You're attitude might be cute if your trade idea actually made sense.
What do you mean "made sense"? Also thanks for saying such nice things. I try to be cute whenever I can.
Let me see what if you can understand some things.
...
1. The Pacers were tested and found wanting. They couldn't beat Miami and there's little reason to think that if LeBron had blown a knee, Indy would have done any better against whomever came out if the West. To win a title, you need to be better than the Pacers. Trading for the third and fourth best players on Indy's roster does not exactly do that.
30 teams in the NBA were tested and found wanting. 31 actually. Does that mean we shouldn't trade for any of their players? Indiana's defense was statistically better than the Heat's defense. They had size, youth and athleticism on the perimeter that the Heat lacked. I'm not going to say that the Pacers would have beaten the Spurs. I really don't think that. I just don't know that they wouldn't. For someone who is so insistent on supporting claims you don't seem to do a lot of it.
2. Hibbert is a headcase who just played like absolute garbage for an extended period of time FOR NO KNOWN REASON. He wasn't hurt. He wasn't be asked to play a new role. He just looks like he forgot how to play the game. And for a guy who doesn't have a lot of athletic talent and is neither a great scorer nor great rebounder, that's kind of concerning.
Hibbert did play like garbage toward the end of last season. Can't argue that. If he didn't have some problem I'm sure that Indiana wouldn't want to trade their all star center for some late 1sts and a young big. This is a calculated risk. Hibbert's main skill is that he's big, blocks shots and knows how to rotate. He also
isn't as bad of a rebounder as people think.
3. David West is 34 and aging every day. At his peak, he was one of those guys just below the elite at his position. He passed that peak a while ago.
Couldn't agree more. West is past his prime. You know who else is? Manu Ginobli, Ray Allen, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw, and Rashard Lewis. All players on Finals teams in back to back seasons, most of whom played vital roles. Old guys can still play. Just because they aren't young and in their prime doesn't mean they aren't valuable. West is still a very good player and stats back that up. His PER was in the top-10 among power forwards last season ahead of young bucks like Derrick Favors and Kenneth Faried.
4. Both West and Hibbert are signed for this season and have player options for next. With them, Green, Bradley and a resigned Rondo, Boston will not have the salary cap room to go after major free agents, even with the new TV deal. And then we'll be faced with resigning Hibbert for probably close to a max deal. And are we going to resign West at 36? Or will he opt out after one year and force Boston to pay him or let him walk?
These are fair points. I would imagine that if West wanted to continue playing in Boston alongside Rondo and Hibbert we might offer him one of our exceptions. It would depend on his play this year along with what salary he is looking to earn.
Resigning Hibbert to a max contract will be an interesting decision that some team has to make. Centers make a lot of money in the league and Hibbert, like it or not, is widely considered a good NBA center. Hibbert will get a max contract from some team and honestly I'm not sure it should be us. There are certainly worse options, 2-3 of whom are currently on our roster.
My argument in favor of resigning Hibbert at the max is that he's young, healthy, productive (over his career) and we don't have a flood of centers beating down our door to play here. I'd argue that trading KO and two late 1sts isn't giving away the store for a chance to sign our franchise center of the next 5 years. And in reality we'd be able to judge his value by what he brought to our team this year. It's essentially a contract year for him.
5. There are players out there, like Russell Westbrook or DeMarcus Cousins, better than West and Hibbert combined who could very easily become available in the next few years. Your idea does nothing thing but make it harder for Boston to be in the running for that kind and of player.
I will say this with in the softest, nicest way I know how. Boston is not a free agent destination. We don't have a huge media market. We don't have a perennial all star waiting to make a super team. We don't have nice weather. We are basically Minnesota with a rich history of winning. Seriously name the last big name free agent who signed here in his prime from free agency. I actually don't remember either. One of the best indicators of future behavior is past performance. We won a championship trading for two all stars. It's been at least 13 years since a top free agent came to sign here without being traded. I only know that because I checked the transaction log. I'm actually curious if anyone knows.
6. Your apparent belief that landing West and Hibbert would automatically make Boston as good defensively as Indy has been is child-like in its naïveté.
Oh wow! Naïveté you say! That is a fancy word coming from
Let me see what if you can understand some things.
In response to the claim, I'm not actually sure it would. Maybe that takes care of the "apparent" part. I think Paul George had a lot to do with Indy's defense as well as a very good scheme from Frank Vogel. But I think Hibbert/West would play important roles in improving our defense. I think that duo will be better this year than Bass/Sullinger or Sullinger/Zeller. Those are claims I'm prepared to back up with stats.
Hibbert and West were the best defensive front court in the NBA last season.My actual issue with your posts is that you say things like "we won't be better" with nothing to back that up. Then you respond to my posts which contain links and stats and explainations with comments like "defend your trade" or "have better reasoning". Between our posts mine are the only ones with reason. You just assert stuff. Here are some examples:
But do we really want to give away a good chunk of our assets and commit to paying Hibbert at least a near max deal just to be the 4th seed in the East?
Boston could be competitive in just another year or two by doing nothing.
The team you suggest isn't a contender
My point is that Boston could pretty easily have a team that makes the playoffs as soon as the season after this, if not this year, by doing nothing by adding multiple first round picks again in the next draft. You've yet to explain how your move gets us any closer to being a real contender, not just somebody happy to make the playoffs.
Adding West absolutely does not guarantee the playoffs for Boston this year.
Hibbert is a headcase.
We all have opinions but you can't build a case on just opinions. Tell me how you figure we'd be 4th in the East? What about the next year of drafting makes us competitive? Who do we draft? What is your definition of a contender and/or why is it seemingly restricted to the two teams who make the Finals? Tell me all about Hibbert's head. Do you have lunch with his shrink?
My favorites:
The need to resign Hibbert would probably kill Boston's short term ability to get a free agent.
If we resigned West, it kills our long term free agent prospects.
Walk me through their cap numbers. Tell me how we'll be tied up with Hibbert and West. Tell me for certain you know the salaries already and how much Rondo will ask for too.
When I say that Hibbert and West are a great defensive duo, I back it up. Please do the same and stop shooting down ideas on the basis of your own unsupported biases.
