Which position is our greatest need?

[BrotherDave]

What we need is a low-post scorer/rebounder. I wouldn't be surprised if a team threw a 3-2 zone at us we're so anemic in the post.

[spectre]

I agree and we did try to get one in Hump & a couple other guys. How hard we tried after the initial few we did go after I dunno.

Sucks tho when the smallest guy on the court is your leading rebounder.

[kitch0202]

As of right now we're especially low on talent, specifically offensively, at the forward positions. There's unquestionably potential there, I'm not bashing the players/team, but the level of ability as of the present day is not high. Conversely we're quite strong, relatively speaking, at the guard positions and the Centres are set.

It may not be a popular notion on here but I'd love to see us pick-up a SF who would start while MKG found his feet at the NBA level. MKG would still get plenty of minutes (20-24), but with slightly lower pressure on his shoulders. As soon as he's ready he would start. Ideally we'd move Reggie Williams and have Jeffery Taylor picking up minutes (10-14) at both the 2 & the 3.

I know the direction in which the team is headed and do not want us to veer off course. Accordingly I don't think that picking up an average NBA vet to start at SF will significantly impact our number of wins and therefore draft pic, but it might just help MKG develop and fulfil his offensive potential.

[fan_of_a_fan]

The Lakers waived SF Chris Douglas-Roberts the other day. I think the Bobcats should pick him up off waivers. He was out of the NBA last season due to the lockout after signing with a team overseas. If I can remember, he had a few 30-point performances the year before when he was a reserve on the Bucks roster. CDR can play ball.

[Veteran_Picksetter]

Somebody explain these poll results to me!!

As I'm writing, the poll overwhelmingly favors adding a center to the roster. Huh??

We have Haywood, Biyombo, Mullens, Diop, and Tyrus as bigs. That includes three 7-footers, and 2 additional guys with legit 7-footer length. Haywood is obviously a pure center, and any minutes he doesn't receive, I want Biyombo to get at Center. Mullens is looking more like a 4 now, but as he physically matures and mentally toughens, he should be a center in years to come. He needs to be playing both big man spots this year.

Meanwhile, no one has voted for adding a SF. Even IF MKG is ready to be an NBA starter, and that is a big "if" right now, Jeff Taylor has underwhelmed and really has the length of a SG. We are basically handing over SF to a barely 19-year-old rookie and an "under-lengthed" 2nd round pick who has played exactly like a 2nd round pick in the preseason. Also, Dunlap has designs on MKG playing a little "4", so that frees up some SF minutes.

But then, there is always the "Gerald will get some Small Forward minutes to make room for Gordon" argument.

As far as point guard, I say any "3rd pg" minutes(a miniscule amount) ought to go to Gordon. We are going to need Gordon and Henderson on the court as much as possible.

Perhaps, ultimately, for the last roster spot, you add the best prospect you can find. But if we are going for position, this makes the most sense to me:

a bigger SF
or
a "true" PF
or
a "combo F" (best of both worlds)

Edit: Hey, why is there a frownie face at the top of this post? What did I do?

[SWedd523]

I don't want to bring in any worthwhile vet wing unless they're okay with getting only a handful of minutes.

Yes MKG is a 19 year old rookie, but he was also the second pick in the draft and has the pressure of being a franchise cornerstone. We need to see if he can fulfill that promise. Too many times have we drafted guys and put them in a time share (Felton, DJ, Kemba to just name the PGs), which prevents them from improving with meaningful time on the court and prevents the FO from being able to make a decision about the future depending on how well they progress. MKG needs to get ~35 minutes a night for his sake and ours. That leaves "13 minutes" at the 3 for other players. JT, Hendo, and Reggie are more than capable of fulfilling that role.

So to me, it would make no sense wasting our last roster spot on a SF.


What has proven to be a much more glaring need is a big man specialist that can clean the boards with aplomb or a big man than can execute a post move without looking like Happy Jack. A guy like Reggie Evans would be perfect to fulfill that rebounder role and I guess (ew) Eddie Curry would be satisfactory (ew) for the scoring big man (ew) role.

[CatNation]

I agree and we did try to get one in Hump & a couple other guys. How hard we tried after the initial few we did go after I dunno.

Sucks tho when the smallest guy on the court is your leading rebounder.

doesnt suck at all when you only give up 3 offensive rebounds.

[fan_of_a_fan]

Somebody explain these poll results to me!!

As I'm writing, the poll overwhelmingly favors adding a center to the roster. Huh??

We have Haywood, Biyombo, Mullens, Diop, and Tyrus as bigs.

I'll try to explain the reasoning for the consensus wanting to add another center. Haywood & Diop are the only true centers on the roster, but they both are limited physically, which will lead to limited minutes (25 minutes at most nightly) and the possibility of sudden nagging injuries (a la hamstring pulls, hyperextended knees, soreness in foot, etc.) that will keep them out of the lineup occasionally throughout the rigors of a 82-game season. Tyrus is Tyrus, so inconsistency and untapped potential will always be a part of his game. Biyombo & Mullens are still both raw projects that have yet to learn but are hopefully progressing on how to rebound at the professional level, so we don't want to depend on them at the center position when they probably can't keep your typical starting small forward from going mano a mano with them on the boards. All that said, not to mention the foul trouble history of some the aforementioned, it's pretty obvious that they need more depth at the center spot. Undoubtedly, I also agree with you that we need a SF, but the thought of someone taking minutes away from the growth of MKG isn't something that you should shunned upon when you look at the frontcourt issues as a whole.

[spectre]

doesnt suck at all when you only give up 3 offensive rebounds.

Giving up 4 O boards is a good thing no doubt, but that doesn't make the lack of overall boards for the bigger guys (mainly Biz) irrelevant.

Unless you're trying to say Biz was repeatedly pushing his guy out of position so the ball could fall to Kemba & Ramon all night? I have as high hope for him as the next guy but he's not doing that very well just yet.

Those of you that had it on TV (or those that dealt with a crap stream even)...why were there relatively few boards per player last night? Even on the Heat the max was 4 sans Bosh. Lots of guys played middling minutes maybe? Lots of small ball?

[GoBobs]

I would say a post scoring big. I think we have question marks at both center and power forward and nobody on our roster is a legit two way player right now. Bis, Haywood and Tyrus will give us solid defense. Mullens can score some but I don't feel like he defends either position well. We could really use a post player who could do both like Horford or Aldridge.