Jock Landale - Potential?

I just really don't get how people are not sold on Sengun at C. The only issue with Sengun at C has been whether he can protect the paint sufficiently. Championship teams tend to rank in the top 10 on defense. We finished the season with a top 10 defense starting Sengun at C. Issue resolved. He's only going to get better at defense obviously and the starting point is championship-calibre. Not to mention the team around him (especially Bari and Green) are going to get better too. Amen, Adams and Tari are going to help the defense a lot more next season, which will make Sengun's job even easier.

On offense there's no way in hell he's not a C. He's a pure post player with alternate attacks like floaters, mid range, playmaking from high/low post. If this is not a C, you don't know basketball.

Try to take yourself out of some prototype you created in your mind about what a C is supposed to average in box stats. The game is half offense, half defense - everything else is a subcategory of these two things. If you can have a top 10 defense and a top 10 offense, you can win a title. That's the master formula.

Our C can anchor a top 10 defense and is an offensive savant in the post with a developing 3PT shot. Wth do you want from the guy?

 

huh? don't we already have him

 

He played decent at the end of last season. But Adams is way better as the primary backup, and should play 20 minutes per game or so. If Sengun plays a few minutes at PF, Sengun should get to 34 minutes or something. No minutes left for Landale. So we should see if we can include him in a trade, package him with whomever we trade, be it Jalen or whatever.

 

hopefully his option gets declined, waste of cap space next offseason

 

What is his upside? His Potential?
I think Landale's pretty close to his ceiling as a first off the bench center. If he's your starting big, you're probably a bad team.

Can he be as good as Hartenstein? (Do you consider Hartenstein a top 5 center?)
I think the value of a center is more tied to their defense, and Hartenstein is a much better defender.
Landale's shooting/offense would have to be verrry good (it's not) to match the value of Hartenstein's defense.

Ignoring the numbers and just looking at Hartenstein's play, you could maybe make an argument for Top 10. But I don't think he's close to Top 5.

Is this his peak?
Landale did have a down year due to injuries, so he may be due for a positive regression. But I would be very surprised if Landale is able to challenge for a starting spot.

Parting with Landale wouldn't be the same as losing Hartenstein. Hartenstein was only 22 and a developing talent when was waived. Landale is already 28, pretty much a known commodity.

I don't think Landale is a bad player. He definitely showed more of what was expected during the last month of the season. He's a kinda average defender with a decent offensive skillset. If he sticks around, cool, but I don't think he'd be difficult to replace.

 

Landale's season was similar to Capela's rookie year in the fact that he looked like the worst player in the NBA in the beginning of the season, but was very serviceable by the end. I think Jock outplayed his salary on the back half of the season and should be retained. When we trade Adams at the deadline, we will need a backup.

 

He is 28 - his potential is what he is today. He may pick up some little elements to his game, but I don't see much growth there that would impact long term plans. He's an okay backup Center and will be for the next few years. His growth may be more consistency(how he played later in the season vs how he played earlier in the season) but he likely is never going to be more than a backup center on a good team or a bottom tier starter on a bad team.

We are building out future capabilities - I would say Landale is just a bridge and nothing more. He shouldn't be part of future plans past the next 2/3 years tops.

 

I hope we can extend him.

 

I’m assuming the op is halfway joking here but my honest opinion is if they are operating at the cap but below the tax, they should absolutely pick up his option and at the very least have his salary to trade.

He’s a solid 3rd string center who you can obviously count on in the middle of a long season to fill in for stretches when you have injuries. If we draft a true 5 that needs PT then we can rethink it, but even then I’d almost rather trade Adams at some point and have the rookie and Jock at that point share time backing up Sengun, and use Adams larger salary to make a deal for another veteran or assets. I think Adams will for sure have buyers early on in the season or in training camp.

One thing’s for sure though is that we absolutely should not resign Boban. Hire him as an assistant coach if you need him that bad.

So yeah I’m on camp keep Jock but no I don’t see a ton of upside left for him to tap into. Nice backup energy big.

 

Potential to get traded
Yes

 

Through the roof

 

I think Landale still has value. He can serve as our third center (assuming we don’t draft one) and has a lot of value as a salary-matching piece given his non-guaranteed contract. If another team is looking to shed money, including Landale in a trade makes a ton of sense.

 

I agree, Jock seems like the absolute perfect hedge against a variety of worst case scenarios for the Rockets, with minimal downside.

I would be really shocked if there's an actual upgrade out on the market over Jock, considering that he's familiar with the system and the current players on the team, his contract is fantastic (essentially 2 more team options at a flat $8M salary), and he's proven the ability to stay ready and engaged even if he's a DNP-CD on some nights (much like Jae'Sean Tate). On a roster that is overstuffed with young guys looking to secure their bag, having two dedicated veterans who are willing to take on whatever role they need as deep bench depth is underrated.

I'm not sold at all on Steven Adams being able to hold up to a full season of backup minutes after being away from on-court action for over two full years, so having a 3rd string center that can fill in is going to be immensely valuable.

We got an outstanding season from Uncle Jeff, but the odds of him repeating it at 38-years old is also something that deserves insurance.

Stealing a term from baseball, the Rockets are at a point where each marginal regular season win is worth way more than usual. Being able to avoid the play-in (and facing the #1/#2 seeds) is a huge next milestone for this team. Having professional-quality depth at the end of the bench versus a second-round rookie or a first-round bust you're rostering out of embarrassment is going to steal this team a few extra wins when a member of the rotation tweaks their back, rolls an ankle, or gets the flu and misses 2-3 weeks.

The goal for this season should be to play in at least one 7-game playoff series, and to see how this current team responds when the intensity/focus/scouting amps up for winning time. Orlando and OKC have cleanly laid out the roadmap for this team's ascension. Right now we should be doing everything we can to make sure next season is not a lost year.

 

Back up center is probably the easiest thing to find. We got Jock off FA. The Lakers get like 3 random ones every year. The Nuggets don't even really have one, that slot is filled by clap and high five specialist DeAndre Jordan. Minimum guys can fill the role. You can always buy 2nds to draft the "dominant in college but useless in the pros" big men like Luka Garza and Timmie.

 

I'd keep him because of his year to year contract and the improvement he showed when he was healthy. There's very little downside to keeping him around.

 

I dunno. I might rather just have him honestly. Some nights both of those guys are just straight up worthless. Of course Jock was the first half of the season too but I don't think he was really being used enough to show anything anyways. All three are pretty comparable I'd say.