re: Asik played a big role in that EG 3 near the end

I remember Jon Barry saying on the broadcast he's like to see more Ajinca with AD. And his tone was kinda like "duh" (obvious).

If Ajinca could fix his foul problem then he'd be an adequate starting center, but him fixing his foul problem is like Asik fixing his hands. I don't see why people so easily dismiss his foul problems.

Starting Centers, Fouls Per 36 Minutes

Player Fouls
Al Horford 2.0
Al Jefferson 2.5
Tyson Chandler 2.5
Tim Duncan 2.6
Marc Gasol 2.7
Marcin Gortat 2.8
Omer Asik 2.8
Robin Lopez 3.0
Gorgui Dieng 3.0
Jordan Hill 3.0
DeAndre Jordan 3.1
Nerlens Noel 3.2
Nikola Vucevic 3.2
Rudy Gobert 3.4
Jonas Valanciunas 3.5
Joakim Noah 3.5
Zaza Pachulia 3.7
Timofey Mozgov 3.8
Dwight Howard 3.9
Brook Lopez 4.0
Andre Drummond 4.1
Andrew Bogut 4.1
Roy Hibbert 4.2
Jason Smith 4.3
Hassan Whiteside 4.3
Tyler Zeller 4.4
DeMarcus Cousins 4.4
Steven Adams 4.5
Alex Len 5.2
Jusuf Nurkic 6.5

Len and Nurkic are the only oness above 5. Nurkic is 20 and on a team that traded away all its other centers. Len is 21 minute per game meh player that not many other teams would trade starting centers for.

Outside of Len and Nurkic there seems to be a pretty clear requirement of starting center in the NBA, do your job without fouling out every game. 4.5 seems to be the cutoff. Ajinca picks up 6.1. For those of you who don't think fouls matter, and I know there are more than a few of you out there, we beat Miami Friday in large part because we got them into the penalty early in the 4th quarter. Fouls matter, and because they do Anjinca is nothing more than a backup. I personally think the team would benefit from Ajinca getting some of Ryno's minutes, but his fouling makes him being our starter a non starter.

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I don't see why people so easily dismiss his foul problems.

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Are people really doing that? I think it's pretty obvious. I did point out that he wasn't so bad Friday night, but I'm not confident that's going to be a trend.

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Anyone that thinks he can replace Asik as the team's starting center is.

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Yeah, that's not realistic. But I've liked the guy and his potential as a backup from the first game I watched him play.

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unless we trade some bigger contracts like Gordon

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or Ryan Anderson

I doubt they trade him for cap space and future assets though. Upgrading depth or SF would be the likely uses meaning we're still in the same position regarding replacing Asik.

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Add a starting caliber 3 who can play 4 and add a bench rebounding/aggressive 4-5

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The Bird Writes has a discussion thread on this today.

Fisher makes the point that the Pelicans (and Davis) see AD as a 4. He asks would they be better off with 2 5s as their 2nd and 3rd bigs?

I tend to think that a 3/4 is a bit of a waste with Davis based on what the Pelicans have shown. They very rarely move Davis up to the 5 (think Davis guarding Durant). Moving for a 3/4 like that is limiting if you never allow yourself to go small.

Say they got a Draymond Green. How do you play him plus 3 of QPon, Cole, Holiday, Evans, and Gordon while keeping Davis as a 4?

Im glad you mention Draymond Green because ive liked him since he was at Michigan State

I think if we added him he could replace the role we have for Anderson, or put him as our starting 3

1) Holiday
2) Gordon
3) Green
4) AD
5) Asik/Starting center

6th man goes to Tyreke

BENCH:

1) Cole
2) Evans
3) Pondexter
4) Cunningham
5) Ajinca


With this roster we do not mess with majority of our roster core players except replace Anderson with Green

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I say having too much talent is a problem I can live with.

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I don't disagree at all. I'm not saying don't get better on the wing. I just don't know how good a fit it is if you always need to play a guy that can guard 5s with Davis.

Take Draymond. His value comes from being able to guard most 4s in the league and still stretch the court. I don't know how if he's as valuable if you put him at the 3. Swapping him for Anderson, like Smedium suggests, is enticing. But Anderson is guarding 5s with Davis on the court. I don't think we really want Draymond, as talented a defender as he is, guarding 5s.

So, aren't you just limiting the best way to use Draymond? If his maximum value comes as a 4 and he can't play that spot with Davis, why make that move? I'm seriously asking, not trying to sound condescending at all.

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What else would you add if not a 3?

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Maxing out a fit with Davis needs to be the goal. So more off ball players instead of on ball from 1-3. And then a backup big that can guard 5s reasonably and stretch the floor. Of course that 5 is a unicorn.

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Take Draymond. His value comes from being able to guard most 4s in the league and still stretch the court. I don't know how if he's as valuable if you put him at the 3. Swapping him for Anderson, like Smedium suggests, is enticing. But Anderson is guarding 5s with Davis on the court. I don't think we really want Draymond, as talented a defender as he is, guarding 5s

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Great point. Draymond would rarely guard 4's unless Davis was guarding 5's, which is not ideal. His switching ability and the fact that he can guard 2-4 is a big plus for Draymond, though.

I would be for moving Tyreke and getting a shooter that can come off of the bench (Gerald Green), or a wing shooter to start at the 3 (Danny Green), over moving Ryno.