Dorian Finney-Smith is the NBA's undisputed janitorial staff enthusiast. Finney-Smith takes it upon himself to forge meaningful connections with the janitorial staff across the league. His reverence for those who wield brooms and mops is truly awe-inspiring. He understands that without them, the court would be a slip-and-slide disaster of sweat and spilled Gatorade. As soon as he steps foot in the locker room, the air becomes fresher, the floors cleaner, and the morale higher. In Finney-Smith, the Blazers would find a true mentor, a paragon of decency, and a symbol of humility. His mere presence would remind the team that no task is beneath them and that everyone, from the star player to the water boy, plays a vital role in achieving success.
I'd rather have Claxton than Ayton. We don't need Ayton over here wanting the ball. We have Scoot, Sharpe.... and potentially Grant until we decide to move him.
Not to nitpick your idea, but I don't get the attraction to Jovic. I've seen his name from a lot of trade ideas and I just don't see it.
It's interesting, I've been thinking about, basically the reverse scenario: Take Grant out of the equation, because I think he's deadline trade fodder to whichever "contender" wants a wing... We're now basically building from scratch. It looks as though we should have 2 solid, consistent scorers in the back court, maybe a nice off-the-bench microwave, and some role players (Murray, Rayan, etc.)... Which will be harder to come by to come by as foundational pieces? Dynamic wings or a 2-way, athletic C who can be a star when engaged? Ayton's acquisition price is effectively his floor, but is still young and -- if you're putting him into a role where he can be our 2nd or 3rd primary piece, would hopefully be and remain engaged. In theory, it'd then be a lot easier to find role players to fit around our 3 main pieces, rather than find a 3rd big piece to fit around a role playing C and our locked-in backcourt. Not a crazy huge Ayton fan, but there's potential value there -- both in untapped performance possibilities but also in roster building flexibility. And worst case, we're getting all those picks so you can continue to try to find other pieces if Ayton continues his roller coaster of a career...
I've quite literally never seen him play a minute of professional basketball, but I do wonder what his value would be if his name were Chad Smith.
No need to apologize. I'm just trying to figure out the best way for us to all talk about the innumerable overlapping options.
I think he's a young enough talent that we really don't know what kind of player he'll end up being. But he was projected a lottery pick by many mocks last year, and he's basically perceived as being a guy with guard skills in a forward's body. If we're in a rebuild, guys like that with unknown potential are exactly who we want.
I had the same thought process. If the starters are Scoot, Shae, Whitehead and Murray, that's three floor spacers and a dynamic PG. It would be nice to have someone to just feed in the paint and like you said if you feed a guy like Ayton enough on offense in the paint, the guy gets more engaged and can be dominant on both ends. Oh and we don't have to worry about him leaving for nothing at the end of the upcoming season.
I'd say one thread per Dame-destination, and discuss the various permutations therein within those threads... Toronto is interesting. Utah less so. Surprised SA was shot down already. Would be interested discussions...
I think we've found -- over and over again -- that role playing wings are rather easy to come by. Dynamic, game-changing ones are not. Maybe we get lucky with one of the many picks coming our way, but purely between Clax and Ayton, Ayton seems like you're buying at his floor with a pretty massive ceiling. Claxton can't do half of what Ayton can, you're buying higher and may lose him in a year. I like Claxton a lot, for the record, but Ayton, for the right price, is super interesting on a young team without a ton of locked in usage...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Started with Brooklyn, just added Miami. I'll probably add a few more over time and we can let them die/add to them as more news emerges.
Well he was a 19 rookie from Europe last year on a veteran team....so he did not play much. So it would be similar to what we knew about Scoot and Sharpe before we got them. ... very little. We have to rely on Schmitz. But his highlights give the impression he has good instincts for a PF. Regardless we know more about him than any future pick.
That would seem to make sense at least in the short term... Any indication of how many picks coming Portland's way? They all have the potential to be late, so may or may not have a ton of value, but it would seem just to keep up appearances, the package would need to look and feel like many of the other recent "star packages"...
