Game Thread GAME# 16: BLAZERS @ WIZARDS - NOVEMBER 18, 2018 - SUNDAY, 3:00 PM , NBCSNW

Word last night was that Harkless was working out and said that he expected to play some time on the road trip. Hopefully he can get on the floor.

 

I hope so, I feel like Ive heard he’s almodt ready all season so far. I realize the seasons still young.

 

Although Aminu weighs about 20 pounds more and his wingspan is longer by 1 3/4 inch. Does Porter guard Lebron when they play him?

 

Did we break them?

 

I think Wall and Beal did. I know the numbers like them, but I've never seen either one as franchise guys, but they both think they are.

 

Beal was a lot better when Wall was out and he was the one leading the team. I'm not sure how a guy in Oregon can notice that and the Wizards can't.

 

Great video from a former Wizards employee.

 

I maybe see 6-7 wizards games a year, so take that for what its worth. Beal can flat out score but he’s a me first player, and I dont just mean he’s a ball stopper, I just mean he takes the credit when things are good, dishes the fault when things go bad. He’s selfish from everything Ive ever seen or heard.
Walls kind of the same and he and Beal kind play into each other. When the teams good their quick to jump up and say how awesome they are. When the team struggles they both jump up and down and whine about all the other guys on the team.
Dame doesnt do that, heck even CJ doesnt do that and you could argue that CJ’s game is selfish to an extent.

 

This is exactly why I think Porter would be a much better player here.

All I know is that when Wall was out they played cohesively and just about every one of them made some sort of remark on twitter or in an interview about the mood or passing or whatever being better. When an organization is that dysfunctional it's hard to tell if a player really is a problem or just a product of that system, especially since guys like Wall, Beal, and Porter have only played for them.

 

I'm only about half way into this and some of his calls are good but I think he's wrong on a couple of those. A few of those he points out Wall for his defense, but there was NO ONE on the interior, your PF or Center gotta be down there to help out, Dwight shouldn't be 20 feet away from the basket...
edit: for the record I like the video it's an interesting perspective!

 

I think its a valid point.

 

Another point I want to make in regards to Aminu versus Porter is that Aminu is an unrestricted free agent after this season so we don't even know if he'll be on the team after this season. We also don't know what it will cost to retain him.

 

My only concern with Porter is Collins.
How does the organization view Collins going forward?

Do they view him as a 6th man type of player?
Do they view him as Nurk insurance?(foul/injury trouble)
Do they view him as eventually starting next to Nurk at the 4?

If Portland were to trade for Porter he'd be the starting line up.
So one of Harkless or Collins is coming off the bench. Personally I don't want either of those players coming off the bench.

Pending what Portland were to give up, I'm keen to believe Collins would be coming off the bench instead of Harkless or Porter.
That could(not saying it will) slow Collin's development.

I have this concern about Aminu as well.
I was so very low on the Aminu signing when he signed with Portland.
However Aminu has shown to be one of the best FA signings. The guy just makes Portland better.
But if he returns next year, where does that put Collins?

I'm sure these questions will be answered by seasons end. I'm also sure that's what the organization is banking on too.

I'm not against Porter, in fact I actually like him as a player. I just don't want Collin's development to be hindered by a player they bring in who the organization feels they must start due to name.(Wallace vs Batum) Rather than by whom makes the team better.

 

Good questions. I feel like we've been getting mixed signals as to what his actual position will end up being. Personally I would like him to eventually become the starting 4 next to Nurk and then obviously there would be times where he would slide over to the 5 as well. Last year every single move the Blazers made seemed to be to make Zach a 4. This last off season it seemed like every move they made was to ensure he'd be a 5. Now that the season has started it's kind of mixed because sometimes they play him with Meyers or Swanigan and sometimes he's the clear 5. I definitely don't think they view him simply as a 6th man or Nurk insurance, maybe this year but not in the future. I don't really feel the need to pigeon hole him into one of the other yet.

Porter is a 3/4. If Stotts was going to use him only in the Aminu 4 role then I get your line of thinking. There is no reason the Blazers couldn't eventually start Dame, CJ, Porter, Collins, and Nurk though. I really want to see Collins in the starting lineup or at least playing with the starters more often but I also think that playing on the 2nd unit gives him more opportunities to score and be the defensive anchor. On the other hand, Zach seems to play better when he isn't being relied on to score and just does so naturally within the offense which suggests he'd be better off starting, I don't know.

 

Ehhh, no he's not. When engaged, he's an elite 3-and-D Small Forward with the ability to do a little bit more off the dribble and in the post. I'm the two years prior, he had BPMs of 3.9 and 3.6 and a TS% of 62.8 and 60.2.

He's also never been challenged to do more and I believe he has the ability to be a more integral part of an offense than has been so far in his career. But if not, he's still a very, very good player.

If we could trade Meyers and Moe for him just to save Washington money, that'd be a steal.

 

Porter was overpaid the minute he signed his offer sheet. Max contract for a guy that has a career PER of 15.5? For reference that’s a league average starter making superstar money.

 

How are you gonna use his career numbers when 3-4 of those years he was simply developing as a very young player? He steadily improved over that time, so judging his salary based on his entire career instead of his most recent seasons is flawed, IMO.

 

What else am I going to use? Besides, he came into the league after two years in college. He wasn’t that young.

His highest PER is still 18.3. That’s solid, but definitely not max worthy.

 

In no way do his numbers say he is a 26mil a year player though. One thing to consider is that if we were to acquire him then his contract will be coming due the same time as Lillard, McCollum and Nurkic. To have to pay 4 guys making their kind of money could blast this team into luxury tax hell.

 

PER doesn't do a good job of representing defensive impact, and that's a big part of his game. His BPM the past two years have been higher than anyone on our team. Yeah, he should be payed around $15M-$18M a year, but his max contract is part of the reason why it'd be easier to get him and we'd have to give up less. Given our lack of flexibility the next two years, his $10M overpayment doesn't matter to me as I don't think it'd affect our ability to make moves until 2021. Even then, Porter would be expiring and the salary cap will be around $116M a year ($14M more than it is now), making it possible to trade him with an attached pick if we're looking to sign another star (given that the 2022 draft is likely to be a superdraft, that years pick would be extremelyl valuable when trying to dump a contract).

He'd make us noticeably better now, and with Durant and Cousins set to leave next year, I think we could compete for a Finals berth.