06-27-2021, 10:09 PM
(06-27-2021, 04:37 PM)StepBackJay Wrote: Conley will probably stay with Utah unless you ovepray him and he is kind of a stop-gap being as old as he is. I would rather have DeRozan who is younger (31 v 33) and isn't injured a lot like Conley. I agree that Conley's on-court fit is good but I think have 2 guys as talented as DMR and Luka would solve more problems than they create. DMR has such a high floor I think you could trade him pretty easily if the fit isn't there.
A lot of people bring up spacing issues with DMR because he doesn't shoot 3's but I think those concerns are over-stated. There are real space-problem players like a WCS player who you totally don't respect beyond 2 feet from the basket.
A guy like DMR attracts gravity, just like good shooters including much maligned KP who does stretch the floor. Luka himself creates a ton of gravity because you have 4/5 defenders needing to have eyes on him when he has the ball. Having a 2nd guy like DMR running around (hopefully he would move without the ball) could on paper cause a lot of havoc defensively. Luka doesn't do a lot of off-ball stuff but his defender will always stay home on him bc he is so dangerous as a shooter and playmaker.
I haven't watched DMR enough off-ball to know what he does but I imagine they would try to put him in advantageous positions to make the defense scramble.
You are probably right that the spacing concern is probably overdone. The defensive concern is not. Someone posted a stat a while ago showing who has the toughest defensive assignments and who has the easiest. Both Luka and DeRozan were two of the most hidden/protected defenders in the NBA. That is going to be tough to cover for. You are going to want two defensive minded wings and an anchor in the middle to support that. Neither KP or THJ fit that description. I feel like you would need to overhaul the roster to make that work (there is an argument that the roster needs overhauling regardless).
Also, I just can't get over his career on/off numbers. A guy who's teams are regularly better when he is off the court does not scream to me 20+ mil a year.