Offensive beast in Vern
Defensive beast in Nick
And both have the skill set to learn the other skill set.
Nick can become a lob machine and has decent passing skills
Vern is a good athlete and a student of the game and I fully expect that he will become a strong defender who can guard 4’s and 5’s
I’m excited about these guys and we may have just landed our centers for the future
I’m most interested in Vernon. I think he’s an underrated athlete. I want to see what he can become in the NBA.
Watching last night’s game reaffirmed my belief that this team would benefit from a guy like Drummond. I get all the stuff about him not being a modern big, but there are certain fundamental aspects of basketball that never go out of style (e.g. rebounding). He had one less rebound last night than Cody, Biz, PJ and Miles combined. Even if we were capable of playing defense at a semi-adequate level, it would be negated by the fact that we repeatedly get obliterated on the boards. Having a big who could catch, finish strong around the basket and swallow up boards at an elite level would completely change the complexion of this team. I’m sure this isn’t a popular opinion, but I think he should be a FA target this off-season. Given that he wouldn’t appear to be in high demand, he should be attainable at relatively low cost.
Continuing that theme, it’s frustrating that we did nothing during the off-season to address the deficiency at C beyond drafting two project bigs. I love Biz, but I don’t get the decision to run it back with him versus, say, signing Whiteside. While Whiteside has his flaws for sure, such a move would’ve addressed two glaring areas of weakness (rebounding and rim protection) and we could’ve gotten him on a minimum deal. With Cody hurt (again) we are about to pay dearly for our failure to ensure adequate/quality depth in the post.
Anyone know if Tyson Chandler can still run up and down the court? I assume he can direct the defense from a seated position in the lane and would hope he can still rebound. Would he take a vet min to play in Cody’s stead or is he hoping for a role with a contending team?
Will be interesting if VCJ gets the bench minutes in Cody’s absence.
At least our centers would brick on the opponents’ rims.
Cleary the Centre position is a big black hole for us. Having said that, I agree with the approach for this season though. Biz was signed as an emergency backup, vet presence as we didn’t know who we would be drafting or if Cody would be traded. When we didn’t get Wiseman it maked complete sense to run it back with Cody & Biz, trade Cody by the deadline, develop the second rounders and hope that one of them (Vernon) can develop.
I do think Vernon can become a rotation big for us. He can rebound, he can pass, he can shoot … he already has some level of ability in those key areas so he is someone worth developing.
Next season … we’ll absolutely have to address the starting position.
Does anyone know if we made an offer to Wood? I’d sleep better at night knowing we at least tried to sign him. He was my dream FA signing all summer long and is absolutely killing it with Hou right now.
I don’t recall us appearing in the final rumor mill for iWood. It’s possible that after his prior stop here, he wasn’t entertaining Charlotte in a return role even if it wasn’t the same coaching staff.
Based on preseason play, I don’t see a scenario where we trade away Cody unless we get back a serviceable center. I feel good about the potential of our rookie Cs, but they aren’t ready to play big minutes and provide the basic reliability that we need. I think at best, we’re looking at next season for those guys as meaningful rotation players.
No on Wood
Hayward was the target from beginning and we thought we were going to get Wiseman.
Well that’s disappointing to hear.
Agree with this, though they only have to beat our Biz to get into our rotation so maybe Vernon gets there before the season is done.
We have to realise value for Cody and a trade is the only vehicle to do so. Let’s assume we’re out of contention for the playoffs by the trade deadline (not too much of a reach) then I’d rather get the most we can for him and his expiring. Therefore I’d not want to worry about getting back a player to cover his minutes, just realise the most assets we can as I don’t see a scenario where we resign him. The primary position of need for next season is the 5 and it should, I’d go so far as to say will, be treated as such.
If I’m the GM, I’m looking to re-sign Cody to a Biz-like value contract, even if it’s a few bucks more we’re paying for him as someone that catches the ball. I’m hoping he’s taking notes on how to be more that vet voice in the locker room.
We have to realise value for Cody and a trade is the only vehicle to do so.
I don’t necessarily disagree, but I think we have to understand that the our individual players can only develop effectively if there are reasonably reliable components in the system. It’s going to be frustrating for everyone and negatively impact development if we routinely have issues at a single position, especially if we’re already wanting to hide other deficiencies, like Ball’s lack of seasoning for NBA defense. To that ends, I’d rather keep a player that provides some consistency (when healthy) than trade him for presumably a minor asset just to say we got value for him. It’s very possible he’s reasonably reliable contributions to the team are more valuable than his trade value.
But again, if we could get some kind of serviceable, blue collar center in such a trade, I’d be all for it. Of if we signed such a center.
I haven’t seen enough of our young bigs yet to pass final judgment. I wish they’d both gotten a few more minutes in the preseason so we could’ve had a longer look, but from what we saw, Richards appears extremely raw and uncoordinated. Given that, the fact that JB prioritized him ahead of Carey doesn’t make me feel great about where Carey is in his development. I doubt either is ready to help us right now.
As for Cody, I think it makes sense to continue exploring the trade market, but if we have to take back bad money and all it yields us is a 2nd rounder I think I’d pass.
RE: Richards v Carey. I have no idea either, but I think Richards may be prioritized just for his rebounding and defense and not because he’s the better overall player. That being said, I do share the same concerns. But it’s so early the season, it’s been such a weird year, and we had very little pre-season time to evaluate and practice.
Just going to be a lot of wait and see. I’m certainly not judging those guys for not being ready.
I’m with you in that we need a viable NBA player at Centre in order for our team to function and the young players develop.
I just don’t think Zeller does anything well enough for us to resign him as anything more than a backup. He neither rebounds, blocks, passes or shoots at a good level … he’s just about ok. If we do resign him as a place holder & vet presence to help mentor a young centre then ok (ish) but that’s the only scenario I can see him being here and it would have to be on a more reasonable contract than he’s currently on.
I just don’t want us to get nothing, yet again, from an expiring contract. If we’re not going to resign him then I think he needs to be traded at the deadline.
Further not so set at center