48 hours: Johnson v. Mills, the countdown is on?

I would love to see them both on the roster - but if we absolutely have to choose - I'd rather have Palace Johnson.

 

It really bothers me that we have to choose between these guys when a guy like Jerryd (short shooting guard that can't shoot) Bayless has a guaranteed contract. I don't know why it bothers me so much. The more I watch Patty Mills the more I realize he's just not an NBA player. The more I watch Armon Johnson the more I think he's going to be limited by the lack of range on his jumpshot. Even so I believe in both of them more than I believe in Jerryd.

 

I feel like you and a few other people on here's dislike of Jerryd is a bit over the top.

 

Mills has one thing that Johnson will never have. Blazing speed. Blazing speed is in some ways like having Arvydas Sabonis on your team. When Sabonis was on the team, there were just a lot of nights where the other team had nobody big enough to deal with him. Blazing speed is the same way. On a lot of nights, there will just be nobody on the other team that can handle a guy that fast.

IMO both of them showed one thing to me in the summer league: They need a lot of work on their game in the decision making department, and need to get used to playing the game at NBA speed.

I actually wouldn't be heartbroken if neither one made the team. There are always free agents who are good who are available deep into the season, and I would rather hold a roster spot open just in case.

 

Johnson has one thing that Mills will never have, that is the defense to help lower Oden's foul count that we've been running into with our poor defending guards. We're never going to be a championship contender unless Oden can get 30+ mpg out there now that he's healthy. We can't help Oden help himself if we keep having these lineups with Roy at the point or Rudy at the 3. We need to have more guys like Johnson at the point until Oden's learns how to offset the bad perimeter defending and begins getting more respect from the officials to keep his foul tallies down.

 

I thought that Mills improved a lot in the five games with his defense. This leads me to believe he is both a quick and good learner. I believe he will be the better prospect going forward in the league. You just can't each his smoothness and speed. If he can learn to defend which i think he can, he will be the much better player IMO. We will see what his coaches and owner think.

 

I think there's an issue in Mills contract that makes the deadline relevant.

 

While not necessarily guaranteed to carry over to the regular season, Johnson forced more 8-second violations those few games than I saw in all of last season combined. Sure, this could be due to the opposing point guards being inexperienced and not used to the 8-seconds instead of 10 seconds. But no other point guard in summer league was able to apply the same pressure against the same quality of opponent. At the very least, he is able to put a lot more pressure, defensively, on the opponents than any other point guard we have seen come through the summer league.

 

There were also a few Andre Miller-style steals where he simply overwhelmed the guy as he approached the 3pt line from halfcourt. I saw some good things, enough to warrant 12 minutes on the court every night.

 

Agreed. I can see him playing alongside Roy, letting Roy run the offense while Johnson applies pressure to the opposing PG.

I just don't see Mills' "skill" of being a very-small "scorer" as translating to the big league. I do see Johnson's "skill" of being a good-sized, athletic defender translating.

 

Apparently Mills has an offer from Italy.
http://thehoopsmarket.blogspot.com/... (The Hoops Market)&utm_content=Google Reader

 

He wants to be in the NBA, not Europe.

He can go to Europe any time he wants.

 

That's kind of an interesting statement considering how many times the Blazers have been burned by a guy who was a "pure scorer" coming off the bench for another team. Does Von Wafer ring a bell anybody?

Don't discount guys that can score in this league. They have their uses, especially for building a bench unit that you can depend on.

 

Oh, hasoos, You DO miss Outlaw

 

I wasn't too impressed by Johnson... yeah he tried to play some D... but he reminded my of Jarret Jack. Mills? He showed flashes of Tony Parker, but there were so many bone headed TOs that I just wonder where his head is. I think they may keep Johnson just because Mills is a FA.

 

So shouldn't we be hearing something about this decision soon, or are we going to have to wait until after their proper training camp?

 

This has been a long 48 hours.