Is Aron Baynes the worst offensive center in the NBA?

Aron Baynes on offense has been very tough to watch and even more so lately. Almost every possession where he touches the
ball either result in an off balance, ineffective shot or a turnover.

Before going on about this guy's struggles on offense, let me say that his presence on defense (especially early in the season)
has been a big reason why the Cs have the record that they do have. He has been a hard working, effective player on the
defensive end of the court, and seems to be very well respected by his teammates. Without a doubt, he was a very good
off season addition, so props to Ainge.

But, on offense he seems very unsure of what he wants to do with the ball almost every time it hits his hands. He takes very tough
shots too many times and passes the ball right to various opponents far, far too many times. Thankfully, many of his teammates
run right towards him to take the ball from him on handoffs to better prevent him giving up the ball even more times per game.

Our Friday morning breakfast guys tell me to relax on this guy because he was brought to Boston for what he does on the defensive
end and he does well doing the required work on defense.

Your thoughts....

He’s a lot better than Perk

He's been struggling. There is a lot of work to do on this offense. He does have skills to succeed. His defense, boards, and just taking the open shots does a lot for this team, keeping the best bigs from dominating the Cs and minimizing the minutes Horford has to play them.

We were in desperate need of a center who could defend and board and Baynes was one of the better options available from a financial standpoint. He's helping with what we need on D, but will probably always be an afterthought on the offensive end. A player acquired for depth, that was pressed into more minutes due to injuries and lack of size. We're getting about what we paid for and anything else is a bonus.

If we can come up with a center that contributes more on the offensive end (Monroe?), Baynes would combine with that player to give us a couple of nice situational frontcourt options.

cowens/oldschool wrote:He’s a lot better than Perk

ha, ha, ha

so true

Yes, Baynes is infinitely better offensively than Perk.  Baynes has hands, which means he can actually catch passes and hold them, Perk had manos de piedras.  Unfortunately, that is irrelevant since Perk isn't walking through that door and so it isn't a choice between Baynes or Perk.

Baynes has a mid-range shot and a nice stroke.  Unfortunately, he's shooting 40% from 3'-16'.  He's shooting a respectable 44.5% from 16'-3pt but only 18% of his shots are coming from there.  Brad is a big analytics guy, maybe he should run more pick-and-pops for Baynes so he gets those shots. What is really tough to swallow is his fg% from <3' is only 55.3%.  For a guy his size that should be way higher than that.  He doesn't know how to use his body.  He doesn't know how to turn so his back to the defender and carve out space with his butt/back so that the only way to stop him is to foul him.  He goes straight up and dares the defender to stop him and, without having to go over his back to reach the ball, that happens. And a leaper he is not...

I'm ok with Baynes not being more of an offensive powerhouse, although I wish he was more, but he can't let the remaining dinosaurs walking the NBA landscape like Kanter and Howard run wild.  He has to do one or the other.  Disrupt their defense by hitting shots off of pick-and-pops and make other teams pay for rotating away from him or not coming out to him, OR play Perk-like defense on the brontosauruses and keep them away from the rim and the boards.  Can't not do either.


bob


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Adding Monroe would fill that void on offense and would also provide a presence in the middle. As an unrestricted free agent, all he would cost for the remaining of this season is $ and a roster spot. IMHO, it's a no-brainer for the C's to pursue him. The C's need another serviceable big for the post-season. But you never know what Danny will do.