I think Management will keep Nurk as long as he accepts under 20 million on three year. We all want Nurk but once $ is on the plate, a player's hunger comes on.
Only way to drop Meyers or another bad contract is to attach our first round pick. Sucks hate wasting a pick but signing Ed and Nurk is better than anything we’d get in the draft.
Nah I would hate giving up a pick just to get out of the contract. Worst case scenario we might need to give up Harkless for nothing, teams would take him as his deal is not that terrible. First round picks are too valuable nowadays to give them up just to release a deal, unless it is to free up cap space that you would otherwise not have (we will go into luxury tax but we can resign our players).
You can argue that the time to give up the pick is right now. Now is when we really want to make a jump in improvement. We're young enough. However, there are some problems with trading draft picks: 1) Arguably, Neil's best trait as a GM is his ability to draft. So, trading the pick is like telling @HCP not to hassle rookies on s2 - it's what he's best at. 2) Right now, vet salaries have inflated like crazy (especially with the TV deal), but rookie salaries have remained fixed by contract. So, far and away the best deals right now are rookie deals. There's never been a better time to build through the draft - even for a young team 3) We'll be in the luxury tax, and we need cheap deals.
Harkless and Aminu both, IMO. If Collins is the long term answer at PF, and Stotts is completely unwilling to play Aminu at the 3, then there's no reason to try to keep him around. Would love to see both of them dealt this summer, and the Blazers draft a SF (Hutchinson? Move up for Bridges?) that would be able to contribute off the bench from the get go, and possibly become a long-term starter at that spot.
Zach had another fantastic game, and his numbers post-asg are now off the charts: Update: 9 Games (164 min) FG: 22-42 = 52.4% 3FG: 8-17 = 47.1% FT: 7-8 = 87.5% Reb: 41 (STILL 9.0/36 min, hard to assess because he plays with Davis who is a monster rebounder) For those not paying attention, he's now TWO FTs from 50/40/90, while playing some fantastic defense. note: OP updated as well.
I haven’t really looked at Zach’s stats all season; mainly because he plays such a limited role offensively. You can’t compare him to other rookies that get more minutes and have more freedom. That being said, Zach has impressed me from the moment he started getting minutes. For all the love Markkanen gets, his three point shooting has been pretty up and down, and he has the green light to fire (6 attempts a game) so opportunity and rhythm isn’t an issue. Zach’s percentage is actually higher, and I can’t remember the last time he got six attempts in one game, nevermind on average. Zach will be the best big from his class.
One of the funniest moments in a game is always the moment between a guards eyes lighting up when he sees Zach switch onto him, and the realization that this isn’t the regular white boy.
Also, he has the two best possible team dads: Dame and Ed. A lot of rookies get nervous because they aren't getting support or training. Dame and Ed? You get both from them. Imagine being a rookie big and having LaMarcus Aldridge as your team dad...
You are saying that if LMA left Portland after two years with Oden - Greg would have added a Swish3 to his game? What could have been...
He's been solid defensively from day 1, which is very unusual for a rookie, especially a big man who didn't even start in college. And now his offense has come around. He's exactly what this team needed, a 2-way player that doesn't hurt the team at either end. Based on his +/- he's already there and will only get better with experience. Those who called him the next Meyers on draft day or during summer league should eat shit be ashamed. He's also starting to get some recognition from the media and other players. He got some love during the GSW game, P.J. was all over him in the first quarter last night and Draymond even mentioned him in his post game interview after we beat the Warriors for the second time in 9 games. Dwight Jaynes on Talking Ball last night commented that when Zach hit that turnaround 3-pointer four people on press row, all exclaimed "Woah" in unison. People who know the game see that this kid has some special talents that you don't see in most 20-year old bigs. It may be too late for him to make 1st team all rookie, but if he keeps getting 20+ MPG and performing like he has been, he should receive serious consideration for the 2nd team BNM
Terry Stotts's offense is built for a Dirk Nowitzki-type player who is a big guy pulling centers out of their comfort zone with ranged shooting. This is NO SLIGHT to Zach, but Meyers had a 50/40/90 season once too. And he was a big help too.
Yeah, it's only been 9 games, but to put that in perspective, Dirk Nowitzki is the only member of the 50/40/90 club over 6'9" (officially - we all know Durant is taller than his listed height of 6'9"). Dirk did it once and narrowly missed it a second time. KD has done it once. And this is a 20-year old rookie who didn't even start in college. Not saying he's a lock to join the 50/40/90 club (there are currently only 9 members, so it's a pretty rare thing), but the kid has amazing potential. Shit, even 45/35/80 would be pretty damn good for a 7-foot defensive stud. Only three 7-footers who have qualified for the leader board in 3FGA have shot 45/35/80 for a season. Dirk has done it 15 times. KAT is currently doing it for the second time and Marc Gasol did it in 2016-17. 7-footers that can shoot that well are very rare. BNM
Giving up a pick doesn't help us make any sort of jump. It doesn't create any cap space, and we can retain our own FAs without cap space. Giving up a draft pick to REDUCE our tax bill would be stupid.