I initially shared this point of view. But with Kyrie just signing a 5 year max, and Lillard's contract coming up, I think we'd be playing with fire bringing in Monroe on a fat contract.
Anyone who thinks giving up Lopez for Monroe is a good idea, is a SlyPokerDog! A BIG, FUCKING, SLYPOKERDOG! All three of the bigs (Monroe, Hawes, Frye) are shit on defense. Lopez is the real reason we made a 22 win jump. You lose him without replacing a similar defensive caliber player, then you are quite fucked!
I just find the correlation between when you wanted to get Lebron (which I agreed with you), to now we're not, and you seem frustrated. I could have read it wrong but that's how it came out to me. That's why I asked you, although rather rudly, my bad on that part.
Player vs player for the Blazers, It's Monroe. We need a consistent low post threat to make our shooters more deadly, not a stretch 5
Giving up any of our starters for Monroe would be a mistake. He is a big name that is god awful on D and in 4 years has shown zero care about that side of the ball. He would be a great weapon off the bench but at his price tag and what it takes to get him degrades his value to the Blazers. Hawes is a better fit for the team, will be overpaid but so will monroe so that doesnt matter too much, but his ability to shoot will add a potent option to a bench that badly needs it. Hawes is also a surprisingly good passer.
I don't know that it's and either/or situation with respect to Hawes and Monroe. Hawes would be an outright signing using the MLE and Monroe would be a sign-and-trade deal. They certainly could play together with Hawes stretching the defense and Monroe playing under the boards. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but a front court combo of LMA/Lopez & Hawes/Monroe would be epic.
I do agree with this concept as well. Having Aldridge as our only low post threat is a problem, but then again; SAS did win the title without a true low post threat. What if you could get Hawes on a "sign and trade" with Wright and Leonard being the pieces? Then you would have MLE to use on another player. Maybe use that MLE to get a legit back up PG? Maybe Chalmers?
Maybe we need a stretch 5 to open up easier driving lanes for our wings who generally have mediocre ball-handling skills?
It wouldn't be so bad this year if Hawes signs for the MLE at $5.3M and Lopez is still at $7M. We'd be dumping some salaries to take on Monroe. Might get painful next year if Lopez is looking for a big raise.
