The official let's DUMP MEYERS thread

It's not an opinion, it's an observation, hypothesis, test and theory.

 

That development and transformation happens BEFORE somebody ascends to the pinnacle of their sport. How many seven footers that are soft as Leonard transformed themselves into starting quality centers after getting into the NBA? I can't think of anybody off-hand.

 

Sure ... unless it's for a draft pick or a player who can help the team right now.

 

Great post and repp'd! This is exactly what I'm thinking as well. I understand "rawness" and letting a player develop, but you can tell how a player will grow even at such a young age. There is this sort of demeanor about them. All of us knew about Babbitt from the get go. Many knew about Nolan Smith as well. I have been guilty with giving a lot of rope to our youngsters, hoping they can somehow turn the corner. Every time I have done this, our players have disappointed me. Leonard is no different. He will not be a Jerm. He doesn't have the mental capacity or desire to be great, proof with his lackluster energy when he had a great opportunity to prove himself last night.

Leonard will be our new Great White Hype "Babbitt" there will be flashes of "Take that haters!", but I suspect there will be more "Told you so" by the realists.

 

I would be happy with Chris Johnson right now. That's how far my hope for Leonard is.

 

the dude shouldn't be out on the court. he needs to go play in d-league and get massive minutes there. out of position, hands made of bricks, doesn't understand how to box out, etc,etc.

 

Ah yes... the good ol' strategy (read: hope) that some other team will give us value for a player you are claiming has no value, will not improve, and should be dumped.

 

I didn't say that it's realistic, I just gave the scenarios where where it would be permissible or advisable to give up on him now vs. later.

 

Dumping him for a 2nd rounder saves us cap space. I would even be fine with that. Or possibly to a team that already has enough defensive minded players and needs a bit of offense from their bigs, IE Detroit, Milwaukee, or even Houston.

 

The problem wasn’t just that Meyers got outplayed by Dwight and Asik. If he had been able to stand next to them but miss out on the rebound that would be fine. He seriously looked like me out there, flapping his arms around, being in the wrong spot, not getting a body on any defender, having zero clue where the opponent could be going. It was actually amazing that he was so terrible and on an NBA roster. Omri Casspi and Patrick Beverly looked more skilled as centers than Meyers.

This isn’t some one game sample, we’ve seen this play from Meyers all of last season, in the summer, in training camp, in the preseason. He does not have NBA skills as a big man. He can shoot the rock but that is it. There are hundreds of guys on the planet who are 7 feet tall. There are hundreds of guys who are “athletic” but not in a basketball manner. There are hundreds of guys who are 21 years old. To have the potential to be an NBA rotational player you need more than that. Meyers doesn’t have it.

 

I call BS that players can't have radical transformations. Especially centers, it is by far and away the hardest position to learn. Especially if you haven't been playing it your whole life.

 

In that case, we can just hold him until we find a trade we like, and either include him in the trade or complete a different trade.

There is ZERO benefit to dumping him now.

HAHA! So he's good enough to help other teams, but not ours.

 

I wonder What type of big man the Blazers could get in return for Leonard or Freeland & Mathews? I know then we would have a hole at SG unless CJ can be the real deal. I doubt your going to get much for Leonard & Freeland.

 

This is my trade

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=m2z49b2

Ian Mahinmi for Claver and Leonard. Why? Ian is a true center. Doesn't score, but defends and rebounds. We need another paint protector and Indiana would rather have another mid range shooter. Works.

 

I'm not on the dump Meyers bandwagon yet. Some of you don't remember that we drafted him as a 3-4 year project.

 

I'm also NOT on board for trading our best OTB defender either.

 

There absolutely is benefit for dumping him now. I could see his value drop even more!

Absolutely!!! One man's trash, is another man's treasure. We suck on defense. We don't need more offense. Obviously a team that sucks on offense, yet has a good defense would benefit from a player like Leonard.

 

If some team like Philly offers to take him I'd think about it. We'd get a trade exception and wipe his contract off the books.

 

If it were a matter of post-moves needing to be developed or filling out his frame and maturing physically or learning not to foul at such a high rate then I'd completely agree with you, but Meyers has an especially uphill climb learning to properly box-out, playing up to his size and developing a physicality that the position absolutely demands at this level.

Maybe it's possible for the Blazers to salvage Meyers if he was given unlimited minutes and five years to put it together, but no team would (or should) ever devote that kind of investment of time and money on a project player when it's so much easier and timelier to just draft or sign another guy.

 

So far it looks like olynyk isn't performing up to Boston's hopes. Could we swap Leonard for Olynk? Boston is in total rebuild mode anyway and playing Leonard extended minutes to develop is a much easier pill to swallow for them. At least Olynk could provide much needed rebounding and can box out.