Rumor Moe Harklesss Part of Trade With Knicks !!!!!

A lot of players were awful. Everyone shot like crap overall, including Lillard and McCollum (though McCollum's three-point percentage was great). It might have something to do with playing arguably the best defense in the NBA (they were essentially tied with the Spurs in the regular season for team defensive rating and are younger, quicker, and more athletic) who was locked in for a playoff series against one team.

Singling out Harkless as "not getting it done" doesn't make any sense. We should get rid of everyone on the roster, including Lillard and McCollum, by that logic.

 

Uncle Cliffy and Kyle Lowry say 'hello'.

 

Hark isn't Biebs, but he is getting near that point where if you don't see him pop, then he may be just a middling 3D guy the rest of his career. I think he has the potential to be PG-lite, but he looks like he is waiting for something.

 

"Middling" (or average) 3&D guy is pretty much what I'd peg him as. I don't think he has a whole lot more "pop" left in him. But average 3&D guys are quite valuable. The Blazers need more of those, not less.

 

If you can't get George, then if you moved Hark, you would either hope Crabbe produces or add someone who you think has more upside (Isaac, Justin Jackson), or both.

 

We can't get George.

Actually if we get #8 for Harkless and #20, we might.

 

So, #8 + ?? & ? for PG?

 

Mods, don't the Blazers have some sort of stipulation in their agreement with RipCityTwo.com about foul language and multiple exclamation points showing up in thread titles?

 

I'm not averse to using Harkless as trade capital to move up to get someone like Isaac at #8 (if that is, indeed, what Portland and New York are discussing). I just wouldn't say that Harkless needs to "break out" to have a fair amount of value to Portland or that he's comparable to Leonard in any way. Harkless has developed sufficiently to be a useful two-way player. Leonard, in some ways, has actually regressed and isn't useful on either end.

 

Another straw man - NOBODY is saying Harkless is elite. But of all the players, he's the only one that you listed (Harkless, Aminu, Turner, Crabbe) whose skill-to-contract ratio isn't negative.

I'm ALL for getting an elite SF, but we're at a point in time where the talent pool at SF/SG is at an all-time low. Harkless, being average, is better than most alternatives. He's our 4th option in the starting unit, and probably our 5th or 6th option overall. Sure, it would be nice to have an All-Star talent as our 4th/5th/6th option, but it's simply not realistic unless you've already made it to the Finals...or at least WCF.

 

Yeah, he's waiting for someone to pass him the damn ball when he makes those great cuts to the hoop! It finally appears we have someone who will do that.

 

Damn NY has some bad contracts as well. (Noah, Melo, Lee)

Courtney Lee who will be 32 before the season starts has 3 years left at 12-13 mil per. I would take him though for Harkless and 20 if they also swapped us O'Quinn for Leonard.

Then ET plays exclusively SF, Lee in the backcourt, O'Quinn backs up Nurk.

Not a needle mover but we would pick up about 4 mil in cap space and get better depth in the backcourt and center position.
We would still have 15 and 26 for a SF and PF and the option to trade Crabbe.
We would still have Aminu to help out on bigger SF's

 

There's no need to throw #20 into that trade. Harkless+Leonard for Lee+O'Quinn is very fair.

 

Yeah but isn't the Knicks' goal to add a pick to start the youth movement? Maybe they would take 26 instead.

 

True, but I want him to work on his handles and his defense. They guy is one of the most gifted athletes in the NBA. He should be able to lock down anyone, in any game. Sometimes he does. Other times he doesn't. He should also work on his own passing and ball handling. Harkless has the physical qualities to be a monster--just not sure he has the drive or mean streak (or something).

 

Yeah, but giving them Moe and 20 for O'Quinn and Lee is a bad trade for us.

 

Lee and O'Quinn for Leonard and Harkless is such a dreadful deal for us without throwing #20 into the mix.