If you could sign any NBA player to play for the Red Sox, who would it be and why?

[StephenCurry30]

With the Yankees trading for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, I was thinking, if we can sign/trade for NFL players, why not look to acquire some NBA players? If this was a possibility who would be the guy we'd target in the NBA? If we could acquire John Wall or Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner in playoffs, they would be dynamic once we get them some reps to read pitchers and steal bases. I don't expect any of them to hit at an MLB level, so those two guys would be interesting choices as they have an elite skill set. If I was going to be on any player being successful though, I would bet on the obvious choice, Lebron James. Freak of Nature athlete, high IQ on and off the court, I bet if he started playing younger, he could've succeeded in baseball. He was already an elite NFL/NBA talent so there was no need for a 3rd major sport, but I bet he could've.

 

Here are some references to how dominate he is in his sport

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-imagine-a-baseball-playing-lebron-james/

 

What say you talksox? which nba player would you want?

[harmony]

With the Yankees trading for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, I was thinking, if we can sign/trade for NFL players, why not look to acquire some NBA players? If this was a possibility who would be the guy we'd target in the NBA? If we could acquire John Wall or Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner in playoffs, they would be dynamic once we get them some reps to read pitchers and steal bases. I don't expect any of them to hit at an MLB level, so those two guys would be interesting choices as they have an elite skill set. If I was going to be on any player being successful though, I would bet on the obvious choice, Lebron James. Freak of Nature athlete, high IQ on and off the court, I bet if he started playing younger, he could've succeeded in baseball. He was already an elite NFL/NBA talent so there was no need for a 3rd major sport, but I bet he could've.

 

Here are some references to how dominate he is in his sport

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-imagine-a-baseball-playing-lebron-james/

 

What say you talksox? which nba player would you want?

Portland Trail Blazer shooting guard Pat Connaughton out of St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts.

 

The Baltimore Orioles drafted the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Connaughton as a pitcher out of the University of Notre Dame in the fourth round of the June 2014 draft:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=connau000pat

 

Connaughton has averaged 6.2 points a game off the bench this year for the Trail Blazers:

 

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=22205819&ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

I saw Connaughton throw out the first pitch at a Hillsboro Hops game in the short-season Northwest League.

Edited February 25, 2018 by harmony

[Jasonbay44]

Portland Trail Blazer shooting guard Pat Connaughton out of St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts.

 

The Baltimore Orioles drafted the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Connaughton as a pitcher out of the University of Notre Dame in the fourth round of the June 2014 draft:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=connau000pat

 

Connaughton has averaged 6.2 points a game off the bench this year for the Trail Blazers:

 

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=22205819&ex_cid=espnapi_public

Notre Dame seems to pretty often have multi-sports stars who could've gone pro in numerous sports. Golden Tate, Jeff Samardzija, Connaughton, Torii Hunter Jr., Tom Zbikowski, etc. Pretty impressive.

 

As for the thread, I'd pick a guy like Connaughton, who could've gone pro in baseball but chose basketball. I'm not sure I can think of any others at the moment. All the names I'm thinking of are long retired, Charlie Ward, Danny Ainge, etc.

[notin]

Connaughton was my first thought, too. Although I'm sure other power forwards can be converted to power arms, much like the Reds did with Amir Garrett.

 

Why would anyone want Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner? I'm 100% certain I can find an actual baseball player who is as fast or (more likely) faster than Westbrook and posseses actual baseball skills as well. If Clay Buchholz - a former wide receiver recruit at Notre Dame and U Texas - taught us anything, it was that speed alone does not make a good baserunner....

[Jasonbay44]

Connaughton was my first thought, too. Although I'm sure other power forwards can be converted to power arms, much like the Reds did with Amir Garrett.

 

Why would anyone want Russell Westbrook as a pinch runner? I'm 100% certain I can find an actual baseball player who is as fast or (more likely) faster than Westbrook and posseses actual baseball skills as well. If Clay Buchholz - a former wide receiver recruit at Notre Dame and U Texas - taught us anything, it was that speed alone does not make a good baserunner....

 

Yeah, I'm not sure what Westbrook would really bring that Quintin Berry doesn't, aside from his name.

[Bellhorn04]

As Michael Jordan demonstrated, and learned, no matter how superb an athlete you are, hitting high-level pitching is really freaking hard.

[notin]

Yeah, I'm not sure what Westbrook would really bring that Quintin Berry doesn't, aside from his name.

 

An insanely high salary?

[harmony]

Notre Dame seems to pretty often have multi-sports stars who could've gone pro in numerous sports. Golden Tate, Jeff Samardzija, Connaughton, Torii Hunter Jr., Tom Zbikowski, etc. Pretty impressive.

 

As for the thread, I'd pick a guy like Connaughton, who could've gone pro in baseball but chose basketball. I'm not sure I can think of any others at the moment. All the names I'm thinking of are long retired, Charlie Ward, Danny Ainge, etc.

Betweem 1996 and 2011 Washington State product Mark Hendrickson played parts of four NBA seasons as a power forward and parts of 10 MLB seasons as a towering 6-foot-9 pitcher:

 

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hendrma01.html

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hendrma01.shtml

[notin]

HErickson is one of many to play both sports professionally. Before Danny Ainge was an all star shooting guard, he was a horrible second baseman in Toronto. Gene Conley played for the Celtics and pitched for the Red Sox. Before switching to acting, Chuck Connors played for the Celtics and the Dodgers.

