I just don't understand the forum's view on the twins. AFAIC, Marcus is a far better player than Hickson and a better stretch 4 than Chandler would be. But the idea of also including the far superior Markieff really throws me for a loop. I'd love to see us upgrade the power forward position but this is a serious downgrade IMO and that's without paying attention to the ages or contracts. CBS Sports for example has Markieff as the 13th best power forward, Faried is 20th, Marcus is 32nd and Hickson is the 47th best power forward this season.
Steve
I don't know how CBS Sports ranks players but I think Faried is an upgrade over Kieff. He may not be as good offensively but he'd make up for it defensively and in rebounding. Sure Kieff can score but that's really all he does. He's not a good defender, he's a terrible rebounder for a PF, and he basically only passes to his brother. I don't think this team would miss his scoring since it could be replaced pretty easily by giving Dragic, Bledsoe, or Len more opportunities. Faried doesn't need the touches or plays that Kieff gets, he'd pick up most of his points like he has in Denver which are from put backs or easy close passes from driving guards.
Using CBS Sports rankings that you mentioned Kieff is right there in the middle when it comes to starting 4's in the league which pretty much says that he's an average player. He hasn't shown that he's a reliable option in the post or on the perimeter. If you look at his game log his consistency is limited to him getting about 10 points each night. Given the fact that neither our starting C & SF are averaging in double digits each night his scoring is almost by default. He only has 6 double doubles out of 41 starts and averages just under 6 a game. He hasn't improved his rebounding even though he's now getting more minutes and is the teams starting PF and closing C in almost every game this season. He has more technicals than double digit rebounding games, he actually leads the league with 9.
With both of their recent attitudes showing more I doubt they would handle being separated well. That locks the team into 2 players at forward for the next 4 years at 13 million per season who are average at best. I read a lot last season about those 2 being a big part of the teams chemistry but this season with all of the technicals plus decline in chemistry from last year I wouldn't be surprised if they're a larger part of that then we know. Kieff has 9 technicals and Marcus has 5, the team has 47 which is second in the league by only 1, behind the Clippers. Kieff had the best game of his career in a win against a team who has been touted as a contender in the east and blew off the reporters afterwards, Marcus thinks it's ok to yell in his coaches face when things don't quite go his way in a nationally televised game. I think it's better to move them now while they have value before they get labeled as a cancer like a Josh Smith type. The team bought out Beasley for attitude problems and they were trying to build a team with better character, I'm not saying the twins should be bought out or are at Beasley's level of foolishness yet but it's not hard to see them heading in that direction.
