Al Horford wants another big man

[coachx]

I really think a deal with Denver for Nene isn't out of the realm of possibility. Could the Hawks work something out around Zaza+Childress?

Philly has been trying to move Dalembert since he was signed to that ridiculous deal. Figuring out something that matches up with what they want will be tough, though.

Is NeNe the one that said he will retire early.........at around 30 or so ?

Dalembert is probably attainable. I would assume they would prefer short contracts to long contracts. Too bad Bibby and Marvin's contracts still have a few years left.

[jezmund]

Is NeNe the one that said he will retire early.........at around 30 or so ?

Dalembert is probably attainable. I would assume they would prefer short contracts to long contracts. Too bad Bibby and Marvin's contracts still have a few years left.

Would absolutely love to have Dalembert be backup PF/C as a huge expiring contract.

Atlanta gets Samuel Dalembert

Philly gets Marvin Williams, Sasha Vujacic (expiring) and ATL's #53 pick

Lakers get Mike Bibby

This trade works salary wise but I doubt Philly wants Marvin's contract. Dalembert would be a great addition off the bench.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I'm truly perplexed at why people think Perkins would be a defensive upgrade over Horford at the 5. Perkins is not taller and is not significantly stronger than Horford. The difference is more that the Celtics resisted the temptation to double team Howard on every possession. He's a slight upgrade defensively, but not a huge one - and a big step down offensively.

Getting an upgrade to Zaza isn't the missing piece we need to beat Orlando.

Defensive Tale of the tape:

Horford: 6 - 10 . . 245 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 50.6% ( which is good )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . . 60% ( which is bad ) . . . iFG% = inside FG% ( defense around the rim )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 16.3 ppg ( which is good )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 16.5 ( which is good )

blocks per 48 . . . 1.5 ( which is average )

Perkins: 6-10 . . 280 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 50.6% ( which is good )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . . 49% ( which is excellent )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 18,8 ppg ( which is average )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 16.6 ( which is good )

blocks per 48 . . . 2.9 ( which is good )

Just for comparison sake: Dwight Howard: 6-11 . . 265 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 48.4% ( which is excellent )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . . 46% ( which is excelent )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 16.5 ( which is good )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 13.8 ( which is excellent )

blocks per 48 . . . 3.8 ( which is excellent )

Emeka Okafor: 6-10 . . 255 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 58.6% ( which is bad )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . .55% ( which is average )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 21.3 ( which is bad )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 22.2 ( which is horrible )

blocks per 48 . . . 2.5 ( which is good )

( Statistically . . . Okafor was a worse defensive player than David Lee last year. And Lee is pretty bad. The only thing he did better than Lee, was block shots. Okafor probably wouldn't be the person to start at center, especially with that contract, if he's going to play matador defense. Amazingly, Okafor may have been the worst defensive cener in the league last year. )

Edited May 18, 2010 by northcyde

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The question with Horford is . . . if we ever got our hands on a good defensive center, could Horford really "blow up" at PF? Blow up as in . . . could he be a go-to-guy offensively at PF? If so, then Smoove will be expendible. If not, then we still have to keep Smoove to supplement Horford and protect him on defense.

When you see what Lamar Odom does for the Lakers, Smoove ( if he accepts it ), could excel in a 6th man role, with him doing major damage vs backup PFs. And at the end of games, he's probably going to be on the floor anyway. He'll get his 30 - 35 minutes a game regardless. It's just that his playing time will be dispersed differently.

But we'd have to obtain that elusive defensive center, before we even think about all of this.

[coachx]

I'm truly perplexed at why people think Perkins would be a defensive upgrade over Horford at the 5. Perkins is not taller and is not significantly stronger than Horford. The difference is more that the Celtics resisted the temptation to double team Howard on every possession. He's a slight upgrade defensively, but not a huge one - and a big step down offensively.

Getting an upgrade to Zaza isn't the missing piece we need to beat Orlando.

Simple.

Watch Horford against Howard and watch Perkins against Howard.

[JackB1]

Trade Smoove for another big.

WE HAVE 2 POWER FORWARDS. TRADE ONE!!!

[Joker]

Simple.

Watch Horford against Howard and watch Perkins against Howard.

Horford does have his way with Perkins when we play Boston.

[coachx]

Horford does have his way with Perkins when we play Boston.

Yes......but the Magic are the ones we have trouble beating. Plus when we played Boston this year KG was either not playing or limping. KG impacts their whole defense.

"has his way" hmmmmmmm

Horford averages vs. Celtics this year

10.6 ppg / 11 rpg / .451 FG% / .66 BPG

His rebound numbers are good but I can't say Horford has his way with Perkins. His FG% is off by a good bit, and his blocks are down.

Horford has his most trouble vs. the big guys like Howard and Bynum.

