Predicting 23/8/3 on 45%+ FG, ~40% 3pt in about 36mpg. All star, 2nd team all NBA. Is that too lofty?
I agree that he'll play fewer minutes, but my thinking is he'll average similar to last year, even as his PER goes up. 19p/7a/3r playing only 37 minutes. But he could very well exceed that and blow away the expectations.
Yeah I’m not concerned about injury, sure it is always a risk but I think its better to stay in good shape and get practice. On team USA the players don’t have to play big minutes so they shouldn’t wear out like Pau did on Spain or Yao with China. I think its far more important for players to be cautious when they do have an injury. I’m much more concerned about Matthews hiding injuries during the season and fighting through pain. Coming back from knee injuries like Brandon did after 7 days. Those are the things that destroy careers. Playing basketball when you are strong and healthy is good for all NBA players.
Ya. More so than defense, I expect his efficiency to climb as he takes better shots and gets to the line more. Hell even two more fouls drawn from the ref-respect factor can up his PPG more easily than anything else.
Yeah that is pretty unlikely but not out of the realm of possibility. That’s one big reason I want us to hold off with any Aldridge trade until we get well into the season, if the team surprises us and is in the race for HCA we can try to take a win now approach and keep Aldridge as the sidekick for Lillard. If the team has a losing record then it would make sense to dump veterans.
Lillard with a defensive game is a helluva proposition. It's the one area of his game that I am afraid will hold him back from making he leap from good to great, but if he's committed to it and he's having success with it then, wow ... he could be one hell of a player.
