Roy Hibbert Discussion 2015-16: No Buyout

I don't think it was brought up, I think Koufos was brought up. I don't think we'd have the space to add Hibbert AND Aldridge... Maybe in some super crazy sign and trade scenarios though similar to what was proposed with Jordan and Aldridge.

If it WAS brought to him and he turned it down... I can see it. He's got a better chance to win now with Duncan, Parker, Leonard, and Green than he does with Kobe, Hibbert, Randle, and Russell. It was still a good decision on his part. If we brought this to him I think we'd be over the Suns at least though and that didn't seem to be the case towards the end there.

 

So I'm finally home to make the comments I wanted:

- This was a great trade as per usual with Mitch. We'll let go of a 2nd round pick in the future for a Center that could possibly an All-Star caliber player. He's an absolutely ideal fit next to Randle too. He can hit an elbow jumper and he's a very good rim protector. When he's engaged, he's a monster inside and at the worst he's just a solid piece that gives Randle a great cushion to grow with.

- Hibbert's mental issues are something I'm a little concerned with, but optimistic about them too. He had his entire franchise turn on him, lost the support of his coaches and fans, and was expected to go back out and continue performing. Did he melt under the pressure of adding Bynum? Definitely. That was weak and he should be better than that. A man of supreme confidence doesn't melt under that challenge, but shows why he's worth more than that. I think behind the scenes Hibbert was kind of disrespected and the fact that they brought in Bynum probably was to replace him in some way which probably stings. Here, he gets a fresh start and hopefully a coach that is more honest with him. We're certainly not bringing in any Centers to replace him... *cough*Upshaw*cough*. He should have a more supportive feeling here though. No one has ever questioned his work ethic, so I think any problems with Kobe will be severely overblown.

- All that being said, my expectations are still relatively low. If he can provide for us 25-30 minutes of 12/9/1 47% FG and 2 blocks... That's about the most I think we'll get out of him. Those numbers aren't too far off his All-Star numbers out East, but almost certainly won't be enough here in the West. At worst I think we're looking at 10/7/1.5 45% FG which is what he put up last year.

All-in-all this was a great job by Mitch of "saving" the off-season. Hopefully Roy's efficiency goes up playing with more offensive minded players.

 

I would have loved to hand the franchise to Gasol...

Jordan would have only ever been the 2nd or 3rd player on a great team, so no not him...

No Aldridge, Love, and Monroe aren't great fits with Randle but I'd have taken any of them.

I'd actually have been pretty happy with either Koufos or Lopez!

But I'm with you. This is a good add AND a good fit for our youth.

 

You know I think he's actually such a great fit with Randle that if he has a decent season, the FO might look to extend him even. What if you could get him to stick around for 5/50 or 5/60 million? That's cheaper per season than Lopez just got. It's impossible to say really what kind of production we'll get and so what kind of contract he'd earn but his fit next to Randle is pretty much ideal.

Rim protection? Check.
Size and length to make up for Randle's smaller stature? Check.
Able to step away from the rim and hit a jumper? Check.

I really dig the way those two fit together. Then when you consider how healthy Hibbert has been and how he's only 28 years old... I could certainly think about extending him as the solid addition in FA we needed this summer but didn't get.

 

2 Additional Things I Wanted to Bring Up in why I think Hibbert and the Lakers can both benefit being together now:

1) Even though Hibbert is still relatively young at 28 years of age I think he can be a great example for Upshaw to look up to as far as how to handle yourself off the court and prepare. Sure Kobe will help in this area as well but I feel like Bigs always want to kind of stick together on a team and hang out most together. I have yet to read or hear of a report that questioned Hibbert's work ethic and will to improve. Upshaw can use Hibbert experience and tutorship in how to handle the NBA game when your a tall, shot blocking center.

2) Hibbert has really never played with a great passing PG before. Yes, Russell is still unproven in this league but if there is one thing that is his true strength its making his teammates better, high bball IQ, and seeing the floor 1-2 moves ahead. I think Hibbert will benefit from Russell's play in the half court offense despite Russell wanting to push the ball a lot.


One last thing that has been brought up already but I just want to talk about it again because it makes this trade that much better is the low risk, high reward possibility. Hibbert has a lot still to prove after the way he played last year after being an all-star the year before. He's in a contract year and if he plays well this year he's going to want to be back with us and I doubt we would have to pay him at his current contract which is roughly $14-15 million per year. If worst, we say thank you for your service and move on.

 

I took a look at some rebounding and blocked stats for Hibbert and compared it to Duncan's, Bogut's, Dwight's, Tyson's, Robin Lopez', and DeAndre Jordan's.

This is how many blocks they average per 100 possessions:

Bogut averages the most blocks per possession. Duncan is surprisingly right there with him. Hibbert is also very close. Meanwhile, Howard and Tyson are the worst of the bunch. Given this stat, I would say most would value DeAndre Jordan the most because he's right there in elite company but unlike other bigs, he can also play 40 mpg. Nevertheless, some people argue that this stat is misleading since you don't always retain possession of the ball after a block.

Well, they now keep track of how many blocks are retained by the team.

This shows the retained blocks they average per 100 possessions:

The claims that Howard's blocks were less valuable are actually true. When you take a look at blocks kept in possession, Howard is dead last. Meanwhile, Jordan surprisingly does a good job and ends up higher than Hibbert. Still, Bogut, Duncan, Jordan, and Hibbert are all very close, and he's in elite company.

Now, this is the bad part about Hibbert's game - rebounding. The blue presents contested rebounds per 100 possessions. This means that they were fighting for the rebound and got it. The red represents uncontested rebounds.

Hibbert is dead last in the group when it comes to contested rebounds. He's second to last in uncontested rebounds. DeAndre Jordan is by far the best in both categories with Tyson trailing second. Lopez' chart looks a little odd when you take a look at the pattern of others, but his defensive rebounding numbers are a bit misleading. A lot of times, he boxes out people out to let Aldridge get the rebound, which is why Aldridge's rebounding numbers shot up when Lopez came to the team.

Anyway, I may be overblowing this though because the Pacers were actually a good defensive rebounding team. They were just a poor offensive rebounding team so I probably should have split the rebounding stat from offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding.

 

This is why he fits well with the team, especially with Randle. Randle is not a great defender, but is an amazing rebounder. Hibbert is the opposite. But seriously, we needed a good defensive big and got one. Not to mention he will be playing for the contract and really needed a change of scenery.