FanPost

Mavs Fan's Exclusive Guide to Zaza Pachulia

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports


DISCLAIMER: This is not a troll post. I'm a Mavs fan but the Warriors are my 2nd favorite team, and I've followed them since 2012.

So last offseason, after the whole DeAndre-Gate emoji scandal, my team, the Mavs, were left without a center. Donnie Nelson traded a future 2nd round pick for Zaza Pachulia from the Bucks, and it was widely seen as a desperation move that wouldn't help much. After all, Zaza was just a mediocre bench player at the time.

Well, in the 1st months of the season Zaza played the best basketball of his life, averaging 10 points and almost 11 rebounds as one of the Mavs most consistent players. In fact, he almost got a starting spot at the 2016 All Star Game. However after the All Star Break Zaza started to break down physically, due to the fact he had never been relied upon this much before, he was playing career high minutes, and a strained Achilles didn't help. Despite being benched in favor of Dirk Nowitzki and Salah Mejri at center, Zaza finished the season averaging 8.6 points and 9.4 rebounds, the rebounds being a career high.

I will be breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of his game below.

Strengths

-Zaza is a good rebounder, averaging about 10 rebounds per 36 minutes for his career, and pulled down 13 rebounds per 36 minutes last season. He had a 13.7 offensive rebounding percentage last season, ranked 6th in the league.

-He plays tough and gritty. Zaza is good at setting hard screens using his huge 6'11" 275 pound frame, and is known for getting under opponent's skin.

-He's a great passer, having averaged around 2 assists his last 3 years.

-Zaza brings intangibles. He's a great veteran prescense for younger teams, brings heart and hustle to his team, and Dirk Nowitzki, a known "nice guy" around the league, called him "the ultimate teammate"

-He's a tough and good-ish defender. Zaza allowed 52% at the rim last season, not good but not too shabby. He's 275 pounds, so it's hard to back him down in the post or drive at him in the paint. Finally, he was the anchor of the #2 defense in 14-15, and he played next to known defensive liability Dirk Nowitzki in 15-16, but the Mavs defense still ended up being only slightly below average.

Weaknesses

-Zaza can't jump at all, and his athleticism is very below average.

-Due to his lack of athleticism, he is a very bad shot blocker, averaging less than 1 block for his career, and he averaged 0.3 blocks last season, and his rim protection is only average. Zaza can not make or contest plays above the rim. Last, he struggles against longer, more athletic players, as shown in the 1st round series against OKC where he only averaged 5 rebounds

-He is a below average scorer and finisher, shooting 47% from the field. In the 1st 10-15 games of the season and in 10-15 games after the ASB he was shooting below 40% from the field.

-Because he's so huge, he's pretty slow, which is bad for defending quicker players. He also clogs the paint sometimes, which isn't exactly good for the GSW fast paced offense

-Last, he can't play heavy minutes. The Mavs did that last year and they broke him down physically.

Final Verdict

Zaza will probably only play around 20-28 minutes, which is a perfect amount of time since he can't play too many minutes. The offensive firepower around him should mask his defensive deficiencies, and although he's not perfect and is only an average player, he can adequately address the Warriors' rebounding and rim protection needs, and having a big body on the team that can set screens and play tough can't hurt

Grade: B+

I hope my input helps set your expectations on what to expect next season!

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!