Gary Trent poll

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Rastapopoulos, Sep 6, 2020.

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What is your view of Gary Trent Jr. now?

  1. He makes CJ expendable

    51.7%
  2. He's our starting small forward now

    10.3%
  3. He's part of the rotation, but the bubble was too weird to draw any further conclusions

    31.0%
  4. He's a franchise cornerstone

    8.6%
  5. He's a valuable trade asset

    17.2%
  6. He's a complementary piece but too limited offensively to replace CJ

    20.7%
  7. Trade him before we have to sign him to a big contract

    5.2%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Well? You can select more than one.

    In general, did the bubble really change people's opinion of him? I know it did for me, and I'm wondering if I'm going overboard, the way people did with Bismack Biyombo that one playoffs.
     
  2. tester551

    tester551 Well-Known Member

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    He's too limited to 'replace' CJ offensively, but I also don't think we need to replace him. We need a 2way player at SG. Trent if functional enough offensively & dramatically better defensively to make CJ expendable.

    Hes too small to be the future SF.
     
  3. GriLtCheeZ

    GriLtCheeZ "Well, I'm not lookin' for trouble."

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    I chose too limited to replace CJ, and makes CJ expendable, which is obviously contradictory. Gary can't replace CJ's ability to create his own shot, but I think Gary could start at shooting guard for the blazers if the blazers had a SF who could handle the ball and make plays.
     
  4. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    I really like Gary Trent Jr, I compared him to Wes Matthews the year he got drafted. I think the Bubble was kinda weird. He did a decent job on Lebron in the playoffs he’s not big enough for that assignment though.
    He only makes CJ expendable IMO if the return for CJ is good in a trade scenario, and Im not sure it would be.
     
  5. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    He’s a better overall player than CJ, but the one thing CJ does do, is super valuable. Unfortunately his contract makes him harder to trade and Olshey is in love with him, so he’s not going anywhere. So Trent is our sixth man.
     
  6. Fez Hammersticks

    Fez Hammersticks スーパーバッド Zero Cool

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    Offense: JR Smith (w/ a brain)

    Defense: Wes Matthews
     
  7. James lamphear

    James lamphear Well-Known Member

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    I think he could replace CJ if he works on his handles. Defensely he better then CJ and I would give it one more year before I pull a trade on CJ.
     
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  8. craigehlo

    craigehlo Elite Wing

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    I see Trent as Marcus Smart type player. The specialist you put on the opposing team's best player and expect he can get you at least 12 ppg.

    He's not a starter unless you trade CJ for a really good forward.
     
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  9. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    So, he's obviously too limited to "replace" CJ but that's not really what we'd be talking about is it? Is he a better fit next to Dame? Yes. Can we get someone back for CJ that also fits better with Dame and along with Gary can make this team more productive? Again I think that answer is yes. So the idea that Gary would just replace CJ is not a reality... if Gary took over CJ's minutes, we would still have CJ, obviously at that point we would want to trade CJ because I don't think any of us want to be paying a sixth man 30 million a season... it would just be too big of a misallocation of cap space. CJ has value around the league as a scorer. I think we could get a lot from a team like Philly for him and I'm sure there would be other teams that need back court scoring that would be interested and possibly drive CJ's trade value up... I just don't know if Neil would ever trade him or put it out there that he could be had for the right price.
     
  10. SharpesTriumph

    SharpesTriumph Well-Known Member

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    He has been a legit starting SF so I voted for that.

    He hasn't done it for long enough to write him in for certain there, but I would go into next year with him as a certain rotational piece either starting SF or primary guy off the bench.

    He doesn't have the ball handling to start at SG unless we had a Nico SF. However if he is at SF we could put a primarily defense 3 and D guy at PF as we used to with Aminu.

    I think his max extension as a 2nd round pick is around 4 years 50 million so I would lock him up.
     
  11. e_blazer

    e_blazer Rip City Fan

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    All I am going to say is he is good enough to give Olshey options. I doubt this is the year he exercises those options, but the next one? Possible if he continues to improve.
     
  12. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    The only reason why people think we need so much ball handling in the starting lineup is because we iso too much and do so so so little passing. We just need willing passers and ball movement. Dame is all of the elite ball handling we need in the starting lineup. Gary has a handle and knows not to overuse it.
     
  13. PCmor7

    PCmor7 Generational Poster

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    I like Trent. I was one of those beating the drum that people who kept wanting to give him away in a trade after one year were off the mark.

