smit-tay griz

I don't think I can agree with this. Defensively yes, he wasn't very good, but he spent a lot of his time playing against starters that season and they couldn't stop him either. If he wasn't very good how was he putting up double-doubles against SAS in the playoffs. I don't think it was merely against bench help either since he got significantly more minutes than JaMychal Green.

Okay, so the NBA will never change and all bigs are going to play like wings from here on out until forever. I don't believe that. As I said, If you have a big that can punish the opposition inside you will see defensive adjustments and you won't likely see the likes of PJ Tucker guarding him for most of the game. I can't imagine that we will be putting Brandon Clarke on Nikola Jokic or Dwight Howard or Vucevic either.

Of course generally speaking starters are better than bench players. However, I don't believe all teams start their five best basketball players either. Otherwise how would you explain Hall of Fame players coming off the bench like Havlicek or Bobby Jones. Also a sixth man is not playing exclusively against bench players just as starters are not playing exclusively against opposing starters. A good sixth man will spend a good deal of time playing against starters, and I would think that a sixth man also becomes the focus of opposing teams' defense when he is on the floor. I don't think there is that much of a drop off between starters and bench players to make that much of a difference, though I would guess that a sixth man would get more shot opportunities than if he were with the starting unit.

Possibly.

True, there aren't many now, but I don't know about dying breed. The next time a big comes along who is very strong and athletic with a polished post game and is unstoppable down low I'm pretty sure that he will be utilized in such fashion. Do you think that prime Shaqille O'Neal would not be able to play today, or that they would be forcing him to the three-point line?

Maybe, but it seems like a lot of "contenders" traded away a lot of their seconds in some of these blockbuster deals over the summer.

I agree, though I do not think he has no value, maybe just not as much value as Grizzlies' fans would like to think.

The question is how good is he? Are we overestimating his value? What should we realistically expect to get for a guy who has not averaged 10ppg in the last six seasons and has not made an All Defensive Team in five, and will turn 36 years old mid season? I think a first round pick is likely just fantasy.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. If you're talking about keeping Iggy around and paying him $17M in hopes of getting a pick that would obviously be lower than 10th and asking "would it be worth it?" I don't know, the Grizzlies will be paying him one way or another unless he agrees to a buyout significantly less than his salary, and that doesn't seem likely. So, if he won't agree, just play him until a trade materializes.

I said late twenties. A 10th pick would be highly unlikely. We may be getting our hopes way too high to be expecting a first rounder. If he just played for us and started at SG I would be fine with that for now, not sure if he would. I'm just expecting what most everyone else is expecting, that he will be moved for another asset. We already got a low first. Just getting another useful player would be nice.

From a contender it will probably late twenties, so maybe.

Anyone can play center when the opponent doesn't have a real center on the floor. Of all those names Harrell is the only one who remotely is a center. Draymond and Tolliver can get away with it in small ball lineups. I have never seen PJ Tucker play center. I don't know why you have Zion in there. He has not played one second of NBA basketball in his life. Since there are not many polished true low-post bigs in the league anymore, teams can sometimes get away with it. As soon as some new faces who can play like that enter the league most of those names will be quickly moved back to their natural positions. I doubt those guys will be asked to guard JV much because they aren't centers.

I guess time will tell. I would take either one of those players and be extremely happy. I just wonder, do you feel the same way about all 6thmen? Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, etc? Just because they thrive off the bench does not mean they cannot in a starting role.

Clarke is shorter and lighter than Rabb. He will have to rely heavily on his athleticism, which he has. I don't think he will be pushing anyone around though.