Center Position Moving forward

[mrsaints]

I am not sure if I am completely sold on Omer as the starter going forward. If we offer and he accept a contract in the 5 to 7.5 mil for 3 years then absolutely sign him. However, if we offer him somewhere in the 8 to 10.5 then for me I would feel like we are getting taken. He is all that he is going to be as a player and he is only marginal at best. He uses his body well to get good position for rebounds and anchor the post position with block outs and contest shots.

His hand are not good at all which is a liability on both ends really, but is exacerbated on offense. His mobility and rate in which he moves prevent him from being a long term starter to me.

I like his attitude now but I have seen his dark side last year when he was replaced in the starting lineup by Dwight Howard last year.

I know that Dell somethings admit when he has made a bad trade and reverse course like in the Jerryd Bayless trade. I hope to see a similar outcome here.

(1)I would like to see a trade for javale mcgee (if he is ready to play) for Omer or miles Plumlee for 2 second rounds and Babbit or Whithey. (2)Or wait until the season end and offer Hassan whiteside 3.5 - 5 mil per for two years third year player option.

I understand that the center position is hard to fill and but also committing to much resources(money) to the wrong person is just bad juju.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3414/omer-asik

[Pelicans78]

I think Ajinca could do fine as a starter.

[speedyG]

Ajinca is only good in spurts, guy is too goofy. Omer does his job about as good as anyone, but it would be nice to have a C with a little more post game and solid D

[al m337]

I think Ajinca could do fine as a starter.

Ajinça is doing just fine where he's at backing up Asik giving good minutes while he's in letting Asik get a breather

[PhilJFry]

If Ajinca was a starter he would foul out often. 6.3 fouls per 36 this year and 7 per 36 on his career. And I would think that number would increase if he's playing against starters.

[RaisingTheBar]

I think Ajinca could do fine as a starter.

I like Ajinca but he is best at what he currently is...a backup center. There's nothing wrong with that.

[HornetGuru]

Whiteside is under contract.

Anyways I want kosta koufas.

[lsutigers33]

Ajinca is only good in spurts, guy is too goofy. Omer does his job about as good as anyone, but it would be nice to have a C with a little more post game and solid D

or at least hold on to the ball when he gets the pass under the bucket. we have to get more production from that position if we keep playing the high pick and roll with AD. 12pts/game and 70% from the FT line would make me happy.

[ajrochel]

Asik has some pluses and minuses but there would be a big hole unless we let him walk for a upgrade replace. That replacement is Ajinca yet.... so i would say we maybe sign him to a shorter deal and then see or find a big replacement.

[HornetGuru]

or at least hold on to the ball when he gets the pass under the bucket. we have to get more production from that position if we keep playing the high pick and roll with AD. 12pts/game and 70% from the FT line would make me happy.

Asking a center to shoot 70% from the line is like asking a shooting guard to shoot 95%

[Drew&Jrue]

Whiteside is under contract.

Anyways I want kosta koufas.

I like Koufos too. Asik is better but will probably demand about 5 million more and he's not THAT much better. Dream offseason, sign Danny green/damarre caroll and Koufos with Asik's money then sign a backup pg with the mid level.

[speedyG]

I think Withey has more potential as a starter than Ajinca.

[28sinan]

Next years salary cap is projected to be @$66.300.000

You guys have Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Ryan Anderson, Anthony Davis, Quincy Pondexter under contract and I would assume Eric Gordon will not get out of his contract. So your cap hit would be @$55.796.877

Than there would be Omer Asik, Jeff Withey, Alexis Ajinca and Luke Babbitt with cap holds. A total of $15.603.797

If you add up the cap hit of the players that are here next season and the cap holds that brings you over the cap. That would mean no cap space but the NON-TAXPAYER MID-LEVEL EXCEPTION($5.464.000) and the BI-ANNUAL EXCEPTION($2.139.000)

There is the possibility to get under the cap but therefore the rights for Asik, Withey, Ajinca and Babbitt has to be renounced. But that doesn't mean you have the difference between $66.300.000 and $55.796.877! You would have to add 6 x $525.093(League minimum) because you guys would have just 6 players under contract. That would leave you with $7.352.565 in cap space and the ROOM MID-LEVEL EXCEPTION($2.814.000)

So what it comes down to is:

Asik + NON-TAXPAYER MID-LEVEL EXCEPTION + BI-ANNUAL EXCEPTION

or

CAP SPACE($7.352.565) + ROOM MID-LEVEL EXCEPTION

Will the player you get for <$7.5 million be better than Asik and the player you get w/ the full MLE? I doubt that.

[DroopyDawg]

^ Thanks for breaking that down. Let's see who becomes available, then I'll be able to answer that last question.

[SaintPelican225]

I think Dell will be able to bring Asik back for 8.5 to 9.5 with raises. The would be less than his cap hold. That would allow Dell to be a little more creative in free agency.

[Tinman]

I like Koufos too. Asik is better but will probably demand about 5 million more and he's not THAT much better. Dream offseason, sign Danny green/damarre caroll and Koufos with Asik's money then sign a backup pg with the mid level.

