The Official Ed Davis Thread 2014-2015

Davis has played well everywhere he's had the opportunity; I wouldn't feel that bad about extending him, but I guess the concern is cap space issues. What's the best play on that front?

 

His point is if we extend Davis NOW it affects what we'll be able to spend in the summer. Already the NBA is preparing to set the cap lower than what it should be to "ease us into the new cash flow" so the Lakers won't have as much cap room as they were probably preparing for.

If we extend Davis now, say give him a 5/20 contract then that gives us 5 less million to spend on a big target free agent and 5 million more added to our cap than we wanted. It makes more sense for all parties to just push through the season and see where the cards play out. Maybe Davis fades a bit and we look better for not giving him a contract so quickly. Or maybe he plays extraordinarily well and he earns more money than we want to pay him.

Either way it's better to wait even though he's playing great right now.

 

I've seen enough. Davis is better than JHill right now. I would extend him. You need players like this going forward. He's young, athletic, plays D, can protect the rim, can finish at the rim, and has a bit of an attitude in a good way.

 

I doubt the Lakers would give him THAT much money. For all the negativity around Hill's deal, the guy is still giving us-

14.1 points
9.4 rebounds
2.7 assists
1.4 blocks

I know it's only 7 games, but that's a damn good run for 7 games. Worth 9 million to me.

 

Me being all aboard the Ed Davis train doesn't mean I want to jettison JHill. I like them both and they bring different good contributions. Obviously Davis is a much better bargain, but that's not the main issue. If they were our back up Center / PF tandem we would be in good shape going forward.

 

I think we'd be fine with one of them starting depending on who else is in the game.

My point though was that someone said we'd keep Davis for the Hill contract. The Hill contract is 9 million for a guy giving us roughly 13/10 with a block and a half. That's actually really good value, but on the expensive side for Davis. If we kept Davis for a year, I'd hope we weren't paying him 9 million.

 

I am absolutely up to date on Monroe and let's be clear: I know his limitations. I also know his strengths.

Did you know he was suspended the first two games of the year already? (unfortunate DUI situation)
Did you know he's playing next to another premiere young big man in Andre Drummond which limits Monroe statistically?
Did you know that he's put up elite numbers for his age through his career thus far?
Did you know that the Pistons are trying to put him on the bench because they stupidly spent exorbitant amounts of money on Josh Smith?

Monroe is a premiere level big man who will be available at a good price this summer. He's younger than Hill, bigger than Hill, more talented than Hill offensively, plays more games than Hill (not that Hill is as injury prone as some believe, but Monroe is very sturdy), he's got a higher ceiling than Hill, and he's going to be the most talented and youngest Center available for a long time considering he's one of the few players that has forgone an extension because Detroit is too poorly run to figure out what to do with him.

I'd pick Monroe over Hill absolutely. Then I'd make sure we kept Davis so that we had a rim protector on the team still.

And Monroe is both a PF and a Center, but has a back to the basket game that's as good as any Center in the NBA right now outside of maybe Duncan and maybe Cousins. He would operate just fine as a Center for our team. Just as well as Hill or Davis is doing right now, but with more offensive ability.

 

I'd rather have Monroe honestly than Hill. He's younger, has a higher ceiling, and while he doesn't rebound or block shots as effectively he's a more potent offensive weapon and healthier.

Monroe is only 25 and has borderline All-Star production in a crowded front court. Here in LA I could see him really blossoming into an effective 2nd or 3rd option. Hill is more of an auxiliary piece. I'd want him as the Lamar Odom of the 2008-2010 run: A great piece to have that puts you over the top with his skill set. But before Lamar Odom you need a Gasol. I think Monroe can be that Gasol.

My plan is with the 25 million or so that we'll have:
Sign Monroe- 16.5
Sign Davis- 4.5
Sign Lin- 4
Fill out with minimum deals.

Hopefully we can draft a wing player. There's some solid ones out there, but I wouldn't give up Lin AND Davis to pick up Wesley Mathews or (I know a long-shot) Luol Deng. We're better off bargain bin shopping for one. Hopefully he'll be better than Wesley Mathews. Anyway, we go into next season with:

Lin/Price
Bryant/Henry/Clarkson
Young/Drafted SF?
Davis/Randle/Kelly
Monroe/Sacre

Lin isn't playing much better than 4 million. Davis would his first long-term contract offer and hopefully give us a bit of a discount to stay in the place that gave him his biggest break. I'm sure we could pick up another SF and another PG to fill out the roster. Davis would play most of the backup C minutes. Then we head into the summer of 2016 with only about 40 million on the books and 40 million in available cap space. We'd have a solid interior rotation, a solid bench, and a ton of room to grow. Not crazy attractive to free agents, but certainly a good looking destination for someone... Someone who is currently in Oklahoma right now.