Amir Johnson can give you 10/10 if you play him 36 minutes provided he doesn't foul out. I haven't seen enough of Gortat to comment on him from a defensive point of view, but I'm pretty sure Dalembert is more of an interior presence than him. Plus, wouldn't you like to see Leo squirm?Ripp wrote:
Shawn Battier would be part of a winning solution for the Raptors. I would have Turkoglu on a plane to Houston already if I had any say.
I rate Marcin Gortat as a very good-to-excellent defender. It's hard to pin it down much further because he plays a lot of his minutes against inferior competition but he's done very well, sometimes extremely well, when asked to step up and handle the opposition's starters. Until Gortat gets a 30 minute a night job we won't know whether he's a very good, excellent or in between, level of defender ... but he is unquestionably a high impact defender. A lot of folks, such as JVG, rate him as a superior team defender than Dwight Howard (I disagree though).
I'd rate Dalembert as a very good defender. Gortat is a much better offensive player mainly due to his screens (one of the best screeners in the NBA both on + off the ball).
Gortat is also half the price, has improved tremendously over the past few years, and I think he has potential to improve further. He's a top 15 center and may become/develop into a top 10 center if given the opportunity.
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It doesn't look like the Magic will contemplate letting Gortat leave until the summer. He will almost definitely leave in the future due to his contract (too much to pay a 15-18 minute a night backup) but the Magic would be left short-handed at the center if he left now. It could derail the Magic's quest for a title (Gortat is their most important bench player by a massive margin).
So it doesn't look like he's going to be available for the time being but will be in the near-future ... the Raptors lack trading assets to get this done anyway. It's hard to see the Magic being overly interested in Calderon's contract with Jameer there and they clearly don't want Hedo's.
We're probably talking about Bosh, Bargnani or some combination of young talent (DeRozan) + draft picks to get Gortat out of Orlando. More value than you'd like to, expect to, give up for Gortat ... due to the Raptors mix of trade assets which don't match up easily with Orlando (financially or talent wise).
Jarrett Jack? Backup guard is the Magic's largest hole on the bench. Maybe. A little hopeful ... but maybe (doubtful but possible).
Shawn Battier would be part of a winning solution for the Raptors. I would have Turkoglu on a plane to Houston already if I had any say.
I think 28 other clubs in the league would love to have Shane as well.
Get Shane!
Oh but what would Houston look like without him?
Forget it.
DJ Augustin is in the Bobcat's doghouse right now but with Felton in a one year contract and with the posibility of him signing with other team, I don't see Charlotte trading him. Forget about Oden and Przybila, one is injured for the remainder of the season and the other will be their starting center for the rest of the season.
Gortat is waaaay too expensive, he's a good player but not 5-years-35-millions good, that's just a huge contract to take. And nobody knows how good he can be as a starter with a lot of minutes.
A nice option is Marc Gasol but the only way Memphis could deal him is if Thabeet starts to shine and I don't see that coming, at least for this season and the next.
What I think we need is a young defensive back up center who could eventually take over Rasho's spot, POB doesn't qualify for that job. Koufus is not a bad player and he's just 20 y.o. A third point guard couldn't hurt either.
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