    Now people are going to the opposite extreme. If you replaced CJ with him in the starting lineup without have a significant upgrade at the 3 or 4, I predict you'd see a hatefest that would make it look like people around here love McCollum.

    He's a great competitor and as good a streak shooter as there is. That said, his shooting is streaky. He's not a guy who is going to create much if any offense for himself nor is he going to create much if any offense for teammates. He's not going to take the load off Dame bringing the ball up the floor. There's nothing in his history that indicates he's ever going to be that guy, and I don't see anything in the development of players under Stotts that leads me to believe our coaching staff is going to do much to address those weaknesses in Trent's game.

    He's had success playing alongside Dame and CJ, and that's going to open up a lot if you're a 3-point shooter and embrace that role. Unless you acquire a 3 who can handle and create shots for himself, I think Gary's game would suffer substantially. Every liability he has would be amplified, really through no fault of his own. He's just not THAT guy. He can be an excellent 3-and-D player but you need either two players who are so gifted offensively so as to help free him up or you need an offensive system with a lot of ball movement and movement without the ball where the defense loses him and our passers find him. I just don't see that happening overnight.
     
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  14. James lamphear

    James lamphear Well-Known Member

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    Ball handing skill can be improved on by practicing. They told last year they wanted him to improve on his defense skill so he went out and did that so more likely this year he probably was told to practice his ball skill. But I don't see olshey trading CJ in the off season so expect Trent will be the first player off the bench.
     
  15. PCmor7

    PCmor7 Generational Poster

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    I hope you're right, but I think, realistically, you're looking at Trent through the absolute best possible scenario.

    Gary Trent was a good defensive player coming in. He played a year of college ball for one of the best defensive basketball teachers in the game. His biggest problem in his first year with the Blazers wasn't his defense, it was that he was a first year player who didn't know his role.

    If developing a quality handle could be done with practice alone, then there's no reason everyone wouldn't be doing it. At this level, you have to have something to start with, and then only the most special of players can add something significant to their game or make a big step forward in one year. You have to have the raw materials, then the desire, then the instruction.

    I'll gladly eat crow if I am wrong on this, but I think a lot of people are seeing what they want to be there based on five really good games in the bubble when he wasn't being called upon to be a primary scorer combined with this idea that CJ is a problem and the quickest fix to make the Blazers better is jettisoning him. I think people are going to discover it's not nearly that simple.
     
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  16. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    I don't think Trent can 'replace' CJ....but I do think he could do a more than adequate job filling in for him on offense, and of course would be much better on defense.

    ADD to that, what we could get for CJ and combine it to what Trent could provide, and I think it would out-weigh in total, what CJ and Trent off the bench provide now.
     
  17. PCmor7

    PCmor7 Generational Poster

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    That makes sense, except a lot of the trades people suggest around here involving CJ undersell what we'd get back, so we aren't acquiring a player that could offset his loss, even if you think Trent reaches his absolute positive in potential.

    What CJ does that is very hard to quantify is he can break down good defenders on his own and create shots for himself or for teammates ... and I'm not just saying about his passing, but he just by drawing help defense he creates opportunities for offensive rebounds and uncontested buckets at the rim that might as well be assists.

    He also has shown an ability to rise to the occasion and isn't shy about taking big shots ... and making them.

    Finally, his ability to be a second point guard takes pressure off Dame by allowing him to bring the ball up the floor and start the offense even against solid defense. I'm not sure you're going to get that from Trent and you definitely aren't going to get that from a player like Ant at this point.

    So, you need to acquire a 3 with an above-average handle (say like a Nic Batum in his prime, at the very least) who can create his own shot when the play breaks down and likes to have the spotlight in key situations. Either than or they have to be incredibly efficient on offense and a demon on defense. That's the only way, IMO, Trent and whoever the Blazers acquire in a hypothetical CJ trade offsets dealing away CJ, and, like I said, so many people are eager to get McCollum off the team, they are taking any slightly above-average player back thinking it would be an improvement. It wouldn't.
     
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  18. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    CJ is very good at creating shots for himself....not so much for others. But when he had EVERY opportunity against the Lakers with Dame out and the game on the line, he went COMPLETELY SCORELESS for the last 8 minutes of the 4th quarter. No buckets, no FTs....no anything. 36 points was very nice when the Lakers were sleepwalking through the first 3 quarters of the non-Dame game.

    ...but then came closing time. CJ was no where to be found.
     
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  19. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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  20. Buffalo Custard

    Buffalo Custard Well-Known Member

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    Please tell me I am reading that wrong!
     

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