I actually think that trade could get us into the playoffs: Scoot/Sharpe/Matisse/Grant/Simmons with depth is a good team.
Nobody is benching Ant. The Locked on Blazers goober is already spinning benching Shaedon is what's best for (Anfernee Simons) the team.
Id believe it. He is a man of steel. A beacon of steadfast, unwavering strength, in the midst of guys like me who try to give him a hard time.
I honestly don't know what permutation of our guards would be best. For all I know, we might best served having Scoot come off the bench to start the year. but unless/until we actually make a ding-dong-dang Dame deal, I think it's pretty clearly Scoot-Ant-Sharpe at 1-2-3 for now.
So, assuming the Miami trade happens eventually, what’s the pecking order among their new ‘Big 3”? Dame’s used to being The Guy. I wonder if Jimmy’s cool with that idea. Okay, maybe I’m feeling jilted and just hoping for some bad chemistry.
Jimmy plays defense. Either Dame suddenly learns how to play effective defense, or Butler's gonna have a big problem with Dame's lack thereof.
Yeah, I'm sure every day that goes by that Dame isn't traded to the Heat is a relief to Jimmy because I'm sure Jimmy is dreading playing with him. GTFOH!
KAT faked a season long injury because he's depressed and sick of playing in Minnesota. If we saw Towns on a legit great team, he would be more movitated to win ballgames. All-Star big man plays would be happening early and often. That would include defensive ingenuity. or... he's just an overpaid over-hyped washout that plays for the bag and could care less what people think.
Obviously that's not what I said or implied. Let's dispense with the hyperbole. But when we're talking about what the "pecking order" will be in Miami if Dame ends up there, you're kidding yourself if you don't think Dame's defensive deficiencies won't enter into that equation.
I'm a huge Sharpe fan. I saw Scoot in person, he's the real deal and can lead the Blazers from day 1, I'd start him. Blazers need someone to setup the entire team and Scoot is already way above both Ant and Sharpe in that regard. Ant defense has times where it looks ok, yes he needs to improve it, but he fights through screens better than CJ or Dame ever have. The problem is Sharpe is not any better at defense right now, he's probably a bit worse than Ant. Right now I'd start Scoot and Ant with Sharpe coming off the bench. If Sharpe outplays one of them and clearly earns a starting spot then put him in the starting lineup. Sharpe getting 30 mpg while being able to work on his offense against some second units is just fine for his second year when he just turned 20. Summer league showed that Sharpe offensively still needs to improve and his defense is much worse. Blazers can play all 3 of them together at the end of halves and realistically one will likely eventually miss a number of games this season. The starting or minutes crunch is really just not an issue. Now if we also have to get Dame 35mpg it could become more of a crunch.
Butler doesn't care about a players effectiveness on defense, its his desire, drive, commitment, workouts, lazy attitude, and preparation he had issue with. I'd expect Dame will fully commit to any work Butler wants either working out or preparing, schemes, or effort to execute. Dame will never have the body of an elite NBA defender, and I don't think Butler will expect that either. The Heat had an elite defense with poor defenders such as Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, and 40 year old Kyle Lowry. They can have a great defense with Dame being the worst defender on the court but working to do all he can in their scheme. The Blazers issues with defense hasn't been just Dame. Its having poor defensive guards along side him, a slow footed injury prone center, and offensive focused forwards like Melo or Jerami Grant. The years the Blazers had great defensive forwards in Aminu and Harkless they were a top8 defense while making the WCF - even with poor players at SG/C. Miami defense can be great even with below average defense from Dame. I bet Butler will also greatly appreciate the offensive burden he will not have to carry as much. He was extremely physically exhausted in the playoffs and his own defense suffered because he had to do so much on both ends. Dame chipping in a bit on defense but carrying the bulk of the offense load will free up Butler and Bam to be even more dominant defensively.
Players in their mid 30's just don't care about "pecking order". Dame will say its Jimmy team and Jimmy will say its Dame's team.
Training camp doesn't start until Oct. 3rd so we've got more than a month for this to play out. I would love to know what's going on behind closed doors as far as communications between the Blazers, Heat and Dame's agent. Is there active discussion and movement towards a real trade package that makes sense for all parties, or is this just a stalemate where everyone is trying to avoid being the first one to blink?
I prefer to trade Dame in December -February when teams will be competing against each other for his services instead of only one team. You do not need to be smart to understand why you get better returns when the demand is higher, which will be as the deadline approaches. Scoot is 19, his career will not be defined wether he starts game 1 or not. A great player will always be great regardless of how his first half season goes
I've seen people mentioning getting a better return in February, but I struggle to see that happening. $$ matching would become more difficult and we wouldn't have the benefit of the expanded roster limits of the offseason. Any sort of 5-1 trade means we're waiving 3 or 4 people off o our current roster in order to get that deal done.
