I was actually thinking we needed this a few days ago and was starting to think of some trade ideas for Isaiah Stewart. He may be flirting with that borderline between “mean” & “psychopath,” but we need someone like that to give us that edge and energy to bring the team along.
Crowder definitely gave us that yesterday, but I see someone like Stewart at least being more productive on the floor while still providing that same type of energy. Stewart has a lot of attributes that we could use…
- He’s got that mean, won’t back down, upper cut a guy Doug Christie style, dog mentality. Our team is filled with a bunch of “nice guys.” I’d even say that our coach is a “nice guy” (he’s no Mike Malone). Having someone like this on the team that gets consistent minutes is important.
- He’s got excellent length with a 7’4.75” wingspan and 9’0.5” standing reach and he’s also got great strength. He’s a guy that you can throw at a Zion, Giannis, Randle, etc. and at least have some chance that he won’t be overpowered physically and athletically.
- He’s a pretty good shooter from 3. Last season, he shot 38.3% on 4.4 3PA per 36 min. However, he hasn’t really taken many 3s this year but I think that has more to do with how they are playing him. According to basketball reference, 98% of his minutes have been at the C spot. Versus last year he only logged 24% of his minutes at C.
- He seems like a pretty good defender from what I’ve seen and definitely takes pride in putting in great effort on that side of the ball. He can move his feet pretty well for his size but also has really good length and strength to make him disruptive as well. Not to mention he’s becoming a pretty darn good shot blocker as well.
- His contract is also very affordable in that he makes $15 mil per year for the next 4 years with the last year being a team option. Only 23 years old
- He’s also only 23 and can grow with our core and continue to get better.
I know this is a Crowder thread, but I think it will be important to have a “mean guy” on this roster who’s at least logging 20+ min a night. Crowder filled that role last night but I question if he still has enough left in the tank to really be a guy who gets 20+ min a night on a playoff team. Hopefully he does!