They should absolutely both be starting next season unless we draft an absolute stud at one of those positions.
Is he streaky offensively though? Sharpe played 72 games this year, scoring in double digits in 69 out of those 72 games. Two of those single digit games were 9 points. I had Sharpe on my fantasy squad this year too so I was always keeping track of him very closely lol. I think Sharpe showed a lot in year 3, but I agree his D still needs to improve.
I was thinking he needs to be more consistent with his efficiency. Perhaps I could have used the term efficiency more than streaky. Sharpe had way too many bad shooting nights and ended up at 31% from three on the year. To be a starter or even a backup on a contender he needs to be much more efficient.
I just want to see two of the Ayton Ant Grant trio gone. Ideally Grant since he has the worst contract, but Ayton is the most lazy and harmful to the team on the court. If we get rid of all 3 that would be fabulous. Worst nightmare is we give Ant and Ayton huge extensions.
Yea I see what you’re saying. I wouldn’t say he is streaky but his 3’s is and def needs to get better shooting the 3’s over the long haul.
The question is ambiguous. Does it mean: "How many players, currently on the roster, would you want to see as starters going forward?" Or: "How many players, currently starting, would you want to see on the roster going forward?"
Right - but Cronin said that last summer on record - and then we benched Scoot in the middle of him playing excellent as a starter on both ends of the floor and leading the Blazers to wins. GM speak doesn't mean much. Cronin also said he was building the team around Dame for years, that we would be "aggresive" in doing so. Then back in reality we tanked for multiple seasons while bringing in zero vets, drafting a short 19 year old at his position with the #3 pick. Not that I was against moving on from building around Dame - but again you can't take much from GM's statements any more than an auto manufacturer saying their new car is the best one ever. If Cronin gives Ayton and Ant big extensions he'll probably try and sell it as they help Scoot and Sharpe. I just pray we don't go that direction. But I hated all the Nurk/Ant/Grant contracts when we resigned them. Powell was the only contract we resigned in the last decade I thought was a good deal - and then we dumped him for nothing.
Forgot about Thybulle - another contract I hated the day we signed it. It so freaking rare the Blazers resign one of their players to anything other than a bad contract. Dame/CJ/Hood were good - especially their first deals. Prior to that probably LMA+Batum were good. Before that maybe Steve Blake, Przybilla, Camby.... then your back to the trader Bob era.
Eating that contract is fine to get a guy like Thybulle, IMO. Especially at the time we did it. From here on we can let the market dictate his contract. But having a guy like that is very valuable.
sorry was trying to keep it simple but didn’t do good job of explaining. What it’s meant to mean is of the guys on the roster how many are you comfortable with as our starters for the next 5 years. For me that means are they good enough to get us in the playoffs and hopefully further depending on their development
Exactly where I am. I’m also happy starting both Clingan and Scoot because it’s an honest way of figuring out where we are and working to improve. Likewise I would want strong veteran guidance off the bench for both positions. We need a couple of old fogeys who can still give us 12-24 minutes a game to help stabilize the team over a game. But otherwise, let it roll.
Oh if that's the question I have no idea besides Tou. Last year could have been a fluke from Deni on a team that couldn't win against quality opponents and something that he can't sustain on a team that needs to win, even against the best of teams. Shaedon has a ways to go on both ends of the floor. Same for Scoot. Clingan is a monster in the paint on defense but has a longer ways to go than Scoot or Shaedon on O and teams can play him off the court on D by going 5 out. Definitely none of the vets I want off the team are guys I want starting on our team when we're contending but Rob and Deandre have both proved that they can start on contenders and I believe both Jerami and Ant can too in the right roles. Out of the guys I want on our roster only Tou is good enough today to be a 4th or 5th best starter on a contender and depending on development just isn't something any team can ever do. This doesn't mean I want to give up on Shaedon or Scoot, it doesn't mean I don't have hope that Deni's production can translate into winning. It also doesn't mean that Clingan can't be a starter with just a little improvement in a couple of areas on offense but he will need a helluva backup small ball C to make him a championship level starter. All of this is to say, this is why I was so fucking angry that we didn't try to amass more top of the draft talent this last season... yes through tanking. I think starting next season Flagg will be a guy you could build a contender around and it won't take the amount of imagination and finger crossing that it does from us for Shaedon and/or Scoot. SMH. Still can't believe that we fucking won all of those absolutely useless games. All of you basketball/sports puritans better hope that karma is real and we get really really fucking lucky on Monday. Talent wins in this league and we do have a lot of it but most of it is unrealized and unrealized talent in the NBA is a 50/50 proposition. We should have been doing our best to get more talent or maybe a better way of describing it is better odds of amassing enough to win a championship but we are where we are. Fingers crossed and then hoping tbat Joe and Schmitz know something everyone else doesn't. TLDR: Toumani and a bunch of coinflips, followed by some bellyaching that is probably only the fault of Bert... fucking Bert. SMH
Oh yeah, if the question is who I'm cool with starting next season it's Scoot, Shaedon, Tou, Deni and Clingan. I'll be excited if they're our starters day one. It would be nice if we drafted someone that pushed one of them to a sixth man role or someone who took a role playing starters minutes off the bench too.
Ummm... what was the point of eating that contract? He was a free agent. We could have just let him walk off to Dallas and been done with it. Wouldn't have had to give up value in the later Washington trade to cut salary either. I don't see how he has been "very valuable"... first year of his deal we were tanking and had no use for him. This last season he played 15 games.
The team may not have won, but Deni played well against quality opponents. 33 against NY 28 Lakers 30 Bucks 28 OKC 36 Denver 31 Memphis 34 GS 30 Cleveland
Starting is largely an ego thing for veterans. Earning over 30+ MPG and being a regular part of the finishing lineup are much more important honors STOMP
The entire point was if that production could translate into wins against the best teams in the league. We all saw him put those numbers up in wins against bad teams and losses against good teams but the only way they really hold water IMO is if those numbers are put up in wins against the best teams consistently. I'm not saying that's not going to happen, I'm just saying it's a question that I feel still needs to be answered. What Tou has been bringing however will, again IMO, translate against the best teams in wins and that's why he's the only guy I think that we have that I feel like I know could hold down a starting spot on a contending team. I think Deni is a maybe. I think that Clingan, Sharpe and Henderson have a lot of developing to do before I could say that about them but those are the guys on our roster right now that I do hope are starting next season barring trades or hitting big time with our draft pick... however that looks (moving up or getting a guy that other teams missed on).
