Poll: Would you make this trade for Brook Lopez

[Bobshot]

I voted yes, even though Lopez is not the big rebounder they need.

(I see Whitesides got 25 rebounds tonite. Ainge probably passed on him because he doesn't pick n roll well, or shoot the 3.)

Lopez, however, would give them some offense up front. But he has a big salary, and it seems that Ainge is still dreaming about that big free agent star he is stashing cap room for.

It's evident the Celtics are woeful up front without Horford. Evident watching the last part of that NO game on NBA channel tonite. KO was terrible. No mobility. Bricked 3s. Committed a game losing foul at the end. Looks like part of his problem is he needs to lose 10-20 lbs. Maybe they built him up to play up front. It hasn't worked. It just slowed him down.

I don't see them in on Lopez or anybody else right now. They are just waiting for Horford to come back--and losing. Hard to tell where they stand on rebounders--they have passed up a number of athletic bigs. Seem to like their 7 footers roaming the perimeter. The Rickster liked that, too.

[Moranis]

Lopez and Horford might be the worst defensive rebounding frontcourt in the league.


I would much rather try to flip Zeller or Amir plus secondary assets for Faried.

why not just acquire both?

And have a big rotation of Horford, Lopez, Olynyk, and Faried?

The issue I see there is that all four guys probably ought to be getting at least 24 minutes per game, and that would pretty much eliminate cap space next summer.

Even with all four of those guys, I'm not sure the Celts are so much better that it becomes worth the opportunity cost.

Horford and Lopez should be playing in the 27 minute range.  Faried is playing less than 24 this year.  Olynyk is fine in that same range.  With days of rest you adjust a bit.  When a guy is hot or cold you adjust.  The reality is that front court is significantly better and none of the assets needed to acquire them would be considered prime assets, which would still allow Boston to make the bigger move. 

I'm of the belief Boston isn't going to get anyone better than Lopez and Faried in free agency next summer anyway so I don't mind using the cap space on those guys and at least the team would have some direction.

[Moranis]

I'd normally do this in a heartbeat. We need a better presence down low and Lopez provides that. He's pretty dangerous out to about 15 feet or so and I think he and Horford would work fine together. I've said in the past that I wouldn't be surprised to see a deal made like this (or even involving the Brooklyn 2018 pick).

I don't think a deal like this puts us over the top so there's something to be said for keeping your powder dry until the right one comes along.

But there is something that really concerns me about him this year. He's being rested on back-to-back nights. He's only playing about 25 mpg. His rebound numbers are really down this year (small sample size but still...). These are all signs that he's not healthy and perhaps his injury issues are really becoming chronic. He's shying away from contact. He's not playing much. If that's the case then I'd run, not walk, away from this deal.

So in my view it all depends on the doctors.

He has played back to back games.  He played the 8th and the 9th of this month.  He is 6th on the team in mpg and was 5th before Kilpatrick got a boost after Lin went down.  The Nets are just playing a lot of people a lot of minutes.  The Nets are 4-1 in the games where Lopez has played more than 25 minutes so there is a real correlation to Lopez's minutes and the Nets success (and for the record, Lopez has generally just played better in those games which is why his minutes are up in them).

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/nets/resting-brook-lopez-during-back-to-backs-a-decision-by-committee-1.12617836

Lopez said, “I see it as a ramping-up process. I feel my minutes will increase more, and hopefully we’ll start feeling more comfortable and maybe throwing me into the back-to-backs here or there, just picking them out. Obviously, it will be a committee decision, but being that I’m playing, I think I have some input.”

If he were truly healthy there wouldn't need to be a "ramping up process" or a "committee decision".

He's played between 21 and 28 minutes per game this season. Those are Tim-Duncan-Retirement-Tour numbers and it's quite obvious that he's on a pitch count and the fact that he played 24 minutes in a loss to NY and 25 in a win over Indy doesn't mean anything. Again, there's no real reason to be that strict about it unless they're afraid he'll break. He's 7th on the team in minutes played. While they are giving a lot of guys a lot of minutes, when your best player is 7th in minutes played that suggests something about his true health. The above quotes seem to confirm that he's not truly healthy.

