<< Raef's game is VERY complementary to those of his teammates. Not many centers in the NBA can hit from the outside, rebound, AND block shots. Raef's ouside game opens up the lanes for cutters and gives Dirk more chances to post up smaller players. He really is a matchup nightmare on offense.
On defense, he close to being ideal also. Ask yourself how the Mavs got eliminated from the playoffs last year. It wasn't because of Vlade freakin' Divac. It was because Bobby Jackson and Mike Bibby torched teh Mavs guards. A good shotblocker should be able to shut down guard penetration and allow us to play tighter around the perimeter. We know that Raef is a very good shotblocker. I think that once he gets comfortable, learns his role and is able to stay out of foul trouble, our team defense will improve greatly. >>
I was looking over the list of NBA centers a couple of days ago and I couldn't think of a significant upgrade over Raef (other than Shaq) for the way the Mavs play offense and defense. Bradley is Nellie's ideal defensive center and Wang is Nellie's ideal offensive center. Raef is as good as either of them in their respective specialities.
Raef would be expendable if the Mavs acquired Kandi because that would mean that the Mavs would have fundamentally changed their offensive and defensive strategies.
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