Kleiza Dropped!

Thenopp drops Kleiza, picks up J. Maxiell

We discussed Maxiell here. He's had 10+ PTS in 4 straight (until today), including an eye-opening 13/8/6 BLK line. We know he had that kind of potential, and could put up 13 & 8 with decent block numbers easily if given the minutes, and if he can stay out of foul trouble. But a crowded frontcourt and the imminent return of McDyess give us pause. Also, those 4 games were either blowouts, or against teams with poor frontcourts (the Bogut-less Bucks, for example).

Linas Kleiza, Denver's Lithuanian backup SF/PF, was thenopp's 15th round pick. Since he gets few minutes as Carmelo's backup, the Nugs sometimes try to play him at PF (he's started there twice this year), where, gets some rebounds, but isn't much of a defender. On the other hand, he's a good shooter, and shoots a fair number of 3s. We saw toward the end of last year that he can put up big PTS numbers when his 3s are falling, but doesn't provide much else. He's averaging 10/4 this year (basically the same as last year)., and unless he gets significantly more minutes as Big K-Mart gets banged up, probably won't get much higher than that. Still, his 3's/DREB combination will make him useful for some team.

Judgment: Though we suspect Kleiza will put up better overall numbers this year, Maxiell makes sense for thenopp. As an addition to their relatively thin frontcourt (Yao, Hurt Jermaine, B-Lop, and M-Gas), Maxy should provide, though inconsistently, enough blocks and OREB to be useful. Watch the minutes when McDyess returns, however, or if one of the other Piston frontcourters (Herrmann, A-Johnson) gets hot.