I can't say that he's not healthy but there's a lot of smoke to suggest it. That's why I'd want the Docs to go over him with a fine tooth comb before acquiring him.

I've read plenty of quotes where Lopez and the team seem to imply they just want to keep him fresher, both in games and over the course of the season.  He is taking on a tremendous offensive load and they would rather have play a few less minutes each game and be more effective then play a bit more and be less efficient.  Thus far, his 2PT% is by far the highest of his career so it might be working.  And frankly that seems to be the approach for every player on the team as Bogdanovic is leading the team with just 28 mpg.  I mean they have 14 players that have played in at least 10 minutes a game (obviously not all have played in every game) and Scola at 15.9 is the lowest of the 7 players that have played in all 10 and next lowest is at 23.5.  The Nets are just constantly shuffling players in and out of the lineup.

and like that Lopez plays 31 minutes leading the team and his 26.3 mpg is now 4th on the Nets.

[moiso]

Whatever tremendous offensive load Lopez is taking on is offset by basically sitting on a recliner with his legs up in the air whenever a rebound is up for grabs.  Its not that difficult for a 7 footer to take shots when he's open.

I agree with Granath something is very strange when your best player is playing the 4th highest minutes on the team.  Maybe the foot is fine, but Lopez isn't looking like workhorse.  He's only like 28 years old and it seems like his minutes should be much higher.  Maybe the Nets are just making sure they keep him healthy so they can trade him if they receive an offer they like.

[vjcsmoke]

How does having Brook Lopez in the trainer's room help this team get better?  He's a disaster health-wise.  I'd rather trade for an underrated big who is a good rebounder.  Doesn't have to be a potential all-star, just a solid big who rebounds.  There's got to be some floating around.

[Moranis]

Whatever tremendous offensive load Lopez is taking on is offset by basically sitting on a recliner with his legs up in the air whenever a rebound is up for grabs.  Its not that difficult for a 7 footer to take shots when he's open.

I agree with Granath something is very strange when your best player is playing the 4th highest minutes on the team.  Maybe the foot is fine, but Lopez isn't looking like workhorse.  He's only like 28 years old and it seems like his minutes should be much higher.  Maybe the Nets are just making sure they keep him healthy so they can trade him if they receive an offer they like.

Curry is playing the 4th most minutes for the Warriors.  Horford is currently 5th in mpg for Boston.  Drummond is playing the 4th most minutes for the Pistons.  Vucevic is 5th on the Magic.  Howard is 3rd on the Hawks, Paul is 3rd on the Clippers. 

Not that uncommon, especially for big men who often have lesser minutes than the small guys.

[Moranis]

Lopez up to 27.9 mpg which is leading the Nets.  Though by virtue of him missing 2 games he is 4th on the team in total minutes.

[BitterJim]

I voted yes, even though Lopez is not the big rebounder they need.

(I see Whitesides got 25 rebounds tonite. Ainge probably passed on him because he doesn't pick n roll well, or shoot the 3.)

Lopez, however, would give them some offense up front. But he has a big salary, and it seems that Ainge is still dreaming about that big free agent star he is stashing cap room for.

It's evident the Celtics are woeful up front without Horford. Evident watching the last part of that NO game on NBA channel tonite. KO was terrible. No mobility. Bricked 3s. Committed a game losing foul at the end. Looks like part of his problem is he needs to lose 10-20 lbs. Maybe they built him up to play up front. It hasn't worked. It just slowed him down.

I don't see them in on Lopez or anybody else right now. They are just waiting for Horford to come back--and losing. Hard to tell where they stand on rebounders--they have passed up a number of athletic bigs. Seem to like their 7 footers roaming the perimeter. The Rickster liked that, too.

He passed on him in the draft because he was a headcase that ended up out of the league after a couple of unproductive seasons.  He passed on him coming back into the league because he was a headcase that had ended up out of the league after a couple of unproductive NBA seasons and then getting cut from a couple of overseas teams.  This summer, though, he didn't "pass on him"; he resigned with the Heat for a max contract. We weren't in the running (nor was any other team, really)