This. Scoot can be your best player and you can win with your best player being a PG. It's just hard to win when your PG is your go-to scorer. Scoot just needs to elevate the players around him, pick his own moments, and have a good enough cast around him that makes shots and meshes on defense. Ironically, our current coach is the best example of this. Chauncey was the best player on those great Piston teams. Not by a lot, but everything revolved around him. He was the second-best scorer to Rip Hamilton, he dished out an ungodly number of assists, averaged more than a steal per game, shot an effective FG% of better than 50 and went on to a better career with other teams -- his career win shares basically equals Hamilton and Prince combined. Shaedon will be the leading scorer and the guy getting most of the highlights if this rebuild succeeds. Scoot will be great and eventually recognized for that greatness and will make everyone around him better.
And, I guess a lot of people forget Steph when they say you can't win an NBA title with your PG as your best player. Again, he has some pretty good players around him, but it's hard to say he's not the best Warrior player. He's the first guy you prepare for and say we don't want this guy to beat us.
I think that's what you're getting but this version is worlds more athletic and can create better shots for himself and finish better at the rim if he plays to his potential.
I think Scoot's going to be very good (or great). it's hard to imagine two high-level guards on the same team at almost the same age but I think that's what is going to happen.
Hopefully a better shooter I remember Kidd struggling with outside shot but was so good it didn’t matter. Memory is foggy but believe he was damn good defender too.
I hope so I still have a little reservation about Sharpes drive to not only be good but great. Where as Scoot seems to be obsessed with being great. Future looks bright if they stay on track and stay healthy.
I kind of agree with ya Maxi - I do not see Scoot and see a Dame type player I kind of see more like a prime Rose or maybe Billups type player and maybe that is why they fell in love with him. I think they see a Billups / Rip combo in Scoot and Sharpe only with Sharpe being better but you get the point. I know some might want Ant traded and I do think next summer we could see that happen to balance the roster more but right now the Blazers need Ant and Grant to be the leaders of this team while the young pups get there feet under them.
I'm going to pull my hair out if Ant is in the starting lineup. He needs to be coming off the bench behind Scoot and Shae.
Yeah, the team will start the season with the three guard lineup if Ant is on the team. One, you can't bury a trade asset on the bench behind two rookies. Two, you need distance shooting to spread the court, and we traded everyone else with range away. Three, you never know, they might strike gold out there. Four, if your team is going to be bad anyway, you might as well put young and exciting guys out there and try to sell tickets that way. Six, everyone deserves a shot to play meaningful minutes without Dame on a post-Dame team. We don't even know what we have because we're going to be a different team with Scoot running the show instead of Dame. Ant might not be on the team in March, but he will start in October.
Of course, they wouldn’t have won shit without Sheed. In the aftermath of their title win, both Billups and Larry Brown said Sheed was the #1 reason they won the championship.