I’ll start: Wendell Carter Jr.
His points are way down, dropping from 15.2 to 9.4 as is his outside shooting, from 35.6% to 31.3%. To add to his struggles, he broke his hand five games in and needed surgery. In the interim, Orlando has become one of the hottest teams in the league without him.
However, as a versatile big who can play the 4 or 5, and can shoot from outside while last year putting up 85% at the rim, now might be a great time to buy low. Also averaging 8 rpg. He’s only 24 so on Luka’s timeline. His contract is also very good.
Although his sample size is small, CraftedNBA rates him the 5th in the league under “Best Rim Protectors” with opponents shooting 20% worse than “expected” and a 42.9% FG% at the rim. I think he is insanely underrated - especially now in a down year - and Orlando’s frontcourt depth makes him somewhat expendable. He can start as the PF next to Lively with his outside shooting and perimeter versatility, and we can keep one or the other on court at all times to have a legit rim protector (or two). I would consider trading multiple of Hardy, Green or OMax and even putting the 2027 1st on the table if they’ll take Kleber or Holmes instead.
The answer is a wing not a big, lively has been great the issue is everyone else
Lively has been great, but rim protection and rebounding are still our largest problems. We have the HIGHEST opponent FG% within 6 ft of the rim in the league. 71.4%!!! We are also the lowest team in the league in contested defensive rebounds, even though our defensive rebounding chances are only slightly below average. Grant is too small to be PF imo and Lively cannot play 48 minutes a night.