Duckworth was one of my favorite Blazers for a reason. I think Duckworth was close to what Nurkic is now or is becoming. I see Kanter as less than that.
Maybe it’s because they didn’t go after one of the plethora of defensive stoppers currently available on the market.
first off, Hood and Kanter aren't replacing Stauskas/Baldwin in the rotation. Those two weren't playing. They will be replacing a combination of Curry/Harkless/Turner/Zach/Meyers. Probably an upgrade, especially in the case of Kanter as for Kanter's defense...yeah, it's not good, but I'm not sure that matters much. When the 2nd unit fails it does so because it can't score; Kanter will help that situation, especially considering he's capable of creating his own offense in the post Portland has improved their depth, but this is the time of season when depth thru 12 men doesn't matter as much as quality depth thru 8-9 men and how pieces fit together. Not sure yet how this will work out
But a softer bounce than last year. Unless there is some kind of synergy that happens with the new players, or a lineup change that works wonders, I see us finishing 5-8 in the West and agree that we will likely lose in the first round. Even if we get 3-4 there is a solid chance we get bounced. Our offense is still focused on two short guards, and not spread throughout the team, so a good team in the playoffs just shuts down one of those guards and we don't know what to do, because that is all we know.
Portland 2019 net deadline trades/moves... Portland Receives: Kanter Hood Skal Portland Gives: 2 2nd rounders, Baldwin Sauce Biggie Portland retains their 1st round pick. I don't know if that's Exec. of the Year type stuff, but it's in the ballpark. #CongratsOlshey
As much as I was willing to part with our 1st round pick I'm excited to still have it to use or see what it can do for us at draft time or later this summer. That is definitely the added bonus of the deadline moves.
A Bunch of guys who are generally about the same level of player that already fills their bench unit without adding any upper-end talent? I like all their deadline deals, but I have a hard time with the that's exec of the year type of stuff... Milwaukee got rid of a coach their star player really liked in Jason Kidd, brought in a new coach, Got Pat Con (who fits their system) drafted Divencenco (or however you spell that), got Mirotic and really didn't give up anything. That seems better. Or Ujiri who went out and got Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol. Or Brand who went out and got an all-star and a borderline all-star without losing any of their main pieces. Anyways I liked the moves but let's not oversell them...
That's fine, he chose us over the Lakers, Rockets, and Celtics. Loved his attitude before, and now I'll be a huge fan of his for the rest of his career.
I like what Olshy has done....but it's still been all bench parts and nothing that is really impacting the impact core. It might mean a couple more wins here and there but unless they suddenly surprise by getting to the WCF, it really didn't make that much of a difference.
I don't think that's very fair. We have now eliminated two players that played zero minutes a game for two guys that should play at least 25 minutes a game each. That's not worrisome?
Good to see now that the former clueless owner is out of the way, someone in the organization is finally taking my advice. Maybe we'll become competitive again.
