The goal of dumping Turner, Crabbe, Leonard and the like is to get back an expiring contract (or a contract that is closer to expiring). In all likelihood that means attaching a 1st round pick to each player, because none of those guys are worth the money they are making and would be a very tough sell. Of the three Leonard makes the least amount of money and he's 7' tall, so there's probably some sucker out there that thinks he can be salvaged. Crabbe is the next most move-able because he is a really good (regular season) shooter. Turner is probably impossible for a couple of years. He's the opposite of what teams are looking for in guards (can't shoot from distance and isn't a starter). As for the rest, I have no doubt Ezeli is gone. Conaughton and Quarterman are probably 80-90% chance of being dumped. When it comes to the draft pick they keep and who they take, who fucking knows, but drafting for need isn't usually the best strategy and frankly they could use a good two-way player at 2-5.
Imagine if it happened in Oakland. They would have had 10 more points. At least they didn't hit 50 so the "perfect quarter" remains a Portland thing.
No one in NBA history has had, or would have had, an answer for LeBron. The Warriors have players who can make him work, though, and the Cavs have no answer for the Warriors entire team.
You misspelled Allen Crabbe twice. Seriously, the Evan Turnover thing is a cutesy play on words, but could not be more inaccurate. It makes me wonder if you watched any games at all since mid-December. Once Turner got settled in with his new team and new teammates, the unforced TOVs practically vanished. Did you not just watch that 4 game sweep against the Warriors? Here's the AST/TOV ratios for our top six players (in terms of total assists) from that series: Evan Turner: AST = 15 TOV = 7 AST/TOV = 2.14 Damian Lillard: AST = 13 TOV = 13 AST/TOV = 1.00 Noah Vonleh: AST = 8 TOV = 4 AST/TOV = 2.00 C.J. McCollum: AST = 4 TOV = 15 AST/TOV = .267 Al-Farouq Aminu AST = 4 TOV = 9 AST/TOV = .444 Jusuf Nurkic: AST = 4 TOV = 3 AST/TOV = 1.33 Turner is the least turnover prone of anyone who actually handles the ball. And, it wasn't just the playoffs. In spite of the bad start to the season, of the 15 players that played for the Blazers this year, only two (Dame and Mason Plumlee) had a better AST/TOV ratio that Turner. Mason: AST/TOV = 214/89 = 2.40 Dame: AST/TOV = 439/197 = 2.23 ET: AST/TOV = 205/100 = 2.05 So, you might want to drop the cutesy little nickname. It makes it look like you're out of touch with reality. As far as Crabbe vs. Turner goes, the Crabbe fan boys will jump all over me and criticize the length of my fact filled post, because they REALLY don't like to be confronted with the facts about their overpaid, one-dimensional, inconsistent hero. But, for people who actually care about facts... Yes, Allen Crabbe is a good 3-point shooter. The Crabbe fan boys claim I tried to say he isn't, but I didn't. I have said over and over, Allen Crabbe's one, and only, strength is his ability to knock down wide open 3-pointers. They will argue that that is enough to justify his ridiculous contract and that he's not overpaid in "today's NBA". Bullshit! Crabbe is inconsistent and one-dimensional. For every good game he has he completely disappears for 3 or 4. When I asked the Crabbe fanboys to name ONE other thing he's even average at, one of them tried to claim he's a good rebounder for his size/position. The facts (there's that word again) say otherwise, he's one of the worst rebounders in the entire league for any player over 6'3". Most PGs (including both Dame and Shabazz) are better rebounders than Crabbe. Unfortunately, the series against the Warriors only lasted 4 games, so we didn't even get ONE decent game out of Crabbe. But, that is to be expected. Against teams that rotate on defense and don't leave him wide open at the 3-point line, Allen Crabbe is completely worthless. He can't create for himself and he can't create for others. He is a good 3-point shooter when left wide open at the 3-point line. Unfortunately, the Warriors are smart enough not to do that. The result? Since Crabbe doesn't bring anything else to the table he was completely useless against the Warriors, as he would be against any good team. In that series against the Warriors, Crabbe shot .231 from 3-point range - his one strength and he can't do it when it matters. Turner, a terrible 3-point shooter, actually shot better from 3-point range (.357) than Crabbe did in that series. In terms of total production, it's not even close. Turner blew Crabbe away in every statistical measure, both raw and advanced. I won't list them all here, but go to basketball-reference.com and look at the stats for yourself PPG, RPG, APG, PER, TRB%, AST%, STL%, BLK%, WS, WS/48, OBPM, DBPM, ORtg, DRtg, etc. ALL favor Turner. And that's the problem with Crabbe, when the other team doesn't leave him wide open at the 3-point line he is completely useless. In that series he was assisted on 100% of his 3-pointers and 83.33% of his 2-pointers. That means he created EXACTLY one made FG for himself. Combined with his 2 assists in 4 games, means he was responsible for creating a whopping total of 3 made field goals in the entire 4 game series. Compare that to Evan Turner, who created a total of 20 made fields goals in 4 games (5 for himself and 15 for others) and it's easy to see why Turner is more valuable in a playoff series than Crabbe. Crabbe simply cannot create for himself or others. Throw in the fact that Turner is a better rebounder and a better defender, and it's clear that Crabbe, not Turner, is the one who is more overpaid. The Crabbe fan boys will try to play the small sample size card, but that's the problem with Crabbe, he only averages good game for every 3 or 4 games where he is a complete non-factor. Fine, go back and look at all the regular season stats. There, with a larger sample size, Crabbe's superior 3-point shooting becomes