How come Pekovic and Martin don't make us any better?

[BloopOracle]

They could both disappear tomorrow and we would still finish exactly around .500

it's kind of crazy all of that salary and we can match our level of play with Pek and Martin with bench players filling in

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I still think Adelman is a big reason for this.

[worldK]

I agree with regards to martin bloop. If you only look at his numbers. It looks good but if you watch him play every game then you can see that he just doesnt impact the game the way you want your lead wing player to do. He shrinks during crunch time and shies away from the ball. His stats dont affect the game. We really should look to add another wing player to be the lead wing on the team. Someone much better than martin.

[Papalrep]

How come Pekovic and Martin don't make us any better?

What a great question - seriously, we should be better. I think we are better with Pek, the trade talk is silly. Martin has not been an impact player for us at all.

[Lipoli390]

Yes, great question. I guess the question needs to be answered in relation to who would be playing in place if Pek and Martin. Are we better than we would be with Darko and Wes Johnson at those two positions? Definitely yes.

But the bottom line is this. We are going to miss the playoffs with Pek and Martin as our starters at those positions. And those two have generally been playing down the stretch in nearly all our incredible number of close losses. Moreover, as pointed out, Martin is inconsistent game to game while also disappearing and shying away from the ball for long stretches and sometimes entire games. Further, the only stat line he ever fills is scoring with little if any rebounds or assists. And then there's his defense, which is prolifically bad. Pek's defense isn't poor, but it isn't particularly good and his inability to defend vertically fails to compensate for Love's defensive shortcoming up front. Finally, there is his inability to stay healthy and stay on the court. Given there ages, it isn't reasonable to expect either one to get better and Martin is or will be on the downslope of his career during the term of his contract.

So it's hard to see how this team becomes a contender with these two as starters with Love and Ricky. And as we've seen this season, we're not even an 8th seed playoff team with them. I'll join those who put a significant chunk of the blame on our bench and the head coach. But you can't overlook the inadequacies of Martin and Pek.

[bleedspeed]

Very good question. If we become a playoff team it will be with Martin coming off the bench. I think he still has plenty of value and would be open to trading him. Out of the trio of Mayo, Reddick, and Martin . Martin was the best signing this year. I think we should trade him now though and was open to trading him for Waiters. I would trade him for Mayo if given the chance.

I think the development of Dieng really would make Pek someone we could trade.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Very good question. If we become a playoff team it will be with Martin coming off the bench. I think he still has plenty of value and would be open to trading him. Out of the trio of Mayo, Reddick, and Martin . Martin was the best signing this year. I think we should trade him now though and was open to trading him for Waiters. I would trade him for Mayo if given the chance.

I think the development of Dieng really would make Pek someone we could trade.

So, you just said that Martin was the best signing out of that trio, which you're correct about, but you'd trade him for Mayo? That doesn't make sense in any reasonable person's mind. We should trade to get better, not worse, and Mayo's more expensive than Martin. That'd be one step forward in signing Martin and three steps back by trading him for Mayo.

I agree, though, that if Dieng keeps this up, Pek can become a trade chip. Doesn't mean he'll have a large market, though.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

to be fair the wolves will have their best record in about a decade. If were ranking players that have contributed to the wolves wins this year, Id rank Pek and martin 3rd and 4th.

Was Rasho more valuable then Pek because those wolves teams won more?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Kudos to Bloop for posing a revealing question. You can't argue that both Martin and Pek don't have excellent offensive stats. But you also can't argue that they make us better, because our record is virtually the same when they are in the lineup and when they are not. Contrast that with what happened when truly indispensable players, like Love and Rubio, were out for long periods of time in prior years...the team became non-competitive. I like a lot about both Pek and Martin's game, but you really can't argue with the results...they are both easily replaced in the lineup. While Bloop's thread question may have been rhetorical, I believe the answer is this...while both Martin and Pek provide great numbers on the offensive end, their deficiencies on the defensive end make them dispensable.

Here's the good news. The excellent offensive numbers both of these players have put up this year make them attractive in the trade market. We all know that this team needs good 2-way wings, and if either or both of Pek and Martin can bring one in return, that trade is likely to make us better.

Ideally I would pursue deals for Pek first. While I like both players, a shooter like Martin could be just what this team needs to provide a big spark off the bench. I'm not quite ready to buy Dieng's ticket to Springfield after 3 games, but I certainly like what I have seen. And the prospect of an elite SG in the starting lineup, Dieng/Turiaf providing tough interior defense, and Martin bringing his sharpshooting off the bench, makes me quite excited about the future.

[bleedspeed]

So, you just said that Martin was the best signing out of that trio, which you're correct about, but you'd trade him for Mayo? That doesn't make sense in any reasonable person's mind. We should trade to get better, not worse, and Mayo's more expensive than Martin. That'd be one step forward in signing Martin and three steps back by trading him for Mayo.

I agree, though, that if Dieng keeps this up, Pek can become a trade chip. Doesn't mean he'll have a large market, though.

Logic is that Mayo is on a shorter contract. His is having the worst year of his career and entering his prime. I don't see Martin aging well. I think we trade him while he is producing. My first choice would be to trade LRMM and Barea for Mayo. Push Martin to the bench with Mayo starting. I would love to trade all 3. Martin for Waiters and have him as our backup combo guard.