For sure what you say is true about his intangibles (which I like)! however, my concern is still his legitimate durability concerns, as well as his lack of lateral mobility defensively. And that's making no mention of his age at 29 yrs old (with respect to further durability concerns and bodily breakdown with age increase. I mean how many bigs actually get more durable/ maintain health around age 30 and beyond?Drewsprocket wrote: ↑Wed Sep 27, 2023 2:05 pmNurk is a smart basketball player, passes the ball well, can rebound, score in the paint in multiple ways, he made 36% from three, he plays strong. On defense he simply isn’t switchable.Sunsfanatic76 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 27, 2023 1:51 pmOverall, I think this trade is a very poor value return for Ayton due to Nurkic's lack of lateral movement ability and overall really poor durability. Nurkic may (if lucky) play around half the season at best? Then not getting McConnell or Martin is a big value loss from ending up with little and Johnson. The contractual savings are a plus, and our depth is better defensively too. But neither wing offers legit size, although Allen will be an absolute pest defensively and will add an element of dirty thuggery to our team. Overall my biggest concern here is really Nurkic. I really hope that we can flip him for a better more mobile and athltic rim protecting center option.
Little plays big for his height. He will be in this league a long time and has potential to be a starting stretch 4 next year.
People are grieving the player they wanted Ayton to be.
And again, while though intangibles are great and add good value, they're completely irrelevant in games he won't be playing in. Availability matters. And if Nurkic predictably misses significant time, wich of our centers by commitee (decent but not starter material) will battle the Jokic's, Davis's, Jackson Jr and Adams, Kat and Gobert, Embiid or even the Vucevic's and the Valuncias's?? The west is loaded with dominant centers and frontcourts with size. We now currently have Portland's frontcourt from last season. And how well did that work out for them? Unless Nurkic's durability holds throughout most of the season, we're now legit thin in our frontcourt, and that's my biggest concern with this trade and its value to us overall.