CJ's numbers this year were on par with Steph's MVP season when he went down, and the most obvious change he made was shooting 4 more three point shots. And his ast% was up to 26% (up nearly 50% from his career numbers) , nearly where Dame is for his career. Really no way for any of us to definitively predict if this is sustainable or not until he gets back to the court. Listen to his comments to Bill Simmons on his podcast about what he's done to change this year. I choose to believe this change is real.
I agree that there's no way to definitively predict whether it's sustainable. And if you choose to believe it's real, I have no issue with that. I've seen short stretches of great play from many, many players that proved to be simply hot streaks, so my default (or my priors) is that a short stretch of play during a player's prime that deviates significantly (good or bad) from an established norm is likely to regress back to that norm (aside from cases of injury). I don't discount the possibility that it might not be a hot streak, and it might be a new level--when discussing CJ, I've always allowed for that possibility (and I did twice in that post you originally responded to). I simply don't consider it the likeliest case. I'd be thrilled if it is his new normal.
Anyone who thinks CJ and Dame are a good combination to take up 2/3 of the team's cap space, with the facts that they run zero offensive sets that complement each other and that Dame is a poor defender and CJ is a horrible defender, is either kidding themselves, not thinking and/or hasn't been watching them fail for years. They are redundant... no personnel move that takes up 30 million dollars should be made in case of injury. We need a second star that can create offense in a way that differs from Dame/doesn't take away from Dame and adds something on the defensive end. That would likely be someone that has a level of talent near CJ's that fills a different role. I continue to think that we can get Julius Randle and Austin Rivers for CJ even while CJ is injured. I do think that Randle is already at CJ's level and has more upside. Rivers is the guard that we need that can backup at PG effectively and defend both guard positions. I don't love Nurk with Randle (although Randle isn't horrible on defense on the perimeter) and would likely want to move Nurk for a more mobile center but that doesn't have a lot to do with CJ.
How does CJ take away from Dame, and how does Randle as our 2nd playmaker NOT take away from Dame in the same way exactly?
I just think a PG and PF can work better off of each other at a two man game with everyone else being complementary than a PG and PG can. We've seen that when CJ gets the ball Dame rarely gets touches afterwards and I think it would be different with Randle. Just IMO when you have diverse ways of scoring and initiating offense, it is more complementary than having all of that being redundant... different positions on the floor as apposed to the same ones, different abilities as apposed to the same, etc. Also there was the whole defensive thing where CJ definitely hurts Dame a lot and Randle in theory wouldn't. Maybe that's all just coaching and maybe I'm not putting enough weight into the 12 games that started the season in which CJ was playing a little more with Dame offensively, instead of Dame having his possessions and CJ having his every time.
It's like you have a car and a trailer or you have two cars. And CJ and Dame are to very nice cars, but you can only drive one or the other at the same time.
Zach is 25 - they shouldn't be trading him. They have Otto Porter who's 27 (but making $29 mil per), and Thad Young who is 32 (making $13.5 mil per). https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster/_/name/chi/chicago-bulls
I would make that trade but no way the Knicks would now unless we sweeten the pot. Randal was the kind of front court player I has hoping to acquire in the off season. I like CJ but in order to get a high caliber player you have to be willing to give up a high caliber player.
Despite Randle playing well they aren't winning. I really think they would do the deal. They would then get a lot of experience for Toppin, get better draft position and get to see what CJ can do with the team sometime in the second half of the season. If they demanded more, I don't know if I would do it, maybe a second rounder. Now if they wanted Nurk...
I hope you guys saw the value of Ben Simmons last night. I've been watching a ton of their games, and he is what makes that team elite. When he is engaged defensively and is aggressive on offense, that team becomes unstoppable. God, I just salivate at the thought of him and Dame running together.
Watching him play last night I was thinking same thing. His defense is what impressed me but he makes the game so much easier for players around him. I’d trade multiple first CJ and Zach for him
Simmons is a great player but even great players have flaws. The 76'ers made 6 three pointers last night and thats why they lost. Simmons took zero three point attempts, thats not realistic in today's game.
He's basically a leaner, more athletic version of Draymond Green, with the same kinds of strengths and weaknesses. While they don't play in exactly the same way, Green has been a massive reason for the Warriors' success over the years and Simmons could have the same effect, playing off Lillard. Green, to wit, has been a big part of the Warriors' strategy for beating double-teams on Curry--Simmons would be an ideal beater of double-teams on Lillard.
Seems like the same scenario the Lakers and Pelicans were in.....he played well but they did not win with him.
Green can shoot the ball as he's left open a lot. Id like to see Simmons work on a three as that would make him even more awesome.
I would do CJ + Nurk for Ben. Maybe send Nurk elsewhere in a deal that lands Philly a player on need.
