Baja, you have been the voice of reason when it comes to WCS. His inconsistent motor, defense and hands drive me nuts. But we'd also probably have 5 less wins, maybe more were he not a part of this team. Now is WARP does not reflect that inflated number, but what it does not take into consideration is that he would have been replaced by two RAW rookies or KK.
I think moving forward we will be better off if we can move him for a piece while not having to over pay to keep him. I see the core being as following next year, unless something drastic happens
PG: Fox
SG: Buddy
SF: TBD
PF: Giles
C: Bagley
6th man: Bogi
7th man: Bjelly
You can flip flop Bagley/Giles C/PF it doesn't really matter, it's just who they are guarding.
Look, Willie is what he is. I've never pretended that he'll ever be a star, but at the same time, people are exaggerating his negatives. They complain about his defense, but he has the best defensive rating on the entire team. If you want to get rid of him for his defense, then perhaps we should get rid of everyone else on the team. I'm not against trading Willie, but we do need to get back or acquire somewhere, a center with legit size to match up against the big centers in the league.
If the Kings think that someone will make an offer in the off season that they won't want to match, then make a trade now. But if they think they can retain Willie for a reasonable price, then do that. Willie brings a lot of pluses to the table that everyone will notice once he's gone, and I won't waste everyone's time going over them again. But the idea that Willie is the problem with this team is nonsense. Yeah, he's not as consistent as I would like, but he has improved in that area.
Would/should Willie be a starting center on a contending team? Good question, and I think it would depend on the team. For instance, the Warriors have had centers start for them that probably wouldn't start for a lot of other teams. In other words if all the team wanted from their starting center was to run the floor, grab some rebounds, and defend, then Willie could start. But if you want him to be KAT, or AD, then no. It really comes down to expectations.
What I don't want to see is Bagley or Giles, or both out on the floor being abused by a center whose taller, stronger, has more league experience, and who out weighs them by 40 plus pounds. Frankly, I'm not sure either Giles or Bagley is a center, but I'am sure both will fill out and get stronger. With Bagley there's probably a fine line he doesn't want to cross where adding weight will start to affect his athleticism.
Here's the thing. At the moment we don't have a pressing need at the center position. We do have a pressing need at the SF position. So I think we would be better served to solve that problem before creating a problem at the center position. I think that if we could acquire a legit SF that can shoot the ball from the three and defend, Bjelica would become less of a necessity for the starting lineup, especially if Bagley continues to improve his jumpshot. I can see a future three man rotation of Giles, Bagley and Willie covering the Center and PF positions.
In my humble opinion, there is zero need to start Giles right now, and to do so could blow up in the Kings face. Yes he looked terrific last night, but you have to consider the opposition. He wasn't going up against anyone of size other than Len, who doesn't strike fear into anyone's hearts. Collins is a good player, but he's no bigger than Giles. There's a way to still get Giles minutes without starting him, and getting him the right minutes is more important than starting.
