I think BKN's biggest enemy will be health. They have a bunch of guys who are old and injury prone. If they can stay healthy, or more importantly be healthy in the playoffs, I think they'll make some noise.
The way I see it is that they are hoping that McCollum will eventually start next to Damien, and thus putting Wes in his natural position - 6th man sparkplug. I agree that you don't use a lotto pick on a guy you think will be coming off the bench. CJ will start -- Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of his career.
Why do people keep sending Wesley to the bench? He's not a good bench player. He's an ideal fifth starter - like Sefolosha or Danny Green - a complementary player who is best when he can play off better starters. As a bench player you want a much more versatile player - your Ginobilis or Lamar Odoms. McCollum is perfect. Doesn't matter who's the better player, it matters who works best where.
I remember when people here would actually claim that playing at the end of games was no different than playing in the second quarter of a game. It was during the Webster/Outlaw wars. Man, looking back on those debates, both players sucked, but Outlaw could at least create his own shot. Nate got the most out of him as a 6th Man on a 54-win team.
Yep. Wes needs to start this year. He is a very good spot-up shooter who stretches the defense, hustles on defense, and doesn't require the ball other than swing passes to be effective. Call me a homer, but I think a Lillard/Wes/Batum/LMA/Center line-up, with McCollum and a vet banger at PF off the bench, makes this a play-off team that is still young and entering it's prime. The key, really, is if Lillard is a franchise player/MVP-level talent. If he's not, it doesn't matter if LMA leaves or not, because this team isn't getting Wiggins in 2014, even if they trade LMA for peanuts right now.
Yep the health issue is the only problem. The bright side is all the players won't need to be the man every night. Basically able to sag off one game and turn it on the next. It's a good thing kidd is coaching too; since he knows all too well about pacing himself.
I just sifted through a bunch of websites' analysis of the 2013 draft. Bottom line? The Blazers scored.....big time.
Blazers definitely had one of the better drafts. I think the other two teams that did well were the Jazz and T'Wolves, who actually put a pretty significant trade together on draft night. Trey Burke was a great pickup for the Jazz who are in desperate need of leadership and guard play. Burke isn't a sure thing (I guess thats stating the obvious with any draftee) but hes the best PG in the draft. Gobert at 27 is another great value pick. High bust potential but at 27 you can more than live with that. The T'Wolves got really good value at all of their picks AND filled needs. Shabazz is about the best talent you could hope for at pick 14. They need a SG and he seems like a great fit next to Rubio. Dieng at 21 is also pretty good value and gives them a reserve big man who can protect the rim and contribute right away. Both of those guys will likely be rotation players in their rookie seasons. Flier pick on Lorenzo Brown in the second round is another really good value IMO. I'm not a huge fan of his but again, at 52 I'd take a prospect like that all day. They also got a decent Euro big man to stash away. Not a ton of star power but then again there don't appear to be many stars in this draft at all. They also didn't waste a golden opportunity in Burke falling all the way to 9; they turned him into multiple assets and it could be they were going to take Bazz at 9 anyway.
