What Happened to Leon Powe?

[Bankshot]

I wouldn't mind signing him for the minimum if JO gets healthy and Baby wants money.

I'd rather give Baby the MLE (he's proving worth it) than sign a limited player with further diminishing skills.  Baby is a big time player off the bench.  I don't want to lose that.

[Birdbrain]

He's taking up space on Clevlands bench.  He wasn't good when people thought he was good and that was prior to the injuries.  Now he's done.

[mgent]

I wouldn't mind signing him for the minimum if JO gets healthy and Baby wants money.

I'd rather give Baby the MLE (he's proving worth it) than sign a limited player with further diminishing skills.  Baby is a big time player off the bench.  I don't want to lose that.

He's probably worth it but I'd rather have Leon + cap space.

[Spilling Green Dye]

He's taking up space on Clevlands bench.  He wasn't good when people thought he was good and that was prior to the injuries.  Now he's done.

He definitely was good when people thought he was, and he's 10x the man that Glen Davis will ever be.  Its obvious that Leon's knee has really held him back, which is a shame and I wish him the best.

If Glen ever had 1/2 of the injuries that Leon has had then he probably wouldn't even be in the league under contract.

[Birdbrain]

He's taking up space on Clevlands bench.  He wasn't good when people thought he was good and that was prior to the injuries.  Now he's done.

He definitely was good when people thought he was, and he's 10x the man that Glen Davis will ever be.  Its obvious that Leon's knee has really held him back, which is a shame and I wish him the best.

If Glen ever had 1/2 of the injuries that Leon has had then he probably wouldn't even be in the league under contract.

Yes he's a better man.  I don't know what that means but, I know it has nothing to do with bball.  Leon shouldn't be in the under contract either.

I've always assumed people like yourself ignored reality of their respective talents and thought Powe was better because he lived in a car and burnt his family's house down when he was preteen.  Now it's proven. 

He was never more than a hustle guy with little to no athletic ability and no where near Glen's talent that is for sure. I've been saying that for 4 years way before the injuries.  They were never close as basketball players.

I actually think Glen is much a better person as well with Leon's comments about C's defense last year ( the only team that gave his broken down knees a chance in the first place ) prior to being eliminated very easily by the Celtics while Glen played and he rode the pine.

[indeedproceed]

He's taking up space on Clevlands bench.  He wasn't good when people thought he was good and that was prior to the injuries.  Now he's done.

He definitely was good when people thought he was, and he's 10x the man that Glen Davis will ever be.  Its obvious that Leon's knee has really held him back, which is a shame and I wish him the best.

If Glen ever had 1/2 of the injuries that Leon has had then he probably wouldn't even be in the league under contract.

Yes he's a better man.  I don't know what that means but, I know it has nothing to do with bball.  Leon shouldn't be in the under contract either.

I've always assumed people like yourself ignored reality of their respective talents and thought Powe was better because he lived in a car and burnt his family's house down when he was preteen.  Now it's proven. 

He was never more than a hustle guy with little to no athletic ability and no where near Glen's talent that is for sure. I've been saying that for 4 years way before the injuries. 

Than you've been wrong for 4 years. Leon had a much higher vertical and comparable if not better strength before the injuries, plus I'd wager he was as fast or faster down the court, and his rebounding ability was also superior, despite being shorter and smaller.

BBD has proven himself to be the wiser investment and better player, but don't go re-writing history. Leon Powe in 07/08 and 08/09 before the injury was more than just a hustle player.

[the_Bird]

When Leon Powe was here and healthy, he was a helluva better ballplayer than a lot of people want to give him credit for.  I know he struggled on the defensive end, but dude had an uncanny knack for grabbing rebounds and finishing at the rim.  Seems some people equate liking Powe's game (back then) with some kind of hatred for BBD.  I don't get it, they're two separate players who happened to be competing.

Anyway, think it's becoming more clear why Danny hesitated so much in re-signing Powe after his last injury.  I take him at his word that they loved what he brought and respected the hell out of him...   but you knew he wasn't playing last season and there was a good chance he wasn't going to ever be the same again.  Basically, Cleveland signed him to a two-year deal knowing that best-case they'd get one season out of it, and that they'd effectively only have a 14-man roster last season.

Wish him the best, but looks less and less likely he's going to stick in the League.  It's a shame.

[Birdbrain]

He's taking up space on Clevlands bench.  He wasn't good when people thought he was good and that was prior to the injuries.  Now he's done.

He definitely was good when people thought he was, and he's 10x the man that Glen Davis will ever be.  Its obvious that Leon's knee has really held him back, which is a shame and I wish him the best.

If Glen ever had 1/2 of the injuries that Leon has had then he probably wouldn't even be in the league under contract.

Yes he's a better man.  I don't know what that means but, I know it has nothing to do with bball.  Leon shouldn't be in the under contract either.

I've always assumed people like yourself ignored reality of their respective talents and thought Powe was better because he lived in a car and burnt his family's house down when he was preteen.  Now it's proven. 

He was never more than a hustle guy with little to no athletic ability and no where near Glen's talent that is for sure. I've been saying that for 4 years way before the injuries. 

Than you've been wrong for 4 years. Leon had a much higher vertical and comparable if not better strength before the injuries, plus I'd wager he was as fast or faster down the court, and his rebounding ability was also superior, despite being shorter and smaller.

BBD has proven himself to be the wiser investment and better player, but don't go re-writing history. Leon Powe in 07/08 and 08/09 before the injury was more than just a hustle player.

