Dame CJ Nurk RoCo Trent Kanter Collins DJJ Melo Hood Little Simons Giles CJ2 My rankings consider injury history. For example I'd rank Nurk 2nd if I had equal expectation of him staying healthy as CJ.
I agree with you completely when it just comes down to who the best player is. Now if we're talking about fit within our roster, considering how great Dame is and his strengths and weaknesses, I think that's where some of these fans are coming from. The problem is that the question from the OP is a bit ambiguous as to how we are supposed to rank our players and then he references a ringer article that is definitely taking into consideration fit with Dame. CJ's ability to handle and score the ball is so fantastic that if we're just being honest and not allowing all of the ways he's hurt this team to cloud our judgment, there is no one outside of Dame, including Nurk, who is better than CJ. The shitty thing is that CJ and Dame are so redundant in their strengths and weaknesses that they actually hurt each other's games. So are Nurk, RoCo, Trent, DJJ (at the highest estimations of what he might be) better than CJ? No. Do they fit better next to Dame? Well that's open for debate.
Stotts does not put enough into or maybe even know how to make our defense as good as it can be. That being said, if he did he would probably just bench CJ. What in a game plan is going to improve CJ's defense? Is Stotts going to make CJ fast, more explosive or laterally quicker? Is Stotts going to get CJ to start reading angles? Is Stotts going to get CJ to close out better without over committing and even then sometimes when he does get the close out just getting shot over because he's too short and has too small of a reach to play SG? Is Stotts going to make Dame a better defender so he can cover for all of CJ's shortcomings? Is Stotts going to be able to change CJ's attitude and get him to commit to giving effort on every defensive play? The answer to all of those questions is nothing and no, accept for maybe the last one. Stotts might be able to better motivate CJ on defense which might bring his level of defense up a little. That being said, ask yourself this... what defensive genius could cover up for CJ's vast defensive shortcomings and at the same time cover up for Dame's smaller but still real defensive weaknesses?
For a fun comparison, here's our players ranked by contract size - Dame CJ Nurk Covington Hood Jones Collins Kanter Simons Little Trent Jr Anthony Giles Elleby
In terms of pure ability that's about right. I wish CJ was at the top of that second group but we can't turn back time and get Olshey to pay him the around 20 million he would be worth on a team that he fit on.
last year's team ranking in various 'advanced' categories: maybe, 2018-19 is more appropriate because Portland had a much deeper bench that season than last season: I didn't do rebounding or assist rates because those vary so much positionally I'd put Nurkic ahead of CJ as both a better player and a more valuable player. It's not close either, IMO. Covington, Trent, & Jones would follow with Hood being the biggest question mark
He did this on a broken back This was our biggest win in 20 yrs. It's like people take him for granted.
I'm not a fan of CJ so it pains me to say hes #2, but he is Tier#1 Dame Tier#2 CJ Nurk Tier#3 Covington Hood Tier#4 Melo Collins Jones Trent Jr Tier#5 Kanter Giles Simons Tier#6 Little Elleby So from last years team we added two Tier3 players and swapped Jones w/Whiteside. Good improvement i suppose.
no they don't...they just realize that CJ's entire resume means more than some cherry-picked games. And they also realize that CJ's offense is offset by how much he gives away on the other end of the floor
Fucking Gary Trent is not a better player than CJ. People are actually saying this. Gimme a break. It's not cherry picked games. His playoff stats are on par or better than Dame's in his career depending on the year.
And he's a far bigger black hole than CJ. Dude never ever makes the extra pass. I love Gary, but he's got a ways to go before he gets to CJ's level.
Gee I wonder why Whiteside got only a minimum from Sac, and got discarded like a piece of trash. He's apparently our 2nd best player according to a lot of these numbers.
I can’t believe people are putting Collins above Kanter. Did you guys forget what he did for us in the OKC series?
You didn't explain your point very well... I'm not sure that I've seen a single person here rank Trent above CJ in importance. The big debate us if CJ is our 2nd, 3rd, or 4th most valuable player on this team. The biggest takeaway is that its not clear cut. There are some valid arguments (some more than others) as why he might be ranked at any if those spots
