What's up with Brandan Wright?

[sofutomygaha]

Stop with these myths, guys. Wright is not seven feet tall like someone said, and there isn't a shred of evidence that he has ever been a good all-around interior defender.

What he is is one of the best finishers in the NBA and an amazingly quick, agile pick-and-roll player with tremendous reach, hops, and hands.

Don't look at his offensive efficiency metrics and start thinking that he's an all-arounder. That way of thinking leads to the dark side. That way leads to a closet full of gold gloves for Derek Jeter.

[Celtics4ever]

I"m obviously a TarHeels fan. I loved him in college.

It's ok, no one is perfect.

[Rosco917]

When I look at Sully and KO, sometimes I wonder what the reality of them being the foundation of a contending team is. Both suffer from the same limitations.

Wright would look much better, if he was paired with one of the two mentioned above.

[Chris22]

He's not a good nba player?

Wright is better than Olynyk and Sullinger.

He has length and he can defend the paint.

But it is just like Humphries, he's a good player, but Danny is committed to Olynyk and Sullinger.

Probably because Olynyk and Sullinger have the capacity to get better than they are now, which is probably not the case with Brandon Wright.

Olynyk is slow and Sullinger is short.

Is Olynyk going to get faster and Sullinger is going to grow?

[Rosco917]

Unless Sully decides to get into serious condition, his ceiling is close to being reached. 

[incoherent]

He's not a good nba player?

Wright is better than Olynyk and Sullinger.

He has length and he can defend the paint.

But it is just like Humphries, he's a good player, but Danny is committed to Olynyk and Sullinger.

Probably because Olynyk and Sullinger have the capacity to get better than they are now, which is probably not the case with Brandon Wright.

Olynyk is slow and Sullinger is short.

Is Olynyk going to get faster and Sullinger is going to grow?

Sully isnt to short to play PF at all.

Olynyk might get quicker, yes.

Both players have far more potential and value then Wright, even if you think Wright is better right now, which is debatable.

[D.o.s.]

He's not a good nba player?

Wright is better than Olynyk and Sullinger.

He has length and he can defend the paint.

But it is just like Humphries, he's a good player, but Danny is committed to Olynyk and Sullinger.

Probably because Olynyk and Sullinger have the capacity to get better than they are now, which is probably not the case with Brandon Wright.

Olynyk is slow and Sullinger is short.

Is Olynyk going to get faster and Sullinger is going to grow?

It's a matter of math. Wright is already 27. He is who he is. Sullinger and Olynyk still have some capacity to evolve their game in a significant fashion. Both of them could, conceivably, improve on their game.

[Boris Badenov]

PER loves big guys with high shooting percentages...it's one of that metric's most obvious flaws. Speights is at 23, Gobert 22, Tyler Zeller at 21, Mason Plumlee and Nurkic at 19...

In a league stacked at PG and bereft of talent at C, PER ranks 17 C's with a PER>19...and only 11 PGs with a PER>19.

[aingeforthree]

I"m obviously a TarHeels fan. I loved him in college.

Not a huge fan of PER, or bball stats in general, b/c I don't think they account very well for defensive performance. And aside from that, bball is a team game. I expect a player's PER could fluctuate quite a bit, depending on the team they play for. Not exactly crystallized intelligence. But maybe I'm wrong.

That said, I just found that Wright is 10th in the league in PER, 24.27. On top of that, he has shown to be a solid shot blocker/rim protector. So that begs the question... what's up with him? Is he not picking up the offense/defensive rotations yet? Does Stevens just prefer the bigs we have? Is it known within the organization that his time here is limited? I'm lost as to why he, who seemed to be the best return in the Rondo trade (among players), is not even getting minutes. What do you guys think?

Let things shake out with the roster.  He'll get his shot.  Stay patient.

[Celtics4ever]

Is Olynyk going to get faster and Sullinger is going to grow?

Sluginer (a play on the fact that he is a slug) has grown out.

[vinnie]

He's not a good nba player?

Wright is better than Olynyk and Sullinger.

He has length and he can defend the paint.

But it is just like Humphries, he's a good player, but Danny is committed to Olynyk and Sullinger.

He can block weak side shots. He CAN'T defend the paint. He weighs about 85 pounds (I know, major exaggeration) and is 6' 9" at best. He is a bad defender other than the shot blocking ability.

[Chris22]

He's not a good nba player?

Wright is better than Olynyk and Sullinger.

He has length and he can defend the paint.

But it is just like Humphries, he's a good player, but Danny is committed to Olynyk and Sullinger.

He can block weak side shots. He CAN'T defend the paint. He weighs about 85 pounds (I know, major exaggeration) and is 6' 9" at best. He is a bad defender other than the shot blocking ability.

He's a bad defender other that the shot blocking?

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

[D.o.s.]

Shot blocking is hardly the end all be all of defense for a big. Not to say that Wright's a bad defender (he isn't).

[CapnDunks]

If Sullinger somehow got in shape and reached his full potential I think he could be the 4th best player on a contender. I don't think Wright is superior to Sullinger on Defense aside from shotblocking. I think it's been so long since the C's had a young shot blocker on the team that it's easy to get high on a good backup 4. Which is all Wright is. He's also expiring. People's inability to understand how that affects players value is extremely frustrating. cough Rondo cough

In short, there's no point in playing Wright other than to showcase him, but his value is probably as high as it will be. There's zero chance that he will re-sign here or look better than he did on the Mavs so his only relevance to the team is the value he already has.

[Chris22]

If Sullinger somehow got in shape and reached his full potential I think he could be the 4th best player on a contender. I don't think Wright is superior to Sullinger on Defense aside from shotblocking. I think it's been so long since the C's had a young shot blocker on the team that it's easy to get high on a good backup 4. Which is all Wright is. He's also expiring. People's inability to understand how that affects players value is extremely frustrating. cough Rondo cough

In short, there's no point in playing Wright other than to showcase him, but his value is probably as high as it will be. There's zero chance that he will re-sign here or look better than he did on the Mavs so his only relevance to the team is the value he already has.

There is zero chance he resigns here because Danny wants to keep KO and Sullinger.
I would like to see Wright start with Zeller to see if we should keep Wright instead.