The Aminu situation (1 Viewer)

[Old Paint]

Since Monty sat him down for a few games Aminu seems to have figured out what his role on this team is. His rebounding has blown up and he's hitting his jump shots more consistantly. I wanna say he's like first or second in the league in rebounds for a SF. He's definately making a case to return as the starting SF (Thou I think the postion could still be upgraded). With Miller not being able to get his feet under him in the NBA and no one else on the roster to challange him Aminu is making the most of his time.

 

[GeauxSaints53]

Aminu is #6 among SFs for rebounding. Thing is, all the guys around him in the stat can actually produce offensively. But without that streak in the doghouse, he's probably averaging around 8.5 rpg rather than 7.6. He's seemed to figure out what he's good at and has just focused on that (rebounding, defense, fastbreak without the ball). Of course, we were saying this at the beginning of the season.

The problem is we lack go-to scorers and SF is generally easier/smarter to find them at than C or PG. Making your SF a rebounding/defense focus is hard for us to do when guys like Shabazz and Bennett could be draftable and we need scorers. Miller's showed some potential (imo) after his D-League stint. But he'll never be more than a #2 bench guy for us.

TLDR: If we wanna be good, Aminu will probably have to come off the bench.

 

[Old Paint]

Aminu is #6 among SFs for rebounding. Thing is, all the guys around him in the stat can actually produce offensively. But without that streak in the doghouse, he's probably averaging around 8.5 rpg rather than 7.6. He's seemed to figure out what he's good at and has just focused on that (rebounding, defense, fastbreak without the ball). Of course, we were saying this at the beginning of the season.

The problem is we lack go-to scorers and SF is generally easier/smarter to find them at than C or PG. Making your SF a rebounding/defense focus is hard for us to do when guys like Shabazz and Bennett could be draftable and we need scorers. Miller's showed some potential (imo) after his D-League stint. But he'll never be more than a #2 bench guy for us.

TLDR: If we wanna be good, Aminu will probably have to come off the bench.

Yea I forgot to add it's rebounds per 48 min. There, he is first among SF's. and if you look at his trend he was basically floundering before his sit down, only after did he start getting into double digit rebounds. He averaged 7.4/per in Nov but that was largely due to a 16 reb game vs. Phily. He only had one other doub. dig. reb game in Nov. Dec was a wash b/c he sat out 6 games and didn't crack the 10 min mark in 4 other games. Jan by far has been his best month avg 9.4 boards/per w/ games 10 doub. dig reb games.

IMO we'll be picking somewhere in the 6-9 range and both Bennett and Shabazz will be gone. I have a feeling that Aminu will play himself into a position where some team will fall in love with his athleticism and over pay this off season for him. (Good for him)

As far as the draft I'd rather see the pick traded for a proven SF in a package, or sign a young SF and draft Alex Len, because of Lopezs' contract being so friendly we can let the two work together for a year and move Lopez next season. Heck they could target Pek in FA and move Lopez for a SF and draft Smart. Lots of possibilities. Dell's really in a nice position right now.

 

[LSSpam]

Aminu is going to be a valuable player. He's athletic, so if he can at least develop into a smart cutter he'll be able to generate some offense and justify minutes,

The problem is with Gordon being hurt, Austin Rivers being terrible, there's really just no spacing on the floor. When you put Aminu on the court, even for all the good things he can do, it can hurt everyone else. Playing him alongside Ryan Anderson is best until Gordon returns full time or we trade for Klay Thompson.

 

[Old Paint]

Aminu is going to be a valuable player. He's athletic, so if he can at least develop into a smart cutter he'll be able to generate some offense and justify minutes,

The problem is with Gordon being hurt, Austin Rivers being terrible, there's really just no spacing on the floor. When you put Aminu on the court, even for all the good things he can do, it can hurt everyone else. Playing him alongside Ryan Anderson is best until Gordon returns full time or we trade for Klay Thompson.

As much as I like Aminu and he has improved, the Pelicans are going to need a lot more consistant scoring from the SF spot. The problem is that I don't see an easy way to upgrade the offensive SF position without losing out on the impact Aminu has in the rebounding. The FA's that will be out there this off season are not going to pick up the boards Aminu gets, At least they havent shown that side of the game yet. Aminu can approach double diget boards on most nights and while his shooting has improved, we just need more production offensively from that spot IMO.

I almost want to play Anderson at the 3 full time and have Aminu come off the bench. If we could get Pek to play the starting 5 and have Lopez back him up, Smith could back up Davis at the 4 and Thomas can be put out of his misery.