I'll be doing a number of articles on different players leading up to Free Agency which begins on July 1. This first piece focuses on Dwight Howard vs Hassan Whiteside. Which would you rather have? https://www.blazersland.com/july-1-howard-vs-whiteside/
This. Whiteside will have a many suitors with max cash. I think Howard scares off some teams because of his age and perceived immaturity.
I'm stuck with between what I'd like to see and what is likely possible. In a 'normal' year, Portland would seem to have a difficult time getting top FA's but in a year where so many teams have cap space, Neil si going to have to have on his best salesman hat to pull one of these options off.
So of those guys you put on the poll I rank wanting them as: Durant > Horford > Whiteside > Howard > Other > Batum > Biyombo > Barnes For Other I would say Gasol, Noah, Ryan Anderson, Mahinmi and Marvin Williams but only depending on price. Not near max of course.
The only possible reason for not selecting Durant off the list is the near certainty that he won't sign here. Doesn't stop me from wanting him here though. I'll go with Horford as my best semi-realistic choice.
I would have gone with KD but he is such a pipe dream I went with Horford. Whiteside makes me nervous.
I included both KD and Horford on my pipe dream list. I went with HW, who fits with the team age-wise and would fill our biggest hole.
KD>Whiteside> Horford> Dwight> Other (explore trade options for a Henson/Cauley Stein type)> Barnes > Batum ( I saw enough of his passive, soft play over the years) > Biyombo
The way this is worded the ONLY reasonable answer is Durant. But even discussing him is a waste of time, IMO. If I were to answer based on who I want most combined with who I think is most realistic, the answer would probably be Howard...though the way people are talking about Whiteside/Blazers I'm wondering if he's more realistic than I imagine.
Where is DeRozan? If we can't get Whiteside or Horford (even tho he's too old and ineffectual) then i want DeRozan. Signing Batum or bitchsmack for the max would be a disaster. Dwight Powell from Dallas can be a nice test-project for the 4 spot, he's pretty effective for the minutes he gets and he's still young.
Durant would be amazing but it does very little to help the Blazers on the defensive end. Scoring wasn't much of an issue for them and while KD's presence would certainly take pressure off of Dame, I'm wondering if there would be enough shots to go around for Dame/CJ/Durant? I have the same question if he were to go to GS and join Curry, Thompson and Green. While he is the best available (outside of LeBron) I'm not sure he would be the best fit.
WTH!!! Wizards willing to give Noah a max deal? Insanity!!!!!!! http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2...ards-willing-to-give-max-deal-to-joakim-noah/