Great move by NO and the Blazer organization. Jake fell out of the rotation last year, whether justified or not, and was absolutely not going to crack it this year. He lets Neil know he wants to go to the Timberwolves. Neil makes the deal to get it done. Jake is happy, and players around the league know that the Trail Blazers take care of their players. The positive PR is worth more than anything we could get back. Well played Neil Olshey. Oh, and yes, we are exponentially better than last year. The pieces now fit around the core. This is what building a team looks like.
This guy doesn't even leave Valencia to play for a bigger team in Europe I doubt he comes here. He just likes it there.
I just don't get how people are thinking this is any sort of significant loss. Players like Layman are a dime a dozen. He wasn't gonna win us three or four games this year, he's no Taurean Green.
Are we a better team then last year? Ask yourself these questions . 1.Would you trade Kanter, Harkless and Leonard for Whiteside? 2.Aminu for Tolliver and Hezonja? 3.Turner for Bazemore? 4. Let Jake walk? As far as I am concerned the only player we really lost is Kanter and I believe that is why he was given 6 minutes to make up his mind. Jake may come back and bite us on the butt. Kudos to him if he does I wish him all the best but we just did not have the money to give him or the opportunity. On paper we look better in reality we will find out next year. I do know one thing for certainty except for Kanter everyone else has done more for us by being traded then they have by playing for us. Turner, Harkless and Aminu played well enough like that raise you get where it is just enough to put you in another tax bracket so you actually lose money
Every Blazer I consistently complained about is gone, I’m actually pretty curious to see which one of the new guys is gonna fill that void.
Dame said the 6 minute claim is BS. Not only had Kanter known for a good while the Blazers wanted him back, and what we could pay him, but Dame said he knows for a stone cold fact that Kanter was told the Blazers needed an answer within 45 minutes or they'd have to make other deals. I believe Dame. There is no doubt that deal was already on the table long before Kanter got the call to decide within 45 minutes or the Blazers would miss out on other opportunities. As much as I was afraid at the end of the season we'd lose Kanter, now I don't miss him a bit, and I'm oddly glad we did.
Who is on the short list of best available PF we could still sign? I gotta think we will sign at least one more right? Maybe leave that last spot open. I think I’d prefer a big over a ball handler.
I definitely wouldn't say he's much better than them. Tolliver is a better three point shooter, which is extremely important for us, and also a better team defender. Hezonja is a better rebounder, ball handler, and passer, and plays the passing lanes well on defense. I also think he has more potential, as he is slightly younger and seems to have more talent that just needs to be honed. But I think it's a little disingenuous to not mention Hood, Bazemore, and even Little as well, considering Layman played many more minutes at 2 and 3 than he did at 4.
Last season: TS% - Layman .594 / Hezonja .497 FG% - Layman .509 / Hezonja .412 3P% - Layman .326 / Hezonja .276 BPM - Layman -0.3 / Hezonja -4.0 RPM - Layman -1.41 / Hezonja -3.33
What amaze me is that the player's point of view is rarely taken into consideration. In Minnesota his competition for minutes in the SF-PF spots is not as good as in Portland. Except Robert Covington and Andrew Wiggins, there is nobody than seems unbeatable for Jake. What if he asked a favour to the Blazers to let him walk there? What if Neil is good at helping agents to get something back in the future? We may lose our 10th-11rh best player. But I am sure that the "risk" is not that big and Jake didn't want to stay at the end of the bench for three years. That's why the offer sheet was never signed.
I wouldn't compare playing with a over .500 Blazers team to playing with a 17-65 Knicks team. If you exchange the two players is the difference in stats this big? Not sure IMO.
