I thought it might be interesting to look at one of (in my opinion) the better off season moves by the Sonics, a move that didn’t happen.
This past season for the New York Knicks, Jerome James played in 45 games, and played a total of 406 minutes. His season high for points in a game was 13, rebounds 8, blocks 2, and minutes played in a game 18. He averaged 3 points, 2 boards, .51 blocks a game.
In contrast, we replaced Big Snacks with Robert Swift and Johan Petro. While any respectable Sonics fan would know immediately that they out produced James, I was curious by just how much.
Robert Swift 2006 – 47 games played, 20 starts, 987 minutes.
Season Highs: 17 points, 13 boards, 4 blocks, 38 minutes played.
Season Averages: 6.4 points, 5.6 boards, 1.19 blocks, 21 minutes
Johan Petro 2006 – 68 games played, 41 starts, 1282 minutes.
Season Highs: 15 points, 12 boards, 4 blocks, 39 minutes played
Season Averages: 5.2 points, 4.4 boards, .75 blocks, 18.9 minutes played.
When you combine our two young centers you get a combined 62 starts, 11.6 points, 10 boards, 1.94 blocks, and 39.9 minutes played.
In the 04-05 season James had 80 starts, 4.9 points, 3 boards, 1.39 blocks, and 16.6 minutes per game. 04-05 season was the most minutes James has played in a single season (1,330).
Petro played 1282 minutes, and Swift 987 minutes.
Anyone disagree that the Sonics made the right choice? Would the Sonics have been better this past season had they kept James? Have you seen the size of his contract?