08-07-2022, 05:55 PM
(08-07-2022, 04:38 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I think the plan with Powell is probably just to play him this year when he's needed and then let his money come off the books at season's end, lowering the team salary commitments. Sure hope I'm wrong.
I know we like to pretend he's worthless around here, but he's not. He's a rotation-worthy player with a fairly large expiring contract who I suspect could be turned into an equal but better fitting player (possibly a slightly better one whose multi-year salary a team is wanting to shed) fairly easily. The fact that this hasn't happened yet leads me to believe they see value in keeping Powell, either to play him, let him expire (cutting future payroll) or both.
I have said for a few years that I viewed Powell as similar to an innings eater pitcher in the regular season. But I was really surprised how me was almost unplayable in the playoffs. I thought for the second half of the year he was good...quite good at his role. I was almost surprised how little I felt we were overmatched despite having two guys at Center who are not traditionally centers.
I have never been a huge Powell fan. Didn't dislike him either. Although, I came around and thought he fit this team better than Maxi over the second half of the season. That looks pretty bad now.
So is Javale a big upgrade over Powell in the regular season? My hope is he is close to Powell as a rim runner. He may not be able to read things as well as Powell but he is bigger near the rim. I think we all need to hope he is much better rebounding and defense than Powell. Will he have the same issues as Powell in the playoffs though?
If Powell is back, I do wonder how he responds to a really rough playoff season.