I think Lillard's better than anyone they have, going forward, and I'd argue Aldridge is as well. I think two big aspects of being able to compete overall are having top players at each position, like top 5 PF, etc., as well as being able to "win" matchups against other teams. It could be my faith in Lillard, but I can see him as a top 5 PG as early as next season. There are so many good PGs, it's tough to pick apart, but he's up there, right behind Rose, Paul, Westbrook. Aldridge is a top 5 PF pretty easily. Where he is in that top 5 we can debate. At SF, you have Lebron, Durant, Carmelo, probably throw Paul George in there, and then Batum is in that next argument to round out the top 5 to 7 players. I think having 3 top 5-8ish players at their positions is a big step in the right direction. If we were a winning team, Wes would get mentioned more alongside guys like Sefelosha, but because we aren't, he isn't. But he's every bit as good, and a very good 3 point shooter, which is big out of a role player. Gortat would give us a very good post defender. Obviously, you need a bench. Bench being the key, that's a better 5 than Denver, IMO. I think Batum and Gallinari can be debated, but they're close. I'd personally take Lillard over Lawson going forward, but we can call that one close. Gortat's a little better than Koufos, Aldridge is better than Faried. Iguodola is better than Wes. If they keep him. And they were what, 3rd in the west?
very nice post factor that no matter how much we all like Lillard, he is no Nash. Was not long ago that LMA wasone ofthe best in the league on the Pand R, dunk. Almost all of that had to do with Miller. Mind you, I think that Lillard can pass into the rim..he just needs to do it more.. Great comparison on JJ. Some team is going to pay him on last seasons numbers an be very unhappy with what they end up with, hope it is not the Blazers. Pfffttt 220...lol
Agreed that Lillard isn't Nash, but he sure made Hickson look good on dives to the rim. I would list passing to the roller as one of Lillard's strengths.
I believe he was one of if not the top rated PnR PG coming out of the draft last year according to Tom Penn http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8111210/welcome-draft-diary-xvi
I didn't realize how big Gortat is. He is pretty quick down the court, so I was kind of thinking 6"10 and 240 or so. They guy is 6'11" barefoot, 7+ in shoes, with a 7'3.5" wing span and 255 lbs. That's a pretty solid build. His rebounding was down last year, but he had been trending up and Phoenix was a mess last year.
And imagine if he played alongside Aldridge?! I think a lot of hicksons stats were a benefit from the attention on Aldridge. I suspect if hickson does leave for greener pastures; he won't be nearly as effective being a starter on a team without a legit low/high post scorer like Aldridge.
I think Gortat makes sense but question are 1) Would Olshey see that as a long term solution and moving the needle and if not 2) is he willing to do a good short term solution in hopes of finding a better situation down the road. We are not going to be to a championship contender next season so what does that meant to Olshey and the decisions he makes
almost convinced that he may be the best option. It would be nice to see a big in the center that was not undersized, played SOME D and could still put up some numbers
And gortat has a good mid range shot to boot. Defenses can't sag off him to help on Lillard. Pick your poison Aldridge or gortat off the pop. Either one can deliver that mid range drain if you are stupid enough to try and trap Lillard. Also, gortat sets a mean pick! Lillard could get a huge boost in efficiency if he has a step on his man on every position.
see..this is the same "can you imagine..." hopefull thinking that changed my 06 pre draft opinion from Durrant to GO... yeah..Gortat would be a good fit..
I think as long as the somewhat short term solution(10 for Gortat) isn't jeopardizing the franchise long term, then it is ok. I'm assuming they are still high on Leonard, which makes it seem unlikely that they would draft another project C with 10. Long term, the team has decent options at the 1(Lillard), 3(Batum) and the 5(Leonard, potentially). If it was trading Leonard and 10, then I see it as sacrificing long term for short term. If it was trading Batum for a C upgrade, the same. But in a weak draft, moving a late lotto pick for an above averaged C, I wouldn't htink is making a big long term sacrifice.
This is how I feel, too. I don't think that the team is very good if we add Gortat, and I don't see it getting a lot better in the years after adding Gortat. If we could acquire him just for cap space? Maybe. But giving up a draft pick to claw our way into high-mediocre rather than low-mediocre doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Ed O.
Gortat is a good center, a position that was our biggest weakness last year. So it would be a good move for the Blazers. If we re-sign Maynor and get one more bench guy, I'd expect us to be a playoff team.
I agree too, but if Gortat is the best you can do, and he isn't good enough, then don't you trade Aldridge? I think there is a possibility that Gortat plus another wing could make the team very good down the road, but Lillard and Batum would really have to step up. Odds are that it won't be enough.
