Utah are so freaking good. Beating Lakers is not a huge feat but their consistency over the last three months has been something else. They've gone from 19-27 to 47-33 and have literally suffocated teams with their defence. On their night they are completely unplayable. I think it's teams like them and Philadelphia that are the biggest threat to the big boys in the playoffs. Once you are on the run, it's hard to stop you, and both of them have been rocking for the last two months. It brings the confidence to the players and it also creates a massive buzz around the team ahead of the playoffs. This is something teams that have been at a similar level over the course of year, like Miami, Indiana, OKC etc. won't have. I like both of them a lot so I'll try to catch as many playoffs games they are in as possible but I can already sense the atmosphere in their arenas during the first playoffs games will be absolutely spectacular - especially in Philadelphia who seem to have the entire city living and breathing Sixers currently.
Big day today around the league. Blazers vs Denver is just the tip of the ice burg. A bunch could be settled by the end of today.
It's a shame that the Blazers didn't win at least 1 game on this trip so far, with Denver still possibly making the playoffs they will be feisty tonight.
Need the Clips to win against NOP. And the Warriors to beat Utah. Can't count on Sac to do anything vs San Antonio. But if a few of these go our way, we can relax a little bit.
Toss in a match up tomorrow between GS and Utah as well that has big implications. Things will definitely be on the move.
They are close to being a luxury tax team next year with only 11 guys on their roster on a team that couldn't make the playoffs in the East. Those deals not only save money this year but also put them well under the cap the following two years. Batum's contract is probably the worst in the league. I said it was wishful thinking but I could see a complete rebuild.
That's a big price to pay for a player like Mikal Bridges as every penny we take back over what we send out will likely cost up to double with luxury tax. Keita Bates Diop seems like an intriguing prospect and can possibly be had where we will be drafting. Gary Trent Jr. could be another possibility but likely need to move up as well as Troy Brown out of Oregon. Bates-Diop is considered a 3 and d type player with a wingspan of around 7'3" and with some work could become a good NBA shooter. He seems to be floating around late first round to early second round right now. Another prospect could be Chandler Hutchinso out of Boise. A 4 year player and played in a small conference like Lillard and is a 4 year player.
He will be. It will be between him and Fultz who will also develop into a star IMO. Tatum, Fox and Jackson will become borderline great players too, and there will be a host of very good players beyond them too: Ball, Collins, Adebayo to name a few. It will go down as one of the best draft classes of recent times.
This is probably the wrong thread for this discussion but admittedly I'm a little obsessed with finding a way to get Mikal Bridges. I just think he's quite a bit better than those guys, projects as an elite wing defender, has a silky smooth jump shot, won a championship 2 out of his 3 years, and already knows how to play with good guards as he played with both Hart and Brunson. I think he'd be ready to step into the lineup almost immediately and completely transform this team into a contender. He's everything we wish Harkless would become. Trent and Brown didn't impress me at all this season. It seems to me like their draft position is still based on their high school ratings and not what they showed in college. Don't get me wrong they could still become good players and if they had played well this year they'd both be fringe lottery picks instead of in the discussion for our pick in the mid-20's. I'm not a fan of drafting hyped players that underachieved (in my opinion) because they sometimes (not always) have questionable work ethics and get by on their talent instead of really working hard to improve. I have no idea if that is the case with either of these guys but I would definitely be cautious with either one. I guess you could say with Trent that he was on a loaded roster and just didn't have the opportunity to dominate because of all the scorers on Duke. Bates-Diop is definitely someone who will be in the range of where we are currently picking. There is definitely some intrigue there. I'm interested to see how he does at the combine and in work outs. Hutchinson was shooting up draft boards to a point where we probably would have to move up to get him but then the latest nbadraft.net one has him going in the 2nd round so who knows. He should be on the radar too.
Tankathon has a nice prospect comparison feature. Interesting to plug a few of the guys in this post into it and see how their numbers and measurables stack up against each other. Bridges' advanced stats blow all the others' away (no surprise there). http://www.tankathon.com/players/co...troy-brown--chandler-hutchison--gary-trent-jr
If you are just looking at that page, the only real case you can make for Trent or Brown over Bridges/Diop/Hutchinson is their age and low usage rate. I didn't realize how much Hutchinson gets to the free throw line. I wonder how that translates throughout the year with other players that get to the line a lot. I'd have to imagine he wouldn't get a lot of calls initially in the NBA. His assist to turnover rate is pretty mediocre too (along with Bates-Diop). To me the big question mark for Hutchinson is how will he play off the ball in the NBA? College players who are used to having the ball in their hands all the time when they likely won't have that in the NBA can either excel because the defense is no longer solely focused on them as the main guy or they never really figure it out and just become an average guy.
I honestly didn't watch a lot of college ball this year, but I was looking at possibilities that wouldn't put us in a bigger hole for luxury tax and get our payroll in better control and hoping to find that next Danny Granger or Kawhi Leonard type draft pick.
Let me put it this way... If doing so meant there was a good chance the Blazers got the next Kawhi Leonard or Paul George type player would you go deep into the luxury tax?
I don't know as the draft is such a crap shoot now days that it is a big risk that can also backfire. I'm sure that Bridges will be a fine player, just not sure he will be that type of player and if he was, he would shoot up even higher as he has had as much exposure as any player coming into the draft. As it stands most mock drafts have him going ahead of Charlottes pick so it's likely he will be moving up if he shows well in the combine and draft workouts.
