Peculiar signing all around. Really made no sense to me on a few fronts.
#1 - I didn't think he was the best big available by A LONG SHOT. I can understand the James Singleton attraction (that dude could've helped us) but after he didn't work out, there were plenty of much better options available over Solomon Jones. I don't see how he was our plan B. I talked about some of these guys over on the "options for next year" thread:
Here's the 3 top bigs we should've pursued:
• Marcus Cousin, 7' 255, Japan - Infinitely more skilled than S Jones, not even close. Let's be frank here -- Jones had no discernible NBA skills whatsoever. He's a big body, a space-eater and that's about it. Cousin, on the other hand, is probably the best keep secret out there in terms of potential NBA big men. The dude has one of the prettiest jumpers you'll ever see from a big man. Straight up water out to about 20' or so. Talking Channing Frye-good, at that size. But unlike Frye, Cousin can do more than just shoot -- he's physical, an underrated athlete, he can rebound (esp. on the offensive boards from what I've always seen), and he can post up well. May not have Frye's 3-pt range but the rest of the package is just overall tougher/better by comparison. He even knocks down his FTs at a good clip. I don't remember him in college -- I only started following him a couple of years back when I saw him play in the D-League for the Austin Toros (DL all-star that year). Love his game -- can't say enough. He'd be a GREAT reserve big man for us or for any NBA team for that matter. Could probably start for more than half the teams out there in the NBA -- I think he's that good. Now if we bypassed him because he was still playing in Japan and Japan refuses to release players from their contract obligations like China etc., then I understand (looks like that's why we didn't land Singleton). But if that's not the case and we never even looked into signing him or worse--don't know who he is--then to me, esp. with our decimated frontcourt, that's unacceptable.
• JaJuan Johnson - 6'10" 230, D-League - underperformed in the DL this year after being the #1 overall DL draft pick but just on talent alone, there's no comparison between this kid and a journeyman like Solomon Jones. This kid would've been much more than a warm body to throw out there -- there's a ton of skill here. Inside/outside offense ability is very high and he can rebound and block shots, much better than Solomon Jones anyway. I thought he looked good in Boston and he was very good in college at Purdue. He was a 1st round draft pick for a reason and I think it's only a matter of time before he's back in the NBA somewhere. 6'10" athletc with those skills?? ****, I would love it to be here with us. We could use him. He'd be a tremendous young frontcourt player to move forward with. And he could help us right now, even being thrown right into the mix if necessary.
• Jordan Williams - 6'10" 260, free agent - big/wide body, strong, surprisingly crafty in the post and a GREAT rebounder. Again, no comparison between this dude and a stiff like Solomon Jones imo.
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How 'bout some of these guys over Solomon Jones too:
• Hilton Armstrong, D-League - he's been productive down there recently.
• Jeremy Tyler, D-League - he couldn't have given us what Solomon Jones did? Never mind getting a chance to see & evaluate the potential this big kid might actually have up close.
• Samardo Samuels, D-League - did he play for anyone this year? The Cavs maybe? If he did, he wouldn't have been eligible for the playoffs I think. If not, he would've been a nice option.
• Jarvis Varnado, D-League - think he was up with Miami for awhile which may have made him ineligible for the playoffs. Tremendous rebounder/shot-blocker though.
• Hassan Whiteside, D-League - slow to come along but there's a ton of potential here. And say we brought him in right now and he never properly developed -- I'd still rather have Hassan Whiteside running around out there eating up space over Solomon Jones.
• Luke Harangody, D-League - always loved/respected his hustle. Yeah he's slightly unorthodox and a little on the small side for a PF, but this dude's a lot more skilled than he's given credit for. He was out knocking down 3s in the DL this year.
• Sean Williams, D-League
• Craig Brackins - back from Europe, currently in the D-league - 6'10" 230 hybrid 3/4 with a real nice inside/outside offensive game. Anyone remember this dude at Iowa State? Nice player with potential.
• Even a raw guy like Mickell Gladness (D-league) for his length & shot-blocking prowess would've been nice. This kid once led the nation in blocks at Alabama and was averaging 2.3 blocks/game in limited mins. in the DL.
Whole point here is, I'd take any of these guys over Solomon Jones. I mean in the draft, unless you're targeting some specific need or player you fell in love with, isn't the general rule of thumb to take the best player available? So why didn't Glen use this strategy when trying to get a backup big man late in the year here?? That's what I don't get.
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And #2 -
Wasn't the whole idea of picking up Solomon Jones for insurance? We bring this guy in, he plays a couple of games and then we let him go? Why? Because we thought Sheed was ready? Is that it? Well as we saw last night, Sheed's not ready, and if it's serious and anything more than normal soreness, we're right back in the same position we were in a couple of games ago, pre Jones. Now all of a sudden, we're looking at bringing Chandler and/or Martin back a game earlier than we may have wanted to in Atlanta, no? Ahh, who knows -- maybe we were set to bring back Chandler/Martin for the last game in Atlanta anyway. But what if, God forbid, either one of those guys break down again in the ATL game or sometime in the Boston series or thereafter, then what? At least Woody could've thrown Jones out there for his size and to eat up space. Now we don't have that. Weird...I understand having 12 guys ready to play & 3 guys inactive for any given game, but to me, we should definitely have a full 15-man squad ready to go heading into the playoffs just in case. These guys have fought too hard to have our playoff run derailed because we chose to cancel the insurance we just added... Makes no sense. Zero. You go out and get insurance, you keep it -- you don't get it and then cancel it a couple of days later w/o having a better replacement option ready to go. If we get another big within the next couple of days then half of this rant is moot -- if not and we enter the playoffs with a 14-man roster, esp. considering how frail this older frontcourt has been all season -- BIG MISTAKE. HUGE.