Based on the "excitement" factor, who are you most excited about in terms of helping the Blazers. My ranking: T-Rob: impressed at SL and ex-teammates saying to watch out for this guy, I do question his basketball IQ CJ: draft pick scorer coming from a mid-major college program, I'm bias but can't help but hope another gem is found Wright: other teams were interested and could find a nice niche on this roster Williams: just what the doctor ordered to reduce Lillard's minutes and help take pressure off him (Although handles isn't his best trait). Refind his glory days and become 6th man canidate? Lopez: He will help the Blazers at the center spot and that is exciting. But I think he will be the position fans will be looking to improve to make this team more competitive Watson: defensive toughness could always be used, but at 34 I expect 75% mentoring and 25% playing CJ, Wright and Williams are pretty closely bunched for me, but if I had to rank em, that is my excitement ranking.
It was hard for me to rank them and I realized the reason is because with an actual bench its nice to finally know that just about every night one of them (and possible more) will have a good night which is the complete opposite of last year. Overall I am most curious to see if TRob's Summer League play can even somewhat translate to the regular season and off of the bench.
for me it would be Trob - was really high on this guy before last years draft Lopez - i can't even begin to explain how excited i am to not yell at my TV in frustration everytime JJ just watched as another guard got an uncontested layup. Williams - I was going to have CJ right here but Williams will be taking the 6th man role I had CJ penciled in for. CJ - A lottery pick who can shoot and has a great work ethic, he may not contribute much this year but it wont be for lack of effort Wright - More shooting off the bench, wont get a ton of minutes but should be an instant offense type guy Watons - umm... wasn't excited to begin with, I look at him as more of an assistant then an actual player.
Nice that you added why for each player. Better than just throwing out a list (doh). I'm going back to edit . . .
Yeah that would be my ranking as well. I'm most excited about Robinson because of what I think he could become, I really liked the Lopez pickup and I think Williams was a steal.
For each, we have another good player at the same position...except Lopez. Ranking them by importance, not excitement, he's #1.
I'm excited about the bench, overall. That's No. 1. Individually, I'm most excited by Robinson, because of his potential. I'm a sucker for rooks, and I feel like he still is one. Second would be Mo Williams, an honest to god seasoned PG to come off the bench. I wouldn't say I'm "excited" about Lopez but I am very thankful. He will take a lot of pressure off LaMarcus and will allow LaMarcus to be better. And he'll make our defense better. I think Lopez is the most significant addition for this team this season. I'm hopeful CJ is as he is billed. I think he will be a good scorer from the get-go. I'm also really excited we got Wright. This was a major addition, IMO, the significance of which at this point is going largely overlooked because of the other additions.
Williams Lopez Robinson Wright McCollum edit - I see it's based on excitement I can't say I'm really that excited for any of the players. They're just solid additions. Lillard progressing is what excites me.
Hard to quantify the "excitement" ranking because you said "excited for how they'll help the Blazers". Are we ranking by how much we're intrigued by the player? Because then CJ is obviously tops. Or how much we think they'll contribute? Because it's hard to be excited for how a player will help the Blazers if you think he's not really ready. I'll go with the latter: 1. Lopez (obviously: we have nobody else worth a damn at his position) 2. Mo Williams (he'll be the new Maynor. We need a new Maynor.) 3. Wright (if Claver really is regarded as a 4, he's our only backup 3) 4. CJ (now our main backup SG) 5. T-Rob (I'm ready to be disappointed. I think he'll get minutes at first, but gradually fade out of the rotation when it becomes apparent that he just isn't very good at basketball) Oh, forgot about Watson. As will we all. But he was hired for lockerroom influence. And when we trade Mo midseason he might get a few minutes. Oh, and TOTALLY forgot about Crabbe. But maybe he'll do well in Boise.
