11-03-2022, 10:21 AM
(11-03-2022, 07:18 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: The thing I would point out to those who say Powell can only do this in the regular season we don't know that he can't do it in the playoffs if paired with a big like Wood or Maxi. We were so thin up front that we didn't have the luxury last year of playing Powell with Maxi in the playoffs. The year before, both the playoff Powell/KP and Powell/Maxi minutes were nicely positive. Putting him with Wood or Maxi is just a dramatically different dynamic than asking him to hold down the paint by himself against playoff starters. It would be nice if McGee would come down with a mysterious yet minor injury for a few weeks so Kidd could spend the next 10 game sample trying out some Wood/Maxi, Wood/Powell, Powell/Maxi and Powell/DFS lineups at various points in the game.
This is an extremely good point. I remember after the TDL thinking we were completely screwed with Powell as the lone big. It was maybe Kidd's greatest coaching accomplishment that he somehow turned Powell into a useful single big. It all fell apart in the playoffs, and I think it was so bad it made most of us forget that Powell has spent most of his career with a floor spacing big (Maxi and KP).
If you recognize that Powell still has value, it makes the McGee signing all the more puzzling. You are basically looking for a third center that can soak up some minutes and bruising throughout the regular season. That is a minimum signing, not 3/17 and a starting role for a mid 30s backup center.