Gortat?
by Auswolf on Dec 4, 2009 3:20 PM CST
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According to RealGM, Marcin Gortat is unhappy making enormous amounts of money for very little playing time.
Defensive minded big man making the MLE: is he worth a trade?
And do we have something a team in contention mode would want? For all the teams looking at their cap situation, the Magic would seem quite unbothered by the lux tax threshold, so they may well be looking for a player to have a substantial role rather than taking on an expiring.
Landing Gortat would also substantially sink a free agent push in the offseason, so we would be throwing all our eggs in the draft basket for a wing unless we could engineer a sign and trade.
Thoughts?
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Well, you could send out salary
say Sessions and Hollins/Gomes. I think we’d come out ahead almost 2 million on 2010 cap space if it were Gomes and Sessions and even if it’s Sessions and Hollins. Depends on if you value Gortat like Mark Cuban I suppose.
Nah, I don't think so
Gortat is exactly the kind of guy who looks great when he’s making a million bucks, not so much when he’s making 6 million. I suppose if you could send out future salary, like Esohny suggests, it makes it more palatable, but I think I’d rather have Sessions in the present and near future.
Interesting
At some point we’re going to need to bite the bullet and find a traditional Center, which always comes at a steep premium. Guys like Howard, Bynum, and Oden aren’t going anywhere for a long time and we simply don’t have anyone that can match up with those guys. What makes me leery about Gortat is that he’s mostly done his damage playing against other backups. How does his defense and game look playing against some of the elites?
I agree
Gortat was an interesting option early in the off season, when obtaining him really would have cost the team nothing more than money (which is easier for us fans to dismiss). But is he any better than some upcoming prospect (such as Aldrich)? We do need someone, but Gortat had more shine when he was a relative unknown than a possibly overpaid reserve.
Aldrich
Pros to drafting Aldrich:
- We get a big man at the price of a rookie contract. No premium payment required.
- He should be pretty refined with 3 years of big time ball under his belt at an elite program.
- Seems to display a similar build and ruggedness of say, Kendrick Perkins. He may not be elite, but his floor seems pretty high too.
- Would allow us to trade Pekovic’s rights for another asset (not that we still can’t do that, but drafting Aldrich would seal the deal).
Cons:
- Virtually no chance at becoming a star. We’d be using a lottery pick on a positional need. Guys like Favors, Turner, Wall, etc., etc. would probably be the BTA’s (best talents available).
- Rookie bigs get shafted by the refs and take forever to really learn how to defend. We’d have to wait until Year 2 or 3 for him to truly make a significant impact.
Personally, I’d love Aldrich, but unless someone like Flynn suddenly explodes into an all-star caliber player this season, it would be tough to avoid some of these other high upside guys.
by Rascal Flatts on Dec 4, 2009 5:05 PM CST up reply actions
I'd love to get Aldrich, but...
Gortat gives you essentially those same Pros and Cons, with the only difference being paying an extra $3 million/year versus getting to use our top pick on someone else. If he’s available, that’s a significantly more appealing option.
I’m going to paste some of the Gortat stuff I wrote on a different board here in a second.
Don't disagree
I think we’ll find ourselves having to draft the BTA and Aldrich won’t make the cut for where we’ll be drafting. But I am in total agreement with you that we still need a legit Center.
by Rascal Flatts on Dec 4, 2009 5:28 PM CST up reply actions
Part 1: The Trade
Ramon Sessions + Ryan Hollins for Marcin Gortat
It would almost have to be this. Gortat is BYC, which means that it’s tricky to get the salary matching right. Orlando isn’t looking for expirings.
For Orlando: they need another point guard while Jameer Nelson is injured, plus Jason Williams isn’t a long term solution as a backup anyway. Hollins is a much cheaper backup and wouldn’t complain about his 12 minutes/night.
For Minnesota:
Gortat would complete their frontcourt rotation, providing the length, mobility, and shot-blocking that Al and Love lack. He’s not overpaid if you’re giving him 30 minutes/night. Acquiring him means they don’t need to spend their draft pick on Cole Aldrich and can trade the redundant Nikola Pekovic for something else. Best of all, the deal doesn’t affect the Wolves’ 2010 cap space.
Part 2: Further Gortat Pimping
If we’re ever going to be competitive, this team will need a true center for certain matchups. Ideally, it would be someone approaching starter quality, while not being so good as to need more than MLE money, as we still have a lot invested in Al and Love. Gortat hits all the check marks, not just in terms of money but in playing style as well.
Give Al and Love 34 minutes/night, give the other 28 to Gortat. Gortat’s career Per28 minutes production:
8.2 points/9.3 rebounds/1.8 blocks with good D and .548 FG%.
How is that not exactly what we need as a third big with Al and Love? You make this trade and then forget about your frontcourt for the next 8 years, with $15 million in cap space and multiple draft picks to be used to upgrade the other 3 positions.
Probably still need a 4th guy in there of Hollins' ilk
This frontcourt helps resolve one problem – that of competing against some of the bigger frontcourts – but it also leaves us with a big hole in terms of guarding the Chris Bosh types of the NBA. That’s not saying Hollins is doing great in this regard, but Kahn had the right idea here. The problem with Jefferson and Love is that they are both undersized AND somewhat slow footed for their respective positions. It’s just a horrible dilemma for us defensively, despite their respective offensive and rebounding skills. Gortat helps us in one area, but we are still exposed against the long and quick face-up 4’s.
by Rascal Flatts on Dec 4, 2009 5:26 PM CST up reply actions
that statline looks great in 28 minutes, but is a bit tricky to relate to the rest of the league, so people might miss exactly how great gortat is on the glass. in his first two seasons, he grabbed an amazing 14.0 and 13.0 per 36, and a ridiculous 22.5 and 20.3 total rebounding percentage. he’s a spectacular rebounder.
a frontline rotation of gortat, love, and jefferson would be absolutely phenomenal on the boards. given his defensive ability, his uber reasonable contract and his efficient scoring, i’d definitely make the sessions/hollins deal. you’d need the draft to upgrade the backcourt, but that need already exists and hopefully, rubio will be arriving in the not too distant future.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
A simple problem
Orlando matched a fairly big offer to keep him. They must have long term plans for him or think they can get something significant for Gortat. I believe Hollins came from Dallas, if Orlando was interested they could have done a sign and trade for him. Whether he would help the Wolves or not I bet Orlando’s asking price is too high.
Hollins wouldn't get a single minute for a contender. Not one.
I doubt Orlando would consider Ryan a suitable replacement for Gortat.
Judd: "...I've since watched some Steven Seagal movies and I realise that pressure points are no laughing matter.".
For what it's worth...
I got a “trade accepted” from the Orlando RealGM posters who I talked to.
They might intend to keep Gortat for some amount of time, but the full length of his contract will cost them ~$68 million after the luxury tax. I don’t care how good he is, if you can only give him 12 minutes a night, it aint worth it. Ultimately, they intended to trade him for some sort of value. Sessions could be that value.
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