[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

I would disagree, I know you don't Frankenstein them together but Combined they're an issue. I know Damp really can't guard Gasol anymore. In the past he would just try to muscle him up and Gasol was done. I think Gasol has matured and has more confidence to where he knows he can get around Damp and muscle is all Damp has got. That trick might work on Bynum for a while but he's still strong enough and has enough speed to cause Damp issues. Plus, Bynum has a decent amount of post moves to where Damp isn't sure what is coming next and he'll have to be ready for anything. I just think their size as a whole presents a big enough problem, as opposed to the size/speed combo of Nene.

Neither Bynum nor Gasol are beating people with their speed. I could be wrong, but I don't see how Gortat helps us here any more than Damp does.

The center position isn't the same kind of player that it used to be back in the day. Damp's style/frame is a dying breed, you've gotta be quick and strong. I think a player with Gortat's skills and motor is a fit on any single team in the league. He's quick and I haven't seen a situation yet where you'd call him a soft Euro guy.

People have been saying this for several years now and frankly I think it's utter myth. It's just one of those conventional cliche's people just throw out there like "defense wins championships." The big, muscular centers of the league aren't going anywhere. Look around the league and I think you'll find a lot more Erick Dampiers than you will Amare's. Also, I think Gortat has a lot more in common with Dampier than you might think.

I know it was one game, and that's not enough to judge a performance, but I came away impressed with his D. Gortat showed me in a short stint that his frame is wide enough and his feet are quick enough to stagger Gasol and make things difficult. He is quick off his feet and he's got a lot of bounce, he can get off the ground multiple times really quickly. The defensive part of his game was the part I wasn't very familiar with but it seems consistent with his "report" if you made one for his style:
Quick, Aggressive, Relatively smart

Again, I could be dead wrong, but I just don't see Gortat matching up much better with the Lakers than Dampier does. As long as Dirk Nowitzki is our starting 4, we're always going to have problems defensively with any team that has multiple options in the low post.

I'm still not sure why Gortat is that big of an issue because we know Damp is gone in the near future and we don't have a legitimate guy in waiting who is ready to take the spot. And again, for a center who would be a fit on practically any roster in the league, and you can get him for the MLE instead of 8-10 million or trading away a wing player...I don't see this as bad. Carlisle has said he wants to get quicker and athletic at the 5 spot...ding ding ding.

This I do agree with. From a longevity standpoint, he would be an excellent pick up.