I see that. Nik Stauskas is the focal point of that trade. He was listed as hurt very recently. How many times have you seen a hurt player traded without having to clear a doctor visit. Baldwin might not even see the floor again in the NBA. Stauskas will play again. It's pretty obvious Neil Olshey had this in the works and was making sure an injury did not happen. Wade Baldwin was the option to get another roster spot without waiving a player. Does this spell it out enough for you?
Call me crazy, but I don't think Meyers deserves to be benched right now. And if the choice is between Meyers and Zach I think Meyers should actually get the nod. Part of me is even considering that we're better this year with Meyers playing backup 5 over Davis. He provides something on offense to the team that no other player has. And the fact that he doesn't look like a chicken with his head cut off on defense anymore has done wonders for his game.
The comment is not about Hood. It's a comment about Stauskas being listed as OUT knee soreness as recently as last week.
Not really. The focal point of the trade was Rodney Hood, and he played a full shift two days ago. And I’d also argue that Wade Baldwin was more of a focal point for Cleveland than Nik Stauskas. Stauskas is an unrestricted free agent after the season, while Baldwin is restricted. Cleveland has no control over Stauskas after the season. Does this spell it out enough for you?
Nik actually left in the middle of a game with a sore knee and never came back. It may have just been a minor injury.
Actually I was wrong, Baldwin is unrestricted as well. Still doesn’t change much though. I’d still argue Cleveland was more interested in him.
This is why talking on this board gets boring. Rodney Hood was who the Blazers received. Absolutely not the point at all that i was making. The focal point for the Blazers was the player they were dealing. They dealt Stauskas and Baldwin. The point i was making was a simple little observation about Nik being listed as hurt for the last 2 weeks and Wade Baldwin also being recalled about the exact same time from the G league. Makes me feel that Neil Olshey had this trade in the works for about two weeks. Very simple point. Go argue with someone else.
Put yourself in their places....Nik and Wade were riding the pine...in the east they can find a team that'll slot them into a rotation...probably a lottery team like the Cavs.....they'll build their brand better there than here...these guys want to play even if it's on a crappy team...
The Cavs will have his early bird rights though, not the case with Stauskas (he won't get a big raise anyway). Stauskas is the one in danger of not being in the league anymore. He's a 3 point shooter who can't hit the 3 very well and provides no defense. That's not a recipe for sticking around in the NBA. I think Baldwin has the potential to become a decent rotational player, like a 7th or 8th man, if a team just gives him consistent minutes to learn the NBA game.
The thing is i kind of wonder about that? Nik was on the Kings. Not sure he really wanted out of here? But you might very well be correct.
Well you are welcome to your opinion but mine differs here. I see Baldwin as a pretty good G league prospect but won't translate into the NBA. Nik will play somewhere for about a 10 year career and become a coach. The fact that he has 7 years already makes your point valid however. Maybe he will only do another year and out?
I still don’t get your point. Stauskas was being held out because of an imminent trade? But he already wasn’t playing, so why would they have to make up an injury for him? I get that the conspiracies start flying this time of year, but this one just doesn’t make anyyyyy sense.
But as already pointed out, Stauskas got hurt in the middle of a game in which he played the 1st half and then sat out the 2nd half. So in order for your theory to be correct they would've had to contact the coaches during the game to sit him out? I don't buy it. The only trade value Stauskas has is as an expiring contract to make the finances work. I would bet Cleveland doesn't even care if he's hurt or not because he simply isn't that good. On the other hand, if a player like Nurk gets traded then you can absolutely point to him sitting out last game as a precaution so he didn't get hurt before the trade.
You're absolutely right about 3rd team. My bad. I hope I'm wrong about this signing as well. Nothing would make me happier than to see him shine in the playoffs. Portland has been great in developing shooters. No doubt. Our team consistently improves guys' three point shooting during the regular season. But I've also noticed a lot of that shooting goes away in the playoffs. Las year in the playoffs we had two good 3 pt shooters (CJ, Chief). We had 3 the year prior (CJ, Chief, Shabbaz). The year before that 5, and we made it out of the first round. When we don't have good shooters, we don't do well. This year we should have CJ, Chief, Curry and Leonard (yes, I think you have to count him.) I think Layman is more likely to be in this category than Hood, but time will tell. I'll be happy to see this thread bumped so I can be told how wrong I was.
makes total since. When your young and athlete thats proven themselves at the college level, they want to play regardless of team wins to do as you say build their brand and equity.
I disagree....the focal point of the trade for Cleveland was dumping a player they really wanted to dump and getting a couple of 2nd round pick for him. I don't think the Cavs cared at all who was coming back from Portland the focal point for Portland was exchanging a player who wasn't contributing for a player who might, and doing so with minimal impact to salary and tax
