khans2k5 wrote:The only way Pek is ever a Center on a contender is if he is next to a Anthony Davis, Ibaka, or Henson type 4. Rim protection is just too major at this point in the league's development to have Pek next to a 4 who also can't protect the rim and realistically call that team a contender. The only way a Love/Pek frontcourt works on a contender level is if you have 3 shut down perimeter defenders on the floor with them. Both Love and Pek would benefit greatly playing next to a guy who protects the rim, but unfortunately we have them playing next to each other. Our defense was actually playing well overall with a guy like Ronny starting (had more games giving up under a 100 points with a winning result in 1 week than we did with Pek all year at that point), so does it make sense to try to deal Pek for a first rounder in this years draft?
Utah has a top ten pick that might be low enough to get for Pek (and they have a late first so the deal wouldn't kick them entirely out of the draft). Philly has two firsts the second of which should still be a decent pick that they get from NO. Cleveland might end up with a decent first round pick. I would consider trading Pek for one of those 3 picks and a filler piece if needed. At the end of the day, Pek misses a decent chunk of time with injuries every year and just doesn't fit next to Love defensively. While it wouldn't be ideal to have Ronny as a starting center, it would allow us to get two possible picks in this draft that is loaded and see who falls to us. I think we have seen enough Ricky/Love/Pek to know that they aren't a title contender core, so I think it is time to start maximizing value for a guy like Pek and deal him to a team that is stocked with young guys already with extra assets that could use a very solid vet. I've always seen Pek as expendable on the road to surrounding Love with talent just because they never fit defensively.
We don't see eye to eye here. Are we winning more games because of Turiaf or is it because Rubio/Budinger/Barea/DC have all been better than they have been all year? Turiaf made an impact, but you have to score points in this league and the better play from three bench players have been the bigger change. Does it make sense to deal Pek for a first rounder? Probably not, but it all depends who's available at what pick. You have to be very careful in trading known, borderline All-Star talents for unproven rookies. That's an easy way to put a target on your back as a GM.
Stop the nonsense with some of these trade ideas. Utah has Favors and Kanter in the frontcourt. They're not trading anything for Pekovic. Philly just traded for the rights to Nerlens Noel last draft. I don't see him being able to play the PF position and they won't trade for someone to take away minutes from him. Bad idea. Cleveland, maybe, but they still have Varajao playing pretty decent ball and under contract for one more year. Who's to say they don't look at Hawes as a long-term investment? He's been really good this year and is only 25.
We've seen one half of a season with a Rubio/Love/Pek core. In that half of a season, they've been among the very best starting units. I think it's foolish to blow up a core before making small changes to the bench first. This team might be one new backup PG away from being a playoff team; or a new backup PF in the draft. The bench has been the issue through 40+ games; not Pekovic. Is Pekovic a fantastic fit next to Love? Probably not on defense, but on offense they are and they normally are unstoppable. Fix the bench, give next year another try, then reassess everything.
