Rondo/Green/Center vs Deron/Johnson/Lopez

[rutzan]

i hear most people say the nets are now contenders and we were over the hill...rondo/green compares favorably to Deron/Johnson...it really comes down to the center position...that tells you either how far way we were or how close we were...i will still argue how close we were...

[wdleehi]

i hear most people say the nets are now contenders and we were over the hill...rondo/green compares favorably to Deron/Johnson...it really comes down to the center position...that tells you either how far way we were or how close we were...i will still argue how close we were...

Except that Williams can be a go to scorer and Johnson has a better outside shot.

[Evantime34]

i hear most people say the nets are now contenders and we were over the hill...rondo/green compares favorably to Deron/Johnson...it really comes down to the center position...that tells you either how far way we were or how close we were...i will still argue how close we were...

If that's the case, then the Nets will be much worse than anticipated and the draft picks we get will be high.

[Chris]

i hear most people say the nets are now contenders and we were over the hill...rondo/green compares favorably to Deron/Johnson...it really comes down to the center position...that tells you either how far way we were or how close we were...i will still argue how close we were...

Except that Williams can be a go to scorer and Johnson has a better outside shot.

Right.  I think the Williams scoring part is key.  I won't get into a debate over Rondo versus Williams as overall players, but as scorers, there is no debate.  And at this point in Pierce and KG's careers, they really need to have other scorers around them, so they can pick their spots.  The C's didn't really have that, and it was a big issue.

[ScoobyDoo]

For the first time in his career Jeff Green is going to be playing starter minutes and will be one of our "go to guys" until we bring in a bigger name "go to guy".

I am very interested to see what Jeff Green does this season.

I wouldn't be surprised if he average 20 points, 6-7 boards, 3-4 assists and a steal or two.

I'm optimistic

[Fafnir]

i hear most people say the nets are now contenders and we were over the hill...rondo/green compares favorably to Deron/Johnson...it really comes down to the center position...that tells you either how far way we were or how close we were...i will still argue how close we were...

Except that Williams can be a go to scorer and Johnson has a better outside shot.

Right.  I think the Williams scoring part is key.  I won't get into a debate over Rondo versus Williams as overall players, but as scorers, there is no debate.  And at this point in Pierce and KG's careers, they really need to have other scorers around them, so they can pick their spots.  The C's didn't really have that, and it was a big issue.

While this is a factor I think the true difference maker for the Nets is Lopez. Having a post guy to build an offense around makes everything simpler for the Nets offensively.

[pearljammer10]

I mean center vs Lopez is an enormous advantage to the nets.

[PhoSita]

Unless the "center" on the Rondo side of this equation is Tim Duncan or Marc Gasol or Dwight Howard, it's not really close.

[wdleehi]

For the first time in his career Jeff Green is going to be playing starter minutes and will be one of our "go to guys" until we bring in a bigger name "go to guy".

I am very interested to see what Jeff Green does this season.

I wouldn't be surprised if he average 20 points, 6-7 boards, 3-4 assists and a steal or two.

I'm optimistic

He has played starter minutes plus in most of his seasons. 

[rutzan]

Joe Johnson (born June 29, 1981)
Jeff Green (born August 28, 1986)

i might give johnson a slight edge...especially since green was inconsistent last year...but...remember green wasn't supposed to be 100% for 2 years...5 years in the NBA is a long time...johnson is prob on the downside of his career and green is prob on the upside of his career...

it isn't just rondo vs deron...

rondo/green vs deron/johnson is very close no matter how you look at it...

[snively]

Lopez is an all-star center (albeit barely - only made the cut as a Rondo injury replacement).  That's a huge difference from the scraps we had to choose from with the MMLE.

That and Green played the same position as Pierce, so even if you viewed him as on par with Joe Johnson (which I don't), the fit still wouldn't be as good.

[Vermont Green]

Deron Williams had a bad year last year (at least the first half) but up until that point, he was an elite star player.  I don't know what happened to him last year, I think there were some injuries but it is certainly conceivable that he is going to bounce back to at or near that elite level.  Plus Lopez is why better than anyone we had to put out there with Garnett last year.

I think Brooklyn is stacked.  It can be hard to pull a team together in one season plus there is risk of injury especially for KG.  I look for them to be really good for 1 or 2 years, and then drop off the cliff (just in time to make our draft picks really good).

[fantankerous]

I think seven years into his career, it's time to give up the fantasy of Jeff Green's "potential."  He is and will be what he has been his entire professional career, average. 

[rutzan]

heart surgery...hello...

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/1007/joe-johnson
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3209/jeff-green

i think it will be pretty clear that green will surpass johnson as a player this year and for the rest of their careers...

i do give the different position argument some creedance...

[Vox_Populi]

If the center is Howard, then yes. If it's anyone else, then no.