This theoretical Knicks team has a mediocre center who is not starting calibre (Asik)
You haven't seen Asik play since Dwight went down, have you? Or, alternatively, did you see many Rockets games last season? Asik is not only starting caliber, he's one of the top 3 or 4 defensive anchors in the NBA. He's also an elite rebounder. His offense holds him back from broaching Dwight/Noah/Gasol range, but after them there are few true centers who can manage to impact the wins column like Asik.
To answer the actual OP, Chris Paul is the ideal pg to lead this team.
Yes...
His overall career Per-36 minute stats (9 points, 1.1 assists, 1.6 blocks, 0.4 steals, 3.5 fouls and 2.2 turnovers) put him in direct competition with guys like Reggie Evans, Cole Aldrich, Jeff Adrian, Bismack Biyombo, Henry Sims, Samuel Dalembert and Nazr Mohammed. Oh yeh, so does his 55% or so career free throw percentage.
Please take my $15M cheque right now!!!!
Asik is a quite possible the most overrated and overpaid player in this entire league. He is a pure role player who is almost useless outside of his admittedly elite rebounding ability...but finding role players who dominate the boards isn't hard (I just listed 7 of them).
There is pretty much nothing that Asik does that Bismack Biyombo or Samuel Dalembert does not. Talent-wise he's either bad starter or a good bench player, depending on which roster he is on. But his arrogance, selfishness convinces him that he's too good to come off the bench so in reality he's either a bad starter or a grumpy disgruntled bench player. Neither option sounds too appealing to me.
Plus he has absolutely zero upside. He's 27 years old. The probability of Asik developing in to a player worthy of his paycheck next season is about the same as the probability of Jeff Green flicking the 'beast mode' switch and turning in to a 27 PPG scoring beast next season. Not going to happen.
Asik is a guy that you absolutely do not pay more than the mid-level exception for, and even then I'd have to think about it. It's not hard to find a slow, unathletic big man who can rebound and play hustle defense. There are about 4 of those in the top 15 of this years draft alone (which we could have for probably $2M-$3M a year) and many others out there on the free agent market (Okafor, Dalembert, etc) which can could probably be signed for the MLE.
Only in an act of pure lunacy would a team lock themsevles in for $15M during a rebuilding year in return for a player of Asik's calibre.
Why do you think Houston wanted so badly to get rid of Asik? Because he lacks versatility to play PF alongside Dwight Howard (too slow, no jumpshot, zero offensive game) and was too much of selfish whiner to back him up off the bench. They were pretty much ready to give him away for the cost of a first round pick. Do you thik Detroit would trade Monroe or Drummond for a first round pick? You think Sacramento would giveup Cousins for a 1st? Kevin Love? Nikola Vucevic? A healthy Tyson Chandler? Joakim Noah? Lemarcus Aldridge? Al Jefferson?
Let me help you answer that question - No. The only teams that would give up a 'great' starting big man for a 1st round pick are the types of teams that value cap space and young, unproven talent over their player...teams who know their player is not a star and never will be.
He was signed by the Rockets initially only because they had stupid amounts of money to spend, didn't get the players they REALLY wanted, desperately needed a center, and had to throw a high offer out just to stop Chicago from matching it. People say that he's only coming off the bench in Houston because he has Dwight Howard ahead of him, but how about Chicago? They are a huge market team and their mind was set purely on competing for a championship. If he was so great why didn't they matched the offer, trade Boozer, and start a Asik + Noah frontcourt?
Noah has the physical talent and the skill-set to play PF, so if Chicago felt Asik was the type of glue guy who would significantly increase their chance of winning a title, why didn't they match the offer?
Same deal as with Jeremy Lin and the Knicks. They would have liked to bring him back, but they knew the cost of the contact FAR outweighed the talent level of the player. Simple.
That said I do agree with you on one thing - Chris Paul would be the ideal PG for this team.
P.s.
No disrespect intended by the post, I just do not at all see the fascination with this guy. He's basically Kendrick Perkins with an extra few rebounds thown in, yet people talk about him like he is the second coming of KG. I'd trade for him as a big expiring contract sure, but that's about it.
Topic: Who is the perfect Point guard for this team. (Read 5465 times)