Should We Sign Timofey Mozgov $3.1m Only? (RFA) Back-Up Center

[kozlodoev]

That's the reason why half of the foreign centers just never pan out in the NBA.

What percentage of American centers just never pan out in the NBA?

Percentage-wise, probably larger (mostly because the initial pool is considerably larger). But then, of course, this is just a guess. In any case, they're better prepared for the NBA game, if only marginally.

Still, this is kind of unrelated to the fallacy of the "I saw him in the Olympics, he never left the paint and he was GREAT" argument.

[LooseCannon]

The Celtics should be looking for a big who can either defend beyond the paint or has offense beyond the paint, preferably both.  That's more important than being an above-average rebounder or shot-blocker.

A big who "clogs the middle" because he never leaves it is not a good fit for the Celtics.  As long as Doc is the coach, an undersized but mobile big is probably a better option than a stereotypical 7-foot stiff.

Speaking specifically of Mozgov, he seems to be a somewhat athletic but clumsy, foul-prone big man with bad hands who can finish.  He has the ability to hit a mid-range jumper, something he would probably be called on to do more often if he became a Celtics, be he seems to be consistently criticized for poor fundamentals.

He seems to me like he can be a decent back-up center, but it would be a mistake to look at him as a potential future starter, so signing him with anything approaching the full MLE seems like a poor allocation of resources.

[krook]

some teams see some potential on him, bulls release fesenko, now they want mozgov, timberwolves wants him, i think even new orleans, and offcourse miami,  and next season not sure if teams bids for him more than 4 million, that's too much

[kozlodoev]

Speaking specifically of Mozgov, he seems to be a somewhat athletic but clumsy, foul-prone big man with bad hands who can finish.  He has the ability to hit a mid-range jumper, something he would probably be called on to do more often if he became a Celtics, be he seems to be consistently criticized for poor fundamentals.

You pretty much described Shavlik Randolph...

[LooseCannon]

Shavlik Randolph for the minimum may be a better idea than Mozgov for the full MLE.