG) can't shoot, neither can Aaron Gordon (another player that plays big minutes for them)

[Carl Spackler]

irrational Zeller hate ITT

dude can't make putbacks but he's a decent rim protector who has shown marked improvement and can run the floor better than nearly any C

[WOW!!]

5 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

irrational Zeller hate ITT

dude can't make putbacks but he's a decent rim protector who has shown marked improvement and can run the floor better than nearly any C

He is a PF I wish you ppl would actually know basketball.. We stop nobody attacking us from the inside.. We go on long stretches of games losing the rebounding battle... Nobody fears not going to the rim against us.. All these need to stop if we want to advance in the east..

[Carl Spackler]

7 minutes ago, WOW!! said:

He is a PF I wish you ppl would actually know basketball..

that's funny, Steve Clifford has him marked as a C. He started at C and will do so again

Steve Clifford took an NBA team with Zeller at C to 48 wins and the playoffs

You seem a little bit mad online

 

 

 

[WOW!!]

Just now, Carl Spackler said:

that's funny, Steve Clifford has him marked as a C. He started at C and will do so again

Steve Clifford took an NBA team with Zeller at C to 48 wins and the playoffs

You seem a little bit mad online

 

 

 

Steve Clifford also has to keep pushing the effort thing  and has said many times we don't have a lot of bigman talent ... So we have to always out hustle every team.. Cody is playing center because we don't have a true center.. Was I the only person who watch the playoffs and saw Whiteside control us for full qrt.. Limiting us to 1 shot and not letting us near the rim..

Where do we ranked on block shots in the league???

And how did Cody work when Wade and the Heat decide to just attack the rim??

[WOW!!]

And Carl you're the one calling ppl Cody haters because some feel he isn't a center and we need one... So who is really showing the online mad attitude??

[bLACKpANTHER]

Cody isn't terrible - he just isn't a true starter unless he makes a major jump this offseason.

IMHO, if you aren't getting better you are getting worse.. our problem last year was we never were going to out-talent our opponent.. we had to play hard every night - no coasting.. Cody doesn't let you breathe easy on defense.. you have to be on point because if ur man gets by Cody isn't gunna be the guy to help block a shot..

Coach Cliff said in his post season interview that the reason we lost to the Heat was because we were dominated on the glass.. i love Batum and Marvin but they aren't grabbing 10+ boards a game consistently..

[cbarrier90]

2 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

Cody isn't terrible - he just isn't a true starter unless he makes a major jump this offseason.

IMHO, if you aren't getting better you are getting worse.. our problem last year was we never were going to out-talent our opponent.. we had to play hard every night - no coasting.. Cody doesn't let you breathe easy on defense.. you have to be on point because if ur man gets by Cody isn't gunna be the guy to help block a shot..

Coach Cliff said in his post season interview that the reason we lost to the Heat was because we were dominated on the glass.. i love Batum and Marvin but they aren't grabbing 10+ boards a game consistently..

A couple things:

I subscribed to the "If you aren't getting better, you're getting worse" theory until Lance Stephenson happened. Just because a team is making moves doesn't mean they will necessarily work out, and just because a team keeps the core together, that doesn't mean they are getting worse. It's easy to forget that up until the trade deadline this 48 win team was STARTING PJ Hairston most nights.

Also, in this market we simply don't have the money to go after a free agent center. IMO the best VALUE is hanging on to Cody/Hawes at their cap numbers than throwing 16 mil a year at a career backup in Mahinmi. I still think this gets addressed via the trade market which, given free agency, is your best option.

[OldNorthPowell]

The fact that we are ignoring the center position will come back to haunt us. Teams will get to that basket on us and do so easily. Cody may put up 12 to 14 a night starting at center but he will give up 25 to 30 points from not being physical enough and not athletic enough to block shots. We did not address our biggest weakness.

[TheRed]

12 minutes ago, OldNorthPowell said:

The fact that we are ignoring the center position will come back to haunt us.

Are we actually done though? It's still early July.... just saying.