What makes you guys think Melo won't be back next year? He's still chasing the points list and we seem to love his legacy.
Trent was not good for the Blazers this year. Bad defense and his advanced stats are brutal. He’s a -.1 in VORP this year. A complete liability. Let someone else over pay shorter Allen Crabbe, but without the defense.
I’m actually starting to not mind him much. There’s probably 3-4 games we would have lost this year if it wasn’t for him. His defense isn’t great but it’s not awful. The only time I really wish he wasn’t on the team is when his shot isn’t hitting haha. But that goes for everyone else on the team too
I think Simmons has a lot more value than CJ around the league. My guess is that if Philly put Simmons on the market, they'd get better offers. Ironically, Simmons is probably the ideal type of player to play with CJ. CJ's issue is that he's a point guard sized player who, on top of not being good defensively, is additionally stretched having to defend wings (shooting guards, generally). But CJ can't really play point guard full time on offense. So he's a difficult fit next to an actual point guard. But a player like Simmons can play point guard on offense while allowing CJ to defend the opposing point guard since Simmons is better utilized defensively on the wing or against some power forwards. So, CJ for Embiid? Who says no? Just kidding. We don't need another center.
I wouldn't even do that. Knowing our luck with centers Embiid would be forced to retire a few months into his tenure with us.
I also think being in his good graces wouldn't hurt our recruiting. If Melo can reach out to some of these dudes and be like "Portland is dope." Maybe it will stick?
Very possible. A lot of players these days grew up watching him and idolizing him. I think Portland might have added a couple ‘cool points’ having Melo on the team.
Zion was gushing about him. I think he was on the Redick podcast and they asked him about who he enjoyed playing against and he specifically mentioned Melo.
Okay so now it's "I think Terry gets fired" I can go with that. Now you are stating an opinion and I could not say you are wrong at all.
If you think that Paul Allen would still have Terry Stotts coaching this team, then I don't know what to tell you. But for you to think that I was disrespecting Paul simply because I said that he died, is flat out ludicrous. You have yet to explain how that statement was disrespectful to him. If anything, I'm saying that I respected that he had very little tolerance for mediocrity, which is more than I can say for the current front office.
No. That's me guessing on when it would happen. I'm still sticking with saying that Paul would have fired him by now as fact. It would have happened. There's simply no way that Terry Stotts is still the coach of this team if Paul Allen was alive.
I'm with you, I've stayed low of the Melo bashing this year and think he's actually become an asset. For all the motion weaving we do to start our sets, we basically rely on iso basketball to score. Outside of Dame and CJ - who are among the best in the league at it - we don't really have guys that can create or get off their own shot. But Melo can and it's bailed us out at times. Plus, he's become a pretty good at the other skill requirement in our offense - kick out shooting. He barely rebounds and his defense is nothing to boast about, but I guess that's why he's a good complement to Covington and Jones, giving Stotts options depending on need. He may be a progress stopper in the case of Little, but that's a consideration for next year. I like Little, but he doesn't consistently do the things we want a guy like him to do - be the hustle energy guy creating havoc and hands on every loose ball and finishing breaks. I think Little's logical replacement guy is Jones, who sorta/kinda (not that well) fill the hustle/energy role now.
the typical Blazer dilemma: a lot of people are expecting great things from Powell...that he'll somehow make Portland a contender. But if he's all that, he's definitely opting out. Portland traded Trent because of the fear they couldn't afford him. If Powell meets the expectations of many, Blazers won't be a able to afford him either
I'd rather have the ability to go over the cap to sign Powell, than I would Trent. And since they don't have the cap space for to sign a better prospect than Trent, now they in essence do.
