Sabonis was the Fish that got away

[wiley]

He's still in the pond.  Maybe later we'll fish over there...or instead go for bigger fish.

[Sophomore]

f you are Indy and can get Haliburton and Hield, do you say "no" I'll take Smart, Grant, and Romeo/Richardson, a late first and a swap that may never happen? 

I doubt it -- I think you'd need Brown.  And then you'd leave a hole as big as the one you filled.

It’s all about fit. Sabonis is an all star and a big. We’ve proven we can add decent wings. Smart, Brown, Tatum…..4 & 5 men (positions) are harder to come by. That’s why I don’t view Brown as a huge hole to fill. Especially since Smart can guard up at Browns position.

Besides, Tatum has the ball in his hands more than Brown. You turn to Jason, not Brown. Sabonis screening, passing, and rebounding is a better fit for this team. He’s exactly who we needed to get better.

Sabonis has been an all star in the past. He isn’t this year, and Brown was at least tied with him or ahead this year.

Brown and Tatum are both two-way players. There is a synergy you get when there are no weak links on defense. Sabonis - who is a minus defender, not neutral - would cost us the elite defense that is currently winning games. He is not quick enough to switch and not big enough to offer resistance to opposing centers. Maybe they’ll score more - but they will need to, just to tread water.

The defense is currently elite, and the team is starting to develop an identity. I don’t like the idea of trying to become somethibg else midstream except for an all-NBA player - and Sabonis is not close to that - he’s a lateral to downward move w/r/t Brown. They need a little more time to gel/grow on offense, and a little more roster improvement over the offseason.

[Moranis]

The obsession with Sabonis on this site is really quite odd.

I agree while he is a productive NBA player he has never performed in the playoffs and is at best a neutral defender.

His career stats are remarkably similar to Kanter/Freedoms with Sabonis being an inferior rebounder but superior passer.

 https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=kanteen01&player_id1=sabondo01&sum=0&request=1

He is a very good NBA player and fringe all-star but to even think about trading Brown for him is a major mistake when trying to building a playoff winning NBA team.

He is in year 6 and his first 3 he was a bench role player.  Not a very honest comparison in that regard.  His last 3 seasons he is 19.2 p, 12. r, 5.6 a with a steal, shooting 58.9% from 2, 30.6% from 3, and 73% from 1 playing 35.1 mpg.  That is no where near the same type of player as Freedom. 

You can do the same thing with Brown also as his career averages are 16.1 p, 4.9 r, and 1.9 a, but if you look at just his last 3 he is at 22.8 p, 6.3 r, 2.9 a.  Which way gives a better picture of the type of player Jaylen Brown actually is.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Gotta say he looked really good in Kings uniform.

[bogg]

Sabonis is perfectly good, but once Sacramento put Tyrese on the table you were only getting Sabonis with Jaylen, and that doesn't make any sense (and forces you to scramble to flip Horford to balance the roster). Name of the game is adding to the current core, not playing musical chairs.

[Celtics4ever]

How about enjoying some of the best basketball we've seen this season with the White Smart Brown  Tatum and Rob lineup?

We simply did not have the assets to get Sabonis.  Haliburton and Buddy are way better than what we could offer and it would have took Brown.  I had a man crush on him as well but it was not in the stars.   Stevens is working hard to fix the mess than Danny left.

It's water under the bridge...