There are a couple of points I'd like to make here. 1). I guess that we can cross Charlotte off the list of potential landing places for Evan Turner
2). While everyone says that this is a great move by the Hornets, I think it's important to point out that their locker room now contains Lance Stephenson and PJ Hairston. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, imo, no matter how much Lance has matured (which he has). Do they have room for Boozer? Their front court's defense would be atrocious lol, but it could be devastating offensively between Boozer and Big Al.
Personally, I think that Lance should have stayed in Indiana. This is a huge loss for the Pacers, especially because he was, essentially, their point guard last season. George worked on his ball handling last summer, and once he goes back and looks at the tapes of the games vs Miami, he'll see that he still needs to put in a lot more of work (which shouldn't be a problem bc he's a very hard worker). I think he turned it over every time he tried to split a trap, in the regular and post season. You can easily counter Miami's trapping strategy off of the pick and roll, but Vogel seemed unable to implement it. There's nothing new here - all he needs to do is go back and watch the 92 and 93 series between the Knicks and Bulls.
Lastly, although Hill's contract is horrendous, it was not Bird who gave him that deal - it was Kevin Pritchard, I believe, once Larry resigned for a year to deal with some health concerns, if I remember correctly (hope he's okay, btw). When he made that trade on draft night, Larry knew how good Kawhi Leonard was going to be, so it was understandably very difficult for him to make such a deal, but he needed a point guard. This is easily one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory, imo. My question is this - yes, the Pacers needed a point guard. It was the lockout season, and they already had Nick Collison on their team, but they could have, imo, not only picked up a great veteran point guard, but also kept their draft pick. The guy who would have come cheap was Aaron Brooks, and he would have been a perfect fit, imho. He's played well in big playoff games, is super quick, a great shooter, and can make plays for himself and his teammates. His veteran leadership might have also helped, in addition to West. It's important to remember here too, that George was at the 2, Granger was obviously their 3, and West and Hibbert were down low. Add Aaron Brooks to that lineup and it would have been deadly - they might have beaten Miami with that first 5 that year, who knows.
Now, the other important factor here is who do they select with that draft pick? 2 spots after Indiana's, the Knicks took Iman Shumpert. How does he fit in? Perfectly. In 2012-13, with Granger being out, Paul George moves to his true position at small forward, and Stephenson begins starting at the 2, even though, again, he was really their main playmaker. Originally, Indiana was built to beat Chicago, and who guarded Derrick Rose better than anyone not named Rondo or Lebron? Shumpert. Move Stephenson to the 1, Shumpert to the 2, George to the 3, with West and Hibbert up front as well, and WOW
Offensively and defensively, that team could have annihilated the Heat. Their defense was already outstanding to start the year last season - now imagine them with Shumpert. Even against OKC, you've got 2 great defensive guards to throw at Westbrook, and 3 great ones to guard Durant, and that's pretty scary lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgdr2xr2qVM
Topic: Stephenson signs with Charlotte (Read 18708 times)