Thursday, November 27, 2008

A Time to Give Thanks

How bad would the Grizzlies be if we had Mike Miller and Kevin Love instead of OJ Mayo?







Give thanks.

3 comments:

Joshua Coleman said...

Actually, if you want to know the honest truth, the Grizz would be better with Love/Miller.....this year.

That's why Iavaroni was opposed to the trade on draft night -- he knew that the trade for Mayo meant that the team was setting up for success in the future, rather than looking to get better immediately.

After all, what do Love and Miller give you? A low post scorer and a consistent perimeter threat, as well as two generous passers. In other words, they are exactly what this team is currently missing. But, they aren't potential superstars, which is what O.J. Mayo is perceived to be and that is why Chris Wallace made that trade.

David Jones said...

Hi Joshua,

I disagree completely.

Kevin Love may e a great passer, but he's averaging 1 assist per game, so his passing ability isn't translating into results. I don't think you can make the argument that his impact would be much different for the Grizzlies. (Even if he tripled his production, that's only 3 assists and wouldn't lead to additional wins.)

If we had Love, he'd probably take minute away from Arthur. However, I don't believe his production would be a significant improvement.

As for Miller, we had him last year, and the team was no better than they are this year. Miller does provide shooting, but he's probably worse than any of the current Grizzlies at perimeter defense except Conley.

Therefore, I don't buy that the Grizzlies would be a better team this year with Miller / Love than Mayo. I think a better argument might be: "Iavaroni was wrong."

That said, I also don't think the Grizzlies would be significantly worse this year with Miller / Love. In the short term, it's probably a wash in terms of wins.

In terms of excitement and long term potential, it's no contest.

mbaker said...

I haven't seen enough of Mayo on the court but I've been underwhelmed by Miller for years and I don't imagine much more from Love. He completely disappeared when the Grizz made the playoffs a few years back. I do give thanks that Miller and Love were dealt to Minnesota. I like Mayo's potential but if he continues to put up impressive numbers on a losing team he'll be out of Memphis before management can build around him.