So Dame might lead the league in scoring next year

Don't the pundits get the strength/weakness of drafts wrong quite a bit? Maybe not, but I thought there was a recent draft that, a year out, people were saying was super weak, but then as the season played out there were a bunch of prospects. I don't follow NCAA so I could be totally wrong, but I'm not going to worry about keeping a lotto pick in a weak draft - it's still an asset! Either find the diamond in the rough or use it in a trade...either is better than just giving it to DEN.

 

I've been wondering a lot about this. I too at first thought Dame will have a much harder time, but the more I think about it the more I think he will be better off. IF we have our bigs down low then the guys defending them cant do as much help trapping. I don't really see much difference. I see Wes being a bigger factor to Dames game than LMA. Without Wes as another outside shooter, now the guards can focus on Dame more. I think its more about who we have next to Dame than the bigs we give him that will affect his game more. Plus with the bigs down low, Dame can get double teamed like he was, but have more bigs to lob to, etc.

Tough one, but I am becoming less concerned than I first was.

 

I agree. (Shockingly, I know) I don't think LMA took all that much pressure off of Dame - the only time that was the case was when we threw it into LMA and stood around and watched while he tried to score on his own. True, we won't have that option any more, so Dame will be tasked with creating more offense. But, like you, I think he'll have an easier time when the ball is in his hands.
For one, maybe one of our new bigs knows how to set a screen - LMA never did. For another, whenever LMA set a "screen" it resulted in Dame being doubled - so LMA was actually making things more difficult for Dame when the ball was in Dame's hands.
LMA may have let Dame rest on several possessions - which is certainly beneficial to having to run the show the entire time - but he put more pressure on Dame by not setting good screens, and playing in a manner that allowed the defense to double Dame while leaving LMA wide open at the top of the key. Leonard will be a better pick/pop partner, and I'm assuming Davis will be a better pick/roll partner.

 

They said that about the Roy, Aldridge draft too. Injuries to Roy aside we managed to find talent. Just because it's not a talent rich draft, doesn't mean you can't get a guy who turns out pretty good. Sure, there's no Durant or Lebron coming out to tank specifically for, but for team that is as talent poor and shallow as ours is, cheap lotto talent seems like a pretty good strategy . . . I also think this rebuild isn't going to be a one year turn-around - probably more like 2-3.

 

When we lost Roy/Oden we were in a similar or arguably worse position, and that rebuild was essentially one year (if you don't count the Failton season where they actually tried to win)

One star - Aldridge --> Dame
Young talent - Batum --> Leonard/CJ
Veteran traded for youth - Wallace for Lillard --> Batum for Vonleh
Young role players - Matthews/Hickson --> Davis/Plumlee

Of course the kicker is that Lillard actually became a star. Jury is out on Vonleh. Anything can happen though.

 

Yep. Very weird coincidence. But as soon as he strapped on those new shoes his shooting %'s slumped. No longer was he hitting the 5 foot back 3's with relative ease.

 

This is more along my thinking - additionally, playing alongside CJ and Henderson will be much better for him than Wes. Love Wes to death, but he could not dribble to save his life.

Henderson, is a slasher so he has some dribbling game to him. CJ, obviously, can create. He gets BUCKETS. So, if they were to trap him at half court again like they did late in the season last year, he could pass to CJ/Hendo. But I think a 3rd ballhandler would be nice, as well. Aminu...is not a great outlet valve IMO.

And Plumlee/Davis/Vonleh should ALL excel in he PnR with Lillard (Lillard was ABSURDLY good at the PnR coming into the league. - Plumlee and Davis, that is their greatest strength.)

 

That's true assuming his two-point shooting is also adequate. The question is whether he can do all that while putting up 28-30 points. Efficiency tends to fall the more shots you put up, since you can't select for just the best opportunities. Generally, only the great scorers in NBA history are able to efficiently average that many points per game. I'd be very happy, though, if Lillard proves to be one of them.

 

33% would be a drop, yes, but 33% three-point shooting isn't actually considered particularly efficient. Efficient scorers generally score over a point per shot. You generally want a TS% north of .550, and you double TS% to get points per shot.

If Lillard can shoot 36%+ from three point range and something like 45% from inside the arc, with some free throws, and still get up near 30 PPG, that would be efficient and make him one of the several best scorers in basketball.

 

dame will average more points well obviously he a scorer, but i think that his passing will surprise a lot of people. i bet he will make 26 points on 45% 3 point, 65% inside the arc, and 90% free throw on 10 attempts a night. he will average about 11 assists. he has leonard on the outside or plumlee/davis to lob to.

 

No. Just top to bottom "no."

 

26 points and 90% from the line are doable or even realistic in this case. The rest? Wow! Haha.

 

Dame I think will average nearly 30 a game next season with the roster like it is, unfortunately he's gonna hafto go all AI mode to get it.

 

I want him to lead the league in triple doubles, clutch shots, 3pt percentage and get Most Improved Player recognition as well as 2nd team all defensive....I'm not asking much

 

Great post.

This us why I'm ecstatic that Aldridge is gone. (LMA - Your feeling of distaste is mutual you big pansy).
The guy was lazy, wouldn't jump, wouldn't roll, had hands of stone, poor defender and shot poorly.

 

So does anyone think LMA isn't gonna change in San Antonio? I really think he's going to be even more dominant. Playing with his idol, and I mean how much of his "laziness" and didn't try very hard was just because he hated it here in Portland? I never watched him at Texas, has he always been like that?

That aside, I still hate the guy for fucking us over.

To stay on topic, I'd like to see Lillard avg. closer to ten assists than to see him drop 30 inefficient points a night. We'll see.

 

He will be great in SAS and that's what's gonna really piss me off. Probably everything everyone complained about, he won't do. Everything we wanted him to do here, he will probably do in SAS. At least for this season

 

It'll probably be as bad as Rasheed on the Pistons.

Except we didn't get Shareef Abdur Rahim or Theo Ratliff this time!