Am torn with the response, as in my initial excitement of landing him, and how I think they help the team. Probably it's a combination of the two for me in rankings, but ultimately, while I think Mo Williams will be a bigger help than both Robinson and CJ, I don't see him as a long term piece, so am/was more excited about their acquisitions. I think Robin's #1 for me. I think he's a great addition to the team. We've already hear Stotts mention being able to now run the defense he wanted to last season, but last season we didn't have the personnel. I imagine this is sort of a funneling towards Robin-ish sort of defense. And, for good reason, they didn't want to funnel anyone towards JJ. I also love that he's on a modest, short contract, and is still very young. Best aspect of that addition is that it is a piece that could help us win now, but also a piece that could be with us for the future. Or, Meyers Leonard becomes a stud, and his deal isn't a 4 year, 10 million dollar Pekovic type of deal or something. I banged the drum for RObin a bit, maybe a bit too much, and so am super stoked for his addition. I think after him, I'd have CJ next, and then Robinson. With their potential, but both as likely back ups, I like the potential role that CJ could fill as 6th man scorer better than I like the 6th man banger role for Robinson. Just as a needs position sort of thing. I'd go Mo after that, just because he is older and a short term piece, though he can very easily be #2 on the actual impact fr THIS season. Wright behind him, for very similar reasons. I'm excited for his addition, in that he helps a GREATLY improved bench, but he's not likely a long term solution to anything, so again, while he might help this season more than CJ potentially, long term, moer excirted over CJ. Then Watson
Lopez is my #1. He is a legit center. I'm not looking at scoring as much as being a team oriented player that can clog the paint. I think t rob will be second. I think he will be a solid player coming off the bench. He won't need all that pressure to do much. Mo and wright are perfect. Absolutely perfect because Lillard has a legit back up and all wings are interchangeable.
I'm excited for Lopez - if he can stay healthy, I expect him to build off last season. Adding a legit starting center is nice. Short-term, Wright and Mo will be huge for our bench - we now have NBA-proven instant scoring off the bench with these guys. Long-term, I love CJ, but TRob's potential really intrigues me. We're still a young team, so there's also room for these guys to grow. ...Which leads me to Lillard. If he can take the next step, which he may, there really is no telling how good this team could be.
That is pretty funny because my list is almost the opposite. I was trying to gage everyones excitement about players so I would expect different list from different posters, but opposite is pretty funny. I don't get all this Lopez excitement. I'm glad I'm the only one who seems to feel this way about Lopez because tells me I'm probably way off here, but he seems like a complete journeyman center to me . . . great backup but below average starter. But again, I take comfort that not many seem concerned with his slow footedness and are excited about him. I'm probably wrong about Lopez . . . but I was also banging my drum pretty hard that the Blazers have a serious hole in the back up PG position with Watson and posters seem to blow it off as not a concern. Next thing you know, Blazers sign a real back up PG.
If we had a player such as Pryz or Camby playing well at center last season fans wouldn't be nearly as excited about Lopez. Center has been such a painful issue that there is a big sense of relief to now have ONE legit option. The other new acquisitions are all bench players while Lopez is a clear starter. Personally I'm more excited about TRob and CJ since they have that chance, even if small, to be a star in the long term future for us. But in terms of impact on wins or losses I think Lopez likely can make the largest difference.
1. Lopez 2. Williams 3. Wright 4. Robinson 5. Watson 6. McCollum 7. Crabbe I haven't seen CJ of Crabbe do anything in real NBA action so I'm just gonna put them low so if they suck I wont be disappointed lol
1. CJ McCollum-Neil Olshey gets a lot of credit for some of these draft picks. But I tell you what, Paul Allen in the last four years is batting .750 if you include his teams picks at the NFL level. I want to see if CJ is another steal for one of Paul's franchises. 2. Thomas Robinson-I'm pulling for him. I believe in him. I think he has a lot to give and I'm not sold it's just defense and rebounding. 3. Wright-I want to see if he is really and truly the next Martell Webster 4. Mo Williams-It will be nice to see consistant scoring off the bench 5. Robin Lopez-I'm not as high on him as some of you are. Think he could ruin his welcome in a similar manner Channing Frye did. But he does add depth at the five. 6. Earl Watson-He may not be much of a shooter but his on the ball defense has always been decent. I think he could surprise some in a role off the bench.
Most excited for present or future? Two different answers for me. Present? Lopez, Williams, Robinson, Wright, McCollum, Crabbe, Watson. Future? Robinson, McCollum, Wright, Williams, Lopez, Crabbe, Watson. Lopez, Williams and Robinson are easily most important to our success this coming year because they fill our 3 biggest needs. Starting center, backup PG and backup PF, which means Lillard and Aldridge won't be dead at the end of the season, and we won't give away dunks and layups like candy on Halloween. For future - I think those are the players that will actually develop into something worth while. I think fairly highly of McCollum and Robinson, but I can't justify putting them over Lopez when they both will come off the bench behind an all-star caliber player, while at center we had a huge whole.
