Neil just can't be this stupid. I have a hard time believing it. Dame has publicly come out and said the roster isn't good enough. If Neil is telling Dame he's wrong, then Neil needs to go. This isn't the time to argue with him. I'm just really hoping this is all a ploy by Neil to try to up CJ's value a little bit.
Even so, it's worth debating the merits of whether a CJ+Nas (for example) trade for Siakam really makes us better this season. Obviously the fans do. Olshey may not. Who knows what Dame really thinks. But it's hard to have a detailed conversation about it when one person is halfway across the world and focusing on getting a gold medal.
That's cool. My point is simply that he's still a player coveted by contenders as a minimum contract.
Dame isn’t the GM, it’s not his job to decide whether the roster is good enough or not. That’s Olsheys job and he is trusted to make that decision, so what Dame thinks doesn’t really matter. How many times have we seen stars get what they want only for it to not work out, and they ask for a trade anyway, but only after their team sacrificed their entire immediate future to please them? Shit we just saw it with Harden and Houston. Sorry, I love Dame but I love the Blazer more and will prioritize what’s best for them, not Damian Lillard. If he doesn’t like it, trade his ass. We ain’t contending for a chip as it stands anyway.
It's Dame's job to decide if he wants to be in Portland, and if he thinks the roster isn't good enough and he will only stay if we're actively trying to build a contender, then it's Neil's fucking job to do that. He has been holding the bag on CJ for way too fucking long. When do you think CJ's value will be higher, right now or after we dump Dame and everyone knows it' a firesale?
in the playoffs: PER: CJ 15.4....Simmons 17.6 TS%: CJ .530....Simmons .575 eFG%: CJ .503....Simmons .571 reb rate: CJ 6.4%....Simmons 12.5% assist rate: CJ 13.7%....Simmons 31.5% winshares 48: CJ .050....Simmons .147 BPM: CJ 0.4....Simmons 3.4
Agreed on everything (including Nas being in the rotation). If we really are keeping CJ (not my vote), I think we should move Simons for a point of attack defender that can play with CJ in the second unit. I'm not sure who that would be though. Any ideas?
I think it is real hard to compare the stats of guys who are asked to do different things and because of their skill set, actually do different things. CJ isnt going to win any rebounding or assist stat game. Any FG% stat is tough, with CJ taking different shots. Ben shoots most of his at the rim, no? Again, not saying that statistically CJ is going to win any matchup with Simmons, but when these guys have bad playoff games, I (just me) chalk CJs up mostly to off-nights at terrible times, vs Simmons is a mental midget. in the 2021 playoffs, Ben had the 3rd worst Turnover % (tied with our very own Center, Jusef Nurkic), CJ was 53. Of course there are FTs and 3FGs which Ben will never win. But so what? CJ is seriously flawed, which is why everyone wants him gone, so I am not arguing that CJ is better than he is, I just think the question marks of Simmons are there, and people are desperate for a deal. I would not overpay for him.
I've thought about that too. It would prohibit Young (because of salary matching), but I think if we want to really commit to Powell at 3 then having Smart would help. He'd basically eat up Simons' minutes at backup 1 and Powell's minutes at the two. I think Boston needs to move him too. The main issue is that I think they'd want a PG in return, perhaps there's a three way opportunity. Jones/Simons to ? ? to Boston Smart to Portland Then sign Millsap w/tax MLE. Lillard/Smart CJ/Smart Powell/Little Covington/Millsap Nurkic/Zeller I think that is clearly a better team than last year, but it still has issues (obviously).
I’m probably super late to the party, but I read that to mean “we barely had any money, so I’m happy with the vet min guys we got”.
Is Neil even going to be able to get Milsap? Someone who he has been trying to get for years and is now at the end of his career. This is just sad
