I would love to think that Crabbe could develop into today's version of a Ray Allen type dead eye shooter in the future but that is probably wishful thinking.
Lopez by himself isn't a great addition; in terms of talent level. It's more about adding Lopez to the existing starting core that gets me excited. By himself, he's just meh type player, but paired with Aldridge and the offense of our wings that works perfectly. He doesn't need to score. He just needs to do what he does and our team will be instantly better. He will help us rebound better, protect the paint and clog the paint. He's going to be a great addition.
It all depends: will we get the oft-injured disappointment Lopez of the Phoenix Suns, or the 18+ PER starter of New Orleans?
Based on excitement, I agree with your ranking. I really like the additions of both Mo and Lopez, and they will probably be the most significant additions, but I'm not excited about either of them. You know what you're gonna get from the jump, and it's nothing exciting.
The part of me that wants to win is excited about 1. Lopez 2. Williams 3. Robinson 4. McCollum 5. Wright 6. Crabbe 7. Watson The Mags/KingSpeed/Homer in me is excited to see how guys improve: *Lillard 1. Robinson 2. McCollum *Leonard ------- 3. Crabbe 4. Wright 5. Lopez 6. Williams 7. Watson
Mine are stacked in terms of how I think they will impact the team on the court: Lopez Mo Williams Thomas Robinson Wright McCollum Crabbe Watson
The new players fall into 3 cliques. 1) The cool guys will call themselves The 3 W's. Watson, Wright, and Williams will weally wule. 2) The Moderate Middle are Lopez and Robinson. Not flashy and swashbuckling like The 3 W's, but stable, dull, and effective. 3) At the bottom are The Rook Nerds. McCollum and Crabbe, with furrowed brows, will be lost in the fog. The very experienced 3 W's will instantly fit in. In fact, they will take over and the rest of the team will have to fit them. Wright will take Batum's starting job. You heard it here first. Send in your nickels and dimes to keep this prediction service going. In retaliation, Batum will speak only French to coaches and their bosses at the Oregonian. The unappreciated Moderate Middle will bore, while the Rook Nerds gather moss on the bench, sparking burgeoning Fire Olshey wave chants. The biggest surprise will be the career comeback of Earl Watson, my favorite player of the season. Earl's defense, driving, leadership, and downright chutzpah will endear him to all the fans who loved Hickson, Juwan Howard, and Ime Udoka.
1.) Lopez: the only starter in the bunch, and enormously important in terms of holding down the defensive interior and allowing Aldridge to defend the weaker frontcourt player. If he's equal to the task, it's huge. 2.) Mo Williams: the best acquisition for the Blazers' once-depleted bench, at a position of weakness since the fall of the old #7. 3.) tie: Wright & Robinson: the two forwards should do a great deal to spell Batum and Aldridge, but I don't expect either of them to make huge waves. After that, I don't have huge expectations for Earl Watson or the two rookies, but whatever the Blazers get out of them will be nice.
1) Mo: just because the prospect of a CJ/Barton back court at the same time made me squirm. 2) Trob: Wasn't very high on him in the draft, but anytime you have a chance to get that caliber of a player for cash, you have to do it. Excited to have a physical PF backup LMA for once. 3) Lopez: A real center than isn't 30+ years old? Sign me up! 4)CJ: Saw a great quote, "Anytime you can take Lillard 2 drafts in a row, you do". While I don't think he is/will be as good as Lillard, love his range and strong work ethic. I think him and Lillard will just FEED off each other. 5) Wright: A legit backup for Batum? Ok. I'll take it. Rest: Meh, who cares?
I think Batum will actually get better, if Wright can play significant minutes. The rest and lower likelihood of injury (minor or major) should help Batum be a better player when he's on the floor. Not that it's the be-all, end-all, but back in January, Bleacher Report had Batum as the 10th best SF in the league, based largely on the numbers he put up in the early part of the 2012-13 season: ESPN Insider reporter, Bradford Doolittle ranks Batum the 5th best small forward in the NBA coming into the 2013-14 season - but Doolittle's rankings are a little weird, because he considers LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony "power forwards."
Seems like T Rob, if he decides to and works at it, could morph into a Dennis Rodman-type rebounding machine.
I never disagree with Bradford Doolittle, whoever that is. Basketball-Reference says that Dorell Wright was the 30th-youngest player in NBA history, 1 week older than Travis Outlaw. http://bkref.com/tiny/gN5Hn I was hoping for some higher ranking to counter yours, but that's all I got.
(I could have worked harder on that project...) Here's something more relevant. http://bkref.com/tiny/8AzEX
Thanks for posting that. My read of those is that the two are pretty close statistically, but that Batum is the slightly better player. Wright has an ever-so-slightly higher 3pt%, FT%, and has fewer turnovers, but I think they're more than offset by Batum's superior overall FG%, blocks, and assists. In the end, the basketball-reference side-by-side helps me feel better about Wright filling in for long stretches should Batum go down with injury. But considering Batum is three years younger than Wright, puts up equal or better numbers across the board, and is a known quantity for his coaches and most of his teammates, I'm pretty confident he's the better choice as the night-in, night-out starter.
Gosh I would hope so. Batum is signed to a forty six million dollar contract compared to Wrights six.
I'm excited by the ENTIRE BENCH. I think we now have a legitimate NBA second unit and that is going to make a huge difference. Our starting 5 was really good last year, and now we have excellent backups. This team could fly this year.
I had never read this site before. Still evaluating.... http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/ Some reviews of the newbies and the sort... http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/home/2013/7/26/summer-reviews-the-rest-of-em.html
