I don't want to knock Carroll, he's having some good years and his defensive contributions are good ones. But I think it's reasonable to suggest that Middleton has been consistent so far, having similar production in his first few years to those of Carroll's later years, and his defense is not a negative either.
Carroll has always been a very good defender, and he blossomed into his offense.
Middleton has only recently become an above-average scorer (as opposed to shooter), and his defensive ability came out of nowhere this year. He was not just below-average on defense last year, but was one of the very worst defenders in the NBA.
Was that good defense an example of Middleton "getting it", is it because he's in Jason Kidd's system, or is it contract year hustle?
I have no idea. The risk isn't worth it to me. I don't buy the "the contract will be tradeable" argument. I bet people were saying that about Mark Blount, too.
I know that Carroll has always been a very good defender, it doesn't detract from the point that he didn't manage to carve out a role, or at least get the opportunity (whoever you want to paint it), until four years into the league. Probably because of his offense the blossomed as you said.
Well yeah, Middleton's offense has improved. That's kind of what happens with young players that are on the upward trend.
I really don't know what you mean about scorer as opposed to shooter with Middleton. Has he taken larger role in creating offense and scoring in more varied manners last season than the previous ones? Sure. But it also remains true that his production, scoring/shooting wise, didn't alter all that much other than improving. His TS% for example has been consistent, 53%, 54%, 56%. And again, he's been starting a bunch of games and playing 30 minutes a game since his 2nd year.
Honestly, that's as consistent as it gets from a young player in the NBA. Could he fail to meet expectations going forward? Sure, that's a good possibility as well, but also a consequence being a young player.
As for his defense, I'm not enamored by it as many here, but it's solid. Not sure what you want to attribute it to, but he's a willing defender, and that's half or more than half the battle. His main problem is foot speed and a bit on pick-and-rolls in the past. What's he's improved on is using his length and long arms to help contest and recover. From what I've seen from him (and I not going to sit here and act as I've seen him the whole season), is that he's good at staying on his feet, not biting on fakes, and using his length to bother shots, which has paid dividends from what I can see. The main point is that he shouldn't be a liability on that end. And again, 23 year old should be worth the risk, particularly with the cap going up as it's going (whether you buy into it or not). And from all I've seen, Middleton is a hard worker.
As for Mark Blount, well we DID manage to trade him. Him and the rest of the package did get us Wally Szczerbiak and a 1st round pick. Wally Szczerbiak was later used in the Ray Allen trade, and that 1st round pick was used to return it to Minnesota in the Garnett trade.
Funny how things work out sometimes.
Anyways, the point of it all is that I don't agree with the dismissiveness of Middleton's track record so far. All he's shown is that he's been consistent and improving along with it... and he's been playing big minutes.
Topic: Rumor: C's will be after Carroll this summer (Read 9134 times)