obvious, but his other weaknesses remain the same. Again Turner just flat out does everything else better than Crabbe. I'm not trying to claim that Turner isn't overpaid. He is, but based on production and salary, Allen Crabbe is even more overpaid. The (somewhat) good news is, I believe because of his high 3FG% during the regular season and his relatively young age, Crabbe is more movable than Turner (which means we might not have to pay someone to take his contract off our hands). The fact that his trade kicker would be paid by the Blazers makes it harder to match salaries (his salary + trade kicker counts as outgoing salary, but only his salary counts as incoming salary), but that's not really a big deal. The only teams that would even consider taking on that contract are teams that are way under the salary cap (most likely under the salary floor) - which is the whole point anyway, to move Crabbe to clear salary without taking back an equally bad contract in return. In a perfect world we'd be able to move both Crabbe and Turner (and Leonard too, while we're fantasizing), but if we can only move one, it should be Crabbe. He makes the most, and will cost the least to get rid of. Honestly, I think his production can be replaced by someone making a LOT less money - possibly one of our three first round picks, or an aging veteran on a minimum contract, or worst case the MLE. BNM
I'd be VERY surprised. Last year the Warriors didn't have Durant - a 4-time NBA scoring champion and former MVP. The Cavs had an answer for Harrison Barnes (make him beat you), but Harrison Barnes is no Kevin Durant. Bogut's injury was the turning point of that series. Kerr went with the small ball "death" line up way too much over the last three games and, with no rim protection, it became a lay up drill for LeBron and company (they outscored the Warriors by an average of 17 points in the paint over those last three games). Zaza is no Bogut, but his size, combined with Durant's length will keep the Cavs from scoring at will in the paint. BNM
Last year, the Warriors had injuries and a less-than-100% Steph Curry. They may also have run out of steam, playing full bore to the final game of the regular season for the wins record. But regardless, fully healthy (and no Green suspension), I don't think the Cavaliers had any chance of pulling off that upset. This year, they have Durant in addition. Barring further injuries, it's an even larger mismatch than it already was. Anything can happen, but a lot would have to go wrong for Golden State. More than went wrong last year.
You are right in that Bogut's injury was the turning point. And this year they have no Bogut. Cleveland's size will be a big problem for the Warriors.
The Cavs are also less hungry and older this year. Old guys like Deron and Channing looked great against IND in the first round, but can they guard anyone on the GSW roster? BNM
LOL, what size? CLE starts a 6'9" power forward at center. Their biggest players are Channing Frye and Kevin Love, who both play more on the perimeter than in the paint. GSW has Pachulia, Durant and McGee. Zasa isn't the shot blocker Bogut was, but he's solid and Durant has really turned up his defense this year. And that doesn't even include Draymond, who blocked more shots than anyone on the Cav's roster this year. GSW led the entire league in blocked shots this year, and it wasn't even close. If anything, CLE is the team that lacks rim protection,. They were 25th in the league in blocked shots. And, don't forget Frye and Love have to try to guard somebody when they are in the game. If CLE even makes the finals, they will take it to 5 games tops. BNM
Yeah, that one at least makes sense. Turner is so very average in many areas. The problem is Allen Crabbe is severely below average in every area except one, and because he has no handle and no ability to create for himself, it's very easy to shut down his one, and only, strength. Just makes sure someone is within 3 feet of him at all times and he's a complete non-factor. BNM
Thompson, Love, and even Frye are better bangers than anyone on the Dubs. Not to mention LeBron who is going to go through them like a hot knife through butter.
well, putting a guy on him at least makes him a factor in a sense. theres plenty of guys in the league who just get ignored on offense until they have the ball. like evan turner maybe? for the record id like to keep both, i think they are fine rotation players.
Yeah. I'd be a little more jazzed about Cleveland's chances against the Warriors if they didn't just give up a 115.5 Offensive Rating to the stuck-in-the-mud Pacers. They made the Pacers look like the Warriors, in terms of overall offensive efficiency. That doesn't auger well for playing the real Warriors.
Right... Steph Curry is more of an inside presence than Channing Frye. Both players shot .642 from 0 - 3 feet, but Steph takes more shots in the paint than Frye. .129 of Frye's field goal attempts are from 0-3 feet. .219 of Steph Curry's FGA are in that same 0-3 feet range. On the other end, Javale McGee blocked more shots in 738 minutes than Kevin Love and Channing Frye combined in 3283 minutes. The Warriors had 8 players block more shots than Kevin Love, including James Michael McAdoo who only played 457 minutes all year. If those guys are your "bangers" you're in trouble. BNM
That's the problem with Crabbe, it can be anybody. You can hide Steph Curry or Ian Clark on him - and they don't exactly need to smother him, just be in the general vicinity. When Curry ended up Turner, ET immediately took him into the low post and made them pay. Crabbe doesn't have that ability. And, given what they make, I'd be more than fine with losing them both. I think Turner is a better bench player, due to his versatility and better defense. If Crabbe isn't scoring, which is more games than not, he's useless. He's way below average passer, one of the worst rebounders for his size in the entire league and a horrible defender. BNM
