Suppose Lindsey decides to move on from Al Jefferson, but wants a center in return as part of the compensation. Who do you prefer for the Jazz’s mid-to-long term configuration – Player A or Player B?
2011-12 Stats:
Big Al A B
Age (now) 27 22 23
Pts/36 20.3 21.4 12.0
Rbs/36 10.1 13.0 11.7
TS% .520 .499 .608
Asst/36 2.3 1.9 0.7
Stl/36 0.8 1.7 1.1
Blk/36 1.8 1.4 1.9
Tov/36 1.1 3.1 1.5
PF/36 2.7 4.7 4.4
Usage% 25.7 29.7 14.0
WinSh/48 .173 .104 .163
Keep in mind that Player B would likely come much more cheaply than Player A, as Player A is regarded as having great potential, while Player B is not. Player B might possibly come with some other additional helpful asset in a trade while Player A would not. Like Big Al, Player A is considered very talented around the league in large part because of his ability to draw double teams and create shots for himself on virtually any play. Player B cannot do that.
Both Player A and Player B are full-sized NBA centers. Nobody accuses them of being undersized. Both have reputations for average- to slightly-below-average athleticism. Both are perhaps average at defense, though I’ve seen some surprisingly good evaluations recently. While Player A led the NBA in fouls committed, a healthy chunk ahead of the #2 guy (Millsap), he also is reputed to have been a league leader in charges drawn. He’s clearly a very physical player, both committing and drawing lots of fouls, both offensive and defensive. Player B has evolved into a pretty good energy guy, with at least some P&R capability on defense and is now noted as a very good floor runner. Player A is not a good floor runner.
Player A was essentially handed the reins of the team once he was drafted, and has (so far) been fairly inefficient with high usage. Player B never got much playing time after being drafted and currently competes against two other legitimate NBA centers on his team for playing time. He played less than 20 minutes a game last year. Player B began his career as quite inefficient offensively, but now, with a lower usage percent has very good efficiency. Player B has had much better coaching to this stage of his career than Player A.
Hopefully it’s easy to figure out who these players are. Both have been talked about quite a bit on Jazzfanz. If Player B joined the team and was competing for time with Kanter, it could create an interesting international situation in SE Europe.
In reality, because of contracts and other issues, neither is likely to be a trade the Jazz could pull off. But I just wanted to open up two issues: a) what kind of assets would be good for the Jazz moving forward with the current configuration of the team; and b) how to judge potential vs. production as well as volume vs. efficiency with young players (and perhaps the old issue of whether throwing playing time at young players is the best strategy).
EDIT: Sorry that the spacing formatting didn't work out in the stats section.
2011-12 Stats:
Big Al A B
Age (now) 27 22 23
Pts/36 20.3 21.4 12.0
Rbs/36 10.1 13.0 11.7
TS% .520 .499 .608
Asst/36 2.3 1.9 0.7
Stl/36 0.8 1.7 1.1
Blk/36 1.8 1.4 1.9
Tov/36 1.1 3.1 1.5
PF/36 2.7 4.7 4.4
Usage% 25.7 29.7 14.0
WinSh/48 .173 .104 .163
Keep in mind that Player B would likely come much more cheaply than Player A, as Player A is regarded as having great potential, while Player B is not. Player B might possibly come with some other additional helpful asset in a trade while Player A would not. Like Big Al, Player A is considered very talented around the league in large part because of his ability to draw double teams and create shots for himself on virtually any play. Player B cannot do that.
Both Player A and Player B are full-sized NBA centers. Nobody accuses them of being undersized. Both have reputations for average- to slightly-below-average athleticism. Both are perhaps average at defense, though I’ve seen some surprisingly good evaluations recently. While Player A led the NBA in fouls committed, a healthy chunk ahead of the #2 guy (Millsap), he also is reputed to have been a league leader in charges drawn. He’s clearly a very physical player, both committing and drawing lots of fouls, both offensive and defensive. Player B has evolved into a pretty good energy guy, with at least some P&R capability on defense and is now noted as a very good floor runner. Player A is not a good floor runner.
Player A was essentially handed the reins of the team once he was drafted, and has (so far) been fairly inefficient with high usage. Player B never got much playing time after being drafted and currently competes against two other legitimate NBA centers on his team for playing time. He played less than 20 minutes a game last year. Player B began his career as quite inefficient offensively, but now, with a lower usage percent has very good efficiency. Player B has had much better coaching to this stage of his career than Player A.
Hopefully it’s easy to figure out who these players are. Both have been talked about quite a bit on Jazzfanz. If Player B joined the team and was competing for time with Kanter, it could create an interesting international situation in SE Europe.
In reality, because of contracts and other issues, neither is likely to be a trade the Jazz could pull off. But I just wanted to open up two issues: a) what kind of assets would be good for the Jazz moving forward with the current configuration of the team; and b) how to judge potential vs. production as well as volume vs. efficiency with young players (and perhaps the old issue of whether throwing playing time at young players is the best strategy).
EDIT: Sorry that the spacing formatting didn't work out in the stats section.
