These young centers aren't very good right now. Very stiff. Nurk looks like a Giannis type talent compared to these lugnuts. Christian Wood is a talented center who was under utilized in Dallas. I've heard all the ,"he doesn't play defense stuff". But he is a very good offensive player, especially when he gets 30 or more minutes. Kidd fell in love with using the very overrated Dwight Powell, and Maxi Kleber. Neither is anything other than a backup. The only problem i see is Joe Cronin's allergy to signing UFA's.
Ben Simmons is actually a very good finisher at the rim. He could play a Draymond Green role, and his lack of long range shooting would be hidden. Another irony about Ben, I saw a highlight video that showed every 3 he ever took his in his career, almost all of the misses were last second half court heaves. He only took a few set open 3pt shots and made most of them.
Eubanks is a great 3rd string center. He's not good if he's your main backup, especially with a lower minute often injured starter like Nurk.
Ben Simmons is big enough to play center (9' standing reach, 240 lbs) But the problem is that on defense you want him guarding the other team's best player......and that usually is not a center. So you still need someone under the basket to protect the rim. Although playing him at center would work well in certain situations.
I’m guessing, based on the shitty options that the Blazers roll one more year with Nurk. By then, the Blazers will know much more about what kind of center they need next to scoot and Sharp. Additionally, Nurks contract will be more valuable a year out. Besides, the blazer sound good enough to try to put together a perfect team, yet, one more lottery selection wouldn’t be terrible.
Unless the new era explodes out of the gate (doubt it), the blazers will do their damn best to move contracts from the failed dame era for picks and young guys, so I suspect that as soon as they can unload nurk, they will
Giving value to get rid of our starting center would be one of the worst ideas possible. Nurk makes less than many starting centers and he has three years left on his deal... which is not too long, but also short enough that it would be smarter to just wait it out than to give up value to get rid of it. I don't understand the view that the Blazers must (or even want to) get rid of the dude when they just re-signed him last year and then gave Grant, who's older and at least as injury-prone, more than 50% more annually that lasts two years longer.
Eubanks was a key component to the stealth tank. A fan favorite! Quick hops and strong dunks. Add in a few exciting blocks. Ant's pocket pass to Drew was gaining momentum, a true NBA weapon! Without Drew, is Portland going with Badji as backup Center? That... is going to be some ugly basketball. Jabari is waaay to small and bad at defense to be backup Center. Will Cronin hire another backup Center before the season? Probably not, Jody has proven time after time she ain't spending a dime for frontline reinforcement. Any good Centers in the draft next year ??
Let's not forget that Badji is only 20 years old. He is still really raw and will need time. But as a 3rd center, with minutes in the G-League, I am totally fine with it
I dunno. I’ve seen a lot of trumped up charges against Dame. I just feel like if we signed both Mills and acquired Dame that would really turn Moda into a Kangaroo Court.
I like Simmons as a point PF pick and roll and slashing threat who can be a secondary ball-handler on the break or when Scoot sits.
Add him to the list of young bigs on good contracts that Cronin refused to go after. The "what would you do, hmmm??" excuse to improve the Blazers grows bigger as this summer moves along.
