Tim W. wrote:
Well, first of all, Perkins is certainly not a liability on offense. Last season, he averaged double figures in scoring while being second in the league in FG%. Sure, he's not going to create much on offense, but he's got good hands and a pretty soft touch around the basket.
And I'm not saying he's going to turn the team into a top 5 defensive team. He's certainly going to bring improvement, though. Having a true defensive big man does wonders for a team's defense. A team can cover a poor defensive guard far easier than a poor defensive big man. San Antonio has been one of the better defensive teams even with Tony Parker, who's not very good defensively, precisely because they have a solid defensive front court.
And I think you give far too much credit to Bargnani's offense. He's a good shooter for a big man, but he can't create for himself, doesn't move well without the ball and is a poor post player. He still needs someone to create for him.
Hell, per 36 mpg, Bargnani only scored 4 more ppg than Perkins last season. I really don't think the offense would suffer that much, but the improvement on defense would be fairly big.