That said, I don't think Orlando would mortgage their future for a player that has never shown he can really take a team to the promise land.
This would hurt them three ways: losing the players, plus hurting their tanking efforts this season. As Henry Abbott pointed out: they're playing Oladipo out of position (PG) just like Seattle played Durant at SG his first year. He learns some useful skills, but they lose a lot of games.
That's one of the dumbest trade ideas I've seen. Portland gives up LMA for Noah, straight up? What the fuck??? Is your plan to make Chicago better and Portland worse?
Nobody wants to touch my three way trade, so I tinkered with it: Houston unloads Lin and Asik for Carlos Boozer. (Yes, I know - they'd have to have Denny advising them. But bear with me: Boozer can put up numbers and next to Howard he wouldn't be such a defensive liability. He can hit the jumper, too, so he's a stretch-ish 4. And NO have turned down Houston flat for Ryan Anderson. AND, let's face it, Lin was a mistake. He might be better than he showed in Houston, but he's about to get a balloon payment and Beverley was better for them. He just doesn't work with Harden.) Chicago swaps Noah plus Mirotic/Charlotte pick for Aldridge (Mirotic would probably make more sense - with Aldridge and Gibson, Mirotic is sort of superfluous to them) We end up with Noah (whom we know the FO wants) plus a PF for next year in Mirotic. I'd do it if I thought Aldridge was gone. The only downside is Noah and Lopez play the same position. I guess you could play them together some, but I'm not sure it would work. Probably Houston doesn't do it, unless for some reason Dwight thinks highly of Boozer.
You forgot the pick. But you severely underestimate Noah. Aldridge might be more skilled than Noah, but he's nothing like the defender, rebounder or competitor. People have discounted Noah for years and he keeps winning.
Noah isn't a primary scorer. You trade LMA, and you're left with Lillard (and hopefully McCollum, but who knows) as players who a defense will focus on. After the Robin Lopez deal, bringing in Noah seems redundant, and leave a huge hole in scoring at PF.
Detroit looks to be going in a different direction with Smith. They view him as a SF, btw. I think they'd have interest in LMA now.
I just don't see Drummond any way, shape or form coming to Portland or any other team for that matter.
Monroe is in the final year of his rookie contract. He's going to get a bigger contract than what LMA is on right now after the season. So, the Blazers get Monroe for LMA, then match a max deal for him, which means unless Monroe can become an All-NBA type player, the Blazers are basically out of cap space for the foreseeable future.
I think he's worth it -- his passing would be huge with this current roster of shooters. His age - you can build long-term with Lillard/Monroe/McCollum/Batum.
Monroe isn't worth a max to begin with and unless we have a legit DPoY type big to make up for his absolutely horrid defense then it'll be like watching hickson play D all over again and we will once again be one of the worst teams at defending the paint. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
How is Monroe different from Al Jefferson? Detroit has sucked massively while he's produced his stats. Does he play any defense? Be wary of players who put up big numbers on bad teams.
I really like Monroe. Offensively I think he can be a Marc Gasol type of scorer/passer. However, Drummond would clearly be my #1 choice of the Detroit bigs. I just can't see them moving him over Monroe.
100% agree. Detroit has sucked big time. When we played Detroit, Aldridge just abused Monroe. It wasn't even funny. I was at that game. He's got some gaping holes.
Yep they won't. I see Drummond being one of the best centers in the league if he stays healthy and has the drive. The scouting reports do say his work ethic and motivation is a question. Guess we will see. Still a fan of his game
You seriously think that ROBIN LOPEZ would make Noah redundant? That's like saying Batum makes Lebron James redundant. I know Noah is not a primary scorer. And yet the Bulls did better than us this year, didn't they? Besides, don't forget Batum. He can be more of a scorer if called on.