Horford is better then Perkins at defending smaller centers (or PFs playing C).

Perkins is better then Horford at defending the NBA's bigger centers.

Edited May 18, 2010 by coachx

[Sothron]

Defensive Tale of the tape:

Horford: 6 - 10 . . 245 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 50.6% ( which is good )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . . 60% ( which is bad ) . . . iFG% = inside FG% ( defense around the rim )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 16.3 ppg ( which is good )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 16.5 ( which is good )

blocks per 48 . . . 1.5 ( which is average )

Perkins: 6-10 . . 280 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 50.6% ( which is good )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . . 49% ( which is excellent )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 18,8 ppg ( which is average )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 16.6 ( which is good )

blocks per 48 . . . 2.9 ( which is good )

Just for comparison sake: Dwight Howard: 6-11 . . 265 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 48.4% ( which is excellent )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . . 46% ( which is excelent )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 16.5 ( which is good )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 13.8 ( which is excellent )

blocks per 48 . . . 3.8 ( which is excellent )

Emeka Okafor: 6-10 . . 255 lb

per 48 defensive eFG% . . . 58.6% ( which is bad )

per 48 defensive iFG% . . .55% ( which is average )

per 48 defensive ppg of opposing center . . . 21.3 ( which is bad )

defensive PER of opposing center . . . 22.2 ( which is horrible )

blocks per 48 . . . 2.5 ( which is good )

( Statistically . . . Okafor was a worse defensive player than David Lee last year. And Lee is pretty bad. The only thing he did better than Lee, was block shots. Okafor probably wouldn't be the person to start at center, especially with that contract, if he's going to play matador defense. Amazingly, Okafor may have been the worst defensive cener in the league last year. )

I'm not a big fan of Sabrematrics but to see Okafor be this bad is just wow. I know he had a bad year defensively with the Hornets last season but he fell off a cliff. David Lee is easily the worst big man defensively in the NBA but it sounds like Okafor was even worse last season. Wowzers.

[mrhonline]

I don't trust those 82games numbers. Just a gut feeling that they're useless. I feel the same way about the adjusted +/- numbers, too...

Anyone pony up for Synergy? Those are the numbers I'd like to see...

[Johnnybravo4]

I like Smoove's upside better. Horf's ceiling is 15/10 I think Smoove will be a 20/8/3/2.5 player if he ever gets into a real offensive system.

[Dejay]

Ask Dwight Howard about that.

:laughing5:

Ditto, agree, and cosign...

[coachx]

I like Smoove's upside better. Horf's ceiling is 15/10 I think Smoove will be a 20/8/3/2.5 player if he ever gets into a real offensive system.

Correction.............Horford is 15/10 right now while shooting 55%.

You think he is already at his ceiling ?

[Joker]

Yes......but the Magic are the ones we have trouble beating. Plus when we played Boston this year KG was either not playing or limping. KG impacts their whole defense.

"has his way" hmmmmmmm

Horford averages vs. Celtics this year

10.6 ppg / 11 rpg / .451 FG% / .66 BPG

His rebound numbers are good but I can't say Horford has his way with Perkins. His FG% is off by a good bit, and his blocks are down.

Horford has his most trouble vs. the big guys like Howard and Bynum. (NBASS40 add(Lopez))

Horford is better then Perkins at defending smaller centers (or PFs playing C).

Perkins is better then Horford at defending the NBA's bigger centers.

Yep, if we could trade Crawford for Thabeet and move Smith to the bench in a Manu or Odom role. I think we will be a much better team. We will probably lose Joe but Childress could be our #5 scorer while we start Teague, give Marvin the #3 option and he better impress now that he get his touches again. No need to try anything else. I think we need a defensive threat next to Horford so he could fully play as a #1 option. I don't think Teague a great PnR player but he's a great passer and has great vision so anything possible. Starting Teague will give us a lot of headaches throughout the year but boy is he talented.

Clearly we will not be a better team losing Joe but with these moves we can be a very good team.

Edited May 18, 2010 by nbasuperstar40

[Kimsey]

Horford doesn't make the all star team at pf, it's as simple as that. It's his face up game that helps him against centers and they can't guard him on the perimeter. Horford's back to basket game is worse than marvin williams'. He improves that aspect of his game drastically, I'm on board with trading smith for another big.

[KB21]

If you set out to trade Josh Smith for a big man, then you are never going to get value for Josh Smith. There aren't any big men that are available who will give us more than Josh gives us right now. Yes, Josh is a head case at times, but he's a player that is capable of putting up 15/10/5/3 on a consistent basis. I'm all for trading Josh if we can get someone like Chris Bosh. I'd rather simply bring in three big bodies to rotate at center, move Al to power forward, and utilize Josh Smith as a starting caliber reserve than deal him for a mediocre big man.