Tactical unit wrote:Camden wrote:Tactical unit wrote:Camden wrote:TeamRicky wrote:Camden wrote:TeamRicky wrote:We should have drafted Rudy Gobert. We had three shots and sold our last shot at him. How about Whiteside, he's a free agent?
I'm staying far, far away from Whiteside.
I'll assume you wouldn't want Larry Sanders either. Hmm, well would you fork over big money for Mahinmi or Ezeli?
I'd throw the max at Horford. If he's not interested, then I'm signing someone like Thompson to try and help our group of bigs. Not trying to use our cap on guys that aren't worth it from my perspective.
Your love for JT continues.....that's funny! You probably wanted Okafor over Towns?
Why would you want nothing to do with Whiteside? His off the court issues? What about the fact that he's dominant or the fact that he's had no issues displayed with his new role of coming off the bench.
I don't want Whiteside because he's a loose cannon and his eye-popping box score stats don't reflect his on-court impact. Miami is practically the same team when he's off the court compared to when he's on it.
Also, it's not even that I like Thompson that much. I think he's solid and relatively cheap. The point was that I'd rather spend money on him or someone similar to him than pay max money to Whiteside.
As for your Okafor/Towns comment, I'm going to let that one slide. I don't think you realize who you directed that jab towards...
My curiosity as to where you stood prior to the draft on Okafor/Towns developed from your thoughts that the D-League ain't worth the time, MN should steer clear of Whiteside, and that MN should go get J. Thompson.
Your stance of "Miami is practically the same team when he's off the court compared to when he's on it."
If that is even true wouldn't it be more of a testament to Miami's staff, system and the collection of players in place being able to step up. More so than a reflection of Whiteside?
I'd be more reserved in adding a player based on his stats if he played on a bad team putting up stats that are likely to go down once he's not the focal point of a bad teams offense. The other scenario is when you look at stats on a team that plays a fast pace and thus has more possessions per game than other teams which can skew the stats. However Whiteside plays on the 2nd worst team in points scored per game, Miami wins with defense and Whitesides stats to me are a reflection of his talent.
I'll agree that Whiteside comes with significant more risk than the average free agent. How will he act / play after he gets paid is a huge question. However if you have the right staff in place who else offers 13 points, 11.5 boards, & 4 blocks in only 29 minutes a game. That's not a player I'm putting on my steer clear list.
I never stated that the D-League wasn't worth the time, nor did I say anything similar to that. I still believe the D-League can be a useful tool for NBA teams to develop talent rather than leave them on the end of their bench, something close to a minor league with call-ups and demotions. I also maintain my point that finding undiscovered, uncontrolled talent in the D-League is still very, very difficult. Even the best franchises struggle to find these hidden gems. The odds just aren't good there.
Minnesota should steer clear of Whiteside, especially given the salary he could command on the open market. It is true that Miami is a better team when Whiteside is off the court, and no, it doesn't have much to do with the bench stepping up, staff putting in work, or anything like that. Whiteside is a stat-stuffer who, in theory, is a tremendous defensive presence, but there is damning evidence that tells otherwise. For more, check out this link: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-heat-is-better-without-hassan-whiteside-on-the-court-8215115
Minnesota should have picked up Jason Thompson after buying out Andre Miller. We're in desperate need of a veteran big with decent size that can compete and play error-free basketball off the bench. There's nothing fancy about Thompson, and he's not a young player with untapped potential, but he has proven that he's a capable big in this league. That much is for sure, and he would have been a whole hell of a lot better than current options Payne and Rudez.
Lastly, and this isn't even me tooting my own horn or embellishing, but I was a strong Karl-Anthony Towns supporter and had argued that he was the best player in the 2015 NBA Draft since approximately January of last year, which was way ahead of the majority of the basketball community. This board's history can prove this. I went back and forth with a number of posters here debating Towns and Okafor and I don't think anyone would question where I stood on that matter. It's possible that you weren't an active poster back then, which would make sense, but I promise you that I was Team Towns long before the Wolves even won the top pick in the draft.