I know it will be difficult, but keeping Hood should be the priority out of him, Kanter and Curry. Kanter will be less valuable when Nurk returns and Collins maturing. I think Simons will be able to fill the void that Curry will leave. Hood's length and ability to create his own shots is exactly what this team needs. Praying that he will give the team a home town discount for giving him a chance to resurrect his career. Also, maybe the team culture and Dame's leadership will be a factor.
Yup. This Ramadan fasting has soured me on Kanter. He just can’t put out the work when he’s doing that and it happens every year during the playoffs.
isn't Nurkic fasting right now? If so, Blazers will have the same issue with Nurkic they are having with Kanter if they make it this far again
I think the effects of Ramadan is overstated. Olajuwon won 2 titles and numerous deep playoff runs in his career.
You guys are forgetting that Kanter has a separated shoulder. He's courageously tried to play anyway.
I still want to keep Kanter, but we are limited in what we can offer him. He still would be valuable in certain matchups too. Imagine being able to throw both Kanter and Nurk on bigger centers like Hunter, Nurk, Towns, Gobert, who are in our division alone. Lot of other young great big men out there too. Resigning Kanter would take a lot of salary shredding and is far less likely. I see us signing a big man on a one year deal to someone looking to showcase themselves for a big contract in the offseason of 2020. Hood had a bigger salary and could sign a four year deal starting at 120 percent of that number using the non bird provision. He could also just sign a two year deal with the second year a player option. He has improved his value with his play in the playoffs but will likely get a bigger offer if he produced here over a full season. We would have cap space next offseason (2020) as well.
The other factor is take the denver series for example. Kanter had to start against joker. Imagine how much better our bench would be feeding kanter in the paint against plumlee? Kanter is instant offense off the bench and with him collins, hood, curry, makes our bench one of the best.
1a) Kanter 1b) Hood Simons makes Curry expendable. Kanter's rebounding and go-to scoring ability will be extremely valuable to our bench. Pressing priority: getting a legit starting quality PF.
I think it is going to be sink or swim with Collins next year. I wonder if Layman might be a better option to start at PF this series?
Simons does NOT make Curry expendable. Y'all are trippin. There's no way he's making the shots Curry made last night. No way. Curry kept us in the game. We need to resign ALL 3. Figure it out Neil.
What's the point when Evan fucking Turner gets all of Hood's minutes in the 4th quarter of game 2 of the Western Conference Finals? SMH...
It sucks. Just like after 2000 we won't get the chance to see the Blazers run it back again...have the roster get another chance when everyone is healthy and more in tuned. Olshey fucked any chance of that. The Blazers will be a fragment of what they are now next season.
I’ve got nothing against guys practicing their faith. That said, if I’m GM responsible for building a team that can compete for a title, am I going to have three main guys on the squad who are going to be sub-optimal every year for the entire month of May due to fasting? Nope. If the league took it into account and allowed later start times so Muslims could eat and drink at halftime, sure, but it’s a ratings driven business and they aren’t going to lose the east coast for the WCF. That means Chief and Kanter are hurting this season and Nurk will be next. That’s too many for one team to bear if they want to compete for the title.
This statement doesn't make sense. You do have something against guys practicing their faith. You would not have them on your team. So you wouldn't have Olajuwon on your team? Arguably the best center ever? Yeah. I disagree.