Restricted Free Agent: The Poor Man's Kevin Love, Ryan Anderson

[LooseCannon]

If there's one restricted free agent I think the Celtics should consider chasing after, it's Ryan Anderson.  A stretch four with a post-up game and good offensive rebounding skills, he's described as a "poor man's Kevin Love" in this post on a Magic blog.  If you don't read the article, it says that he is better than Rashard Lewis in his final full season in Orlando, better at posting up and better at defense (especially on isolations and in the post).  It also describes Anderson as a poor man's Kevin Love, inferior in defensive rebounding and ability to create his own shot, but similar in most other ways.

Like Love, Anderson put up great per 36 minute stats in limited playing time that seem to have only gotten better with an increased role.  One may also wonder if Anderson's defensive rebounds will increase without Dwight Howard hoovering the ball.

I believe that a stretch four fits in with the plans of Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge.  Whether or not Anderson will be sign-able depends on where Dwight Howard ends up and how much Orlando values Anderson if Howard is gone.

[bfrombleacher]

I want Love. I want a solid true big   

Rondo can work bigs like they were extensions of himself. Wilcox has been putting up insane numbers and Shaq has been playing some of his best basketball since Miami because of Rondo. Imagine Rondo with just a solid center, not Dwight, just a solid big.

[Change]

Another jump shooting big is exactly what the Celtics need. *Sarcastic remark

I'm not too sure about Ryan Anderson. My first impression is that he is a product of system. Orlando shooters get wide open shot because of Dwight Howard. If you take Dwight away from him, How would Ryan fair?

[byennie]

If there's one restricted free agent I think the Celtics should consider chasing after, it's Ryan Anderson.  A stretch four with a post-up game and good offensive rebounding skills, he's described as a "poor man's Kevin Love" in this post on a Magic blog.  If you don't read the article, it says that he is better than Rashard Lewis in his final full season in Orlando, better at posting up and better at defense (especially on isolations and in the post).  It also describes Anderson as a poor man's Kevin Love, inferior in defensive rebounding and ability to create his own shot, but similar in most other ways.

Like Love, Anderson put up great per 36 minute stats in limited playing time that seem to have only gotten better with an increased role.  One may also wonder if Anderson's defensive rebounds will increase without Dwight Howard hoovering the ball.

I believe that a stretch four fits in with the plans of Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge.  Whether or not Anderson will be sign-able depends on where Dwight Howard ends up and how much Orlando values Anderson if Howard is gone.

For the right price, this could definitely be a sneaky pickup. I'd say that Orlando ought to know better, but this IS Otis Smith we're talking about.

Looking carefully at his numbers, it's a closer comparison than you might think.

* He actually grabs offensive rebounds at a higher rate than Love
* He takes and makes more 3PTs by a significant margin, incredible
* Obscenely low turnovers

These are Love's numbers:
25.5 PPG, 14 RPG (4.1 OFF), 18 FGA, 2.7 TO

These are Anderson's after making the following adjustment - project to the same minutes (31 => 39), and add 20% more rebounds (the Dwight Factor):

21.2 PPG, 10.8 RPG (5.3 OFF), 15.6 FGA, 0.6 TO

I also noticed that Anderson has grabbed more defensive rebounds per 40 in previous seasons, as Howard has been really cleaning up there this year (12 defensive per game!).

[theswitch]

Another jump shooting big is exactly what the Celtics need. *Sarcastic remark

I'm not too sure about Ryan Anderson. My first impression is that he is a product of system. Orlando shooters get wide open shot because of Dwight Howard. If you take Dwight away from him, How would Ryan fair?

I do agree, but it's hard to say because Orlando has no center to pair him with other than Dwight. However, I will say that Orlando scores 113 per 48 minutes with him on the court, and 92 with him off the court. They also let up 3 extra points. Not sure how to read into that, but it's worth noting. He's holding opposing PFs to a 12 PER and Synergy rates him pretty impressively on defense as well.

The 2 Pick draft might be carrying over a little bit here, but I wouldn't write Anderson quite off as a product of the system because his defensive numbers and impact on the team are pretty noteworthy. I could see a team overpaying for him, though. It's certainly a wildcard.

[LooseCannon]

Another jump shooting big is exactly what the Celtics need. *Sarcastic remark

I'm not too sure about Ryan Anderson. My first impression is that he is a product of system. Orlando shooters get wide open shot because of Dwight Howard. If you take Dwight away from him, How would Ryan fair?

I actually do think the Celtics need a jump shooting big who can replace Garnett.  That seems to me like something you would want if you are building a team to fit around Rajon Rondo.

There's a reasonable argument out there that Ryan Anderson does a lot of the same things but better than Rashard Lewis did in his best years playing next to Dwight Howard, so Anderson could be better than Lewis was in his best years in Seattle before he went to Orlando.  Ultimately, that's something that has to be determined by scouts who watch more basketball than I do.  We also have data from Anderson's rookie year with the Nets, so someone with access to that can perhaps notice what he had going for him at that age.  He shot 36.5% as a 20-year-old rookie big on a losing team, a number you would expect to go up as his career progresses, whether or not he is on a team with Dwight Howard.

Anderson is still only 23, let's not forget, so he presumably has some upside.  He's never played more than 66 games in a season and he never had more than 22 minutes per game before this season, so there is some uncertainty there.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Another jump shooting big is exactly what the Celtics need. *Sarcastic remark

I'm not too sure about Ryan Anderson. My first impression is that he is a product of system. Orlando shooters get wide open shot because of Dwight Howard. If you take Dwight away from him, How would Ryan fair?

Agree on this. But the good part of it is that it opens it up for Rondo. We knwo what Rondo can do with an open lane. It'll be pick your poison if Anderson is on board. But I still agree. If we can't have a guy who can command some attention in the paint, Anderson will have a hard time being open.

[CFAN38]

he would be a great addition

[kozlodoev]

I'd love someone who plays on both ends of the floor. I'd also rather wait out the season than overpay someone from the scrap heap.

[CFAN38]

I'd also rather wait out the season

he isnt a FA right now, we would have to wait out the season to sign him

[RJ87]

The guy I think we should pursue this offseason is Spencer Hawes. He'll actually be unrestricted and I think he could provide a good paint presence with Rondo.

And depending on what happens with NJN and D12, we could also look at Brook Lopez.

[stylo617617]

no ,he's a jumpshooter he can do some other things but if he isnt knocking down his shots how good is he? i hope danny dosent commit on guys like this long term or even short term

[Who]

No interest -- Ryan Anderson is someone you sign when the rest of your lineup is in place. Not a piece you build around.

[LooseCannon]

No interest -- Ryan Anderson is someone you sign when the rest of your lineup is in place. Not a piece you build around.

I think he's the complementary piece that you go after if you build around Rondo, so I'm not envisioning building a team around Anderson.  I think you absolutely need to have at least one starting big who is a good jump shooter if you are going with a Rondo-driven team.

[Jon]

No interest -- Ryan Anderson is someone you sign when the rest of your lineup is in place. Not a piece you build around.

Exactly. It'd be putting the cart before the horse. You get your stars of thr future first, then role players, not the other way around.