This.
Davis was a big part of our team last season. He was our best big last year.
Clarkson right now is our primary ball handler but even though he is in his 2nd year and is clearly more confident, he is averaging less assists than he was when he was starting last year.
Part of that is the lack of finishers around the rim like Davis. Hibbert isn't quick and mobile enough and Randle almost never moves without the ball. It's one thing I don't like about Randle's "point forward" mentality. He ball watches often.
He stands too much around the 3 point line. Someone has to tell him he is not a SF neither a stretch four without a jump shot to actually stretch something.
He needs the ball far from the basket so he can drive on his man and do his spin move. His shot is terrible and I don't think he has the moves to score in the post so he has to keep doing that same play.
LA had the opportunity to sign a big guy like Tyson, who loves to set hard screens and roll. He has history playing for Byron and running a lot of S/R with Chris Paul. Yet we went with Hibbert - and weren't really all that interested in Tyson when he was a FA. I get that he's older, but you want to surround your main young talent with guys that can compliment them.
That said, we can definitely still go out and get a guy. But one of the reasons I wasn't high on Hibbert because I knew the need for P/R ball that would come with signing Russ/Clarkson. We do run P/R, we've just got bigs that aren't good at rolling, popping and using their skills towards that.
Nance may be our best hope in this regard.
This past Summer:
$15.5 Cap Space + Second Round pick............Hibbert
$7 million Cap Space.......................................L Williams
$3 million Cap Space.......................................Bass
_____________
$25.5 million
Would you have preferred that the FO had taken this alternate path instead:
$13 million Cap Space.....................................T Chandler*
$7 million Cap Space.......................................E Davis
$2.9 million Cap Space + Second Round pick....M Harkless
_____________
$22.9 million
T Chandler - Black - Kelly
Randle - Davis - Nance
Kobe - Harkless - A Brown - Ron
Clarkson - Nick - J Brown?
Russell - Huertas
Chandler's contract would have tied up some Cap Space in future years while Hibbert's contract ends next Summer.
Lou's contract is for the same number of years and dollar amount as what Davis got from Portland, so call it a wash.
____________
Edit:
They would have had to pursued Chandler immediately and not chased after LMA to make the timelines synch.
__________________________________________
* No idea if Chandler would have signed with the Lakers, but the Davis signing and Harkless trade were very likely doable.
This.
Davis was a big part of our team last season. He was our best big last year.
Clarkson right now is our primary ball handler but even though he is in his 2nd year and is clearly more confident, he is averaging less assists than he was when he was starting last year.
Part of that is the lack of finishers around the rim like Davis. Hibbert isn't quick and mobile enough and Randle almost never moves without the ball. It's one thing I don't like about Randle's "point forward" mentality. He ball watches often.
He stands too much around the 3 point line. Someone has to tell him he is not a SF neither a stretch four without a jump shot to actually stretch something.
He needs the ball far from the basket so he can drive on his man and do his spin move. His shot is terrible and I don't think he has the moves to score in the post so he has to keep doing that same play.
I actually really like his post moves - he's surprised me there. this move is absolutely beautiful. A little post hesitation move, beautiful (similar move on Payne at the other end a couple plays later) And then we've seen him do the baseline spin move a few times, and he always beats the guy doing it.
He's just stubborn trying to play the perimeter oriented game solely - and Scott is enabling him.
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