Game 42: Oklahoma City Thunder (34-6) vs. Dallas Mavericks (22-19) | 7:30pm CST

[LukaMVP]

maxi's performance in the fourth showed why he should be kept, especially if gafford got traded to upgrade our wing. maxi is still solid in defense and he can space the floor at the offensive end.

[KillerLeft]

maxi's performance in the fourth showed why he should be kept, especially if gafford got traded to upgrade our wing. maxi is still solid in defense and he can space the floor at the  offensive end.

Agree enthusiastically about the solid defense part, especially at the 5. When he's out there, everyone is capable of rotating and closing out to shooters, even against good ball movement. To me, that's literally the difference between a good defense and a bad one, as the good teams all move the ball well, and they're all trying everything they can to generate open 3's. He still protects the rim a little, too, although not as well as he used to. Still better than PJW does, or than someone like Collins would, however. He's a good "different gear" defensive center to have, imho. 

On offense...sadly, I'm starting to wonder if we can still say he spaces the floor with a straight face. To hold a defender, you have to look at the rim when the ball finds you. He's pretty good at moving the ball when it's appropriate to do so, but he also gets rid of it like a hot potato when he should be looking to shoot, which at this point I guaranteed every opponent knows. I think he can still shoot, but...will he? I have a growing skepticism that we'll ever see the Kleber who punished Utah for trying to play Gobert in a playoff series by knocking down 8 open 3's in a single game. It's a shame, because that Kleber was valuable on BOTH sides of the floor.

[BigDirk41]

Agree enthusiastically about the solid defense part, especially at the 5. When he's out there, everyone is capable of rotating and closing out to shooters, even against good ball movement. To me, that's literally the difference between a good defense and a bad one, as the good teams all move the ball well, and they're all trying everything they can to generate open 3's. He still protects the rim a little, too, although not as well as he used to. Still better than PJW does, or than someone like Collins would, however. He's a good "different gear" defensive center to have, imho. 

On offense...sadly, I'm starting to wonder if we can still say he spaces the floor with a straight face. To hold a defender, you have to look at the rim when the ball finds you. He's pretty good at moving the ball when it's appropriate to do so, but he also gets rid of it like a hot potato when he should be looking to shoot, which at this point I guaranteed every opponent knows. I think he can still shoot, but...will he? I have a growing skepticism that we'll ever see the Kleber who punished Utah for trying to play Gobert in a playoff series by knocking down 8 open 3's in a single game. It's a shame, because that Kleber was valuable on BOTH sides of the floor.

This is spot on imo. His offense is definitely a concern since he isn't a willing shooter. The defense is still there, but how long until people stop closing out on him?

[KillerLeft]

This is spot on imo. His offense is definitely a concern since he isn't a willing shooter. The defense is still there, but how long until people stop closing out on him?

They already have stopped closing out, and that's my point. He passes, even with no close out. Not a late or lazy closeout, but without ANY close out, whatsoever. That's a problem. The good news, I guess, is that it seems to be between his ears, so maybe someone can convince him to start shooting again.

EDIT: Having said that, he's definitely still a viable option, even in his current state, due to his defense, which in some ways is the best of all the team's center options. Kidd closed the game with him last night specifically because Gafford and his change of direction wasn't going to be able to hang down the stretch. The result was a win, and Kleber caused 5-7 crucial misses in the last 3-4 minutes. Those shots would've been Gafford's rotation responsibility, and I'd bet money at least a couple would've gone in had he been in the game.

[LukaMVP]

having Kleber makes gafford expendable and Kleber can still be a solid back up 5. it is when lively misses games that we may feel short handed in the paint, and we would need to find a 3rd option at C (sharp may deserve an opportunity) with gafford going elsewhere. Grimes is another asset i see that can add more value to a gafford package, but we ain't gonna give up both gafford and maxi tbh.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Jeez. Y'all are falling for the banana in the tailpipe again. Maxi has one good game in between four bad ones. That tik tik you hear is clock on his next injury. If we didn't have Gafford everyone on this board would be proposing ways to get him. A bird in hand...