Finding another Nurkic

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Fez Hammersticks, Mar 8, 2017.

  1. Fez Hammersticks

    Fez Hammersticks スーパーバッド Zero Cool

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    The idea is simple:

    *Young player who plays behind another young player who's producing at a high level (Tobias)
    *Has fallen out of the rotation and/or just doesn't fit their current system

    My preference: Stanley Johnson

    His playing time has dropped and his FGA have been chopped in half. They were listening to offers for him at the deadline - even though his stats are horrid he would likely still cost a lot.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    The thing with Nurkic was that he showed flashes of defense, low post scoring, and passing.

    This dude hasn't shown anything. He wouldn't even get PT over Crabbe and Turner.
     
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  3. MickZagger

    MickZagger Well-Known Member

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    I'm down for that. That's how we got Rasheed.

    I was hyping Johnson non stop during his draft. I honestly think in the right system he could become a less-headcase version of Ron Artest.
     
  4. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    I like Johnson, but not sure where he would fit. We have enough defensive minded wings that can't shoot.
     
  5. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    With cousins/AD front court in New Orleans, maybe we can sneak in and take cheick Diallo of their hands. Love him. Would legit trade the Cleveland pick.
     
  6. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    This is like that old Steve Martin bit about how to be a millionaire.

    "First, get a million dollars"
     
  7. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    Nerlens Noel for jack squat would have done that
     
  8. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    We have 1.

    What we have is too many offensive minded players who won't play defense.
     
  9. BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94

    BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94 AWOL

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    Hezonja seems like a guy who has a ton of talent that isn't getting much court time.
     
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  10. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    Hezonja was my first thought. Brought him up before the deadline.
     
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  11. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    Not bad.
     
  12. handiman

    handiman Well-Known Member

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    We need a dynamic wing. Indiana always seems to have (Granger/George) or give away (Kawhi) one. We just need to figure out how to de-Pritchard them first so they'll make a deal with us.
     
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  13. RR7

    RR7 Well-Known Member

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    This seems basically like what we did to acquire Harkless and Vonleh, no? I think Vonleh needs to be force-fed more minutes alongside Nurkic, because he seems like a good fit next to him potentially.
     
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  14. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    I was hyping Stanley as well pre-draft, but that was based on our needs at the time (Losing Nic)
    he is 6'5" (w/0 shoes) and 242. We already have ET and Harkless. Even Crabbe has a longer standing reach.

    I guess if we traded with Detroit and sent a bad contract (ET or Crabbe) he might be worth a shot. Even though he shoots 30% from deep it looked good against us. (shocker) Can he guard the perimeter? You put Harkless and Johnson at SF and draft that shooter at the PF spot that we are currently in need of.....it may work.
     
  15. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    And Philly lost Embiid for the season, and is current re-evaluating Okafor's knee.

    Ouch.
     
  16. Troy.Ave

    Troy.Ave Active Member

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    Get off his nuts man we got Nurkic. You have to choose either one. We chose Nurkic. Plus Noel is a Free agent this summer who will most likely command close to max money to retain him.

    Then guess what, Nurkic is a free agent next summer that will command close to max money to retain him (if he continues to play like this).

    So you want to pay max money to 2 centers in which one would have to be a backup? Plus obviously Lillard and Cj would also be max players? lol this ain't NBA 2k
     
  17. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    Why did we have to choose either one? Noel and Nurk would have played well together, or appear to be able to.

    RFA = Bird rights, doesn't it? Would we not have got those?
     
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  18. Troy.Ave

    Troy.Ave Active Member

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    Embiid and Noel couldn't even play together hence why one was traded. You can't play two true centers at the same time. The spacing and shit would be fucked. Sixers tried that already.

    Yes we would have bird rights but that's not smart financially bc we would be hit heavily with the penalty tax for something that's not even going to work.
     
  19. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    Yeah while defensively Noel could probably guard most power forwards, offensively it would be a disaster. There would be no space for Nurkic to operate with Noel clogging things up. Aminu is really a better fit next to Nurkic than Noel would've been.

    The ideal player to compliment Nurk is a guy that is a good help defender, rebounder, can guard the perimeter, and can shoot. I'd actually be fine with Aminu if he found any sort of consistency with his shot. Shouldn't stop us from finding an upgrade though.

    I haven't even gotten into the money. I wouldn't be surprised if Brooklyn went after Noel hard in the offseason, possibly even throwing the max at him.
     
  20. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Not looking at any player in particular, I did a quick query on basketball reference for forwards that might fit this "another Nurkic" mold. Specifically sought players in their 20's 6'9" or taller with TRB% of 15 or higher, shooting at least 35% from 3 but playing less than 24 mpg this year. Got only 3 results, one of whom is already on our squad.

    upload_2017-3-9_11-33-13.png

    So, uh...what are the chances that Bobby Portis is available? Seems like he's the best of the bunch by a long shot.
     
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