Yuku free message boards

How Vince Carter could help a contender

Vince Carter may be the most infuriating player in the league. He’s one of the NBA’s all-time great athletes, but he’s also someone whose so-so defense and tendency to work only as hard as context requires make him a risky bet.

Some team will bet on him now that Phoenix has made the academic decision to buy out the veteran shooting guard for $4 million (as opposed to paying him $18.3 million to stick around for the season) and place him on the open market.

Carter is 34 and clearly in decline. He’s an inconsistent creator off the dribble, he barely gets to the free-throw line anymore and his defense is only going to be more of a problem as he gets older. Carter worked defensively in Orlando, where he showed he can be part of an elite defense given top-notch surrounding personnel and smart scheming. His effort in Phoenix, after being acquired from the Magic last December, was borderline embarrassing at times (see the still shot under point number 12 in this post), the latest reminder that Carter has mastered the art of giving a token effort — look at him reaching! — when nothing is on the line. If your team doesn’t have anything at stake this season, it’d be wise to stay away; this should be obvious.

But there are plenty of teams with something at stake, and a few of those teams could use a player with Good Vince Carter’s skill set. Carter can shoot, for one. He’s an above-average three-point shooter for his career (37.4 percent), and his accuracy should shoot up near 40 percent as he takes cleaner spot-up attempts.

Paired with a threatening big man, Carter can work as a serviceable secondary pick-and-roll ball-handler. In 22 games with the Magic last season, Carter ranked as the league’s most efficient pick-and-roll handler, considering only such plays he finished with a shot, drawn foul or turnover, according to Synergy Sports. His efficiency on pick-and-rolls fell off a bit on Phoenix, where he didn’t have Dwight Howard rolling down the lane to draw everyone’s attention, but he still ranked well above-average. Carter is a clever passer when he feels like sharing, and on a good team, with good big men, you could do a lot worse than having him work a pick-and-roll as an emergency option when the shot clock is running down.

Some contenders that are thin on the wing or light on shooting also happen to have some very good pick-and-roll big men. Chicago, Boston and the Lakers jump out as teams that could use Carter’s skill set in a limited backup role.

Boston has half a team under contract and a below-average offense; it will look at any cheap wing player who can back up both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen while providing a bit of scoring punch. Of course, the Celtics got an up-close look at Carter’s shaky playoff chops during the 2010 Eastern Conference finals, when he imploded and helped cost the Magic a conference title.

The Lakers are bracing to lose Shannon Brown, their only backup shooting guard with even a second of NBA experience, and (like Boston) they could offer Carter the mini mid-level exception open to taxpaying teams. The Bulls, armed with the full mid-level, have higher goals at shooting guard, but they’ll face stiff competition for Jason Richardson, Arron Afflalo and the other top free-agent options there.

Fans of those gritty contenders would have to swallow hard before admitting it, but an engaged Carter playing 15 minutes per game during a compressed regular season could help their teams. “Engaged” is the key word. Carter has to be ready to accept a more limited role, which might include less dribbling and more catch-and-shoot chances off screens — something he has been shaky at in recent years, per Synergy, with that leg-kick/fade-back form that looks so cool but produces so inconsistently. And Carter has to buy in on defense. The loss of quickness will make it harder for him to stay in front of shooting guards with crafty handles or keep close to them as they run around off the ball. He’ll have to compensate with smarts and effort. Perhaps Carter could defend small forwards, but the record there is limited and spotty.

Carter is a bit of a punch line among NBA die-hards, and he may well go down as the player with the most career points not to make the Hall of Fame. Much of that reputation is deserved, going back to his disgusting departure from Toronto. But if you need scoring and depth on the cheap, Carter can help — provided he’s willing.