Murph

I am a Troy Murphy fan. Be one of the first to admit it. A big man who shoots the 3. Sounds a lot like one of my favorite players named Dirk. Not to mention, boy can rebound. Gets 9 per game..adding 13 points and a +19.12 efficency rating. Last year averaged a double double with 14 points and close to 12 rebounds per game. Not to mention the 45% he shot from 3 last season. He is the The only player in NBA history to rank among the league's top five in both rebounding average and 3-pt field goal percentage, he was second in rebounding with a team single season record 11.8 rpg and he was third with a mark of 45.0 percent from beyond the 3-pt line. But at what cost? $11.05 million this year and $11.97 next year? Hefty contract for a 29 year old. He still has good years left I don't doubt that. But look at this fact...this season the Pacers are 7-3 without Murphy in the lineup and a hefty 4-21 with him. In the last five games without Murphy the Pacers help opponents to a 91.2 average. In the last five with him, 107.2. Murph does hustle though and gives it his all. But is he a defensive liability? (Disclaimer on this next stat; I took it using the "suggestive power forward" in any given game, does not mean he was directly matched up against that person most of the game) Starting opponents power forwards are averaging  17.5 points on the Pacers when he is playing. Without him is 14.2. Of course this doesn't take into account the level of contribution from a player on a given night. He is also the worst on the team in terms of plus minus with -227. Personally if any team like the Cavaliers want Murphy I say get what you can in return for him like a JJ Hickson and a draft pick and move on with that type of money off the books and give the young guys like McRoberts and Hansbrough who have fared very well this season in minutes played. It should also be noted that Murphy has had a negative impact on the dominance that could be Roy Hibbert. When you look at Roy point production with Murph in the lineup, Roy is averaging 8.6 points per game and without him is averaging 14.8 points per game. Same thing when you look at the rebounding averages. With Murph "Big Boy Roy" grabs 4.8 boards per game. Without him he becomes "Hungry Hungry Hibbert" and grabs 7.9.