I's be shocked if Plums were around after the deadline. He's likely going to be in any deal to land us a big, so his new team can kick the tires before offering his a deal in the summer. He seems like a dude that work well on the Heat if I can wishful think about a Whiteside trade.
I disagree with pretty much everyone here I guess. Plums is improving as much or more than almost everyone on our team. I am confident that he will improve his shooting along with his defense. He is a intelligent hard working player who seems to fit in with either an up tempo or a half court style offense. Very few players his size have the combination of passing,dribbling, pick and roll skills and basketball IQ that he has. We all want to get good young players who we can develop....He's already here. We can keep him, we just need to offload some crap on our team and get some help from either the center or PF position to help him out. I also don't buy that he is just playing for a contract. Some players actually love the game. I would be willing to bet that Dame and CJ LOVE playing with him. What center is a better playmaker? If that list is short we shouldn't be looking to trade him. If he was on another team we would be talking about who we could package together to get him.
Ironically - Plum would be great as a PF next to a great shooting C - if Legend ever pans out - they would be great together. Unfortunately, we have not seen that jump to consistency from Legend.
Plums is very good for what he is, but as mentioned before, on a team that doesn't play any defense, his position is the one that needs to...and that's just not his game. Everything is offense with this team which is why we are getting the results we are.
He's Joel Przybilla with Wally Gator arms and dribbling skills. I hope we keep him, but I'll understand if we need to trade him.
He's Andrew Bogut without the great defense and brilliant screen-setting. Passing's nice, but you gotta do some other things in addition.
I'd be curious to know what percentage of our guards' defensive lapses could be covered for by the "rim protector" that we discuss around here so often. It seems to me that there are way more instances where a switch ends up creating a jumper for a bigger player over Dame or CJ, or where the guard blows by one of those guys and puts up a midrange jumper or floater than there are cases where they get a layup that could be blocked by a good defensive center?
One degree: Bill Russell played basketball in the NBA--the same league that Plumlee plays basketball in!
And nobody has ever seen them in the same room at the same time. And note, the people who say Bill Russell is old or dead are the same people who claim we put a man on the moon. Note that Plumlee and Russell both have two 'l's and a 'u'. It's obvious the government is lying to us. barfo
True . . . if only he could SHOOT like Gasol! Plums is very difficult to assess because he is so unique. His passing is brilliant at times, but when his man doesn't have to guard him it handicaps the offense. So many close losses this year (@ Phx, Knicks, Ind, LAC/2nd time, & Sac, + Dal, Tor, & now Det at home) and so few of those types of games have gone the Blazers way. With about 1:15 minute left in 2nd OT last night Plums misses a "gimme" at the rim with his left that might have sealed it. Drummond was trailing on the play & didn't even try to contest, just put his arms up. And was anyone really that surprised that he missed from pretty much point blank range? No, because he does it so often. To be fair, Plums came back and forced Jackson into a t/o on the next possession. He didn't lose the game, but his weaknesses stand out in many of the losses. For a team devoid of a post scorer, floor spacing becomes paramount. And as long as MP is no threat to knock down a wide open 12', or even show some touch around the basket, the offense will stagnate when the game slows down the stretch. When you're a rebuilding team and you can get Plums on a team friendly deal? Great, you live with his deficiencies. But when you're the #2 highest paid team in the league sitting at 7 games under .500 (slated to be #1 next season by $9 million over #2), you don't need to give MP a big payday. Unless you're making a run at a title, you need to be getting production from guys on team friendly deals (preferably some young talent on rookie contracts) That is just the way the NBA is heading. If there aren't any needle moving deals to be had at the deadline, I'd rather go after youth/draft picks (even if it means taking a step back) & that includes moving Plums if we can.
He can set a mean pick, runs the break like a point guard. Makes the right read on defense and always will play hard. But he can't block shots like Przybilla or Dudley. Yeah he passes like Sabas but he's always a Plumlee to me.
Hate to nitpick a good post, but a few people have been throwing this (bolded) around and it simply won't be the case. You're forgetting that quite a few teams will be shelling out $ for new FAs this upcoming summer. Both KD and Curry are going to get deals nearing 40mil/yr each. As are CP and Blake, etc etc. And teams like UTA will face exactly what we did this past summer in having to spend lots to retain their FAs. We're gonna be top 10, but certainly not 1.
Rim protection starts with perimeter defense. No center short of the defensive monster Howard was in Orlando would look like he could be a rim protector in Portland this year. I don't like Plumlee as the starting Center for Portland. But to say he's not a rim defender is bogus, because the only way that's possible is to ignore Portland's porous perimeter defense.
Sounds like we better get this Howard Orlando guy. How about Pat C. and Jake Layman for Mr. Orlando? barfo
Clinton must be right. I am uneducated, because I don't get this joke. Need to start working on getting my money back from George Fox.
