Should the Blazers keep Roberts as the back up point guard, he is a true point guard, who can run the floor and shoot threes...then again he seems at times out of place, hesitant...hmmm Who would we replace him with? I've heard Ish Smith's name, but he's not a three point shooter, a qualification to be in Stotts' rotation.
He is neither of those things. He's a pretty below average midrange shooter, slightly above average defender, and as far as dependable, in our biggest game of the season last night, he had a whopping 1 point. Crabbe is younger, more versatile, and flat out better. Harkless brings more to the table. We have no reason to tie up capspace for the redundancy that Henderson brings to our roster.
Really it's about the money; if both contracts are cheap in the scheme of things and don't hurt our flexibility, sure why not keep both? I just think all our RFAs will be offered deals that will be expensive, and these two are at the back of the bread line.
Blazers had a pretty crappy team defensive rating of 108. The injured guy had a worse rating of 109 The injured guy had the 6th worse PER on our 15 man roster. Both are EASILY replaceable
Everything really hinges on what they can get to replace either guy...both have value..if freeing up roster spots is the issue, I'd let Kaman, Roberts and Alexander go first..if it's money you have to let Hendo or Crabbe go but this is only if you've got an Al Horford in the wings waiting to wear the pinwheel
You only let Henderson go if you have a line on another SG with good size and physicality to offset our diminutive back court when the match-ups dictate it. Crabbe shows flashes of being that guy, but he's more SF.
For the first time in ages I feel like this is going to be a happy offseason without a lot of angst around here! Enjoy the process! I expect some guys we don't value highly might put in the work and make a big step moving forward.
Regarding Leonard: if he is offered and accepts his QO, he becomes a UFA at the end of next season. If it doesn't impact our ability to sign the FA's we want that want us, and Leonard is amenable to either scenario, do you sign Leonard to the 4.2M QO, an Aminu-level ($30M/4y) deal, or neither?
Charles Barkley (yes I know people think he's nuts) said on the TNT broadcast last night that Portland absolutely has to keep Meyers, nobody disagreed. I think Our angsty little vacuum here has a different view of Meyers than the less biased people around the league. We see a guy who should be able to do a lot of things and hasn't yet so we want him gone. The outsiders see the same thing, but still all it potential and will want to bring him in.
Also I think it's ironic that I see a lot of people who want Meyers gone, describing the kind of player we need to add, without mentioning name, and what they are describing almost exactly is Meyers Leonard. Or they could be describing Ryan Anderson, but then if you want Defense, Meyers is better there.
I would renounce Hendo and wouldn't match anything over 8 million on Myers. Crabbe just completed is first real season and believe he will improve he would in the 9-10 million a year and Harkless would 7-8 million range.
On a team full of inexperienced players, it was Henderson who looked most like a rookie in the playoffs. Couldn't inbound the ball, dribbled like he was 40 years old, missed all kinds of clean looks, from outside and inside. He had his moments, and is a pretty solid defender, but I think it's time to part ways.
I'd keep Meyers for cheap, but wouldn't sign him to anything substantial. He's a very limited player. He'll never be a big scorer in this league because he wants a 10 foot halo and a 10 second wind up to put up a jumper. And he gets lost on D. Henderson is nice depth. I think he actually provides a toughness on defense that we don't have from any other guard. He's strong enough to play SF in a small ball scenario. Henderson's biggest downside, is that he's not nearly as good as he thinks he is. He really does put up a lot of Kobe shots.
I think you let Hendo go no matter what. This opens up more minutes for Crabbe and Harkless especially if you plan on adding another player to the rotation next year.
Bigs take time to develop. Leonard's curve look a lot like Deandre Jordan's first 4 years - with less time actually playing (LAC was never a good time in DJ's first 4 years, he got to play more). I would be shocked if Neil does not retain Leonard. The only caveat to this is if some team goes banana and offer him $10m+ per year. Anything up to that - and he stays a Blazers imho.
I think we win this last series if we have Meyers out there scoring and assisting and rebounding like he is capable of doing.
Here's the thing with Leonard: 1. He's out till December. Can't even practice. So does any team offer him the type of contract he wants? 2. If he doesn't get an offer he likes, would he really take the QO? What if the Blazers sign a guy that takes all of his rotation minutes? I think that is a legitimate concern for him. 3. If he does take the QO, he gets a no-trade clause, so any trade you want to make with him has to have his approval. 4. What's his price? Of all our guys, Meyers is the toughest to price.
