The Nets need to watch over their shoulders for the po-po cause they just stole Stromile Swift. Now don’t get me wrong Stromile Swift is not a very good player. He’s averaging 6.8 points and 3.7 boards in 15 minutes this season. And I haven’t really seen him play all season because Memphis is never on TV, but…
Jason Collins it can be made a strong case for is the worst player in the league. In fact I made that case earlier in the year. His PER at the time was a negative. That means essentially the Nets would have been more efficient playing 4 on 5 then having him on the court. Now Collins through improved play has brought it up to a grand total of 1.87 Swift by contrast has a PER of 16.22. Now PER is certainly not a complete stat it may not take into effect fully defensive abilities, but a PER difference of 15 is HUUUUGEE. For comparisons sake: there’s as big a difference in PER’s between Collins and Swift as there is between Swift and the league leader in PER Lebron James.
Financially this deal is a wash for the Nets, with both players having a maximum of one more year remaining past this season at similar dollars. The deal could in fact be beneficial financially if Swift decides to opt out of the player option he has for next year; unlikely but possible.
In terms of age it doesn’t do a whole lot. Swift is 9 months younger, however if he plays anything closer to his age the Nets will seem a lot younger. Collins plays much like he’s 40 and that’s not a compliment to his intelligence. I can speak to how energetic or athletic Swift plays, but I’d imagine it would have to be better then Collins.
What does this mean for the team? Undetermined especially when consider Jason Kidd may be on the move. And Nenad Kristic should be back from injury soon. However If Kidd sticks around Swift will definitely benefit from many easy baskets that anyone not inept offensively like Collins would have capitalized on.
Editors Note: Despite ESPN's bottom line report the deal is apparently not final, as Collins was playing for the Nets tonight. PER stands for Player Efficiency Rating. It is a stat created by ESPN's John Hollinger is in an attempt to measure a players statistical contributions. It includes "positive accomplishments, such as field goals, free throws, 3-pointers, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals, and negative ones, such as missed shots, turnovers and personal fouls." It is "per-minute and pace-adjusted" so it takes into account how much a player is adjusts to make up for how much playing time a player gets and how fast or slow a team plays.