How valuable is Cody Zeller?

[yasuhara2241]

http://hoopshype.com/2017/09/07/heres-why-cody-zeller-is-one-of-the-most-valuable-big-men-in-the-nba/ 

I knew there was an article about Cody early in the year and I found it. It has a ton of great information. 

So my question to you all is do you all think that the Hornets are really missing Zeller and he would make a big difference on the team? 

Just wanted to get off the Kemba trade talk and me being upset about not giving Monk PT. 

[bLACKpANTHER]

He could start for most teams in todays NBA and would be excellent off the bench.. too bad his contract looks more like starter-money than bench-money.. we could potentially trade him and attach a worse contract to him but the injuries are starting to pile up on him..

[AppHeel]

This is a tough question. The team's record last season without him certainly suggests value, but I really don't think that this year's team is in a significantly better situation then they are right now if he hasn't missed any time.

Zeller is probably in the top tier of centers in the NBA in terms of PnR play especially when it comes to setting screens. He is an EXCELLENT screen setter which is perfect for a PG like Kemba. I would probably argue that Cody is a better screen setter than Dwight is, but Dwight is so much more of a threat than Cody is when rolling to the basket. Dwight also is superior in other aspects of his game than Cody is which is why Cody is no threat to start over Dwight in this lineup. 

Cody is also a good rebounder and a high energy guy that never stops working. He runs the floor well too and can stretch you out to 18 feet as a 5 man. That skill set is great for a 2nd unit. However, when you put Cody on the floor with this particular second unit, it's less than ideal based on the other personnel around him. MCW is not a scoring threat as a PG. Sure he has his moments where he can get to the basket, but MCW isn't going to look for his shot and defenders are going to go under the screen every time because MCW is no threat from the perimeter. Plus Cody on the floor put either him or Frank out of position. Frank is a stretch five and nothing else. He can't be the four offensively because his offensive production isn't at that level or defensively due to his size and quickness. Cody can't be a four because of his inability to to stretch the floor to the three point line and while his lateral quickness is better than Frank's on defense, Cody is more effective defensively closer to the basket where he can alter shots and get rebounds.

Ultimately, I think Cody is most effective on this Hornets team when he shares the floor with Kemba as the primary Center. The personnel in the 2nd unit doesn't fit with what Cody brings so unless Cho finds a backup PG that can score off PnR offense (like Jeremy Lin was able to) then Cody is expendable. 

I like Cody, he seems like a great guy and he has legitimately improved since he's gotten to the league, but unless the Hornets can trade Dwight or upgrade Frank and MCW in the 2nd unit, then to me it doesn't make sense to continue to hold onto him. I think most teams think highly enough of Cody Zeller at face value to where they'd be happy to trade for him, but his contract with recent injury history will make it tough.

 

Short answer: Cody is expendable

[OldNorthPowell]

Cody doesn't have much value. Just the painful truth. 

[chknwing]

prolly trade him for a new washing machine

[bLACKpANTHER]

2 hours ago, AppHeel said:

This is a tough question. The team's record last season without him certainly suggests value, but I really don't think that this year's team is in a significantly better situation then they are right now if he hasn't missed any time.

Zeller is probably in the top tier of centers in the NBA in terms of PnR play especially when it comes to setting screens. He is an EXCELLENT screen setter which is perfect for a PG like Kemba. I would probably argue that Cody is a better screen setter than Dwight is, but Dwight is so much more of a threat than Cody is when rolling to the basket. Dwight also is superior in other aspects of his game than Cody is which is why Cody is no threat to start over Dwight in this lineup. 

Cody is also a good rebounder and a high energy guy that never stops working. He runs the floor well too and can stretch you out to 18 feet as a 5 man. That skill set is great for a 2nd unit. However, when you put Cody on the floor with this particular second unit, it's less than ideal based on the other personnel around him. MCW is not a scoring threat as a PG. Sure he has his moments where he can get to the basket, but MCW isn't going to look for his shot and defenders are going to go under the screen every time because MCW is no threat from the perimeter. Plus Cody on the floor put either him or Frank out of position. Frank is a stretch five and nothing else. He can't be the four offensively because his offensive production isn't at that level or defensively due to his size and quickness. Cody can't be a four because of his inability to to stretch the floor to the three point line and while his lateral quickness is better than Frank's on defense, Cody is more effective defensively closer to the basket where he can alter shots and get rebounds.

Ultimately, I think Cody is most effective on this Hornets team when he shares the floor with Kemba as the primary Center. The personnel in the 2nd unit doesn't fit with what Cody brings so unless Cho finds a backup PG that can score off PnR offense (like Jeremy Lin was able to) then Cody is expendable. 

I like Cody, he seems like a great guy and he has legitimately improved since he's gotten to the league, but unless the Hornets can trade Dwight or upgrade Frank and MCW in the 2nd unit, then to me it doesn't make sense to continue to hold onto him. I think most teams think highly enough of Cody Zeller at face value to where they'd be happy to trade for him, but his contract with recent injury history will make it tough.

 

Short answer: Cody is expendable

thank you for ur thoughtful insight.. agree with most of it.. I think we cud trade Zeller straight up for something if he was healthy.. but since his injury - i dont think his value is high enough - and definitely cant attach anyone to him..

[Eazy-E]

He would have pretty good value even with his contract if he could stay healthy.

[Zaximus]

Made of glass sadly.

[rhyslloyd]

I like his energy, toughness and quickness for a big man.  Unfortunately, he can't shoot, he struggles to finish at the rim (usually ends up on the floor), he gets pushed around by other big men and he just cannot stay healthy.  There are some things to like, and some things that make you cringe.  I would be fine with Cody as a backup if he were being paid as a backup, but he's not.

[AppHeel]

13 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

thank you for ur thoughtful insight.. agree with most of it.. I think we cud trade Zeller straight up for something if he was healthy.. but since his injury - i dont think his value is high enough - and definitely cant attach anyone to him..

Agreed....unless you attach with Kemba for a moderate return and definitely don't want to do that

[yasuhara2241]

10 hours ago, rhyslloyd said:

I like his energy, toughness and quickness for a big man.  Unfortunately, he can't shoot, he struggles to finish at the rim (usually ends up on the floor), he gets pushed around by other big men and he just cannot stay healthy.  There are some things to like, and some things that make you cringe.  I would be fine with Cody as a backup if he were being paid as a backup, but he's not.

"Paid as a backup" is my main problem with a lot of our players. Only Lamb and Kemba have truly outplayed their contracts. We kind of screwed the pooch with the increased Cap room. Smart teams used the extra money to try to find another all-star. We used the extra cap room to overpay the average players we already had. Look at the successful teams and most of the cap room is spent on the top 3 players and then fill in the rest. The Hornets have 6 players making 10m+ and 2 players making 20m+. Only one of those 6 players are allstars. 

[IMissChrisWeinke]

13-27 without him and 30-31 with him.