Again not even close. BBD might as well be Jordan in comparison with regards to athletic ability.

[Birdbrain]

When Leon Powe was here and healthy, he was a helluva better ballplayer than a lot of people want to give him credit for.  I know he struggled on the defensive end, but dude had an uncanny knack for grabbing rebounds and finishing at the rim.  Seems some people equate liking Powe's game (back then) with some kind of hatred for BBD.  I don't get it, they're two separate players who happened to be competing.

Anyway, think it's becoming more clear why Danny hesitated so much in re-signing Powe after his last injury.  I take him at his word that they loved what he brought and respected the hell out of him...   but you knew he wasn't playing last season and there was a good chance he wasn't going to ever be the same again.  Basically, Cleveland signed him to a two-year deal knowing that best-case they'd get one season out of it, and that they'd effectively only have a 14-man roster last season.

Wish him the best, but looks less and less likely he's going to stick in the League.  It's a shame.

I always rooted for him as player he tried very hard but, he had little to no athletic ability before the injuries.  The people that started the comparison were powe people because they like his hard luck story.  He went against the family last year Antoine Walker style and now I really could careless what happens to him.

[soap07]

Ouch. It's come to comparing the "manliness" of the two players?

[indeedproceed]

Again not even close. BBD might as well be Jordan in comparison with regards to athletic ability.

How do you figure? BBD was out of shape his first 2 years here, he couldn't (and still can't) jump for crap. Powe might be an average athlete for a 6'8 (probably closer to 6'6 or 6'7) guy, but he was faster, and able to jump higher than BBD, and had a comparable reach.

Glen Davis has and had better footwork, and right now he's probably the most agile 290 lb guy in the league, but that's not where he has always been. Powe was stronger while BBD was here, and he was more athletic.

[Bankshot]

He's taking up space on Clevlands bench.  He wasn't good when people thought he was good and that was prior to the injuries.  Now he's done.

He definitely was good when people thought he was, and he's 10x the man that Glen Davis will ever be.  Its obvious that Leon's knee has really held him back, which is a shame and I wish him the best.

If Glen ever had 1/2 of the injuries that Leon has had then he probably wouldn't even be in the league under contract.

But that's not the case, is it? And 10x the man?  You don't know either of those guys.

[the_Bird]

BullEdited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline..  Don't tell me WHY I liked Leon Powe.  I liked Leon Powe because he was always grabbing tough rebounds, and because he had a real knack for getting the ball in the rim down low.  I liked that he was one of the handful of the guys on the team that was always doing the dirty work down low.  I loved that he busted his tail on the court.

The backstory?  Interesting and it made you respect him as a person, but lots of NBA players have compelling backstories.  I rooted for him because I loved what I saw on the court.

Most athletic guy on the court?  Nope.  Athletic enough to carve out a nice career for himself, had the last injury not occurred?  Sure.  He would never have made it into the League if he was a 6'4" shooting guard, but not every PF *needs* to have the athleticism of Kevin Garnett to be successful.

[crownsy]

When Leon Powe was here and healthy, he was a helluva better ballplayer than a lot of people want to give him credit for.  I know he struggled on the defensive end, but dude had an uncanny knack for grabbing rebounds and finishing at the rim.  Seems some people equate liking Powe's game (back then) with some kind of hatred for BBD.  I don't get it, they're two separate players who happened to be competing.

Anyway, think it's becoming more clear why Danny hesitated so much in re-signing Powe after his last injury.  I take him at his word that they loved what he brought and respected the hell out of him...   but you knew he wasn't playing last season and there was a good chance he wasn't going to ever be the same again.  Basically, Cleveland signed him to a two-year deal knowing that best-case they'd get one season out of it, and that they'd effectively only have a 14-man roster last season.

Wish him the best, but looks less and less likely he's going to stick in the League.  It's a shame.

I always rooted for him as player he tried very hard but, he had little to no athletic ability before the injuries.  The people that started the comparison were powe people because they like his hard luck story.  He went against the family last year Antoine Walker style and now I really could careless what happens to him.

Thats not true at all. "no athletic ability before the injuries?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9J3BVaFSkg

looks like he's kinda athletic to me there  

I agree davis is the more versatile player and some people were drawn to leon for other reasons than strictly what he did on the court, but lets not engage in ridiculous revisionist history and try to paint it like a scrub vs. actual player argument.

He was plenty athletic and explosive at the rim, thats why people liked him over baby, because he could finish strong at the rim and was a much better rebounder with his athleticism than davis is to this day, even with his improved athleticism due to weight control.

Baby has improved his ups thanks to dropping weight, post game and has added a reliable 15 footer and his amazing ability to take charges with his quick feet but at the time it was a pretty close comparison between the two players. It came down to what you wanted

Hard nose rebounder/post player who finished at the rim

or

finess post player who finished with his body getting blue sky/ better rotation defender

[KCattheStripe]

Again not even close. BBD might as well be Jordan in comparison with regards to athletic ability.

How do you figure? BBD was out of shape his first 2 years here, he couldn't (and still can't) jump for crap. Powe might be an average athlete for a 6'8 (probably closer to 6'6 or 6'7) guy, but he was faster, and able to jump higher than BBD, and had a comparable reach.

Glen Davis has and had better footwork, and right now he's probably the most agile 290 lb guy in the league, but that's not where he has always been. Powe was stronger while BBD was here, and he was more athletic.

Athletic ability isn't all vert.