It's true to a certain degree. However, we must remember that missing Beverley and D-Mo skews everything. D-Mo would no doubt be in that top 10. Having Bev back would put Terry back in his proper role. Trevor Ariza leads the entire league in minutes played in the playoffs. We all know he wears out and suffers offensively when he plays too many minutes. Considering what he is trying to do defensively I'm fine with that. He's still shooting 37.6% from deep while playing 3 different positions and trying to corral some of the best players the planet has ever seen. Brewer is playing exactly as advertised--wild and unpredictable. When all those crazy shots fall in it's amazing....the rest of the time he looks like he's auditioning for the Josh Smith All-Star Squad....which leads us to Josh Smith.
For all the rumbling about Smith's 6 turnovers in the last game (not all of which were bad passes/plays), he has played pretty well this post-season. He's shooting 39% from deep and 45% overall. He's only playing 23 mpg, but his per36 numbers are rock solid:
21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1.4 blocks, and 3.6 turnovers with a usg% of 27.6 is pretty darn good even with the turnovers. Oh, and he has spent the playoffs trying to deal with the likes of Dirk, Blake, and now Draymond. I like Terrence Jones, but he truly is a defensive liability. I don't get why he doesn't get it, but it's undeniable that the drop off from Smith to him is drastic.
Jones reminds me a bit of Henry Melton. He's a former Longhorn running back who came in a robust 6' 3" and 260+ pounds of muscle with great feet and speed. He was meant to be the next Jerome Bettis. The problem was he wanted to be Barry Sanders. Rather than hit the line full speed and use his size to crush defenders he tried to dance around too much. Eventually the coaches gave up and moved him to defensive end where he now plays in the pros. My point is that Jones plays with too much finesse and seems to completely ignore that solid base he has. He looks like he's got a solid, Chuck-Hayes-Style lower base; yet, he can't seem to hold defensive position at all.
I was against trading Jones, but not anymore. I'm not sure he can get past this mental block anymore than Henry Melton could learn to run over people instead of trying to run around them. Terrence Jones has every bit as much talent as Draymond Green--the difference is Green maximizes his talents while Jones has yet to figure them out. I don't think it would be a stretch to say 4 years playing for Tom Izzo versus 2 years under Calipari can make all the difference.
I've kind of rambled around and not answered the question. Brewer and Smith absolutely are good role players. Defensively, they bring a lot to the table and offensively they are capable of making big contributions, but neither should be a #1 option--ever. If Smith is running the offense it should be from the elbow. Brewer should be making cuts to the basket all the time. Once again, if we had D-Mo this all looks different. His size, defense, shooting inside and out, plus his passing are all sorely missed. I'm looking forward to him having a huge season next year. He's going to be even better than he already is now--which is scary for the rest of the league and bodes well for us.
As for upgrading the roster. I have no doubt Morey will sniff around quite a bit. I'm just not sure anything HUGE is out there for us. I know people will want to say Aldridge, Dragic, and every other big name, but I will be amazed if any of that happens. I think we all know it is more likely that Jeremy Lin is a Rocket next season than just about anyone else. We don't have a ton of wiggle room, but I have no doubt Morey will make things happen and improve on what is already an incredibly good team.
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