Sheldon and Danforth say 72-73% chance Dwight Howard signs here

A DRtg of 104? (Plumlee's DRtg was 104 last season)... let's not get carried away about what to expect.

 

Even at his less than stellar self, he absolutely would be. Sad to think that, but it's true. It may also open the door in the future for additional signings of big name guys

 

I don't think it's fair to leave out that it IS the official radio station of the Blazers. You're right though, they have a really weak signal. I lose reception completely in a tunnel or parking garage.

 

As bad as Portland's defense was last year, Houston's was much, much worse. That's not all on Dwight. He's not what he once was, but he is still an upgrade over Plumlee....at least for the next year or two

 

I'm not in love with the signing, because I think Plumlee will improve and Howard will get worse over the four years. I don't know if either is the right answer at center, but I know what bell curves look like, and Dwight's on the wrong side of his.

 

I don't think we can keep Leonard if we want to offer a max deal.

 

I was just about to post this same thought.

It would be an astounding "get" for a small/mid market team, but in pure basketball terms are we really going to get the dividends in wins and losses that we hope to? I doubt it.

 

aren't Dame and CJ in their prime now?

 

good. let him go!

 

Dwight had a DRtg of 104, which was 4.1 below the team defense of 108.1
Plums has a DRtg of 104, which was 4.0 below the team defense of 108.0

Just sayin'. I'm sure the eye test makes a difference, but stat wise, Dwight will not improve our defense.

 

So here's the question:

Was Howard sand bagging last year and he can, in fact, play much much better?

OR was that just the reality of who he is at this stage of his career and he's not going to improve in our system?

Terry seems to get the most out of players, and he seems to be great at motivating people. My concern is that he has a bad back, he has a history of being a malcontent, and Dame isn't a point guard that throws a lot of lobs (which seems to be his best method of scoring.)

 

To me, prime means top of the bell curve for performance. I think both will continue to get better, craftier, more focused for the next two years before plateauing for two more then gradually declining over the four after that. So yeah, maybe they are beginning their prime next season, but I personally think their prime-prime will be two or three years from now.

 

I think he is who is he is now. There's very little reason for him to sandbag and then opt out of his contract

 

Kobe and Harden can make a player look under-achieving. Not saying that I don't have questions about his drive. Olshey will have to make the judgment on that.

 

If we can get Dwight I would really go for it and find a way to sign Pau too. We'd go from one of the worst front courts to one of the best.

 

I see you're still posting from 2009.

 

There's a huge difference between the black hole that is James Harden vs. Lillard and CJ, both of whom are more than happy to feed a scorer in the middle.

 

Won't be any money left for that. Not unless he wants to take vet minimum.