Our division rival is the Thunder formerly the Sonics. The Timberwolves have and will never be our division rival.
I see Trent as a nice rotation player on a good team. Probably a sixth man type. Simons on the other hand has very intriguing potential. His ceiling is much more unclear but could be anywhere from star to bust. It's certainly more of a risk but with Dame, CJ, and Butler neither Trent or Simons is going to play much so I'd rather have the breakout upside of Simons being groomed for the future.
We got a little peeved when the Rubechat Minny fans started posting dick pics on here, but that had nothing to do with the on court stuff.
If he gets Butler on the team and offers him the max, it's all on Dame from there to get him to stay. That's how it is in the NBA now.
Teams that I think could offer better deals than Portland for Butler (not including taking on Dieng) Brooklyn Milwaukee Philadelphia Orlando Denver Clippers Phoenix Sacramento Now this is also assuming Portland wouldn’t put CJ or Collins on the table.
Thibs is in charge of personnel decisions. It's not a guarantee that he'd want young players or draft picks. What teams have a former Bull other than NY?
IMO w should include neither. I'd like to keep them both but no, you don't let either one prevent you from getting Butler.
Butler's ability to beat his man off the dribble, draw fouls and finish in the paint would have definitely taken some pressure off Dame in that series. NOP couldn't have just sent Davis to double Dame every time down the floor. Compare Butler's game to C.J.'s: Butler: FTr = .461 % of FGA by Distance: 0 - 3 feet = .251 3 - 10 feet = .168 FG% by Distance: 0 - 3 feet = .662 3 - 10 feet = .490 C.J.: FTr = .166 % of FGA by Distance: 0 - 3 feet = .183 3 - 10 feet = .153 FG% by Distance: 0 - 3 feet = .547 3 - 10 feet = .400 The larger, stronger Butler gets into the paint much more, gets fouled nearly 3x as much and finishes much better in the paint than C.J. C.J. actually had a good series against NOP, because NOP was willing to let him get his while focusing on double teaming Dame. Other than FTr, C.J.'s numbers in the NOP series were very similar to Butler's regular season numbers - because their rim protector was out on the perimeter doubling Dame. Butler would have killed them in the paint if they would have employed the same strategy with him on the floor. BNM
If Portland was willing to offer up CJ, they’d probably jump a lot of teams. I think they’d jump even more if they put Collins on the table, but that would leave us so thin up front.
@hoopsjock Breaking news. Big3 league trades Nate Robinson & Carlos Boozer for Jimmy Butler. Thibbs gets closer to creating his former Bulls roster.