I wouldn’t hold out hope for a big man in the portal, at least an ACC starting caliber one.
Maliq and Freeman are starting next year, they have to.
Would you rather pair them with a traditional big bodied 5, force Freeman to play the 3, and then have a concern about floor spacing and shooting again? That puts a lot on our 1 and 2 for ball handling, etc
Freeman should be an instant upgrade defensively from Taylor’. Taylor has been solid on the boards but Donnie is great there. I’d be more interested in a 3 who’s a good perimeter defender and rebounder - and can shoot a little. This replacing Bell also instanty makes us a much better rebounding team as well. We still need a big on the bench on nights like last night where Hall was doing whateve he wanted in the first half.
I think Maliq held his own at the 5 this year and with Donnie being on the court it’ll only help him to have a help defender like that.
Look at the big men leaving the ACC this year: Lynn Kidd (senior), Bacot (senior), Filipkowski (draft), Quinten Post (senior), PJ Hall (senior), Andrew Carr (senior).
I bet we go into next year with Maliq at the 5