How do you feel now, a month+ later, about our deadline? There were some people who were VERY unhappy that Neil didn't make another trade, in addition to the Nurkic deal. How do you guys feel now? How would you grade Neil's trade deadline now? One thing I want to point out: Nurkic (since joining Portland) - 15.2 ppg, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 2 blocks shooting 50.8% from the field. Noel (since joining Dallas) - 9.1 ppg, 7.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.3 blocks and shooting 54.7% from the field. The biggest difference is that Nurk is playing 29 minutes per game and Noel is only playing 23.8 minutes per game. So.... in an effort to be fair: PER 36 Nurk - 18.7 ppg, 12.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.4 blocks Noel - 13.8 ppg, 11.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.9 blocks
When we traded for Nurkic, I had effectively given up on the team as it stood; we weren't going to keep Plumlee, and at that point I didn't see a reason to. Trading him seemed like a really great excuse to tank. You acquire a very young project center, someone with size who can lay wood on screens and maybe score in the post a bit. Exhale, and prepare for next season. I wanted another trade at the deadline, but I wasn't mad that it didn't happen. It wasn't like a trade would save our season anyway. We were so solidly lotto bound that more trades were just going to be like, ehn whatever. I'm glad we made one trade and one trade only, to show us how much effect one player can make on a team. When you're fixing a broken machine, you make one change at a time and then observe. We now have such a better idea about what we need more or less of out of the team. We now know who we should go after over the summer from a role standpoint. We know we don't need a third "big three" player. Now we need an entirely different type of player... shore up the bench, get a couple of veterans, or go young and build the bench around Nurk/Vonleh/Harkless's age range. Let Dame and CJ be the crafty vets while Nurk and his boys are in their prime. There are options and angles to pursue that we might not have noticed if we'd made two or three moves in a flurry.
Noel is a guy that some of us wanted, and I wouldn't have been unhappy picking him up. Looking at it now, trading for Noel would have been a mistake because he's going to be a free agent, and I don't see how we could have kept both players happy. I think Nurkic is clearly the better all around player. Boogie is another guy that some of us were unhappy about missing out on, but we would have had to give up CJ for him, and right now I love Nurkic's future with this team. We still might trade CJ, but it won't need to be for a center. That's for sure.
I wanted Nurk and we got Nurk, and when we got the Mem first with it I was over the top happy. Honestly I expected Nurk to play fairly well and give us hope for next yr and beyond - no way did I expect him t be THIS GOOD and help the team this much.
This. Nurk is an absolute stud. Olshey moved the needle and the future is all of a sudden much brighter for our team!
That may be the case. Now, the scouting department and Olshey need to nail down the upcoming draft. I'm hoping to see a couple of trades [Meyers and (ET or Crabbe)] for some solid bench players and/or draft picks. Who do you like in this upcoming draft, Surge?
Noel was just traded though. Do you mean try to swoop in and sign him when he is an FA? We wont have that kind of money will we? Not without losing at min two contracts? (Meyers and Crabbe and a pick for Noel?)
This summer, would you de-prioritize Vonleh to replace him with Noel? I admit I'm not super familiar with his game.
I grade the deadline a solid B. But I grade on a curve so. I never understood the Noel love, and I like Noel's game. In the right situation with the right pieces he could turn into something special defensively. But Noel really wouldn't fit in Portland imo, because for everything Noel brings defensively. He brings nothing offensively.. He might be even more limited than Plumlee on the offensive end. Portland needed a Center that could operate from about 20ft and in(as that's about the spot the roll man gets the ball when teams trap Lillard/CJ) and bring something defensively. I didn't see so easily available. So I figured Okafor was the best bet, as he's young and would get him away from the bottom feeders known as philly. I for one am excited Boogie never drug this franchise down.
Is Noel a PF or a center? We debated this before the trade. If he can't play PF next to Nurk, then we could not afford to match whatever someone offers him this summer. To me he seems to play better at center.
Denver should teach us you can't expect two true starting-quality centers to work on the same team. If one is a 4/5 and the other is a true 5, and you can work out some 3-man rotation then sure, go for it. Otherwise one center will be mad.
At least not two young ones who both are playing for their first big contract. It happened in Philly too. I think we need a young one and an older vet who is happy with 20 minutes off the bench. And more when injuries occur. And we need a 3rd center as well who is happy not to be in the D league. But of course we have to be able to afford them.....
