David West has walked away from the final year and $7.5 million of his contract, despite having reconstructive surgery in April on his ACL. It seems that everyone believes West will either be a Net or Pacer this year… Which means, BRING IT, Eight Points, Nine Seconds.
While I’m a fan of bringing in anyone who’s very good at basketball – and David West is – I have one major concern. The Nets already have one big who’s a talented scorer and sub-par rebounder in the starting lineup. Can they really get away with two?
Granted, West is a better defender than Lopez (and Humphries, for that matter), though they can’t really choose which offensive player sets a screen in a pick & roll. It’s also possible that Okafor was stealing boards from West the way Humphries may have been from Lopez. But don’t you want the guys who aggressively pursue rebounds over guys that let their teammates do it?
The two best rebounders on a team can’t combine to average 13.7 rebounds a game when there are guys in the NBA who average more than that by themselves. That’s a recipe for disaster.
The Nets have enough money to sign West, so that’s not really a factor here. The real factor is winning. A lineup of Williams/Morrow/Outlaw/West/Lopez could probably win 45-50 games in the “new” East, though I still think they’re a legit wing scorer away. (Hello, Marshon Brooks.) Despite his rebounding issues, I think he’s the best realistic target the Nets could go after at PF, unless Josh Smith suddenly becomes far more available than we thought.
(Also, West could be used in a deal for Smith, should the opportunity arise. Just noting.)
Let the madness begin…
