Do you think that three games might be a limited sample size? The guy hit over 50% of his threes in those three games, over 50% of his twos, had about 9 boards, had a block per game. I realize that his defense wasn't ideal but he was playing on a team with bad defenders. A guy pulling down 9 boards, who can get out and play pick and rolls and get at least a block a game isn't bad on defense and a guy who shoots like he does and scores 23 points per game for his team isn't even close to being unplayable. I just think that if we have CJ and Nurk come back we will get a net zero gain from their return. I think if we do that trade we're a lot better than we've been while they've been out. The good news for everyone that wants them back is that we're going to get to see how we are with them because I put the odds that Neil trades either at less than 1 in 100.
KP for CJ straight up works. Both suck on D but we could finally play ultimate Stotts 3ball offense with this lineup... Dame Gary RoCo Melo KP
im not talking about his playoff performance last year to judge him. i'm talking about him now. teams attack him on the P&R more than they do kanter. and he can neither trap nor drop. getting absolutely exposed this yr and i used to love KP. and you're trading two massive pieces for a huge liability. did you see Dame drop 61 on that team last yr? im guessing not. go look at some of those highlights and see what he did with porzingis.
I think you're probably underselling his strengths and overselling his flaws that said, the problem, IMO, with CJ is that he's a couple of tiers below elite players but getting paid like one (although each off-season CJ's relative cost drops as more contracts are written). Porzingis has the same imbalance in the talent/cost ratio. Further, KP isn't as good a fit in the modern NBA as CJ is. I want CJ traded, but I wouldn't trade him for KP. The only way a trade of CJ for KP would be acceptable to me is if it was a 3-team trade and KP was routed to a 3rd team for a quality PF or SF that was routed to Portland, hopefully with some decent long-term salary relief.
I feel like we could get Rivers, Randle, Robinson and Ntilikina (who we'd buyout) from the Knicks for CJ and Nurk. Maybe I'm delusional but I do think the Knicks would do that. The trade gives them two players that are really good right now, some would even say CJ could be great and leaves them enough for a max player in the off season to go with their young players.
For what little it may be worth, here’s a Bleacher Report trade proposal: Portland Trail Blazers receive: Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Michael Carter-Williams (after March 3) Orlando Magic receive: Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons, Zach Collins, Derrick Jones Jr., Rodney Hood (after March 3) and 2023 first-round pick (lottery protected).
Most realistic thing we should be doing is packaging Hoods contract with Simons and finding an actual point guard or a four. Give me Rondo for example. Delon Wright is another guy I like. Even if everyone is healthy we can’t have a unit featuring Melo, Simons, and Kanter and expect to actually go anywhere. That’s about 20 minutes of the other team scoring at will.
he’s been the ideal backup for our guards, can’t believe Olshey hasn’t made a play for him. Then again I can, since he’s in love with shooting guards acting as point guards.
I really wish Stotts would give Hood the kind of consistent minutes Trent and Simons got last year. It would be nice to see what he can do with a defined role
Admittedly, I’m not a cap guy like some on here, but if we could get Lonzo Ball some how, he’d be the perfect fit for this team. He’s a great defender, elite passer/playmaker and vastly improved shooter. Rumors that New Orleans is open to trading him as well.