I think Asik fits fine w/us for 7 mill ! Centers on Teams worth a crop !
Chandler 31 min. 10.5 & 12 ---
Howard 32.5 min 16 & 11 ------
Gasol, M. 34.5 min 19 & 8 ----
Duncan 25 min. 15 & 10 ----
Bogut 25 min. 9 & 7-----
Jordan 33.5 min 10 & 15 -----
Gasol, P, 35 min. 18 & 11 ------
Valucianus 26 min. 13 & 9-----
Gortat 30 min 12.5 & 8 -----
Horford 30 min 15.5 & 7 -----
Omer Asik 25 min 7.5 & 10 ---- plays an average of 7 minutes less per game ! With AD on the team, I think 10 rebounds is most impressive OA isnt here to score ! Evans, Gordan, AD & Ryno are for that !

[djrnno]

Ok you folks with more B ball knowledge than me tell me . Is Ajinca's main problem getting into foul trouble ? Cause to me it looks like his offensive skill set is pretty good . He seems to play OK to pretty good D and from what I see he has improved pretty much over last yr. From what I have heard this past offseason is the first time he has ever been in a weight room. Maybe he's not ready to be a starter , but if he improves at this rate , could he be a starter on this team say next yr or the year after?

[Caffeinedisastr]

Ok you folks with more B ball knowledge than me tell me . Is Ajinca's main problem getting into foul trouble ? Cause to me it looks like his offensive skill set is pretty good . He seems to play OK to pretty good D and from what I see he has improved pretty much over last yr. From what I have heard this past offseason is the first time he has ever been in a weight room. Maybe he's not ready to be a starter , but if he improves at this rate , could he be a starter on this team say next yr or the year after?

Ajinca's biggest problems are fouling and foot movement on defense. (the latter usually leads to the former)
That and his lack of strength for his position.

He's got offensive skills and a soft touch.
I hope he can improve in the deficiencies, but I don't really see him being a starter in the league.

[DefensiveMind]

Asik is not the biggest problem. Perimeter D, quality Depth, Health, Continuity, Eric Gordon's Contract to name a few are things off the top of my head that are bigger problems. You have to ask yourself a couple of questions here:

What problems does Asik solve?

What problems does he create?

Clearly, his biggest problem is offensive. Poor hands, bad timing, very robotic, etc... He hurts spacing, sucks as a dump off for our drives, is a poor free throw shooter, lacks an effective post move... yet we are still top 8 in offense efficiency... that's contender quality if you are scoring at home.

On D, the evidence is more murky, but if you listen to the guys at Bird Writes, there is a strong possibility that Asiks D on this team is being undersold a tad. One thing is clear, AD is not a full time center yet, and its hard to argue that Asik's ability to eat 25-30 mins a night against bigger players hasn't had a positive impact on AD.

Bottomline is, as 28sinan has pointed out as well as others before him.. Based on what this team needs you would be hard pressed to create a scenario where we let Asik walk, replace him, and still fill the holes on this team that clearly out rank what Asik doesn't do.

[speedyG]

Ajinca is too spastic and inconsistent, and he cant matchup with some of the bulkier C's. Good backup but wouldn't wanna rely on him to start

[joetzeng]

I find it hard to believe that Dell would just admit he made a mistake like that. He'll take lots of heat if we traded a lottery pick just for one year rental. IMO we probably re-sign him and trade him in if he doesn't fit in the future plans.

[joetzeng]

And no, Anjica is not a starter in this league. Can't afford your starter to play 3 minutes before he gets in foul trouble every game.

[Drew&Jrue]

I find it hard to believe that Dell would just admit he made a mistake like that. He'll take lots of heat if we traded a lottery pick just for one year rental. IMO we probably re-sign him and trade him in if he doesn't fit in the future plans.

Very good point. First rounder is too big of a price tag to just let him walk. But it's not hard to make a case against resigning him.. Whatevs I like the big turkey, gobble gobble

[joetzeng]

Very good point. First rounder is too big of a price tag to just let him walk. But it's not hard to make a case against resigning him.. Whatevs I like the big turkey, gobble gobble

In my opinion as fans we can have all the talks about whether or not Asik can fit next to Davis for the next 3-5 years, but as a GM is an entirely different story. Dell gave up a first round pick with the assumption that he'd be a perfect fit, even if he has a different opinion now, I just find it difficult to believe that he'd just let him walk for nothing. If we have a new GM before FA, I can see Asik leave, but with Dell, I'm willing to bet he'll re-sign him unless someone throws a crazy deal.

[Mythrol]

I find it hard to believe that Dell would just admit he made a mistake like that. He'll take lots of heat if we traded a lottery pick just for one year rental. IMO we probably re-sign him and trade him in if he doesn't fit in the future plans.

Who says its a mistake? Has no one else noticed the absolute beating Asik takes every game? Now imagine AD being the one getting hit. I don't think Asik was a mistake at all.