Just like the new Blazers, we really don't know yet how Conley and Mitchell will mesh together. Bogdanovic can flat out shoot so he fits with any team IMO. Mitchell however plays best creating offense with the ball in his hands. How will that effect Conley who is also most effective with the ball in his hands? We assume they will be compatible, but I can't say we know that for sure. My guess is that they are a good tandem but not a great tandem.
Bogdanovic is a great fit on offense but if you get Gobert away from the rim playing him at the PF is going to lower their paint defense significantly. Their starting lineup is great but their bench is really questionable. They lost Rubio, Favors, Crowder, and Korver who all played a big role last year. If they have injuries to their starting lineup they are going to be in big trouble.
But wait! Jeff Green is gonna step in and finally fulfill the promise he had as an elite two way player on his 15th team.
Totally following the national media line. Both LA teams with Philly and Milwaukee then he added Utah which could be right. Then just so not to disrespect Harden and Westbrook he throws them in there with a slight nod to Jokic as well. Saying the east stinks again doesn't take a lot of thought. When you follow with a third of the league as Borderline playoff teams it's tough to be wrong. Does he get paid for this? You can get much deeper and more specific analysis from S2 and a number of different outlets. Does he realize Durant is out this year?
I'm still not seeing why the pundits think the Lakers are legit contenders. They have a Big 2 and then a pretty mediocre squad surrounding them. Not swayed, especially with AD's injury history and Lebron's age.
Hood has never played a season with a higher TS% than Bogdonavic's worst season. Bogdonavic is at a career 59% and was 61% last year. Hood is a career 54% and his career best was 55% in the year he was given a ton of shots with Utah. Given both player's main skill is scoring, I'm not sure how you can argue this is even. The contracts also speak for themselves. I think the thought process with Utah is --> They had one of the best defenses in the league last year but couldn't play offense because they only had one creator --> They upgraded on offense significantly --> They will be able to maintain their defense and improve their offense --> Their point differential was really good. I can see the logic, but I think they'll disappoint relative to expectations.
Let's see a full season of Hood with this kinda spacing-- i'm prognosticating that this impact will be similar to Bogdanovic. And the contract thing is essentially meaningless. Evan Turner got a 70 mil deal when he didn't deserve one. Nurkic makes half of what other centers of his caliber make.
Here's my problem with the Jazz. Conley I love him as a player but the one thing he's most consistent on is not being available to play. He has averaged 63 games a year for his career. He'll be 32 this year he's on the downward part of his career as a PG. I would not trust him to be healthy at this point. I also don't think he's as much of an upgrade over rubio as people think. Rubio was a very solid PG last couple of years.
I'm not sure where the basis of this argument comes from. The Pacers did not have good spacing either and were one of the worst 3 point shooting teams last year, they were 29th in makes per game, worse than the Jazz. Despite this, Bogdonavic still shot nearly 50% from the field and 42% from three. Hood has never sniffed that type of efficiency. And re: the contract issue, Bogdonavic and Hood were signed in the same off-season, play the same position and role on a team, and against the same competing bids. You cannot compare Turner and Nurkic when the context is entirely different. I know Hood "turned down more" to come back to Portland, but if he had an offer near the guaranteed money Bogdonavic had there is a very good chance he would be gone.
I agree with you but Hood's TS% in the playoffs was over 60%. So if that ends up being what he does this year then this argument is a lot closer.
Sure, but you're looking at a 16 game sample size vs a 600 game sample size for Bogdonavic. And it's not like Hood didn't play 27 regular season games with the Blazers last year (53% TS). If Hood plays as well as Bogdonavic does next year it will be a nice surprise, I just wouldn't bet on it.
Makes zero sense. Same tier as Nets last year. Same tier as BULLS this year? We are back to back 3 seed. Just won two impressive two impressive playoff series. I just don’t get it.
These things are such puff pieces, designed pretty much as click bait, that it's hard to get too worked up over them. They always favor the major markets with the most fans. The Blazers just need to go out and take care of business and make these naysayers look stupid. Again. Year after year.
Exactly. Ed Davis is a journeyman, nothing more. IMO, the natl. media is completely missing that the Blazers massively upgraded this offseason. Aminu and Mo < Hood, Baze, Whiteside, etc.
Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell are gonna be good together. Y’all are trippin. Conley is still very legit and Mitchell has the potential to be the next Dame Lillard. The rest of their roster is filled out quite nicely too. Jazz are highly concerning to me.
We've traded some offense for defense. We have a lot of depth, I suppose, but it's pretty much duplicate depth meaning rotations will be a problem. Remaining fairly healthy I see a 46 to 48 win team as several west teams have improved. We went sideways. As to Utah, love who Connely used to be.