 

The list goes on and on. Which is why a straight up basketball player would never be on my radar. ...

[mvp 78]

Sign Danny Ainge and make him the GM.

[Hugh2]

If we're talking about an NBA player being equally good at baseball I'd choose Lebron James in a heartbeat, over and over again. The irony is I would never want him on my NBA team but I think his selfless, all around, star powered personality would be a better fit for baseball believe it or not.

 

Lebron James might be that guy who passes the ball in the 4th quarter and is a little less reluctant to take over a game like other elite players but the baseball manifestation of James to me is a guy who does it all. A guy who can hit .300, hit 30 HR's, steal 30 bases, and play elite defense. And his primadona attitude is the kinda attitude baseball might need right now and believe me.....I'm the biggest James hater out there.

 

On the other hand, he might be demanding 40 million a year.

[Emp9]

I think Ainge is a good choice. But if I’m taking a current NBA player who’s skills may or may not play at all in MLB... I’ll take Greek Freak.

[Bellhorn04]

If we're talking about an NBA player being equally good at baseball I'd choose Lebron James in a heartbeat, over and over again. The irony is I would never want him on my NBA team but I think his selfless, all around, star powered personality would be a better fit for baseball believe it or not.

 

Lebron James might be that guy who passes the ball in the 4th quarter and is a little less reluctant to take over a game like other elite players but the baseball manifestation of James to me is a guy who does it all. A guy who can hit .300, hit 30 HR's, steal 30 bases, and play elite defense. And his primadona attitude is the kinda attitude baseball might need right now and believe me.....I'm the biggest James hater out there.

 

On the other hand, he might be demanding 40 million a year.

 

Can LeBron hit real pitchers any better than MJ could is the question.

[notin]

Can LeBron hit real pitchers any better than MJ could is the question.

 

Exactly.

 

I wouldn't sign any basketball player for an MLB team in the same way I wouldn't try fill a roster spot on an NBA team with a baseball player. ..

[Hugh2]

Can LeBron hit real pitchers any better than MJ could is the question.

 

From a statistical perspective, you could say Lebron James. He has a slightly higher FG% and FG3%, slightly lower PPG, more rebounds and assists.

 

This is obviously an insanely objective thought experiment so I'm kinda playing two different angles here. Assuming how a players skill sets would look as a baseball player opposed to an NBA player, and I'm also looking at this from the perspective that baseball is much less dependent on one player opposed to basketball. Arguably a pitcher can have the same impact on a game as one NBA player (perhaps even more) but a starter will only go every 5 days for you. I'd take the team player who all across the board looks like a 5 tool, sefless player.

 

But if we really want to dive deep into this, you could argue Jordan would be the better player for your team in the playoffs. He'd be like......David Ortiz 2013.

[Hugh2]

Jordan, on the other hand, had relative success in professional baseball. He didn't reach the majors but he did play in AA and hit 3 HRs. He might not of had the sexiest stat line but when you consider he had not played the sport in over a decade at 31 and jumped over rookie ball, low A and high A it was actually pretty impressive.

 

It makes you wonder what could have been if he pursued a baseball career and got some prime development during his younger years. It's hard to argue he didn't make the right choice however.

[notin]

If you're looking at an NBA player for an MLB team, hitting shouldn't even come up. Even the most athletic players have very large strike Zones they would struggle to protect. I'd think teams would be better off getting someone like Tyson Chandler or Alex Len who could generate significant moment with longer arms and get some serious velocity on a fastball, not to mention would have a huge stride cutting their release point down to maybe 50 feet from home plate.

 

Amir Garrett of the Reds isn't as tall but basically does the same thing. As the most common physical attribute associated with basketball players is height, that is where you should look for the advantage.

 

I would think very few NBA players can hit MLB pitching, And the ones who actually can are probably not the big name basketball superstars you think of. ..

[Hugh2]

If you're looking at an NBA player for an MLB team, hitting shouldn't even come up. Even the most athletic players have very large strike Zones they would struggle to protect. I'd think teams would be better off getting someone like Tyson Chandler or Alex Len who could generate significant moment with longer arms and get some serious velocity on a fastball, not to mention would have a huge stride cutting their release point down to maybe 50 feet from home plate.

 

Amir Garrett of the Reds isn't as tall but basically does the same thing. As the most common physical attribute associated with basketball players is height, that is where you should look for the advantage.

 

I would think very few NBA players can hit MLB pitching, And the ones who actually can are probably not the big name basketball superstars you think of. ..

 

I suppose this is a highly subjective question that everyone might interpret differently. I took it as imagining the MLB equivalent of an NBA player, you're taking on a physical tools level, which immediately probably better serves the original question better than I did.

 

From that perspective, you bring up a good point that many NBA players might struggle, BUT a lot of MLB players got height too. Stanton is 6'6" JDM and Machado are 6'3" Miguel Cabrera is 6'4" and Aaron Judge is 6'7" and that was just 2 minutes of research. I'm sure I could find a few more sluggers past and present who are tall.

 

Russel Westbrook and Kyrie Irving are only 6'3" You don't have to be 6'10" to be elite in the NBA....unless perhaps you're a C C/F.