Nick Fazekas?
by PJ Martinez on Oct 25, 2008 12:42 PM EDT
12 comments
So, the Nuggets cut Nick Fazekas. Can he play center? He's listed at 6'11". I know the roster's crowded, and I can't even begin to understand salary machinations in the NBA, but could the C's make Cassell a coach and add Fazekas to the roster, even if that meant he was headed to the D-League for a while? Dave Berri argues that he's been good and efficient whenever he's gotten playing time, and he's just 23, and while O'Bryant and Big Baby have reportedly had their moments in the preseason, neither is a lock as a solid backup big man.
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Fazekas
Fazekas is not a center.. Also, after reading Berri’s column, I looked at it a little further. At least D-League wise, his numbers were gifts… Here’s my blog post about it…
I have been at least “intrigued” by Fazekas before. But I’ve become more skeptical when I think about how he is supposedly good at perimeter offense, but wasn’t good enough to make the cut on a run and gun Denver team. Plus DakotaWiz’s blog. But here’s a post I started on the old Celticsblog website, but there were no replies:
Anyone interested in the guy?
If Ainge has no other cards up his sleeve, I would love to take a flyer on him with a smallish contract, especially if the contract has some team options. Let him earn the money.
He’s an Unrestricted Free Agent now, thanks to the Clippers withdrawing their qualifying offer and relinquishing there rights to maintain his Restricted Free Agent status.
He’s still young (23) and has height (6’11).
He can play from outside, and when he finally got spot playing time last season, he earned 11.8 minutes for the Clippers and managed 4.7 and 3.4 and shot .571. Small sample size, but it’s his only real chance and he’s shown some stuff. Good enough for 15.9/13.2 per 40 averages and a 19.65 PER.
He obviously has red flags and question marks, as he slipped to the 2nd round and was released by 2 different teams. However, there were extenuating circumstances in his releases: the Mavs needed a roster spot for Keith Van Horn, and the Clippers are completely reshaping their roster and releasing a lot of players to clear cap room for free agents.
Additionally, he’s slow for a PF and weak for a center; the big question is could the C’s training staff, who did such a good job with Al and Perk, get Fazekas quicker to be a PF or stronger to be a C for defensive purposes? That’s why I’d prefer team option contracts, just to keep his motivation to train hard high.
However, in his only opportunity he’s performed well offensively. He might be worth a risk for some team, I’d be curious to keep an eye on him for a couple seasons.
Fair points all around, and I might add that some people seem to question his defensive abilities. On the other hand, here’s another stathead who likes him. (He also likes Leon Powe.) I’m not sure whether Fazekas really is a project— or, at least, as much of one as Big Baby seems to be. There’s some evidence he’s ready to step in and contribute right now. I don’t think he’ll end up on the Celtics, but I’ll be curious to see how he performs wherever he does land.
I’m apprehensive about Fazekas.
I’m not convinced that he’s athletic enough to compete at this level (NBA). Fazekas is a very skilled player. I think he could do good things in Europe.
He would be a good Europe guy, and if he proved that he could play defense and get his conditioning together, he can eventually be a Steve Novak type (Hate to do the since Fazekas is white, compare with another white guy thing but…) Right now, however, he’s too slow to play in the NBA defensively and not polished enough to put him in at the 4/5 on offense.
I read the title for the fan post as “Help Fazekas” instead of Nick Fazekas because of maestro’s post below it. In truth though thats what Nicky is gonna need. Help. He’s not an NBA player.
Reporter: About a year ago I asked about the Celtics-Lakers thing and you said you'd really only seen it on TV. Now you've been through it, can you talk about playing the Boston Celtics for the NBA championship?
Kobe: It Sucks.
Fazekas is 6’11, 235 lbs and he is a good shooter for a big man. I think if you get him in a good STR/Conditioning program and he puts on about 15 lbs of muscle he could become a decent C/PF backup. Acquiring him would cost basically nothing except his negligible contract, the question is where would you get the roster spot from? I think he’s a better fit for the Celtics than the 6’9 Darius Miles who we recently cut. But there’s no doubt that he is a work in progress/project type guy. Honestly I don’t know where we’d find the room for him, but he is an interesting prospect to consider.
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