Around the NBA - July 2017 Edition

No one IMO is giving us a pick and caps

when you see the ridiculous amount guys are gettin paid again this year, Aminu with 2 yrs left at about 7 mil per is a friggin steal. He can guard several positions and plays really good D, can make some 3's, a solid role player and a "plus" contract

 

Terry Stotts has said Aminu is his best defender, and from the way he says it I get the impression he doesn't think it's close. Considering that, plus his all-out style and great contract, he's not a guy I would want to trade for garbage.

 

I think the impression is, why would you expect the Blazers to be players the first day of FA signing when they have zero cap space? If Olshey makes a move, it's going to be a trade and that's not likely to happen until after this run of FA deals. But, by all means, the doom and gloom crowd should feel free to freak the hell out if it makes them feel better.

 

Pretty sure MM asked if I was doing a Neil Olshey impression

 

I believe what Stotts says. I also believe this team was so bad defensively last season that being the best defender on this squad was like being the fastest runner when everyone else is on crutches. Wasn't it Aminu who gave up a lay in at the buzzer when the other team only had a couple of seconds to run a play? He completely over committed and the player he was guarding just made a simple drop-step with no time to mess around and got a game winning lay up right at the rim while Aminu was left outside of the lane.

Yes, just a single example but those are clutch moments one is graded on.

 

I wouldn't exactly consider myself part of the doom and gloom crowd (yet), its just sooooooo tiring being optimistic year after year. I get it, its tough in FA being in Portland. I just want to win! I trust Olshey tho, he is a hell of a gm. Here's to next year.

 

I think Neil waits to see how the record plays out for about the first half of season before he decides to package next year's 1st round pick to dump a bad deal. If we are fighting for the 8 seed or worse, I bet they hold on to it.

 

It was also Aminu who grabbed rebounds at the end of close games we won...he has won us a lot more games than he lost us with his hustle alone....people complain about the Blazers defense and we finally sign a guy who makes it a priority and nobody likes him......I like him...I like Turner for the same reason..

 

I like Aminu and he is decent defender and yes he does have mental lapse in games. But the guy gives it 100 percent all the time on the floor.

 

Yep, i love Chief! Plays with so much passion. Yes I cringe when he cocks back from deep but him and Nurk can really help us raise the intensity on defense.

 

With the way some of these ridiculous deals are going around, I won't be surprised when some team that was left out in the cold does take one of our players in a salary dump.

It'll be some time for the dust to settle for a move to happen, as FA's need to sign and teams have to see that they were unable to use their cap space, but I can actually see the salary dump happening more than I could leading up to the draft. I didn't believe we'd be able to do it. But after the first 12 hours of free agency, I see it. If Portland wants to shed some salary....

 

This was literally the plan going into last season and we're still here.

 

This is the opposite of what we should be doing. Feel the joy and visualize him healthy and having a great season. Literally, sit back, close your eyes and visualize his highlights. Then feel great about them. The power of positive energy is a MF! It's the least we can do as fans.

 

Aminu was a real asset in 2015-16, when he was hitting swish3s at a decent rate. That, combined with his defensive versatility, unlocked more lineups for the Blazers. Now that he's gone back to bricking from deep, he's not much of an asset. He's a defensive specialist who isn't a great defender (he's an average defender who's versatile).

 

this is what scares me.....

 

He was hurt...compared to a healthy season I think it needs to be put in perspective...we fell off a cliff when he couldn't play last season and when he did he was not close to healthy..he talked about it in his exit interview

 

Yep. The form he was in in 2016, his value was probably somewhere around where Jae Crowder is today or even higher. I'd give up pieces for Crowder.

 

I don't get this at all...he's as good a defender than Wes Mathews or Nic Batum ever were...even hobbled....on offense, absolutely not...

 

Aminu actually shot well from deep from february until the end of the playoffs. My issue with him is his upcoming free agency. Are we going to re-sign him? He's no longer a starter and has a great contract. I'd take advantage of that and trade him. Also disagree about him being an "average" defender.

 

So, locking Holiday down to a $25M contract is mental and thinking he can be the third piece to Cousins and Davis is also a bit nuts but realistically, they are probably going to lose Cousins at the end of season and were not going to get anyone better than Jrie anyway, so they did what they felt they had to do. Question is - was anybody really going to offer him even $20M a season so New Orleans had to move quickly?

For all these crazy deals you got to ask yourself - was someone else really going to pay that, so that you had no choice?